Vestax PCM 280 vs. Pioneer DJM 600/700 vs. Allen & Heath Xone 42

jono.p

Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2010
Hi guys..

Looking for some advice. Having placed a bet that my boys in blue would win the FA and Champions League, which was ridiculous odds I've come into a bit of wedge and I'm looking to upgrade my mixer. I'm working on an Allen & Heath Xone 32 at the moment, which is a quality mixer. Its the only one I know of having "punch in" buttons so you can stab in a track without touching the levels. But I'm need of an extra channel and more effects. The filters the 32 has are fantastic and having a fader rather than a turn knob to control the effect frequency is really fun to play with but of course the next mixers up have more to offer.

Anyway, time for an upgrade!

So.. I'm looking at either the Vestax PCM 280, a pioneer DJM 600 or 700 or an Allen & Heath Xone 42. Unfortunately I can't really look to fork out for a DJM 800 or the Allen & Heath 62 or 92. So here's what I know about each one:

* Vestax PCM 280 - This mixer seems incredible value. I've had a play on a mates and it has an insane amount of effects for £400 new.

* Pioneers DJM 600 or 700 - Obviously these mixers have a great amount of effects too. I'm not too sure on the difference between the two having not mixed on either. There's about £150-200 difference in price. I'm not sure if the 600 beat matches the effects the same as the 700? But both of these are more expensive than the vestax, so the question is wether they are worthit?

* Allen & Heath Xone 42 - I know from experience that Allen & Heath make incredible mixers which do their job to a very high level but similarly to the 32 I have now, there's not much in the way of effects except for the amazing filters. I'm sure it mixes very well and it is a bit cheaper than the Pioneers.

So at the moment I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to look for. So I'm hoping that anyone with any knowledge or experience with any of these can offer some advice. Also if there are any others that I should be looking at in the same price range I'm open to suggestions.

So.. oh wise dnbforumers... enlighten me!

EDIT: If anyone's interested in the 32 (shown in my sig) and wants to make an offer hit me up! There will of course be a dnbforum discount!
 
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Look on eBay for a zone 92 or 62. I got mine for a bit under £700. It's quite a bit more than the others but the filters are just too good!
But if your more after effects get a pioneer, I used to have a djm600 and it is a really good mixer. The effects did sync up with the tunes as well and there's a button u can tap a few times to set the nom in case it can't read it very well.
Any pioneer or a&h is going to be a good mixer.
I prefer a&h for the filters but if your mainly after effects get a pioneer
 
I recently bought a Xone 62 in Graphite on ebay for £430. Just wait for the right deal. Go for a Xone 42/62/92 as the filters are all you'll need for mixing. Effects aren't really that useful for dnb.
 
I know you said you can't go for it right now, but honestly mate I would save up a little longer and grab a 900nexus. I picked 1 up last month and its the best thing to happen to dj'ing. Ive recently turned away a bit from my drums towards house & garage, the effects (shit loads of them, check out the xpad) can do so many wonders.
 
Right I've been looking at this all day and I'm still stuck. Thanks for the advice guys.

It seems the A&Hs are very very good at what they do, built for purpose. Features like the EQs cutting off frequencies all together are very useful and the filters are rated very highly. The Nexus looks amazing but its just too much. Maybe that will be the next upgrade.

The Pioneers on the other hand have a lot more to play with. I know you don't need much for mixing dnb but surely having loops, rolls, effects makes for a fun mix.
 
Right I've been looking at this all day and I'm still stuck. Thanks for the advice guys.

It seems the A&Hs are very very good at what they do, built for purpose. Features like the EQs cutting off frequencies all together are very useful and the filters are rated very highly. The Nexus looks amazing but its just too much. Maybe that will be the next upgrade.

The Pioneers on the other hand have a lot more to play with. I know you don't need much for mixing dnb but surely having loops, rolls, effects makes for a fun mix.

