I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to suggest that the Allen & Heath Xone:92 could be the most influential club mixer in the history of… clubs. It coincided with the emergence of the minimal techno scene in the mid 00s, with heavy endorsement from the likes of Richie Hawtin and the emerging Berlin scene. It’s one of the longest running products in the market, possibly only outlived by the Technics 12xx range of turntables.
The mixer almost needs no introduction, but in case you’ve lived under a rock here’s a quick explanation: The Allen & Heath Xone:92 is a four channel analogue club mixer with two AUX line faders, two effects sends, two analogue LPF/BPF/HPF filters, and four band EQ controls. It broke the mould by including some MIDI control, and offered huge versatility in a solid design. When it came out, nothing really competed with it.
And it’s been twenty freakin’ years since the 92 first came out. It’s become ubiquitous with underground dance clubs and music around the world. In an industry that’s a poster child for late stage capitalism, having long life products in your catalogue is a rarity.
To celebrate two decades of production, the team at Allen & Heath commissioned a limited edition print of a Worxlab technical illustration, along with a new updated Xone:92 mixer. Only 920 were made, and there are some great improvements to the hardware. The new product (known as either the Xone:92A or Xone:92 Limited Edition, depending on where you read) is out soon, but as a very small run.
There’s a bunch of improvements, which are all needed and welcome.
Upgraded phono preamps
The phono preamps on the Xone:92, while able to playback vinyl sound crisply and cleanly, struggled to provide decent volume output, particularly on older records with inherently low gain. It’s been a problem for 20 years, and even more modern mixers such as the Xone:23 required you to desolder components to boost the volume. With the Xone:96, the preamps were massively improved, and it looks like they’ve made it over to the 92 LE.
Allen & Heath says that the preamps on the 92 LE were redesigned from the ground up with the original 92 preamps as a basis. This is obviously a good move as it maintains the legacy the mixer has for sound quality, while matching expectations.
The Xone:92 Limited Edition’s phono preamps have been fine-tuned to get the best out of your decks and vinyl.
Taking the original 92 preamp circuit as a starting point, the Xone team dedicated countless hours to testing numerous modifications. Throughout this process, we conducted continuous listening tests to pinpoint the optimal RIAA curve for the Limited Edition, settling on a curve tailored specifically for electronic music.
The addition of Line/Phono source matching ensures a smoother mixing experience for DJs who combine vinyl and digital playback in their sets.
https://www.allen-heath.com/hardware/xone-series/xone92-limited-edition/
No more filter pop
One of the idiosyncrasies of the early Xone series was the audible pop when the filter circuit engages and disengages. This was due to the sound literally switching over to the filter through the channel to the main output. The issue has been a known frustration ever since, and a big bugbear with fans of an otherwise fantastic design.
When Play Differently launched the Model 1 back in 2016, it featured a completely reworked Andy Rigby-Jones filter system that completely eliminated the issue. Later, the Xone:PX5 came out with a sort of slightly fixed version that reduced, but didn’t remove the pop. Finally, the Xone:96 had its own version with no pop at all. In fact, there isn’t even any colouring of the sound when switched on or off. It seems like this circuitry has been ported to the Xone:92 LE, modernising the sound of the mixer
Back to the classic look
When Allen & Heath rebranded their product line with a darker grey faceplate, (not to mention the terrible black/orange/white look of the 23C and 43C even more recently), nostalgia grew for the original design. Well, it’s back. You got your silver faceplate back.
Channel curve controls!
Finally, there’s a new channel curve switch added next to the crossfader, opposite the original crossfader curve selector. And the crossfader is a mini-Innofader.
A technical illustration from some dude we kinda know
He kept his mouth shut for a long time while working on this project, but DJWORX founder (and former owner), and now The Worxlab artiste Mark Settle, is hoping his inkjet cartridges and paper don’t run out before he can furiously print off 920 limited edition copies of his technical illustration of the 92 LE. Mark gave up the farce that is the DJ technology PR machine to spend his life measuring the notches on potentiometer caps with calipers, and it looks like it’s paid off.
Mark and The Worxlab deserve their own whole story, but you really need to check out all the pixel perfect technical drawings he’s made of iconic DJ gear. I even own the first ever print he did.
My thoughts
As if as an antithesis to the recent euphonia rotary mixer, the 92 LE is closer to a fully analogue Xone:96 for audio purists. It pushes all the right buttons to stop the complaints with the original mixer. But the product retains everything people loved about the original 92, including the VCF and LFO controls for the filter, which a lot of people missed with the 96.
Even back in 2013, the 92 was recognised as an icon of the DJ world. Resident Advisor spoke at length about its development and impact in a fascinating article name dropping the Andy Rigby-Jones, the engineer that designed the mixer, and techno legend Richie Hawtin.
The mixer also seems to continue to sell, despite pretty much remaining the same hardware for the past 20 years. When the 96 came out, I remember chatting with someone from the Xone team and they basically said the only changes they ever make is finding alternative components when something becomes too scarce to source anymore.
I would say that the changes here that feel like they should have been in a revision to the hardware years ago, not just a paltry 920 units.
Your thoughts
What are your memories of the Xone:92 across its 20 year lifespan? What other long-produced gear can you think of.
Grab yourself one of the 920 Xone:92 Limited Edition club mixers for £1,595/$2,199 from your favourite DJ gear retailer.
