I just bought a Behringer XENYX 1204USB mixer from Musician's Friend and am pretty disappointed that it doesn't appear to come with a built-in phono preamp. It's a good mixer otherwise; just doesn't look like it was designed with DJing (or podcasting) in mind.

And if you need USB, here's a Numark for $50 more that has that: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Numark-M6-USB-DJ-Mixer-486144-i1545610.gc kopper

Stop the presses! Here's one, and it's only a hundred bucks!! http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-DX626-Pro-DJ-Mixer-631241-i1153484.gc Gonna start saving my nickels & dimes...

Well, I've been looking on Musician's Friend's website at their "DJ Mixers"... all of them have RCA/phono jacks, but I have found NONE with built-in phantom power. If you search for "phantom power dj mixer" you get zero results, too. I even did a Google search and came up with nothing. So I'm thinking that, for whatever reason, these things just aren't made... or if they are, the only way you can get it is in a much more expensive recording studio-style mixer. So I have a few options... 1) Keep my Numark mixer. It was made for DJing (which is why I bought it... to DJ at a couple local bars), so it's got the appropriate RCA/phono inputs but, of course, lacks phantom power (which I thought was strange when I got my condenser mic but now realize is very normal). So I can get a different phantom power supply to replace the problematic (and noisy) one that I currently have... 2) Buy one of the nice, inexpensive Behringer DJ mixers (most are under a hundred bucks) and a new phantom power supply to go with it, or... 3) Just buy a new USB mic and bypass the mixer altogether. I think I'll go with #1 and just buy a new phantom power supply. I like my MXL 990 mic... don't see the point in replacing it, especially if it means I'll continually have to switch the sound input on my iMac from "Line In" to "USB Audio CODEC" every time I want to record my announcement breaks, and then switch it back to "Line In' to record vinyl from my mixer (since my mixer isn't USB). That would just be another pain in the ass that I don't wanna have to deal with. The mystery remains as to why one can't purchase an affordable DJ mixer with both phantom power/XLR mic jacks and RCA/phono inputs. I sent a tech support to question to Musician's Friend asking that very question, and might try asking a couple of other DJ equipment sellers, so if I hear back I'll let you all know. Thanks for your help, guys!

You could look at something like this: http://www.numark.com/m1usb and then run a small mixer like this: http://tinyurl.com/27xncjr into the other channel on the DJ mixer. The only thing I'm wondering about is weather or not the usb interface in the mixer will work with the garageband software. The other thing you could look at is getting a couple of rca to jack adapters and sticking those on the end of the turntable rca outputs and run them into the line inputs on the mic channels on the mixer, you could then use the trims to get the level up pre fader. This is also dependent on how much gain the mic channels have, I had a little Tapco brand mixer (no usb output though) that had more than enough but I can't speak for the Behringer. You will also have to ground it to the chassis of the mixer but thats why they invented duct tape.

Yeah... I think you can buy some kind of adaptor. RCA Jacks/Phono Leads - yeah I guess that's the translation!! That's what he was talking about. It makes total sense to me. I mean, a Technics is gonna sound better than a Numark...

I've often seen them advertised... never actually tried it out though. As long as the only leads coming out of your turntable are the RCA/Phono leads and the power cable i'm sure that would work. I'll look into it and let you know what I find out.

OK, let me pick your brain for a second here and try to figure out what you just posted. Your friend said the best thing to do is use "a normal turntable with phono connections on one end, USB connection on the other"? On one end of what? My turntable is pretty normal... direct-drive, yes, but normal... and it has one cable coming out of it (aside from the power cord and grounding wire, of course). That cable has two RCA jacks on the end, like this:

So do you think he meant to use some kind of patch cable between this and with USB on the other end? I didn't think that was possible... analog/digital conflict and all that. Or am I wrong? This Behringer mixer that I bought doesn't even have RCA jack inputs for an external turntable... it has 1/4" phone plug jacks so I had to use these to plug the turntable in:

But then, after plugging it in, I realized... oops, no phono preamp in this thing. I could barely hear anything! My microphone worked great, though. :\ ixnayray said:

The one i'm using right now is a Numark, one of the other ones was errrrrr... EON? I think that's what it was called. It seems to record everything at a really low level. Which means I then have to mess around with it once i've finished recording and REALLY increase the volume, which leaves me with a horrible background hiss. So it's a real pain in the ass... it's just a really lengthly process to end up with such shitty results.
To be honest, the Numark wasn't that expensive. A friend of mine was saying that the best thing to do is use a normal turntable with phono connections on one end, USB connection on the other. All the USB turntables i've owned have had plastic arms. I wonder why brands such as Technics, JVC, etc. haven't joined the market with a higher end version... or have they? kopper said:

Hmmm... that's not good news. Which three have you tried, and what was your main problem with each (if you don't mind going into greater detail)?

