MasterSounds Four Valve MK2

Product Description

DJ Mag Star Product Award - MasterSounds Valve MK2

MasterSounds & Union Audio continue their award-winning partnership with the creation of a MK2 version of their flagship Valve range of hand-made esoteric DJ Mixers.

Valve MK2 encompasses the true spirit of its predecessor, with its esoteric principles of sound & simplicity, and now includes added playability with a VariableQ high pass filter per channel, a re-designed 3-band EQ & RIAA Input stage, plus Innofader as standard.

Union Audio’s Founder Andy Rigby Jones has been at the forefront of analogue DJ mixer design for over 25 years, whilst MasterSounds' Ryan Shaw's history in DJ’ing and audio spans a similar era.

"We are so very proud of Valve, and the addition of the new features in our MK2 model elevates the DJ Mixer's playability for discerning DJs, from club & bar owners to home DJs, Valve's club-standard feature set and beautiful, open, dynamic & transparent sound is a real gem to experience." - Ryan Shaw, MasterSounds Founder.

“It’s hard to believe that five years have passed since we launched the original FourValve, but it’s a fitting anniversary on which to launch the new MK2! The addition of VariableQ high-pass filters and an all-new EQ adds another level of playability and audio manipulation." - Andy Rigby Jones, Union Audio Founder.

Each unit is hand-crafted in small numbers by Union Audio in Cornwall, England.

What's New?

RIAA - We have changed the design of our RIAA circuit, which in listening tests proved to give a more open sound signature.

MasterSounds Valve MK2 

At the heart of the Valve mixers are matched dual triode valves (tubes) which form part of the input buffer stage to the VCAs. The valve’s high input impedance minimises loading on the preceding stages but provides low output impedance to drive the VCAs, whilst the valve’s natural compression smooth and warm harsh transients. Careful circuit design around the valve minimises noise and distortion. 

There are 2/4 fully-featured channel strips with Aux Send (switchable pre or post-fader), input level trim, illuminated input select switch, a super smooth 3-band asymmetric equaliser, large illuminated cue switch, high-quality pots, and 10-point LED VU meter & VariableQ filter per channel. 

To the right of the channel strip features a 3-band Master EQ/Isolator, Master and Booth level controls, and a headphone monitor with split and cue/add mix control. 

Two 36mm illuminated analogue VU meters provide accurate signal level monitoring of the mix buss, these automatically switch to monitoring the Cue level when a channel Cue is activated. If the signal level is excessive, the VU meter illumination will change from warm white to bright red.

A new split composite/passive RIAA stage featuring Vishay 2% Polypropylene capacitors, close tolerance thin film resistors, and JFET pre-amplifiers provide outstanding fidelity from the turntable inputs. All circuit coupling is through bypassed Panasonic electrolytics to preserve this fidelity throughout the entire signal chain.

The icing on the cake is a pair of MUSES operational amplifiers, providing world-class summing for the fully balanced main mix buss.