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Stanton M.207 Mixer - Scratch Perverts

Stanton’s new M.207 mixer caters for the scratch DJs and turntablists out there.

Stanton is a household name among DJs, but it has been a while since they took a foray into the scratch mixer market. Well, all that’s changing thanks to the arrival of their new Stanton M.207 mixer. The mixer that vinyl junkies and turntablists have been waiting for, the M.207 mixer is for the vinyl purists and CD junkies who are shunning the laptop revolution in favour of old school turntablism. Scratch friendly features include individual control settings for each fader (including the crossfader) such as curve and reverse, while the long-throw faders, balanced outputs and FX would make any bedroom or club DJ happy.

Users of Stanton’s DaScratch Midi Controllers will know just how responsive Stanton’s FXGlide touch sliders are. One of these is located bang in the middle of the M.207 mixer and provides sensitive real-time control.

One slight criticism is that the integrated FX on the M.207 are a bit limited in terms of effects compared to other mixers out there. That said, most of the commonly used effects are covered and include phase/flange, echo/strobe, pan/transformer and filters. What is really interesting and quite clever about the effects on the M.207 is that they can be applied to three specific frequency bands without affecting the other frequencies via buttons located at the top of the effects control section.

To make things even more interesting, automatic BPM detection (which can also be the set manually) means the M.207 has seven beat-synchronised effects. Also found under the hood of the M.207 is a phrase and loop sampler with slots for up to five different loops or samples. The in-built sampler also makes use of the auto/manual BPM setting to make slicing up loops and triggering them an absolute breeze.

User Friendly
The design team at Stanton have done a fantastic job. The M.207 is great to look at, built like a tank and the layout is slick and user-friendly. Little things like rounded corners can go a long way to making life more pleasant.

More than just another two-channel mixer, the M.207 packs a whole heap of features and controls into a very small package yet still manages to keep a clean, spacious layout. All of the controls are nicely spaced, the knobs and switches have a lovely feel to them and are rubberised to ensure maximum grip when it’s needed most. Two 60mm faders take care of the main mixing duties, while an extra input complete allows an auxiliary input or microphone to be used. This extra input also comes complete with three-band EQ and gain.

The main two channels of the mixer provide more than enough control with knobs for a three-band EQ, gain and pan as well as an illuminated FX button. Sitting in between the channels are the FX and loop controls. 

At the very top of the controls are three buttons marked low, mid and high which set the frequencies the effects will mash-up. Below this we find three rows of three buttons dedicated to engaging the various effects, including the sampler and parameter controls.

At the bottom of the main cluster of buttons are three buttons to facilitate sampler control and a lonely BPM button stuck at the very bottom to switch between manual and auto BPM modes.

Below this main button section is an LCD display, which is used to display information on BPM, FX parameters and any other related information. On both sides of the LCD is a button. These two buttons are used to control the beat-division, either doubling or halving the current tempo.

Under the LCD is the FXGlide area with left and right LED level meters to either side of it. At the very bottom of the control area is the FX engage button and a lock button to lock the FXGlide controls and stop them being changed accidentally; a nice solution to one of the perils of touch-technology.

Cased in a heavyweight metal box that will take a battering for years to come, the Stanton M.207 provides is a massive set of tools for scratch DJs and the more experimental club DJs to get seriously creative. All of the controls are exactly where they should be, while the FX and integrated sampler are easy to learn and operate.

Verdict

Price   £349.95
Contact   stantondj.com
Build Quality
  4.5
Ease of Use   4.0
Features   4.0
Value for Money   4.0
Sound Quality   4.0
Hype   In-built sampler, unique twists on standard effects and an ultra-sexy FXGlide control make this perfect for turntablists.
Gripe   At this price there’s nothing major to gripe about, but a larger LCD display would have been nice.
Conclusion   A high quality, durable and responsive effects mixer, the Stanton M.207 gives pro performance and reliability at a very reasonable price.
Overall Score   4/5
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