u/chrisgrubizna

We’re excited to announce a special two-day Open Decks Session in Berlin, together with our friends at Oye Records.

On August 27th & 28th, we’re inviting DJs, vinyl lovers and curious listeners to come along, listen, play and experience our Model X mixer in a public setting.

📍 August 27 — Oye Records Store, Oderbergerstrasse 4 (Berlin / Prenzlauer Berg)
📍 August 28 — Oye Records Store, Friedelstrasse 49 (Berlin / Neukoelln)

Together with Oye Records, we’d love to give you the chance to hear the Model X, get behind it and play on it - while also exploring the new vinyl releases and records available in the store. DJs who’d like to take part and play during the sessions - if you’re interested, simply check our Instagram accounts (@oyerecordstore / @henderson.audio) and leave a comment there. Bring your own vinyl, and we’ll be delighted to put the Model X in your hands and hear what you do with it. We’re genuinely excited about this one  - see you in Berlin for two days of records, mixing and good music!

A stunning new finish featuring beautiful, sparkling metallic particles that shimmer brilliantly under light. Combined with a high-temp surface treatment, this coating delivers ultra-high resistance to abrasion, protecting both the paint and printings!

Amazing setup by @only____jams on Instagram, featuring the HA Model X. Check out his profile for more content featuring this mixer!

Hi guys,

We’re slowly starting to gather feedback from the first units of the new Model X from the latest production batch, which was recently shipped to customers. I know many of you have been asking for more details, so this might be helpful when choosing a new mixer. One of these comes from Stefan in Kazakhstan, along with photos, which you can find attached (very clever DJ booth!). As far as I know, Stefan is also a Reddit user and a member of this sub (so I’m sure he’ll come across this post sooner or later and reply to any additional questions you might have, possibly - greetings!). He asked me to share his email together with the photos, so here it is (it’s a long one!):

“Krystian (…)

It’s been a while since my last email, and I hope you’re doing just fine!

Since I’ve had the mixer at home for a couple of weeks now and have been able to test it, it’s about time to give some honest feedback :) So, shortly - I am… IMPRESSED! Yes, there are no other words that can explain my feeling better than “impressed” :)

Firstly, for two days I was only looking at and studying this beautiful mixer from all angles and positions. After those two days, I was ready to give it a try. I will skip the first few mixes I did, because they were… how to say… okay, I’ll skip it :) Then I started switching back and forth between the Xone:96 and the Model X (…) So, for the next three days, I just listened to my vinyl collection at a very low volume level - just enough to be no louder than normal speech. And then the “light” appeared on my smiling face. I realized that this is a sound I remember from my youth, back in the mid-80s (…) It was a truly delicious sound to my ears, not “killed” by the "famous" Dolby system :) - just pure sound as it was created by the artist behind each song.

I was really impressed by the dynamic range (I don’t mean headroom), but by how the mixer amplifies every single sound, tone, and note. To say in advance - you told me that the sound of the Model X is comparable to Pioneer “big” mixers like the 900 or 2000 and so on. Well, I must disagree with this. Pioneer mixers are designed to be pure - not saturated - but digitally linear and, in my opinion, somewhat sterile and boring :) The Model X sounds more like British or American designs. There is also one Japanese mixer that can be compared - and that’s Alpha Recording System.

The Model X has a very pleasant, warm sound. It’s pure. Is it linear? Yes, to some extent - but at the same time it sounds rich without being overloaded. All the details from the vinyl that my cartridges (Ortofon Club MK2) are capable of extracting from the grooves are clearly present. Most importantly, those details are amplified in a natural way. In Pioneer mixers, for example, details in the high-mids and highs that differ by only 2–5 dB are often leveled and amplified to the same level, which makes them sound like one. Low-mids and lows are truly deep - a huge basement with a pleasant tail. These are not harmonics; it’s more like a subtle echo that gives volume and consistency. The sound is amazing—it’s just amazing.

If I had to rate the Model X, I would say it’s on the same level as the Xone:96, Bozak AR-6, or Alpha Recording System 4000 or even 9000. However, it has its own unique sound signature and character, so rather than comparing them directly, I would say that each of them is a winner in its own way :)

Now, a few words about the controls :) I don’t know how, but the Model X is the first mixer I’ve ever tried that has such perfect and “linear” channel potentiometers. Of course, I can’t literally say linear when we’re talking about decibels, since they follow a logarithmic scale. But what I mean is that this is the first mixer with such smooth volume progression - every single degree of rotation adds a very small, perfectly controlled amount of volume. It’s just amazing! Also, the volume starts increasing from the very first degrees of rotation - not like other mixers, where you usually have to open the faders or pots halfway before you hear anything, followed by a sudden jump in volume. I really enjoy doing long, smooth blends now, as well as running two tracks simultaneously and shaping them with the pots to create a beautiful “new track.” The summing is fantastic!

I am currently playing on a pair of Genelec 7050 subs paired with Genelec 8030 monitors, which provide a very linear but beautiful sound. I truly hope the mixer will perform just as well on large sound systems! You have designed and built an amazing mixer - thank you very much!”