Review: Carvin Pro-Mix7 DJ mixer...

[Wolfie]

Folks, I appreciate your interest in this review.

For the sake of keeping a long story short, I'll omit the technical specifications. The specs may be found at Carvin's website in case anyone is interested.

This unit is a 19" 5U DJ mixer. Dimensions are 19" by 8.5" by 3.5" deep. Weight: 15 lb. Internal switching power supply set for 120 volts AC, 60 Hz input. Manufacturer: Carvin. Country of origin: USA. Cost: $300.00 less shipping from Carvin, San Diego. Condition: New.

AC power may be set for 120 volts 60Hz or 240 volts 50Hz. A six-foot three-prong grounded AC cord is included. The main power switch is on the back of the unit, accessible only from the rear when rack mounted.

Mic ins are balanced XLR and 1/4", user's choice and offer gain and level controls. Gain may be set for unity and level may be adjusted when necessary. Three individual mic EQs are three-band -- high, mid and low. Mics may be switched in or out. Each mic channel offers an LED to let you know the mic is live. Effects processing will be covered later but it is assignable to the mics. A talkover switch is provided with LED when on.

Each line-in channel offers a line/phono switch to the left of the gain pot. I found this to be a nice feature. All 4 channels offer gain pots, three-band EQ pots and A or B (or both) crossfader selector buttons with LEDs to indicate a channel has been assigned. Channel faders have a 4 LED meter each. -12, 0, +12 and peak dB. There is a good deal of elbow room in these faders for adjustment without going into clip. Fader knobs are U-shaped and large enough to manage easily with no flopping around.

As I mentioned previously, the crossfader is not field-replaceable. It may be replaced if needed upon removal of the unit casing. It does seem to be of good quality and has a nice feel to it as do the channel faders. The master fader is no exception.

The Mono switch is silent when switched and is located directly below the master meter LEDs. I would have preferred to see an LED to indicate Mono mode but that's not an obstacle to the overall performance.

Monitor mix and blend section: We will quite likely have no need for this option but it's there. It is adjustable from Master to the left to Cue to the right. A cue mics switch is included as well. Monitor level sends a very strong signal to the heaphones jack with excellent tonal response.

Aux output: Here we have an XLR jack for a sub amp with level control. A crossover switch inserts a 3rd order filter to the sub output jack. It is rolled off at 150 Hz. A zone source switch is included for booth or monitor level needs.

Digital effects: Input level control, peak/bypass LED, output and effect selector controls are offered. The effect select control is a single pot that handles echo, reverb, chorus and flanging regions. I like the simplicity and ease of this feature. The parameter pot changes time of delay, decay length of reverb and depth of chorus or flange. At first glance this area seems daunting but it's quite easy to set up to one's liking. I used the headphones and mic to experiment with these features. Results are quite impressive. Line ins may be run through the effects as well as all mics if desired. There is a bypass switch to shut off the effects if needed.

Master and Record out RCA jacks are on the rear of the unit. 1/4" zone out and monitor jacks are included. Main outs are balanced XLR and 1/4". A 12 volt BNC jack for an optional mixer light is not offered.

Overall sound quality and dynamic headroom is excellent. The EQ pots offer more dynamic range boost or cut than is typically needed. Effects controls offer the same extended reach. We are very pleased with this mixer.

I trust this review has been helpful.