True, but it's a lot more difficult to make it sound good and not over do effects on dnb
 
never used the filters on a xone, only played on one twice in a local club but couldnt figure it out and wasa bit scared to try it live. not really too sure how it all works
 
pioneer 600 sound is shite
700 is decent, 800 wins all day but its expensive..
allen n heath sound is quality but you're limited to what you can actually do with them, twiddling filters gets boring and predictable after a bit
 
A&H best build and sound quality but not the most fun mixers to use - yes the filters allow you to mix like Andy C blah blah


That said, out of the choices you put up in the title I'd take the Allen & Heath. Pioneer 800 is the only Pioneer mixer I would get. Want to get a Rane at some point.
 
Thing with the 800, is its now around 5 years old. Its old technology, thats why they have released an 700/850/900Nexus to go co-ordinately with cdj850/900's.
 
The best combo, imo, is a dvs system with an A+H, then you got all your effects, perfect sound, and quality filters, best all round choice
 
Thing with the 800, is its now around 5 years old. Its old technology, thats why they have released an 700/850/900Nexus to go co-ordinately with cdj850/900's.

Probably the same internals with a few more gimmicks and different aesthetics.

Sidenote: all Pioneer DJ gear is hideously overpriced
 
Actually look it up rather than just saying probably. Has brand new internals and soundcard etc. Honestly, its a brilliant bit of kit, dicks on the 800. And so it bloody should for that damage.
 
I couldn't be bothered to look it up quite frankly, but I will look up how much it costs (DJM 900)... 1600 pounds LOLOLOL

In all seriousness though it's probably a sick piece of kit, but fuck ever paying that for a Pioneer mixer, or any mixer tbh
 
In my opinion the Allen and Heath Xone 62 is the best mixer I've ever used. The 42 wasn't bad but didn't really like the layout (I might be a bit biased though as I've used a 62 for a long time). Not a fan of any Pioneer as they sound rubbish in comparison. Never used the Vestax PMC280 but looks like a nice little mixer for the money, plus from what I've used of them Vestax mixers are fairly well built.

So, in my opinion I'd go for a second hand / b stock Xone 62. I've had mine over 4 years and the only work I've had to do on it was to change the up faders.

Might need to start a new thread for this but has anyone else noticed a slight drop in quality with Allen and Heath since D&M Holdings (Denon) took over? I've used the graphite 22, 42 and 62 but thought they wasn't as well built as the old silver 32, 62 or 92. Maybe it's just in my head.
 
Right.. trying to pull a consensus out of this is pretty difficult. Clearly there's a divide between A&H and Pioneer. One thing I can establish is that I definately wont get the djm 600.

On the Pioneer front most of you say the djm 800 is either the best or the only one worth getting. But sparkdatzoot has got a good point; the 700 is a newer model. The 900 is obviously the best but its just too expensive right now having only come out last year. The 700 seems to have all of the same processing and almost all of the features as the 800 but also has things it doesn't, like midi control and some extra looping features.

From the XONEs again of course the top model, the 92 is the best. I've used my mates and its an outstanding mixer but again its just too much right now. Either this or the Pioneer 900 will probably be the next upgrade. So really I'd be looking at a 42. I've really got no space or need for 6 channels on the 62 although I'm sure its a great mixer.

The Vestax keeps on nagging me. It just seems such good value, with a lot of the effects the Pioneer has and features like 'kill switch' eqs which the A&Hs have. But A&Hs and Pioneers are industry standard really so it pays to be familiar with them. I've never seen a Vestax used in a club.

So... it seems like its between the A&H 42 and Pioneer 700 or 800 if it really is superior.

---------- Post added at 16:33 ---------- Previous post was at 15:54 ----------

Ok just got off the blower to Pioneer.. They said the signal processing for analogue input in the 700 and 800 is exactly the same so for mixing on Technics there will be no difference. But the 800 has digital processing all the way through to the output so you can keep it a pure digital signal the entire way though to the speakers. Other than that the 800 has one or two more effects and you can apply them to channels individually, unlike the 700.
 
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