Stanton SMX 401Stanton have long been a pioneer in the scratch mixer range, producing quality mixers, often with new and well researched technologies, their new mixer range, dubbed a hybrid mixer range is more aimed at house, techno and trance, or so the marketing lead me to believe. Firstly looking at the specs of the mixer, I was astounded at the features for price that Stanton offered in this unit. Penny and Glide cross-fader are largely considered to be the “Mecca” for many DJ’s. The features that particularly caught my interest included the kill switches down by the cross-fader, the DJ EQ system, the level LED’s and lastly the sound of the mixer using both Hi-Fi speakers and studio monitors. Initial contact with the mixer I was impressed, the mixer is a great colour, sleek design, and looks functional. The size of the mixer is a touch on the large for a three channel unit, but none the less impressive with the layout. Firstly using the mixer with an old amp and hi-fi speakers, the sound was lacking in bass and lower mid ranges. High and upper mids were passible.Mixing with the unit was difficult to begin with, taking a recording of the initial times I mixed, it was apparent that the mixer had both a harsh volume drop along the fader and a very short cut in length, that is, the track being mixed in was completely mixed one third of the way across the cross fader length. Not something I would attribute to a progressive and techno style mixer, this feature is commonly found on scratch mixers.The channel faders were another cause of concern, again, Stanton seem to be stuck in a world of battle mixers still, the up fader was at 90% volume 1/3rd of the distance, not often seen or desired in club style mixers. After a quick mix I switched the hi-fi speakers to my monitors (Alesis M1-actives), the results spoke for themselves. A gaping hole in the lower mid frequencies of the samples played, along with hollow rough bass made me cringe. However I did get used to the sound and mixing became easier. The layout: the EQ knobs are small and too flexible, breaking them off in a drunken act would be easy achieved. The pots are very small and far too close together, I had trouble fitting my slender fingers when using the EQ’s two handed. They are also not separated from the pan, more than once the pan was mistaken for the high EQ knob. The EQ kills were also a frustration, after hitting flick switches more than twice, the unit ‘clicked’ as the kill was initiated and released, some clicks were much less than acceptable. The headphone jack couldn’t be positioned in a worse position if they tried. It’s right next to the cross-fader, making mixing from channel 3 to one almost impossible; more often than not I pulled the headphone jack out to mix. The mixer also got quite hot after an hour of driving the unit at roughly 75% on master volume and 66% peak of the gains.The LED’s were not terribly accurate and the master did not give an impression of the mixers output. The power light (an LED) is quite bright, and near blinded me when I hovered above it looking down on the mixer. I bet you’re thinking why I bothered to write the review if all I’m going to do is trash the mixer, right?The unit is at a rough cost of $550 available at DJ Warehouse (ITM-VIP supporters). For that amount of money the unit is extremely good value for money. For the price you pay you won’t find better mixer for anything less than $300 over that price (that being said, there isn’t much in that range anyway). Pros: 3 channel, EFX send and receive, reasonable built quality, price vs. features.Cons: headphone jack, EQ’s too close, EQ switches, cross fader initially difficult to use, sound quality.Bottom line: I was disappointed in the unit as I thought the unit was for a higher end market, however re-assessing the features and quality V.S. cost of the unit, I would recommend this mixer to young DJ’s who require 3 channels.The unit was kindly supplied by DJWarehouse Liechhardt (02 9564 1791) and costs RRP$749, however street price is around $550 and if you mention you’re an ITM VIP member they should give you a discount.