Ecler, an Italian based audio company which represents an extensive range of both pro audio and DJ equipment, who are well known and respected in the scratch world for their efforts in designing the HAK series, Their now aging SMAC series, the lesser known versatile club and home mixers have just been replaced with a new range, featuring eternal faders, midi control and some sexy big knobs, ITM’s technical reviewer, Bracko takes you on a guided tour of the Ecler: NUO5  Before I enter the review I must mention where the mixer sits in the current market. This is no $500 crudbox with a 6month life. With an Australian RRP of almost $3000 it sits firmly atop the mixer hill, with such mixers as the Alan & heath Xone:92, Vestax PMC55 and PMC CX, or the Rane mp44. The review will have to cater for this. As such the review will demonstrate a mixer that should have undergone considerable R&D, testing, and DJ consultation.Appearance and functionality:Pulling the mixer from the box, the first thing we see is maybe its most attractive feature, those big, sexy EQ knobs. It’s also interesting to note that the vestax CX launched earlier this year offers this feature, also. Whether this is a trickle down effect from the units such as Rane MP44 and Alan & heath V6 mixer or feedback from DJ’s across the world is unknown, but it’s certainly a welcome sign, as personally I have difficultly with many mixers currently on the market. Connecting the mixer I stumbled across my first anomaly with the unit, the lack of ¼” jacks for the output. The mixer has the choice of XLR or RCA. Some minutes later triumphant, I emerged with some adaptor plugs and ready to play. Personally I would have forgotten about the RCA outputs and gone with ¼” jacks and XLR as adaptors are easier to come across for that transition, but I won’t digress.Finally connected and test CD playing, I was interested to see how the unit would perform using both hi-fi and studio monitors. Through hi-fi speakers it performed as well as it could under the constraints of a substandard amp and speaker set, using my Alesis M1 active monitors, the mixer truly did stand up to the hype. A full spectrum of sound from warm bass to a good kick in the mids, the highs were maybe a little dull for my liking, but this is not necessarily a down side to the mixer, they still sounded fine, just not as bright as other models. However having not heard an entry level mixer from some time it’s hard to compare how large the difference is between something like Behringer and Ecler. Compared to the Stanton SMX401 (reviewed about 12 months ago) there was no contest, you can’t go from having something like this back to something like the Stanton mixer. There would be few people in the world (if any) disappointed with how this mixer sounds. Mixing feature: Firstly the unit is capable of supplying 4 decks and 5 line ins also, obviously, mic XLR/Jack input. They line ins are arranged in H and L settings. H and L are referring to the input volume, “H” is roughly the same setting as a turntable, depending obviously on the mastered volume of the CD’s, the L settings can be used as CD inputs, but care is needed for the gain control. The up faders are arranged so that channels 1 & 4 are selectable to either left (XFA) or right (XFB) on the cross fader, while channels 2 and 3 are forced on XFA and XFB respectively. Some reviewers found this a little constrictive, but with a little thought as to what you want, there weren’t any major issues for me, however for the cost of 2 more switches, this would have been of benefit for a mixer that is aimed squarely at the club installation market.  Gains/signal & PLF meters:Looking at the mixer, you have the gains above the EQ’s then one LED light for signal, and one for peak. On top of this there’s a PLF and output LED meter. As I am a DJ that is particularly conscious of distortion, clipping and driving rigs too hard, I was a little worried that the peak LED for the channel input began to accost me with its little red light well before I had reached the hard limit of the channel. I could see this mixer being constantly at peak in most clubs and multi purpose venues from past experiences of how promoters set up their PA systems. The actual gains are superbly smooth, far more accurate and don’t over do the sound like the DJM. The PLF meter is a fantastic inclusion and a must have for any mixer worth its weight, Ecler’s does not fall short, having a monitor and a primary output meter is a nice change. However, the monitor LED should have included pre and post AUX so as DJs can match levels before mixing the track in, and not having to check levels. The headphone Jack is nicely positioned in the bottom corner out of the way of any faders or knobs, and nicely positioned for installation purposes. The adjustments are both level and PLF to mix knob control. They deliver a sharp; flat to bright sound even on my technics cans which a notoriously bass heavy. Faders:The volume faders feature both a sharp and soft selector switch for all channels. Unfortunately the two selections are too far on each end of the scale to be useful, it’s either ~80% for one eighth of the way up, or inputs 80% of the volume on the last eighth. Unfortunately a straight line fader would have complemented the mixer well. The cross fader has numerous modifications to its sound as well. First there’s the curve modification, then you can select a fade or switch to enhance the speed for