Allen & Heath

ManualsBrandsAllen & Heath ManualsDJ mixerXone PX5

ioneer’s DJM range of

mixers are everywhere,

and always have been.

Perhaps they just

appeared in spots

around the globe,

years ago, and people

felt compelled to build DJ booths

around them. Their ubiquity clearly

riles the suits at Allen & Heath, who

think it’s come time to dethrone

king-of-the-club mixers like the 850

and 900 Nexus. Their dog in the

ﬁ ght? Enter the Xone:PX5.

It’s a serious-looking machine.

The grills on the side and front look

ready to snort hot air like a bull, while

the matt black ﬁ nish and bold white

lettering give the unit a utilitarian,

no-nonsense façade.

It may be mean on the outside,

but inside beats a warmer heart, like

meeting a club doorman who keeps

budgies on the side. Once you’re

pumping music through this beast,

the sound coming out is rich and

warm, with ﬁ ltering and FX that’ll give

you goosebumps.

The controls have a nice spacing

to them, too. No mean feat as there’s

39 buttons and switches, ﬁ ve faders,

and seven rotary controls to contend

with. The faceplate real estate is taken

up with four line faders, a crossfader,

three-band EQs, FX module, and a

ﬁ fth channel with a mic/aux input and

EQs. While the much-loved, never

bettered, Xone VCO ﬁ lter is present

and correct, but two might have been

nice, right?

The crossfader? It’s not built for

scratching, as the cut-in is

performance-sappingly wide.

However, it’s Innofader compatible, so

a quick add-on and you’re up and

cutting with the best of ’em.

In the mix the channel faders

don’t disappoint, though, and have

terriﬁ c ﬂ uidity and resistance,

enabling meticulous blends. Like all

the buttery smooth knobs, the rotary

pots on the EQs have a satisfying 12

o’clock dimple, so judging merciless

frequency kills is nice and intuitive.

For FX, the Xone:Xcite suite is

icing on the cake. The digital panel

over on the top right offers up the

classic workhorse settings that

everyone likes to overindulge in, and a

nice constrained bank of other useful

delays, resonators, and reverbs.

Round the back you have the full

complement of sends and returns,

too, and enough ins and outs to light

up the face of even the sourest

soundman. Add to that the X:Link

input, Line/Hi-Z input switch, a single

USB port for full Traktor integration, a

MIDI sync/out port to link external

units to the machine’s super-tight

MIDI clock engine, and you have a

shockingly ﬂ exible mixer right here.

An extra USB in would have been cool,

though, for easy DJ changeovers...

With few minor quibbles and many

plus points, the PX5 achieves what it

set out to do – take a shot at the title,

and launch itself as a serious contender

for the next industry-standard 4+1

channel high performance club mixer.

Stunning work.

THE PROS & CONS

That signature

Allen & Heath

warmth and build

Super playable

Xcite FX suite

High-quality

sound card

supporting Traktor

Just the one

VCO ﬁ lter

Scratch-unfriendly

crossfader

out-the-box

Serato not built in

FM VERDICT

9.1

Allen & Heath builds on its

Xone legacy with its new

ﬂ agship 4+1 channel mixer,

and holds its own against

Pioneer’s DJM series