Thanks.

ixnayray said:

Good luck finding a decent USB turntable. I've tried three now. They SUCK... or i'm too tight to splash out on a good one.

kopper said:

Because of my recent problems finding a mixer with both a phono preamp and phantom power, I'm now thinking of scrapping the whole "mixer" idea and just going with a USB mic and a USB turntable. But could I use both at the same time? I guess it doesn't really matter since I'm not recording my show live...

The one i'm using right now is a Numark, one of the other ones was errrrrr... EON? I think that's what it was called. It seems to record everything at a really low level. Which means I then have to mess around with it once i've finished recording and REALLY increase the volume, which leaves me with a horrible background hiss. So it's a real pain in the ass... it's just a really lengthly process to end up with such shitty results. To be honest, the Numark wasn't that expensive. A friend of mine was saying that the best thing to do is use a normal turntable with phono connections on one end, USB connection on the other. All the USB turntables i've owned have had plastic arms. I wonder why brands such as Technics, JVC, etc. haven't joined the market with a higher end version... or have they? kopper said:

Hmmm... that's not good news. Which three have you tried, and what was your main problem with each (if you don't mind going into greater detail)?

Thanks.

ixnayray said:

Good luck finding a decent USB turntable. I've tried three now. They SUCK... or i'm too tight to splash out on a good one.

kopper said:

Because of my recent problems finding a mixer with both a phono preamp and phantom power, I'm now thinking of scrapping the whole "mixer" idea and just going with a USB mic and a USB turntable. But could I use both at the same time? I guess it doesn't really matter since I'm not recording my show live...

Yeah, well after going through the hassle with this mixer I just bought, I just want to make damned sure the next one has a built-in phono preamp. I want a mixer that's actually MADE to accept turntables, in other words. Mine wasn't. Live and learn. BTW, the Behringer I just bought also has that bottom screw and I was considering rigging the ground cable onto it, but I couldn't even get it to loosen enough for the fork to slide underneath it. Mal Thursday said:

Works for me. It is not specifically a phono pre-amp, however. Had to rig the ground onto the bottom screw. Perhaps a more recent model would have one.
kopper said:

Built-in phono preamp?

Mal Thursday said:

I use a Behringer EURORACK UB1002 that I bought back in '03 when I was starting the FLORIDA ROCKS AGAIN! broadcasts. It lacks an on-off switch but it has the phantom power feature.

Works for me. It is not specifically a phono pre-amp, however. Had to rig the ground onto the bottom screw. Perhaps a more recent model would have one. kopper said:

Built-in phono preamp?

Mal Thursday said:

I use a Behringer EURORACK UB1002 that I bought back in '03 when I was starting the FLORIDA ROCKS AGAIN! broadcasts. It lacks an on-off switch but it has the phantom power feature.

Hmmm... that's not good news. Which three have you tried, and what was your main problem with each (if you don't mind going into greater detail)? Thanks. ixnayray said:

Good luck finding a decent USB turntable. I've tried three now. They SUCK... or i'm too tight to splash out on a good one.

kopper said:

Because of my recent problems finding a mixer with both a phono preamp and phantom power, I'm now thinking of scrapping the whole "mixer" idea and just going with a USB mic and a USB turntable. But could I use both at the same time? I guess it doesn't really matter since I'm not recording my show live...

Built-in phono preamp? Mal Thursday said:

I use a Behringer EURORACK UB1002 that I bought back in '03 when I was starting the FLORIDA ROCKS AGAIN! broadcasts. It lacks an on-off switch but it has the phantom power feature.

I use a Behringer EURORACK UB1002 that I bought back in '03 when I was starting the FLORIDA ROCKS AGAIN! broadcasts. It lacks an on-off switch but it has the phantom power feature.

Good luck finding a decent USB turntable. I've tried three now. They SUCK... or i'm too tight to splash out on a good one. kopper said:

Because of my recent problems finding a mixer with both a phono preamp and phantom power, I'm now thinking of scrapping the whole "mixer" idea and just going with a USB mic and a USB turntable. But could I use both at the same time? I guess it doesn't really matter since I'm not recording my show live...

Because of my recent problems finding a mixer with both a phono preamp and phantom power, I'm now thinking of scrapping the whole "mixer" idea and just going with a USB mic and a USB turntable. But could I use both at the same time? I guess it doesn't really matter since I'm not recording my show live...