Stellar Soundscapes: ELARA Edition | Ep.1

Mixed by Sami Raif at Union Audio HQ, witness the elegance of the elara.4!
For more information on Elara, visit: unionaudio.co.uk/

[@shaysigga11]

great selection; great sounds

[@gunjabeans]

I listened to this excellent mix while I studied for my Radiologic Technology quiz tomorrow. I love the sound here, the track selection and the mixer tone itself. The only thing I would like in this mixer, (any mixer), is the ability to cue between two tracks with one motion. Most modern mixers require you to hit two buttons. It may seem like a non-issue to most, but when you get accustomed to cueing with one knob, one simple twist... two buttons becomes a lot of work when multiplied by the massive amount of times you perform that maneuver during a set, or career.

[@rajchoudhury5130]

Absolutely beautiful english mixer. One day!!

[@alexrogers9533]

Great mix, sounds super tight. Loving the look of the new mixer too. Well done guys 👍

[@darrentolley1068]

Dang that sounds so filthy good❤️

[@youggiclub9817]

Great job 🎉

[@elou7620]

This fine

[@nandobelt8687]

I’m fortunate enough to own a Mastersounds 4v mk2. I really like the compact design of the elara.4 but the layout of the phono on channel 1/2 , would prefer it on 2/3… Hope to see Sami demonstration uploaded soon. I’m on the fence with this , if convinced I may sway away the 2v mk2. Both built by the same fantastic company..

[@UnionAudioLTD]

The demonstration video is now avaliable on the channel, followed by the next episode of Stellar Soundscapes!

[@pinkbunny3428]

a nice and clean mix, but a few questions : 1- is this a discrete design or opamp based? 2- what brand of pots are used? are they alps or something else? 3 -do all of the isolator bands keep the same phase? In xone 43 the sound was not consistent because the mid band was inverted 4- what does that iso xover mean, does it change the center freq point of the mid band across the whole spectrum or what? thanks xx

[@UnionAudioLTD]

1. Due to the mixer having a compact footprint, it is physically impossible to fit our own discrete circuitry however, it does include traditional high end analogue circuitry. 2. All Alps. 3. The mid-band is inverted, it is commonly implemented across most isolators due to the nature of the summing process of all bands. This in no way inhibits the consistancy of the mix post-isolator. 4. The X-over feature is responsible for changing both frequency meeting points between the high-mid bands and the mid-low bands, from 150 Hz to 1 Khz. For more information, please check out the elara.4 page on our website once it goes live.

[@pinkbunny3428]

And that's why I asked about that isolator. Unfortunately such phase flip and its effects are audible, but you need a pair of a decent monitors in a properly treated room to notice that. And no, this configuration is not commonly implemented across most isolators- just in the one you're using, I'm 100% sure this is the same 12db/oct multi feedback filter on the mid band built on a single opamp, identical to these in xones and other A&H mixers. The cueing system looks identical to the xones as well..... but my biggest concern is those faders- if they are the same as in PD model 1, going in smoothly will be a challenge. Sorry guys but for me this is constantly the same circuitry repeated, just fitted into a differently looking case, nothing new and exceptional. Nevertheless, good luck with the sales.

[@Reticuli]

@@pinkbunny3428 All isolators that lack bypass cause a constant amount of phase distortion because the sound is alway subjected to the filters. On a 2nd-order Linkwitz-Riley the mid-band has to be inverted because that's the band on such a 3-way crossover that's inverted by the filters. Inverting it electrically back to being in gross phase with the highs & lows is what allows you to keep the summing even at the joins and keeps things *in* phase as best you can. 4th-order Linkwitz-Riley crossovers cause even more phase distortion in the form of increasing group delay lag in the mids and then lows compared to the highs. Phase distortion, however, is measurable and arguably audible on *all* isolators that don't have a bypass. The question really is whether you like the sound they impart or not, and if you don't, find a mixer with a bypass (new Denons do that automatically) or find one with a traditional fixed-parametric EQ, since EQs (as opposed to isos) shouldn't do anything to the sound at their center. Or you can just get a mixer with no tone controls or maybe just the Mastersounds Radius bypassable high pass. Personally, I also prefer rotary. :-)

[@ocere]

@@pinkbunny3428I talked with the designer and he said the faders are not the same as PDM1. I've got a similar complaint about the fader curve on my xone 92, esp since the 96 has adjustability built in. Seems like a big oversight to not even offer it for the PDM1

[@jouraba]

@ocere I'm not an expert, but to me, this mixer has a good design, conception and it's nice to see an analog mixer with faders. Most DJs ❤ like me, are in love with analog amplifiers, turntables, and DJ mixers, and prefer more conventional ones with faders. Also, there aren't many analog DJ mixers with faders on the market; the Xone 96, 92, Model 1/1.4, and all others are either poor quality, digital, or rotary. To me, it's not particularly new, but it's still something fresh on the market.❤ I hope this year I will have the opportunity to get one .

[@espresso1967]

😮

[@uriitarded]

looks great, but why phono preamps only on ch 1&2?

[@UnionAudioLTD]

Elara.4 is a compact desktop mixer targeted to a market that would mostly own Line devices, for a smaller/portable setup.

[@audioexpedition]

Wow. Should be on 2 and 3.

[@uriitarded]

@@audioexpedition 2 and 3 is ideal, honestly a deal breaker for me. Was excited for this one too. Seems like a trivial thing but kind of a big deal for me

[@audioexpedition]

@@uriitarded Same here, I am seriously considering this as my next mixer, but now, not so sure

[@uriitarded]

@@audioexpedition lol you don’t want two turntables on one side of the mixer and two cdjs on the other?

[@robr4488]

From the video, it appears the Line faders are pretty linear, where you get a smooth blend throughout from bottom to top. Where the Model 1.4 most of the signal would be towards the top end. Is this accurate?

[@robr4488]

Also, do the high pass filters have a higher resonance build after passing the mid point?

[@UnionAudioLTD]

Yes the faders have a much smoother, natural behaviour. As for the high pass filter, it has variable resonance circuitry which slowly ramps up the Q as the HPF pot is rotated clockwise for a more automatic feel, whilst stopping the low end from becoming muddy.

[@Reticuli]

Linear is the bad way. Log and quadratic are the good fader curves.

[@qwertySnowy]

How does this compare to the model 1.4

[@UnionAudioLTD]

The model 1.4 is a totally different mixer, the only similarities are that they both have 4 channels with linear faders. The linear faders on the elara.4 have a much more forgiving fader law. Elara also has a crossfader, each channel has a 3 band EQ and the master section has a unique state variable isolator with frequency crossover control. As demonstrated in this set, elara’s isolator can be used for creative sound sculpturing and to create a phaser-like effect for melodic sections. As for the construction quality, all pots are metal shafted Alps and the anodised aluminium panel in combination with the knurled aluminium knobs make elara.4 a beautifully engineered premium build.

[@qwertySnowy]

@@UnionAudioLTD great good to know, sounds awesome :-) would be great to get a talking video too going over all the sections u mentioned. Looks awesome!!

[@UnionAudioLTD]

@@qwertySnowy We're glad to hear you like it! Sami is currently working on a demonstration to cover the behaviours of each section. Stay tuned for the next upload!

[@miba_81]

Nice. How is formfactor and how long are the faderway? Thank you.

[@UnionAudioLTD]

Dimensions: 283x230x88 mm (L x W x H) Faderway length = 60 mm

[@miba_81]

@@UnionAudioLTD thank you very much!