A mixer rarely catches the attention of so many of us here at Sweetwater the way the Roland AIRA MX-1 Mix Performer has. This remarkable gadget is equal parts mixer, sequencer, and effects engine, and it all comes together elegantly to offer you one of the most sophisticated performance tools in the electronic music world. For starters, the MX-1 provides you with a unique set of I/O, which includes six channels of analog ins, S/PDIF digital connectivity, and four USB ports for the rest of your AIRA gear, which transmit audio, MIDI, and sync information. There’s also USB connectivity for your computer onboard, which passes MIDI, so you can use the MX-1 as a control surface, and also audio, so you can play back tracks from your DAW. That makes the MX-1 an amazing live performance mixer.
One of the coolest aspects of the AIRA series is the way Roland took devices such as a drum machine, a bass synth, and even a vocoder and turned them into instruments you can actually play live. This same philosophy manifests in the MX-1 in a particularly cool way, and you can see it at work with just a quick glance across its surface. The mute buttons are located right at the bottom of each channel, making it convenient to quickly bring whole instruments in and out of the mix. Likewise, there’s a DJ-mixer-style cue onboard that lets you audition instruments before you set them live. DJs will also feel at home with the channel filters, and there’s a step-sequencer-driven effects engine capable of controlling the overall sound of your mix. Top it off with a sophisticated sync engine with transport control, and the MX-1’s place in the center of your rig is a no-brainer.
