My main kit is now a laptop running PCDJ, with a Numark CDmix 2 - with the idea that if the PC crashed, I could easily switch to CD's and continue the night.

I have backup for most of my equipment, however I realised that if the mixer (CDMix) went wrong, I could not continue on either CD or laptop.

So, I am planning on buying a second mixer that I could use to connect the laptop to my powered speakers. All I need is phono or XLR outputs on the mixer, and Phono connections for the input from the sound card.

I currently use balanced XLR leads to connect from the CDMix to the speakers, but as most small mixers do not support XLR I could buy phono to jack leads to use if neccesary.

The mixer would probably not be used unless it was an emergency, but it would give me peace of mind.

I have seen a nice little UK made mixer on eBay for £29.99 brand new with warranty, it looks small and would be no trouble to carry around with me.

Do you think this would do the trick, or is there anything else I should bear in mind? I know the best thing would be to buy another CDMix2, but I dont really want to spend that much money, or take up that much space.

Cheers, Mark.

£29.99 sounds a bit cheap to me!! When I was considering a small battle mixer (also for backup), I was looking at about £50+

I've found the mixer on ebay - and have even found similar (identical layout/legend etc) for less;
http://www.discostudio.co.uk/soundlab-mini...medium=shopping

That said, there isn't too much to lose, but there is much more choice around the £50-£60 mark.

Jason

You can also get Phono to XLR leads too - Also handy when you need to plug in your phono mixer into an XLR stage breakout box...

I have a Stanton CM-203 as backup - Its an all-in-one thing (similar to the CD-Mix 1)..

Cheers,

David

mark I have the cd mix III, was using it as my main unit for mobile gigs for a while as I loved the weight and simplicity of it, however it let me down badly at a 21st when the left deck froze and wouldn't open, apparently this is a known fault in these models so I now use it as a backup. If you are badly stuck remember you can go directly from your laptop to your speakers through a cheap transformer, not ideal and it will be difficult to mix properly but some sound is better than no sound in an emergency.