Rane return with another class leading battle mixer!

When Rane revealed the Seventy Two mixer back in late 2017, the turntablist market was thrilled to see Rane responding to the incredible success of the Pioneer DJ DJM-S9. The Seventy-two, however, was a bit of different beast. Complete with internal screens, touch-sensitive controls and a larger chassis.

A technological masterpiece, sure, but a little complicated and big when compared to the simple S9. With that in mind, a lot of DJ’s were hoping for an update to the original Sixty Two mixer from Rane, the battle mixer that defined an era. Enter the Seventy.

The Seventy mixer has some significant shoes to fill then. But given the fact the S9 mixer from rivals Pioneer is now quite old and in need of an update. The timing couldn’t be better for Rane to take back control.

So the question remains. Is the Seventy good enough to regain Rane’s chokehold on the battle mixer market, or will the S9 continue to be a thorn in Rane’s side? Let’s find out!

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The Build

Rane has always produced well-built products, and the Seventy is no exception. With the textured black steel construction used throughout with the front panel protected by large chunky grab handles, the Seventy is a mixer built for life on the road. The layout and design are instantly recognisable as Rane, sharing the same style of controls used throughout all the Rane battle mixers.

The Seventy even shares the same diecast aluminium reversible effect paddles from the Seventy Two mixer. With many of the original sixty series mixers still alive and in use to this date, we have no doubt the Seventy will be a long-lasting mixer, the weapon of choice for battle DJ’s on the road. 

The Faders

Making their debut on the Seventy are the Magfade Four series faders. These new fully adjustable faders are contactless and feature external adjustment controls on the crossfader. These feel great in hand and will allow DJ’s fine-tune the mixer to suit their scratching style.

Another area for potential failure is the performance pads, with 8 per side these take the majority of finger drumming abuse. Rane has reached out to sister company Akai here for assistance. Deciding to fit their performance pads, lifted straight from the Akai’s MPC range, you can be sure the pads in the Seventy are the best on the market. Offering great response, feel and durability.

Connectivity

The Rane Seventy is a mixer built around the use of Serato DJ software. It’s no surprise then to find two USB B inputs on the rear of the device for seamless back to back DJ’ing. The seventy also features two USB A ports for the connection of the Rane Twelve controllers. The mixer features 2 channels, with switchable phono/line level RCA inputs and line level auxiliary inputs.

A further auxilary channel can be found in the Session inputs and outputs. These carry their own volume controls on the top of the mixer and are usually used for daisy chaining mixers together but can be used as a basic third channel for line level inputs.

The microphone inputs

Two combo XLR/TRS jacks are found on the rear of the mixer for connecting two microphone inputs. These can be switched to line level should the MC’s be using wireless microphones with a dedicated base station. Mic 1’s settings can be changed on the top of the mixer with level and tone knobs. The echo can be applied via the button.

Mic two has the same controls but on the front of the unit, with echo being a manual control knob too. Balanced XLR connections handle the master output solely with no unbalanced RCA option to be found. As for the booth output, a standard pair of TRS jack connections are used.

Performance Features

Unlike its bigger brother the Seventy Two, the Seventy mixer doesn’t feature high-resolution colour touchscreens. Instead, we find a small OLED unit in the centre of the unit, displaying the key information about effects. The Seventy can take full advantage of the software effects that come part of Serato DJ. However, software effects are useless when mixing external sources.

Mixer Effects

Rane has included six “flex” effects in the Seventy mixer. These Flex effects are echo, reverb, brake, flanger, phaser and delay. All of the effects sound great and most importantly, all of them work post-fader. The auto BPM detection works well, but a dedicated TAP button is included should you need to fine-tune the timing of the effects. You can also use the time scroll knob to manually dial in your effect tempo too if needed. 

The Paddles

To apply the effects you can either push the diecast aluminium paddles forward for momentary application or pull them towards you to lock the effect on.

These high-quality paddles can be rotated 180 degrees to reverse their lock/temporary positions should you wish. 

The Pads

As we’ve previously mentioned, Rane has fitted 16 high-quality performance pads to the Seventy mixer. These are split eight per side and can be used for hot cues, saved loops, rolls, sampler and transport. The transport controls are especially nice, allowing the DJ to control the speed and playback of the virtual decks inside Serato DJ with the pads. The Seventy allows the use of independent pad modes, so you can have channel one’s pads controlling hot cues, whilst channel two is using roll.

This is a great feature and one that’s missing from the rival S9 mixer. 

Instant Doubles

Another unique feature of the Seventy is the new instant doubles button. These two buttons can be used to either trigger an instant double, toggle sync or even turn silent cues on. We can see this button being used in so many creative ways, and it’ll be exciting to see how DJ’s can use this feature best.

Looping

Finally, it’s worth noting the dedicated loop sections for both decks. Enabling DJ’s to activate auto loops, half and double them or a manual loop using the shift buttons. Not groundbreaking technology but essential for creative mixing and allows the DJ to have the performance pads free for other uses!

Conclusion

The Rane Seventy is an extremely good battle mixer, and one that we feel will sell very well. From it’s the intuitive layout, to its high-quality finish, it’s clear that Rane has listened to the market and produced a no-nonsense battle mixer that’s ready for the road.

We have been impressed by the new instant doubles buttons, the onboard effects and it’s great sound quality.

With a street price of $1499, the Seventy is around $200 dollars cheaper than the Pioneer DJ DJM S9, a mixer that is really starting to show it’s age. The mixers may look very similar at first glance, but the updated performance features and Rane build quality should now see the Seventy become the battle mixer of choice at this price point.

So if you’re in the market for a battle mixer that’s not over complicated, the Rane Seventy is a fantastic choice. We look forward to seeing the routines and sets this mixer will undoubtedly be at the heart of in the upcoming years.

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