Having already seen the Rane brand relaunched at the DMC USA final last weekend, it’s just a matter of confirming that the new Rane SEVENTY TWO is real, and puts them very firmly back on the battle and wider DJ map.

While a good deal of what you wanted to know is already out there, please spend a little time reading the PR, and sticking around for a little of me filling in the gaps.

UPDATE: I was planning to finish this story today, but we were burgled in the early hours. Just car keys and my car were taken, but I have greater priorities than this story today. Sorry.

NOTE: I’ve split the single Rane press release into two, so that we can discuss the SEVENTY TWO and TWELVE turntable separately, because they’re distinctly different products with different impacts on the DJ market:

NEW RANE TOOLS FOR THE BATTLE-READY DJ!
Rane DJ—the industry leader—unleashes its Battle Ready salvo at DJ Expo.

MUKILTEO, WA USA (August 14, 2017)—Rane DJ (Rane), an established innovator in the DJ industry, noted for their standard-setting solutions coupled with unequalled reliability and customer service, today announced the introduction of a new family of important and exciting Battle Ready products for the professional DJ market. These new models are a dramatic and impressive statement strengthening Rane DJ’s position at the forefront of the DJ Stage.

The SEVENTY-TWO Battle Mixer

Recognizing an unfulfilled need in the market for a bulletproof tabletop battle mixer, Rane DJ focused its unmatched Seattle-based engineering capability on the problem and created a new model of unrivaled performance and innovation. With incredibly high build quality in terms of component selection and its all- steel construction, this mixer solidifies Rane DJ’s reputation as the premier mixer brand for turntablists.

The Rane SEVENTY-TWO has been designed in collaboration with DJs and their crews all over the world. This Battle Ready flagship offers the high standards of performance and construction that people rightly expect from Rane, along with ground-breaking technology.

With the RANE SEVENTY-TWO, dual DJs can battle it out with their own laptops simultaneously through the two USB computer connections. With a brand-new 4.3-inch color touch screen interface, the SEVENTY-TWO not only shows Serato DJ’s moving waveforms and their cue points, but also brings a much-needed interactive experience to FX workflows, with two internal FLEX FX engines and stacked Serato DJ Effects.

Importantly, the SEVENTY-TWO will be the first time that users will experience Rane’s brand-new Mag THREE Fader. Dramatically updating their patented, industry-changing Mag Fader design, the new Mag THREE Fader offers a unique touchless, tension-adjustable fader with perfect tactile feel and precision, combined with a long and reliable life. It makes for a DJ experience simply unavailable anywhere else.

Highlights of the SEVENTY-TWO:

• Solid steel construction—built like a tank for non-stop, heavy-duty use
• (3) NEW MAG THREE tension adjustable faders for crossfader and channel faders with reverse, contour controls, and cut-in adjustment
• 4.3” Touchscreen for moving wave display, FX control, song selection and user customizations
• Dual Flex FX engines, one for each channel
• Chain-integrated Serato DJ Effect control plus one internal Flex Effect per channel
• Dual USB connections for DJ handoffs
• 16 Akai MPC-style performance pads w/RGB backlight, adjustable threshold and aftertouch, with independent mode controls per deck.
• Two microphone inputs – combo Neutrik, on/off, tone, mic/line level switches
• RCA Phono/CD and CD inputs for each deck
• RCA session Inputs/outputs, balanced XLR, Main Out, balanced ¼”, Booth Out
• SERATO DJ and DVS enabled and includes Serato Control Vinyl
• Industry First – assignable USB controller inputs for Rane TWELVE Battle Controller

“Our challenge was to develop these breakthrough products while still maintaining our unwavering commitment to our legendary performance quality and rock-solid reliability,” said Colin Issler, Senior Design Engineer for Rane’s Seattle-based Engineering and Design team. He added, “We love a challenge. We thrive on a challenge. Hold my beer. Challenge conquered.”

U.S. retail for the SEVENTY-TWO and TWELVE will be $1899 and $799 respectively. Availability will be 4th Q 2017.

Please visit Rane at DJ Expo August 14–17, 2017, booth #115.

Filling in the gaps

As I’ve mentioned previously, I along with the world’s DJ press got a Skype presentation where the oh so proud old and new Rane teams presented their new babies.

We opened with the comments from the scene about how Rane just stuck a 909 screen in an S9. They generally accepted how people could see that, but refuted that the SEVENTY TWO is even close to an S9 in terms of build and features. Funny story — inMusic and Rane were working independently on designs for the next generation of battle mixers, and when compared they were more or less the same.

The first thing — the SEVENTY TWO is all metal. Even the effects toggles are made from aluminium (they’re user rotatable 180° too BTW). So in this respect it’s Rane AF. They should hashtag that, or stick it on a t-shirt.

On a related note, by far the biggest concern from the scene about Rane coming in under the inMusic banner and shifting manufacturing to Taiwan. Colin Issler from Rane went to great lengths to set my mind at rest about quality. Having worked in QC himself for Rane, he has absolutely no qualms about what the factory is delivering. It’s just matter of showing them what you want and making sure that they deliver it. And they seem to be doing just that.

So to the actual mixer itself — focussing on the more scratchy stuff first. The magnetic fader is all new — a new material for the carrier which is also being used in spares for old faders too. It also has a magnetic tension adjust — it requires popping the lid, but it’s most probably a set and forget for most. On this, the cut in is adjustable too. But rather than bending the magnetic sensors, this is all done on screen. Big thumbs up all round for this.

The very obvious wow factor is the screen. It’s a high res multitouch affair, and from the screenshots I’ve seen displays the essential elements of Serato DJ including waveforms (both full and zoomed) with grids and cue points too. You can also assorted crate views, including crate icons to reinforce that it really is a little slice of Serato DJ in there.

One thing — it doesn’t mention it in the PR, but the SEVENTY TWO has capacitive knobs…

And this is where my article ends. We were woken up in the early hours by a policeman in our house. Burglars have broken in and taken our car keys, and made off with my car. Nothing else taken, and apart from being utterly pissed off,  we’re fine. 

Priorities dictate that I won’t be going to the studio today, and all my notes about the SEVENTY TWO are there. The TWELVE story is complete and posted. Normal service will be resumed ASAP. Just not today. Apologies. I’ll add to the story when things are a little clearer here. 

I’ll just finish by saying that the SEVENTY TWO is now the go-to top of the food chain scratch mixer. It leaves the S9 in the dust in so many ways, and has effectively filled the gap that a future S9 update might have filled. That’s what you call pulling the rug from under the competition right there.

GALLERY