scratching, then a knob to select the desired speed of cut in. Finally there’s a reverse switch for the fader. A rather hasty description of the features, as they’re very powerful for maximising a performance, but the average DJ, thy will most likely set it where they like, and leave it. A main selling feature of the mixer is the eternal magnetic cross fader that is under warranty for 5 years, A huge possibility for the company considering the abuse some DJ’s dish out to their equipment. Currently I believe most companies will cover a cross fader for 30 days on new mixers. The fader itself glides effortlessly through the travel to make scratching and cutting a breeze. Personally I found the fader to have far too little resistance, it was too willing to bounce causing possible mistakes to happen if a DJ wasn’t comfortable with it. Luckily, for people such as me, the good people at Ecler have included a second fader, this is Ecler’s normal contact fader, but is something I am more comfortable using. Since the mixer wasn’t mine I didn’t change is over to test, but it did feel tighter to move. EFX:It seems these days EFX are a necessary for bigger mixers. Ecler’s offering excels in this department. The unit features 8 effects, all changeable with a USB interface on the front panel of the mixer. The software is simple enough to use, however I found the variable components a little superfluous to be honest. I will be honest and say I didn’t spend a whole lot of time using the interface, but I feel with smart design they sound have included most of the features on 2 or 3 more knobs, or a small LCD screen on the mixer for live changes to the unit. The main feature I tweaked was the output volume for 2 of the effects. The actual effects are nothing short of funtabulous! The filter and flanger are stock standard, the Ecler offering 2 separate filters and one integrated. Ecler have made the delay very usable for cutting, the phaser and multi EFX are great to use when you’ve mastered the simpler ones. The effects are easy enough to use for someone using the mixer for the first time, and advanced enough to keep owners happy for a long time coming. To get a feel of the EFX, it would be best to see the website or go in store for a quick demo of their power. Unfortunately within the time frame I couldn’t get the midi features working on the mixer with my Korg Kaoss pad 2. Only having 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon to scramble around and find a midi cable and work out how the KP2 works in midi mode. While failing in my quest to use the midi feature, I found that the Nuo works extremely well with the external EFX unit. Using the wet and dry feature with External EFX it’s plain to see that the people at Ecler have put some thought into External units, unlike some other audio companies. Outputs:The Nuo has 2 main outputs, both controllable. The primary output is XLA only, while the second is a combination of XLA and RCA. I was a little disappointed to find on ¼” jack, but I guess you can’t have everything. Both are controlled on the face of the mixer, with the primary output having an LED meter to sight possible peak volumes and square-waving. A neat feature is the “record out” located in the very handy position on the face of the mixer, so a DJ may just come and plug in his minidisk or mp3 player and record. However that’s not the best feature. The record out is constant level out, no matter what the mixer level is doing, a performer only has to set the level on his recording device once and leave it there. In my mind this is one of the best ideas ever placed on a piece of equipment! Its smart ideas like this that is often neglected in DJ equipment. Overall:This mixer is not in the class of the Pioneer DJM 600/3000 or anywhere near it. The sound, features, built quality far surpasses anything pioneer can make in my opinion. This mixer is squarely in the market of Alan and Heath Xone 92 and the top Rane mixers. Against the Xone mixer it’s hard to make the call between the two; I think it’s personally down the individual what features you deem more important. Yes there are some personal gripes with the mixer, but in the end, it’s a beautiful piece of equipment that will please any DJ, I’m being hard on the Nuo 5 simply because it’s so damn good that the standard is raised when testing something like this.  The mixer is, in my opinion suited to a multi genre venue that takes pride in its sound quality, and wants an audio solution for their DJ’s that will last. The reason I mention this is largely due to the massive adjustment possibility of the cross-fader and volume fader, which will suit DJ’s from minimal, tech, trance, house and any scratch/hip-hop DJ too, as well as the quality of the sound. I can’t see a home DJ using all of the features, but as an individual, if you are to take into account that once you purchase this mixer you’ll never have to upgrade, it could well be worth it. The warranty on the cross fader is also a major consideration for DJ’s who like to abuse their X-Fader. If you’d like more information about the mixer or to have a demonstration of its abilities, you can go to Spank! Records on Bourke St. Darlinghurst. At a RRP of $3,000 it’s not exactly cheap and cheerful, but the good people at Spank will work hard to give you the best possible price.Rating: 4.5 out of 5The mixer was kindly donated for testing by Spank Records who are an ITM VIP partner. http://www.spankrecords.com.au.