Studio monitoring through a DJ mixer?

songa · 14th February 2008

hey guys, i got a question regarding sound quality with my setup revolving around my DJ mixer. it is a quality mixer however, the Rane TTM-56.

the centerpiece of my setup is the Rane TTM 56. I have my KRK RP5's coming from the main outs of that mixer. I do my mixing down in Pro Tools, which I am using the MBox 1 for. The outputs of the MBox is going to the line inputs of my Rane TTM 56. When mixing in headphones, I often use the headphone outs of my Rane as well.

my concern is, does going through this Rane mixer impede sound quality? Would I be better off connecting my monitors to the outputs of the MBox directly, as well as my headphones through the MBox directly as well? I'm sure this also depends on the quality of the mixer; does anybody know how good the Rane TTM 56 is in terms of sound quality?

Now i also know that, the more things connected in the chain, the more the sound degrades, thus resulting in lower sound quality. but how much of this degradation is actually coming from the use of the hardware itself (the Rane mixer)?

Thank you!

sectiond · 1st February 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by songa

hey guys, i got a question regarding sound quality with my setup revolving around my DJ mixer. it is a quality mixer however, the Rane TTM-56.

the centerpiece of my setup is the Rane TTM 56. I have my KRK RP5's coming from the main outs of that mixer. I do my mixing down in Pro Tools, which I am using the MBox 1 for. The outputs of the MBox is going to the line inputs of my Rane TTM 56. When mixing in headphones, I often use the headphone outs of my Rane as well.

my concern is, does going through this Rane mixer impede sound quality? Would I be better off connecting my monitors to the outputs of the MBox directly, as well as my headphones through the MBox directly as well? I'm sure this also depends on the quality of the mixer; does anybody know how good the Rane TTM 56 is in terms of sound quality?

Now i also know that, the more things connected in the chain, the more the sound degrades, thus resulting in lower sound quality. but how much of this degradation is actually coming from the use of the hardware itself (the Rane mixer)?

Thank you!

same to me here..i want my xone 92 for studio monitoring as i do everything in the box and my hardware devices are directly inserted in the daw with an i/o plugin.

dugan03 · 1st February 2012

these boards make people worry about way too much extraneous crap. the rane is a good, clean mixer. if you had a perfectly treated room with state of the art gear, this kind of thing might be worth thinking about, but you wouldn't be monitoring through your dj mixer in that case anyway.

just make sure you have the appropriate channel fader all the way up, the gain trim down as low as it can go, and use only the master volume to control the levels you hear from your monitors.

markosmo · 1st February 2012

I think the eqs of some dj mixers even when at zero/null still eq the sound abit. I have read this about the AH xone mixers

Hardtoe · 1st February 2012

Just ask Ethan...

jrides · 1st February 2012

The term studio gets used far too often.

LeoLeoLeo · 1st February 2012

If me, which I am, I would connect mbox to the speakers. Run rane into the mbox.

Just a un needed gain stage. It will work fine if set up correctly.

If you have a fixed level/non variable in & outs on your gear... Use em. They are not there on accident.

****another example of sorts

002's have the 4 mic/line in with a variable pot & 4 fixed gain line in.

If using an external mic pre, it's better "I think" to go into the fixed in rather than the variable in.

KT1 · 2nd February 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeoLeoLeo

If me, which I am, I would connect mbox to the speakers. Run rane into the mbox.

Just a un needed gain stage. It will work fine if set up correctly.

If you have a fixed level/non variable in & outs on your gear... Use em. They are not there on accident.

****another example of sorts

002's have the 4 mic/line in with a variable pot & 4 fixed gain line in.

If using an external mic pre, it's better "I think" to go into the fixed in rather than the variable in.

^^ this

14th February 2008	#1
songa Gear interested Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 11 Thread Starter	Studio monitoring through a DJ mixer? hey guys, i got a question regarding sound quality with my setup revolving around my DJ mixer. it is a quality mixer however, the Rane TTM-56. the centerpiece of my setup is the Rane TTM 56. I have my KRK RP5's coming from the main outs of that mixer. I do my mixing down in Pro Tools, which I am using the MBox 1 for. The outputs of the MBox is going to the line inputs of my Rane TTM 56. When mixing in headphones, I often use the headphone outs of my Rane as well. my concern is, does going through this Rane mixer impede sound quality? Would I be better off connecting my monitors to the outputs of the MBox directly, as well as my headphones through the MBox directly as well? I'm sure this also depends on the quality of the mixer; does anybody know how good the Rane TTM 56 is in terms of sound quality? Now i also know that, the more things connected in the chain, the more the sound degrades, thus resulting in lower sound quality. but how much of this degradation is actually coming from the use of the hardware itself (the Rane mixer)? Thank you!

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1st February 2012	#3
dugan03 Gear Head Joined: Feb 2009 Posts: 73	these boards make people worry about way too much extraneous crap. the rane is a good, clean mixer. if you had a perfectly treated room with state of the art gear, this kind of thing might be worth thinking about, but you wouldn't be monitoring through your dj mixer in that case anyway. just make sure you have the appropriate channel fader all the way up, the gain trim down as low as it can go, and use only the master volume to control the levels you hear from your monitors.

1st February 2012	#4
markosmo Gear Head Joined: Feb 2011 Posts: 64	I think the eqs of some dj mixers even when at zero/null still eq the sound abit. I have read this about the AH xone mixers

1st February 2012	#5
Hardtoe Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2007 Location: Saskatchewan / Canada Posts: 1,945	Just ask Ethan...

1st February 2012	#6
jrides Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2004 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 1,125	The term studio gets used far too often.

1st February 2012	#7
LeoLeoLeo Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2009 Location: Memphis, TN Posts: 1,756	If me, which I am, I would connect mbox to the speakers. Run rane into the mbox. Just a un needed gain stage. It will work fine if set up correctly. If you have a fixed level/non variable in & outs on your gear... Use em. They are not there on accident. ****another example of sorts 002's have the 4 mic/line in with a variable pot & 4 fixed gain line in. If using an external mic pre, it's better "I think" to go into the fixed in rather than the variable in.