Affordable, reliable and simple, Omnitronic’s entry-level DJ mixer also has a few tricks up its sleeve. Greg Scarth finds out more.
Being fit for purpose is a highly underrated aspect of technology. Marketing and social media hype often encourage us to think that bigger is better: more features, more knobs and usually a bigger price tag. Omnitronic’s PM-222P is a good example of why that logic doesn’t always make sense. For obvious reasons, entry-level gear needs to be affordably priced, but it also sometimes highlights the fact that the specific requirements of beginner DJs are actually different to those of pros. This is a DJ mixer designed for newcomers to DJing, looking for reliability and user-friendliness at a reasonable price. It also packs a few interesting features which you wouldn’t expect from pro mixers, which we’ll come to in due course.
The basic design of the 222P follows a formula which has become fairly standardised across most DJ brands. It’s a two-channel design, with three-band EQ on each channel and a microphone input. It’s a simple mixer with no built-in effects or an aux loop, but it ticks all the boxes for getting started mixing or scratching, especially at this impressive sub-£130 price point. Round the back, you’ll find two pairs of inputs for each channel, with one pair at line level and one pair switchable between line level (for sources like CDJs and other media players) and phono level (for turntables). That gives you plenty of options for connectivity, especially considering how compact the mixer is.
In use, the PM-222P is simple to operate and doesn’t throw up any surprises. Cueing is controlled via a simple toggle switch, with adjustable level and cue mix controls. There’s no need to assign channels to the crossfader with it being a two-channel design, so that’s also simple. Omnitronic’s cheaper products don’t profess to do anything particularly fancy in terms of sound, but they tend to be clear and clean. That’s the case here, with a neutral sound and good, smooth EQs.
The PM-222P is clearly a budget mixer, but it has a few nice features which you’d expect to find on more professional models, such as dual headphone outputs (meaning you’ll never need an adapter), switchable metering (allowing you to monitor the level of cued tracks before introducing them to the mix), adjustable fader curves and a reverse switch (typically used for scratching). Most notably, though, the top left-hand section of the mixer is dedicated to the Player section, a combination of built-in MP3 player and Bluetooth for wireless streaming from mobile devices. This isn’t a feature you’d ever expect on a pro mixer, but it proves convenient in this case. The Player section can be routed to either channel and there are plenty of ways to use it. The lack of pitch control means it isn’t really intended as a tool for mixing (although you could drop a track from a USB stick in an emergency) but it’s handy for streaming music through the mixer to listen at home, or to put on a playlist between DJ sets.
Overall, the PM-222P offers excellent value for beginners. There are more basic options on the market (including others from Omnitronic themselves), but the 222P strikes a good balance between features, convenience and price. The closest rival is the Gemini MXR-01BT, but you lose the MP3 player capabilities for the saving of less than £7, giving the Omnitronic the edge in our book. If you’re a newcomer looking for your first DJ mixer, it’s a solid choice.
Greg Scarth
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