The Buggy Fader Problem

When it comes to mixers, I'm very suspicious about Gemini's PMX-15A ScratchMaster.

Everytime I get one, my friggin fader goes out! I bought a new fader and it's been lasting damn long! Now it might not be the mixer, it might be the store which sold it to me. See, I had this paranoid suspecion that the m anager's and employees removed the cross fader and replaced it with an old one so as to make up for someone else's faulty mixer. Then I got sold the mixer with the old fader and Shazam! A fugged up piece of schitt. Buy your equipment carefully D J's. Not all Gemini's are bad though, especially with such a nice price tag they usually have on them. The mixer you see above is the exact one I have, them PMX 15A.

DJ PJ reiterates,
"I agree with you on gemini mixers, I have pmx-1000 (not sure about that model number I am too lazy to get up and look), any how its a 19inch model not a 10inch model. I would really like to get a smaller one. My crossfader got very scratchy right after I got it too. I took it back and the place I bought it from replaced it for free, but about 2 weeks later it happened again. Now I just clean it out about every week and it works so-so. To clean it I use Audio/Vision equipment cleaning spray, it costs $10 a bottle but its worth it."

and so does DJ Side One
"...What I recommend to all the headz without loot is to clean ther own shit and customize . You can change the resistance of the fader so it's not that hard to move. Q-Tips are good to use to clean them. As for the switch, take off the cover and blow in the switch with it in both positions. Try these things and see if they work for you. It saves me in my pockets everytime. I clean probably a day before a party i'm scratchin up.

It seems that John Carrillo also agrees about certain Gemini mixers being kinda bad. He suggested that I try the RANE MP 24 Mixer since, according to him, it's better than the Numarks and the faders are replaceable. The Gemini faders are replaceable too, at least the popular PMX models are. When I grabbed a new fader for it, it hasn't really failed me yet. But all my transformers, even my phono/line switch are all bugged and scratchy. Basically screwed, which kinda pissed me off. I need to get a mixer with a sampler so I can go beat crazy.

Dallas, after inquiring about myself had this to add,
" My friend's had a Rane MP-24 for several years now, and since I sold my Gemini XL-DD20's to help pay the rent a few years back, I've practiced at his place. I mainly mix Jungle/Drum 'n' Bass, and my mixing style is based mainly on long, smooth mixes, but I've done a little scratching and cutting. First, it should be noted that only the Rane MP-24's built within the past two (or three?) years have removable faders. I found that the Rane's fader was very smooth (only a Cloud I've used has been smoother), but also longer than any other I've seen or used. The length of it made it a bit more difficult to cut sharply, and since the phono/line switches are in the form of knobs, I couldn't use those too effectively. The Rane does have excellent sound quality, however, and a clean, well-spaced design that Numark has only recently caught up to. It made it easy to use the Rane's three-turntable capability."

Gemini Again...
Xavier Mandeng says,
"The last good mixer I feel they made, for the money was the PMX-10 scratch master. It was $60 bucks. And frankly, that was all it was worth. I've used all kinds of Geminis over the years. Frankly, for the money you pay for a "good" one, you could spring for a much better model of something else. A top of the line Gemini might run about $200 bucks. But it'll break (given). $50 dollars more will get you a GLI5000. Especially if your a hip hop DJ, you'll like how it handles. You won't mind not having a useless level monitor, eq's etc. Instead, its a solid piece of equipment that'll last longer than the average DJ's career.
Moreover, the sound quality dies within a year. If your on channel A, you hear channel B coming out of the main (kinda kills the notion of a mixer).
There are dozens of reputable equipment makers out there. Who make good stuff that lasts. It may be a bit more expenive. But your paying for the cost of a supeior design.
Basically, my point is, save your money. Never buy anything Gemini unless you hav to. It's like burning cash.
Just my 2 cents. "

Numark, could it be the right move?

DJ Schmove told me about the Numark DM1100X Mixer. He said if it had a sampler it would be every DJ's dream. Hmm... I heard Numark made good mixers (and the Numark turntable I played with wasn't half bad either -- not sure which model). He also said the Denon Cassette/CD combo unit is supposed to be pretty phat too.