Designed in conjunction with Laidback Luke, this innovative DJ controller packs some interesting pro features into an affordable and portable unit. Greg Scarth finds out what it can do.
Reloop’s new Mixtour Pro is a four-channel DJ controller developed in conjunction with house producer and DJ Laidback Luke. There’s no denying Luke’s credentials as a DJ or his commitment to innovative DJ gear: formerly an ambassador for Denon, he made the move to Reloop last year and began work on the Mixtour Pro, a compact and portable unit which comes in at an affordable price point while offering some truly forward-thinking features.
All DJ brands consult with pro DJs during the development process, but signature pieces of DJ equipment are vanishingly rare. The Mixtour Pro is very much a signature Laidback Luke design, right down to featuring his logo on the faceplate. What we have here is a compact controller presented in a narrow format similar to what you’d find on something like the Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol Z1. The Mixtour Pro is designed exclusively for use with Algoriddim’s excellent Djay Pro software, and the elephant in the room is that there are no jog wheels for beat matching; this is very much a controller designed for use with sync. Although the Mixtour Pro is a successor to the budget Mixtour model released in 2016, the Pro version is clearly a much more professional offering.
With the software installed, connecting the controller is straightforward, either using a power supply into one of the two USB-C sockets, or powering the controller direct from your laptop or mobile device (the former is the best choice for home use and longer sets, but the latter is a handy option if you want to hook up for a quick mix). Headphones are connected via a 3.5 mm TRS socket at the front of the unit, while a stereo pair of RCA sockets around the back provide your main audio output from the controller’s built-in audio interface (connect straight into powered speakers, a suitable amp or even a club/festival PA). With that done, you’re ready to go.
In use, the Mixtour Pro is quite interesting for its hidden depths. The layout is intuitive even if you’re a beginner, following a pretty conventional mixer channel strip approach, with three-band EQ around a central track selection area, low/high-pass filters, FX paddles, loop/sync/cue/play/pause buttons, cue controls and faders. With that said, the density of the features is also impressive. Each section packs in genuine pro features alongside the basics. Take, for instance, the performance pad section, which can be switched quickly between an eight-pad mode assigned to either of the two channels, or a split mode with four pads for each channel. In either mode, the pads can be set to hot cues, auto loop, bounce loop, sampler, pitch cue, saved loops, instant FX or Neural Mix. Dedicated Neural Mix buttons for each channel strip also allow you to access Djay Pro’s AI-based stem split functionality, mapping vocals, harmonic content and drums to the three EQ knobs.
Aside from that deliberate choice to eschew jog wheels in favour of sync, a lot of the Mixtour Pro design is quite standard stuff: there are no major surprises in terms of layout or operation when it comes to accessing Djay Pro’s main features and carrying out all the basics of mixing. What’s clever, though, is the way that Reloop have implemented what they describe as the ‘Laidback Luke Signature Features’. Most of these are accessed via the small shift button positioned between the two channel strips. Holding down the shift button or shift and mode buttons allows you to change the behaviour of a number of the main controls, accessing secondary functions: the FX paddles initiate instant backspin effects for each track; loop and sync buttons allow you to access ‘Laidback Loop’ functions to halve or double loop lengths, or adjust loop and out times and move loop positions; cue and play/pause buttons allow you to adjust the tempo up or down in 0.1 bpm steps.
There are plenty of positives to the Mixtour Pro, and the few downsides will largely come down to personal preference. The controller only works with Djay Pro, so you’ll have to be open-minded in terms of software choice, but the integration is very tight. The Mixtour Pro is the first controller to implement Algoriddim’s new Crossfader Fusion feature, allowing you to blend using preset transition styles such as tremolo, riser and sweep, activated by moving the crossfader.
With so many features packed into such a small unit, shift functions are employed for some of the more advanced options. Shift buttons are normally a bit of a turn-off in terms of controlling music equipment and they’re actually fairly uncommon on DJ gear, but the way they’re implemented here is actually quite smooth; the shift functions all add extra bonus functionality, while almost all of the basics can be accessed freely without any additional button presses.
In conclusion, the Mixtour Pro is a genuinely interesting, progressive idea for a DJ controller. Laidback Luke describes it as a “portable, professional festival controller”, but we think the portability factor is probably a bit overplayed in the marketing and positioning of the device; while it’s clearly ideal for Luke’s own jet-setting lifestyle and the convenience of plugging in quickly and playing at festivals, every single feature also lends itself perfectly to DJing at home. Build quality is very solid and the If you’re willing to choose Djay Pro over other software options, there’s a huge amount of power here, to the extent that it’s very hard to compare to anything else. Reloop and Laidback Luke have come up with something unique, a controller which might just appeal equally to bedroom DJs and festival headliners.
Greg Scarth
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