Compact and stylish, this console aims to cater for those working across the DJ, stage and studio worlds — and includes some novel performance features.
If you DJ’ed at any club in Europe during the 1980s or 1990s, you’ll likely have been crossfading on a Rodec mixer, specifically the MX‑180. From radios, amps and speakers in the 1950s and 1960s, to DJ mixers in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained a small but successful outfit making boutique products. Things have been relatively quiet for Rodec over the last 15 years, though, so it was a pleasant surprise when they began teasing the MX Modular at various trade shows in 2023. Finally, it’s here.
The MX Modular is a culmination of many of Rodec’s previous specialisms. It’s a mixer, of course, but it feels distinctly different from any mixer you might have encountered. It’s aimed at the traditional mixer market, but also at the audio interface and DJ markets. You can customise the number of mono or stereo channels (any combination of eight mono or four stereo). It incorporates a 10‑slot 500‑series rack that allows for personalisation of the first eight channels, as well as the master channel. It’s also an 18 I/O, class‑compliant USB audio interface capable of sample rates up to 192kHz. There’s even an assignable crossfader — something that might at first appear to be a playful nod to Rodec’s club heritage but which, it turns out, is genuinely useful in the studio and on stage.
As the name implies, this console is fully modular, and there’s a range of different options for populating both the upper and lower sections of the frame.
The idea is simple: put your favourite 500‑series preamps, EQs and dynamics directly inside the mixer that you perform and track with. Instead of a traditional inline console, with fixed channel strips, you treat the desk as a curated Lunchbox that houses your mixer, effects and audio interface.
Basic Channel
The mixer’s 16 channels are split into two groups of eight. The first group consists of mono/stereo channels that are configurable and removable. If your main focus is tracking, you might choose to populate the main panel with eight mono channels. If, on the other hand, you’re a DJ or work with lots of stereo sources (many modern synths, samplers and drum machines, for example) then you might opt instead for four stereo channels. The model sent for this review had four mono and two stereo channels, which feels to me like a nice ‘compromise’ setup for a smaller studio.
Unusually, the modularity extends to fader options for mono or stereo channel configurations.Whether it’s mono or stereo, each channel is equipped with an on/off button that serves as the channel mute, a solo button, a pan control, two auxiliary send pots, and toggle buttons for momentary mode, pre‑fade listen, and bus 1, bus 2 and master bus routing. There’s also a small three‑position switch that allows you to assign the channel to either side of the X/Y crossfader.
The second group of eight channels is found above the monitor section, and it’s configured as four stereo pairs, with a simple level pot and an on/off button. When used as an audio interface, these four pairs can be individually switched to send aux 1, aux 2, bus 1 or bus 2 as a digital signal, either as a dry send signal or as a wet return signal.
The built‑in class‑compliant USB‑C audio interface has 18 inputs and outputs, and Rodec have thoughtfully added an extra pair of inputs at the beginning of the list for the master bus. This is something that many mixers with built‑in soundcards get wrong — its inclusion means that you don’t have to waste a pair of channels for your computer audio. The first pair of inputs and outputs is always the master channel, whether that’s your DAW’s master stereo output, your general computer audio, or, in the reverse case, the master stereo pair from the MX Modular. For computer audio, there’s a dedicated return level control, an on/off switch, and a solo button, allowing you to easily solo your computer’s main audio output whilst all the direct outputs and USB outputs remain active. This makes it easy to process an entire mix in your DAW and monitor only the processed output. Bravo to Rodec for this simple yet elegant solution to dealing with master channels over USB.
The MX Modular is an inline console, meaning that every channel (individually on channels 1‑8 and as a group with channels 9‑16) can accept as its source either the analogue or USB input, and you can choose whether the audio signal going to the computer is pre‑ or post‑fader. In short, you can track to your computer with effects, bypass those effects, and mix the recorded stems back on the MX.
Monitor Section
This mixer’s monitor section is compact and straightforward, yet it’s also very flexible in its design. In addition to the master fader, there’s a dedicated monitor volume pot for your speakers, and a quarter‑inch headphone jack with its own level control. There’s a mono button for checking for mono translation (‘phase issues’), and a master insert switch for engaging any master insert effects. Additionally, an external input volume pot sets the level of an extra, faderless analogue stereo input that feeds the master bus directly.
The monitor section also houses all the aux and bus controls. Both aux channels are stereo, so they’re ideal for monitor mixes or stereo effects. They send to two built‑in digital effects processors and to the rear‑panel balanced outputs simultaneously. Internally, the digital effects processors will be mixed with the physical aux returns. There are no independent volume controls for the digital effects, so if you wish to use both at once you’ll need to adjust the volume of the effect accordingly — but it is possible. Alternatively, you have the option of...
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