im looking at getting a new mixer and came across citronics msx-4 mix station, found a good price £249 but ive heard (dont know how true it is) that the components are not as reliable as they used to be, so if anyone's currently using this mixer could give me a rundown on good & bad points or suggest another mixer with the same features it would be a great help.

jason

I've used various Citronic mixers for the last 18 years or so, namely their SM450, SM650 (huge but amazing), and until 18/24 months ago, the 10:4.

Apart from one incident with the cueing system on the SM650, caused by running it on a generator on a carnival float, I've only ever had to take any of the nutis in for overhauls, rather than faults. (Overhauls being a case of taking the mixer into Citronic at Melksham,Wiltshire every couple of hundred gigs and getting the faders and pots replaced on a "just in case" basis just before the Christmas seasons.

Unfortunately they've closded down their little repair room in Melksham, so they only have a "service network of authorised service centres" like most other companies now.

Whether or not Citronic have gone downhill on components recently, I dont know. Or perhaps they had some production issue with the MSX:4 itself. maybe. -

The other factor is that some unscrupulous DJ shops/retail outlets will quite happily sing bad songs about some products to nudge you onto another product that they're trying to push for some reason. A common ailment for some stores after each Septembers PLASA show, where dealers suddenly realise that the 50 x blah blah XYZ150's which are piled up in their stockroom have been superceded by something twice as good, for the same money.

hi gary

as it happens your spot on it was GO READ THE RULES AND PLEASE DON'T ADVERTISE COMPETITORS ON HERE AGAIN!!!- ADMIN who i phoned as i heard they will beat any price!. they quoted me £330 & i found it for £249 they said they could beat it no probs, he then took my number & phoned back only to say they wasnt stocking the msx-4 because they said the components wasnt as good as back in the day, which probably means they couldnt match the price really. weve used a citronic (sm350) for about 17 years & never had a problem.

thanks for your reply gary

I have to be careful what I say here .

Citronic has an excellent reputation and their old faithful SM450 which has been around for years in many "Mk" levels of design and various front panel layouts, and it rapidly become something of an industry standard to mobile D.J's.

More recently the 10:4 has taken over this role, and the 10:4DSP for Karaoke Jocks.

Unfortunately more and more manufacturers are subbing their PCB work out to the far east, where labour and materials are far cheaper than in the the UK . I've worked in the Electronics industry and saw this happening a long time ago.

More recently Dyson made the headlines when they closed their UK plant and moved abroad. Many years ago, you could visit the head office of many UK manufacturers and actually see the mixers, amps etc being assembled in the actual factory. Sadly in order to remain competitive these manufacturers closed or scaled down their UK operations and moved production to the far east.

Take for example NJD, their DATAMOON used to retail at £349 each back in 1997/98 when it was built at their plant in Nottingham. Now in order to compete with the far eastern competition, it is produced in India, and you can buy a pair for £259 from me!.

This isn't just limited to NJD or disco equipment in general, it is 90% of all electronic equipment, and even Vehicles. I'm not pointing a finger and saying that corners are cut, or that Citronic have changed production location. I am just saying that sometimes when products are imported they can be damaged during freight, or different components used etc.

To be honest, I dont really like the 10:4, i found the bass was quite uncontrolled and the bass control a bit harsh. But then again, i'm used to using a Cloud CXM.