Rane, Ecler, PlayDifferently, Reloop and Native Instruments.

Outside the two big booth families there is still a huge market, but it is no longer organised by price: each manufacturer answers a different question. Rane asks how a fader sounds under pressure, Ecler how a mixer behaves through ten years of installation, PlayDifferently how mixing becomes an instrument, Reloop how to provide hardware to someone who already chose their software, and Native Instruments how to make a computer feel like a piece of equipment.

This guide explores those five answers so you know what you are actually buying when you leave the standard club path. The other half of the decision—which software and version each works with—is addressed in Rane, Ecler, PlayDifferently, Reloop and Native Instruments Compatibility.

Rane: Scratching, Construction and Its Own Format

Rane now belongs to inMusic and manufactures in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Its catalogue revolves around three ideas: battle mixers for scratching, motorised control with a vinyl feel, and a rotary line descended from studio equipment. The current range includes SEVENTY and SEVENTY-TWO MKII mixers, the SEVENTY A-TRAK edition, the four-channel FOUR controller with Fader FX, motorised ONE and PERFORMER controllers, the 12-inch TWELVE MKII controller and the legacy MP2015 and MP2014 rotary mixers.

The SEVENTY-TWO MKII sums up the approach: a steel chassis, a 4.3-inch colour screen for waveforms and cue points, precise-cut MAG THREE magnetic faders and two independent FlexFX effects engines, one per deck, plus dual DVS inputs for connecting two computers or two timecode sources. That dual engine is the brand’s defining feature: effects apply per deck while the fader cut remains in charge.

Compatibility is the point to watch. The range is designed around Serato DJ Pro, with pads, stems and software control from the mixer; part of the catalogue also works with Engine DJ, and there is firmware support for djay Pro. Before buying, check the model/software pairing on the support page, because compatibility moves by version, rather than generation.

Ecler: The Installation and Venue Option

Ecler is a Spanish professional audio brand manufacturing since 1965 and selling mainly to installations: retail, education, businesses and spaces needing equipment to sound the same on the first day and the eighth. Its DJ division retains analogue NUO-series mixers, such as the two-channel NUO2.0 and four-channel NUO4.0F, alongside the WARM line and ETERNAL equipment.

What defines Ecler is its lack of digital ambition. NUO mixers have no integrated USB interface, factory DVS certification or library application: phono and line inputs, EQ, faders and balanced outputs. Using a computer requires an external interface, and DVS means setting up timecode yourself with your chosen software. It is the same trade-off as fully analogue mixers, but with the balance tilted strongly towards reliability.

It fits two scenarios: booths where the mixer must not depend on a laptop, and fixed installations prioritising straightforward maintenance and the manufacturer’s support network. If your priorities are a library, synchronisation and stems, Ecler is not the brand.

PlayDifferently: The Mixer as an Instrument

PLAYdifferently arose from a collaboration between Richie Hawtin and Andy Rigby-Jones, who was chief designer at Allen & Heath for twenty-five years before leaving in 2014; manufacturing and distribution were supported by Allen & Heath itself. The result is MODEL 1, a device conceived as an instrument rather than an interface.

The architecture is the interesting part: six full stereo channels, two stereo sends and two stereo returns, three phono preamps and a fully analogue path with a balanced mixing bus. Each channel has low-pass and high-pass contour filters with low Q, a drive control adjusting the level at which the preamp starts clipping to generate harmonic saturation as a creative resource, and a sculpting EQ. The three-band EQ with asymmetric cut and boost lives on the master, with resonant master low-pass and high-pass filters. DualCue routes two independent cue signals, and Mixer Link connects two mixers to work with up to ten channels through one output, all connected using Tascam’s DB25 standard. The range is completed by MODEL 1.4, a compact four-channel version.

There is no conventional crossfader or proprietary software: the mixer does not connect to a computer as a controller. It exists for continuous mixing, long filter movements and external effects through sends, at a touring price that you must accept as such.

Reloop: Between Vinyl and Third-Party Software

Reloop occupies the opposite space from Ecler: rather than avoiding software dependency, it depends on the software you have already chosen. Its catalogue combines turntables with and without tonearms, battle and mixing mixers, and controllers designed to work with Serato, djay and the timecode of any package supporting DVS.

That hardware-as-complement logic has two consequences. On one hand, you can build an inexpensive system and update the software without touching the mixer; on the other, the application supplies the experience, library and advanced features, so mixing quality depends as much on your laptop as on the hardware. When software adds a new feature, it often reaches the controller before the mixer.

If you want a booth with vinyl control and pads, without entering the Pioneer ecosystem or a single-brand ecosystem, Reloop is a reasonable path. Before deciding, check the compatibility list for your software version, because a controller’s certification is not automatically inherited between generations.

Native Instruments and Traktor: Modular Control

Native Instruments approaches DJing as a workstation. Traktor Pro is the centre: synchronisation and beatgrids, Remix Decks for playing pads like instruments, stems control and a catalogue of factory-mapped Kontrol controllers, with DVS available through Traktor Scratch timecode.

Its strength is coherence between software and hardware: stable mapping, controls that do not change function between versions and remix tools no other package reproduces in the same way. Its limit is a more closed ecosystem: almost everything revolves around Traktor, there are no standalone players equivalent to CDJs, and its presence in club booths is marginal compared with rekordbox.

It fits computer-based setups, sessions where live remixing matters more than club-booth compatibility, and work sharing controls between DJing and production. If your aim is to perform away from home without a laptop, Traktor is not the path.

Five Philosophies in One Table

The comparison stops making sense when it is based on price. What separates these five brands is the question each tries to answer:

Brand	Question It Answers
Rane	How do cuts and scratching sound under pressure?
Ecler	How does an analogue mixer sound for years without software?
PlayDifferently	How does mixing become an instrument?
Reloop	How do I provide hardware for software I already chose?
Native Instruments	How do I make a computer feel like equipment?

Next Step

With these five covered, what remains is the rest of the market and how to compare without choosing the wrong criterion: Hercules, Roland, Technics and Comparing by Philosophy.