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Got my hands on a WS-90DJ mixer from the dark corners of our church's storage spaces.

It's all phono/RCA jacks for input/output, it has 5 channels - for a DJ mic, 2 CDs, and 2 tape inputs. Each channel can be switched between either of a pair of inputs. There's a 5 band master EQ. It appears to be made by "electro Vision".
[="http://files.getdropbox.com/u/176874/mixerface.jpg"]Top side[/]="http://files.getdro…"]Top side[/]
[[url=http://="http://files.getdro…"]Back side[/]="http://files.getdro…"]Back side[/]

I have no idea how old it is, but it still powers up. At least 2 channels work, didn't test the rest. It hisses like a snake, but the sound is pretty good. I think the hissing is just the headphone output - it doesn't get louder when boosting the volume.

It's not needed for anything but I've opened it, and looked around to see what's what. Looked at the EQ circuits, headphone amp... fantastic.

I think it was all hand-built.

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Codemonkey Tue, 06/30/2009 - 18:48

lol, I should've. It's cleaned now. I'd taken some screws off already by then - and thought "shoot, better take some pics".

It actually sounds damn good. Got the PC running out through the channel - found a pair of dead inputs actually - and then back into the PC. It's not harsh or anything, and takes to hot inputs really well. It distorts like analog should distort.

No idea how the DJ mic/talkover work though. Need a 1/4" mic to test it with...

RemyRAD Tue, 06/30/2009 - 20:08

Well... it looks damn cool to me. Looks like early eighties. Get yourself a "Radio Shaft" XLR low impedance input to 1/4" high impedance output gizmo and plug yourself in a 57/58. Of course a quality direct box would be a better bet provided you have a XLR sex changer. These transformers will also provide an additional 10 DB or more, of gain. So however noisy this simple microphone preamp may be, it will sound way better with a step up transformer of at least 10: 1 since it will provide you with 10 DB of better signal-to-noise ratio and/or headroom.

The talk over feature is simply a threshold control for a simple duckker/downward expander that lowers the music by some preset level. The adjustment might be for the threshold or it could be for the amount of ducking of the other inputs. Those of us who used to do it, did that manually. On the air or the nightclubs. I guess you could call this early automation? Or even "manually triggered"? How cool is that?

I think it goes absolutely perfectly with your avatar picture. For sure.
Ms. Remy Ann David

dvdhawk Tue, 06/30/2009 - 20:20

Cool find! Hopefully you can find a use for it somewhere in your kit. Most things excommunicated from church sound systems are in a dark corner for a reason. This 'vintage' DJ mixer doesn't appear to be pure evil, but I'd use a cloth lightly dampened with holy water to wipe off the dust - just to be safe.

Codemonkey Wed, 07/01/2009 - 08:22

80s, well... that seems about right.

Thinking back, we have a 1/4" mic... I think it was probably the one that got used with this.

The master EQ works - but the right side 4KHz slider doesn't. Must be something loose. Also, the left inputs for the Video & Tape 2 are both dead. Both go into the same channel so it's probably that which is gone.
(BTW: was it normal in the 80s to have each channel select from a pair of inputs?)

What's the difference between phono and CD inputs?
I'm assuming the CD is line level, and sounds "flat" - phono, when I tried it with the same signal I fed to the CD input, has much more low end. Is that what turntables used?

Also - I now have 2 cassette machines, and 2 CD players - one of which is a ugly but functional Denon and is now sitting next to the mixer.

Tested it out: the mic input works (although my test mic is a little, naff?) and the Talkover seems to have fixed threshold and attack/release time - the amount of reduction is variable.