Product Review: Rane Empath DJ Mixer (published in DJ Times Magazine) [Back to HOME page]

The Empath is a 10" format mixer that Rane is hoping will find its niche in the increasingly competitive performance mixer category. Designed with the help of Grandmaster Flash, this mixer is packed full of features, yet remains easy to operate and is very intuitive. With a ton of exciting features and the established reputation and build quality Rane is known for, you have the beginnings of a truly great piece of gear.

Last summer at the DJ Times Expo in Atlantic City, Rane introduced the Empath to the public. They had posters all over the convention hall, a full page ad in many trade magazines and Grandmaster Flash himself in the house, to do a live demonstration of the new mixer. The buzz was certainly in full effect and an hour after the presentation, there was a lone Empath on display on the convention floor.

The first thing you will notice about this mixer is its color. Not black or silver like most, this piece is screaming royal blue and visibly (from what seems like across the room) different from the crowd. I am not sure what Rane was hoping to accomplish with their unique color selection, but it certainly is a conversation starter and not something that you will quickly forget.

Once you get past the eyestrain, your next thought is how "solid" the mixer looks. The buttons, knobs and faders are obviously designed with performance in mind and they look like they will withstand a ton of use and abuse. But it isn't until you actually touch the mixer, that your love affair actually begins.

Thick rubber coats all of the knobs and faders and is a remarkable improvement over the average plastic/metal knobs and faders found on most mixer. The switches are all heavy-duty steel and are placed in spots where they are highly effective and minimally intrusive. The overall feel of the mixer is solid and intuitive and it is clear that superior ergonomics rule the day.

This is a very well thought out piece of gear and offers a great number of features, several of which are unique to the Empath. Standard features include: three full-equipped stereo channels, which can be switched between phono and line (meaning you can have 3 turntables and 3 other line level inputs hooked up simultaneously. Each channel also has a 3 band EQ section with +6 db to full cut (off), EQ engage switch, left to right pan control, +/- 12 db gain control and a dry/ wet effects pan that allows you to select the amount of signal sent to external effectors/ sampler etc.

Each fader is a high performance analog Penny & Giles fader, built for long life, low maintenance and rated at more than 2 million cycles. These faders have adjustable contour control (which regulates the reaction time, from slow for long fades to fast, for scratching and other quick acting effects) and are also coated in durable rubber.

The cueing section has adjustable "flash cue" which allows you to cue any number of assigned sources at a time, allowing you to switch between various sources in a fraction of the time. There is also a variable headphone monitoring section, where you can split cue (program/ cue) and adjust the lows and highs of the signal you are cueing (independently of the line EQs.)

Other features include an auto gain switch, which helps to maintain a consistent output level by making minor adjustments to the output of each channel. A fully EQ-able microphone input (unfortunately there is only one), with adjustable high and low EQs. Aux input (for hooking up a separate CD player or other last minute component.)

For outputs there is the Main output, which is balanced XLR, Booth output which is balanced ¼" TRS and an Aux output which is unbalance RCA. This assortment of outputs allows you to hook up the Empath in almost any situation and with almost any available set of wires/ plugs. We all know it is best to use balance XLR, but since that is not always available, this is a very well thought out feature.

There are a few other elements to the mixer, including CD triggers to start CD players with fader movements, universal internal adapter (allowing the mixer to be operated in any country in the world) and adjustable effects loops. In more general terms, Rane left no stone unturned in the design of this mixer.

After playing with the Empath for several weeks and at numerous other gigs (and countless hours at home), I have found a few things that I think could be improved upon. Although I can see some applications where the Auto Gain feature might be a valuable asset, in general I don't see the point. When a good DJ makes a volume adjustment, it is for a specific reason, and not something he or she wants to have overridden by such a feature. For example, during a dramatic part of a particular song, when you pump up the volume to a temporary high point, the auto gain will read this as a mistake and lower the level to compensate. Again, I can see this being a help for an inexperienced DJ who needs a little assistance in getting their levels correct, but in general I think it is best to leave the Auto Gain in the "off" position.

Another problem is the lack of ability to cue each channel independently. You can have the vu meters previewing the "master", or previewing the "cue", but in order to have it do both, you need to split cue in your headphones. This is not a big deal, but when you are faced with a loud environment (where you need both cups of your headphones to play the cue), you can't cue and watch the meters at the same time. I don't see why Rane didn't put a meter on each channel (like Pioneer and Allen and Heath have on their performance mixers), it would have made things a lot easier to view and made the use of the level meters a lot more useful. Other than those minor issues, the Empath is on point.

I have been a DJ for more than 20 years and have played at venues and events all over. I have played on Bozak and Urei 1620s, Pioneer 500 and 600s, Allen and Heath, Vestax, Rodec and a variety of Rane products (from the 2016 to the TT56, 44, 24 etc.) and believe the Empath is as solid as any I have encountered. The layout is perceptive and easy to figure out from the outset and makes this an ideal mixer for a great number of applications and situations. It has a variety of flexible inputs and outputs, strong EQ and monitoring sections and a combination of top-notch components. Clean and reliable, the Empath is another superlative performer in the Rane product line.

The only real question I have about the Empath is where is actually sits, from a marketing standpoint. It is clearly a capable performance mixer, but Pioneer has all but cornered that market. It is certainly viable as a battle mixer, but the Rane 56 is already on top in that category. It would be a good installation mixer, but the Rane 44, Rane 2016 and Allen and Heath have already staked their claims on that front. In essence the Empath is a great mixer, with no real home. At least at this point. Having said that, if you are looking for a versatile 3 channel mixer, with rock solid construction, insightful layout and excellent sound quality, the Rane Empath is a piece of gear you should seriously consider.

It is an absolute pleasure to use and not only did I fall in love with this mixer, I am going to end up purchasing it from the company. Guess you cant have a more glowing recommendation than that.