7 of the Best Battle Mixers – For All Budgets!
Top scratch mixers from Pioneer DJ, Rane, Numark, Reloop, and more.
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Scratch DJs need a special kind of DJ mixer. In the market for a new one – or your first? These are the best battle mixers on the market today.
Best Battle Mixers
Rotary mixers may be having a moment these days but if you’re a scratch DJ with a focus on turntablism, those knobs are only going to slow you down. You need a two-channel battle mixer (also known as a scratch mixer) with faders, especially a crossfader, and one that’s going to stand up to repeated use. Your mixer will also need to have a clean and spacious bottom third to ensure that you’re not accidentally triggering samples or flipping switches in the heat of the battle moment.
Whether you’re just getting started on your scratch journey with a limited budget or you’re a seasoned veteran with money to burn, here are seven of the best battle mixers available today organized by price.
Best Battle Mixers: Reloop RMX-10BT
Reloop offers a variety of DJ products, with some excellent selections at the affordable end of the spectrum. If you’re a budget-minded beginner or just want to save your bucks for turntables, check out Reloop’s RMX-10BT.
This two-channel mixer may be minimal but it’s got pretty much everything you need. Both channels can take phono or aux inputs, with a three-band EQ for each one. The 45mm crossfader is user replaceable – essential if you’re doing a lot of practicing – and the channel faders are smooth. It’s also got Bluetooth, meaning you can pair it with your phone to play backing tracks while you scratch on the other channel. Perfect if you only have one turntable.
RMX-10BT is also extremely affordable, making it one of the best battle mixers.
- Reloop RMX-10BT product page
Best Battle Mixers: Ecler NUO 2.0
Ecler might be best known for its rotary mixers but it also makes a battle mixer, NUO 2.0, with a great price. It also has gorgeous sound, as you might expect from a company with a line of mixers called Warm.
NUO 2.0 is a slim, two-channel DJ mixer with three-band full-cut EQ on each channel, three-band EQ kill switches, plus phono and line inputs. Both the VCA channel faders and VCA crossfader (each 45mm long) have adjustable shapes, plus additional cut in and reverse on the crossfader.
NUO 2.0 will also accept Ecler’s Eternal crossfader, which uses an advanced kind of inductive fad technology based on magnetic control.
- Ecler NUO 2.0 product page
Best Battle Mixers: Numark Scratch
So far, the scratch mixers we’ve looked at have been fairly bare bones, at least in terms of modern technology. If you scratch on CDJs instead of turntables, or you use a DVS system, you’re going to want something more up to date. If you’re also concerned about cash flow, look no further than the Numark Scratch.
The name should be a clue as to who this two-channel mixer is aimed at. Developed for the modern scratch DJ, it features not only a solid mixer section with Innofader crossfader and three-band EQ per channel, it’s also 24-bit digital, meaning it works with software; Serato DJ Pro is bundled and it’s Serato DVS ready. It’s also got performance pads, built-in effects, a dedicated loop encoder, plus plenty of connectivity including USB for working with your computer and software.
- Numark Scratch product page
Best Battle Mixers: Reloop Elite
The Reloop Elite is an extremely well-regarded scratch mixer. Although it’s not cheap, it can really hold its own given all that it can do and when compared to other, similarly specced battle mixers.
Advertised as a high-performance DVS mixer for Serato DJ Pro and developed in collaboration with turntable artists, Reloop Elite offers three Innofader faders, all with adjustable fader curves, 16 RGB pads, three levels with 12 performance modes including Hot Cue, Loop Roll, Slicer, and Sampler, three assignable effects slots, and two high-contrast OLED screens to display real-time information for effects, BPM, beat parameters, and the setup menu.
Elite even includes two Serato control records, making it a great option for DJs and one of the best battle mixers in its price range.
- Reloop Elite product page
Best Battle Mixers: Rane Seventy-Two MKII
Rane has a long and storied history making audio products for clubs. Seventy-Two MKII is the company’s top battle mixer. Released in 2017, it’s just about time for a refresh but it’s still a solid mixer – a solid steel mixer, in fact, with construction that’s “built like a tank,” according to Rane.
Seventy-Two MKII has all of the features that you would expect from a scratch mixer of this caliber. It sports three Mag Four tension adjustable faders, 16 Akai Professional MPC-style pads, Serato control and Scartch Bank access, a 4.3-inch color touchscreen interface displaying moving waveforms from Serato DJ Pro, two metal paddles for controlling up to six stacked Serato FX plus internal Flex FX, an SP-8 Sampler, and much more.
- Rane Seventy product page
Best Battle Mixers: Pioneer DJ DJM-S11
The undisputed champion of the fully featured battle mixer, Pioneer DJ’s DJM-S11 is generally regarded (as much of its gear tends to be) as the best of the best. It’s not cheap – Pioneer DJ/AlphaTheta never is – but there’s a reason that it’s the industry standard.
The DJM-S11 is a two-channel, four-deck battle mixer with both Serato (and DVS) as well as rekordbox support. Most scratch DJs will want to go with Serato but it’s nice to have the option. It features a 4.3-inch customizable touchscreen, an effects section with 22 Beat FX, eight performance pads per channel, an enhanced Magvel Fader Pro crossfader with boosted vertical rigidity, plus 64-bit DSP sound and a 32-bit D/A at the output stage.
- Pioneer DJ DJM-S11 product page
Best Battle Mixers: Formula Sound FF2.2L
What happens when you combine the considerable talents of Formula Sound with Funktion One? You get the FF2.2L, a two-channel turntable-focused mixer with absolutely incredible sound.
What you see is what you get with the FF2.2L, including two channels, each with four bands of EQ, high- and lowpass filters on each channel, and FX engagement buttons for external effects you may have routed. You can also adjust the crossfader curve.
Formula Sound has designed the FF2.2L to work especially well with vinyl. Accordingly, the phono input is a very high quality two-stage design with selectable phono capacitance to better match your cartridge. There’s also a switchable rumble filter.
If you’re a vinyl purist with deep pockets and you prize sound quality over technological extras, this is the best battle mixer for you.
- Formula Sound FF2.2L product page
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