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Gemini UMX-3
by Gary Tayman
Allow me to be the first to review this mixer. I've been using one of these for a few years -- and although it's among the "inexpensive" variety, and have considered upgrading, I have yet to find anything suitable at ANY reasonable price to replace it with.
Whenever I set up a system for DJ, my philosophy is the ... KISS method -- keep it simple stupid. The fewer controls, and the easier it's laid out, the fewer mistakes you make and the quicker you can recover from them. This is a very basic DJ mixer -- one on the left, one on the right, one cross fader, and one mike control that overrides it all. There are no tone controls, but who needs them? I've got an equalizer in the rack with my amp. As for cueing, notice there's a second, smaller crossfader to the right -- that's for the headphones. That's the whole shebang -- it's easy to use, easy to locate the controls, uncluttered, and it works well.
There's another plus, which you don't often see in the inexpensive mixers. This unit has a control to adjust the contour of the crossfader. I hate it when one input fades out before the other starts to come in -- I prefer full volume on both in the center. The contour on this model is continually adjustable.
But here's the part that sets this one apart from the others -- there are THREE sets of outputs. It has a master output with level control, a zone output with level control, and a third "REC" output that's simply a line level output. I never use the REC output, but I indeed use the zone, probably more often than the master.
With the master, I set it up so I can monitor levels with the LED VU display. I set my amp levels accordingly. However, sometimes I connect this to someone else's system, sometimes by itself or sometimes in addition to mine. For other systems I use the zone outputs -- I set the level to match the other system, but the VU levels don't change -- and later when I reconnect to my own, it's set up just like before. I have also used the zone outputs for recording sound into my computer.
In all, this unit fits my needs, no more, no less.
Now for the bad part: I've had it for a few years, and I've begun to hear a little noise -- mainly from the "Cueing" crossfader into the headphones. Someday I'll get in there and clean it. This is probably not unique to this model or brand, but I'm mentioning it anyway. The other thing, which is why I've been looking in vain for an upgrade, is the footprint -- it's kinda big for what it is. The size is nice for operation, but a bit large when trying to stuff it with two turntables and a CD player into a casket. Ideally I would like a smaller version of the same thing -- but since it doesn't exist, I'll continue using this one.
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Gemini UMX-5
by kenmcg8
The Gemini UMX-5 is a great beginer economic mixer. It has alot of options that some of the hi-end expensive mixers have. When I was in the market for a Mixer, I looked at alot of different ones. As far as the options on the Gemini, it had all of the options that I was looking for. It has a Crossfader reverse switch, it as a ... Crossfader curve, and it has a 3 band equilizer. When looking at the Gemini UMX-5 is the same style as the Vestax-06ProA. They have pretty much the same options, other then the Vextax-06ProA only has a 2 band EQ, and the Gemini UMX-5 has a 3 band EQ. The Gemini does not have the quality crossfader, and input faders as the Vestax, but the price of the Gemini is alot less then the Vestax. The thing with the Gemini is that if you were to set it up on a loud system, the sound might not be that clear. But if you are looking for a mixer to plug turntables and practice in your own home, the Gemini UMX-5 is an excelent choice
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Gemini PMX-140
by laylo
I owned a pmx-140 for about two years and it served me proud in that time. Unfortunately, I took the mixer to a gig once and some git nicked it at the end of the night which was highly irritating. The word to describe this mixer is value. There are better mixers that do the same things but they cost a lot more. If ... you're just starting out this could be the mixer for you. Firstly the mixer has gain switches on the two channels, although this is fairly standard on all mixers. On my PMX-140 I found that the left hand channel was a little quieter than the right. Of course, the gain switches are there for the precise calibration of the levels so don't go misinterpreting the above as criticism.
The pmx-140 is a two channel mixer but has four inputs, two per channel, allowing you to hook up your cd player or minidisc to ad effects or idents to your mix but again this is standard practice. (For non-djs, one channel will come from one turntable, the other channel from the other turntable <duh!>)
There are equalisers on both channels, allowing you to manipulate bass, mids, and treble to improve your mix. Also on both channels are kill switches for bass, mids and treble. This allows you to remove one or more of a track's elements which can make some cool effects. eg you can use the bass of one track on the left turntable with the mids and treble of the track on the right turntable. The kills can be locked on by pushing them one way or, by pushing the other way, flicked on and off quickly which is a cool effect. If you practice you can actually play them like little piano keys! On some mixers the kill switches are small and fiddly but not here; they're just the right size. Having said this, the kill switches could 'kill' a bit better. To get rid of all traces of the bass, for example, it works better if you turn the bass equaliser down in conjunction with the bass kill switch.
The crossfader ha
s a reverse switch, also known as a hamster switch. This is used for scratching effects because in hamster mode you can make more sounds when performing crabs or transforms. The crossfader also has a curve adjust switch. Please note that while you can use this mixer for scratching there are mixers with more scratch friendly crossfaders on the market. The crossfader is adequate but, like all the faders on this mixer, they don't feel solid or smooth enough to really let fly on them like a scratch freak would.
I do not wish to put in doubt the quality of this mixer. I had mine for nearly two years and the only problem I encountered was a little crackle on the crossfader and, as I'm a drum and bass dj, I tend to give the crossfader a good hammering.
Did I mention that it has punch buttons? It has punch buttons but if you use them you're sad. Use the fader you wimp.
Overall a good buy for a beginner or a bedroom dj.
NB If you're just starting out trust me when I say too many toys on a mixer. Try mixing without any of the gizmos until you've got the feel for mixing. To be any good at mixing you should be able to manage with two upfaders and that's it. Being able to use the extras when they're available is a bonus. Believe me, you'll thank me when you get your big break in a club and the mixer is a piece of crap or when you're in a pirate radio studio with a dodgy geezer looking over your shoulder you don't want to say "What no kaos pad?"
Peace
Laylo
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