Words and photos by Rafe Arnott unless otherwose specified.
Holding a unique place in the histories of dance floor culture and the music industry throughout the ’70s and ‘80s in particular, the sought after, revered and storied rotary mixer, once the sole domain of DJs, has in recent years enjoyed a renaissance, with not only those souls looking to move people on the dance floor, but with audiophiles putting together multi-turntable systems, and those recreating the aura of the rarified, and authentic Japanese jazz kissa. Take for example the Varia Instruments RDM20. For the uninitiated, a rotary mixer performs the same basic functions as a traditional fader – one simply adjusts the levels for individual channels via a knob, or rotor, instead of a slider. But it is this very design difference which has contributed to the legend around them over the decades, as most were built to much higher tolerances and utilized professional-grade components allowing them to achieve greater fidelity.
The idea of smoothly transitioning between albums playing on two turntables has always been an appealing one. As someone who grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s I lived through the birth of rap and hip hop, electronica, and dance culture. DJs were battle hardened by then from years of coming up through – initially – the Jamaican selector and dancehall scenes of the ‘60s, and then as the music and mixing techniques migrated to the UK and the Eastern seaboard of the United States, dub and rap sets as they honed their skills at manipulating two turntables. Cutting between tracks, breaks, and scratching, they sought to stand apart from their brethren as individuals with their own means and methods for achieving an ends, albeit with a shared passion for the music.
"One never felt disconnected from the LP, the opposite in fact, the Varia unit created a tangible bridge both mentally and physically between the music and oneself."
–Rafe Arnott
Photo above: The Varia Instruments RDM20 rotary mixer in situ with an Audio Note UK and Technics system.
They met in November, 2015 when Schneider literally answered Schär’s phone call. The number had been given by a friend who knew that he was fed up with mass-produced mixers and wanted a bespoke, audiophile-grade alternative. The two formed a fast friendship over dinner one night and drained their respective bank accounts to form a partnership building mixers that became Varia – combining Schär’s love of record collecting, DJing and mechanics with Schneider’s electronics and sound engineering chops. Sales took off with demand quickly outstripping their ability to build the mixers fast enough. With a unique aesthetic envisioned by Schneider – one-half atomic laboratory, and one-half WWII aircraft control panel – the Varia RDM20 is a standout in the mixer market.
Photo Left: The Varia Instruments TTW10H record weight.
The pair have a healthy fixation on building with the environment in mind. Building sustainably, and building their products to last. It’s a generational mindset held by both that every mixer should be able to still see daily use 30 years from the date of production. I immediately felt a kinship with these two industrious Swiss music lovers and after exchanging a number of emails over a couple weeks, I had their 240v two-channel RDM20 nestled between a pair of Technics SL1200 MK7, they also included two of their TTW10H weights. Because of the European voltage specs of the unit, and because I live in Canada, I employed a 1000-watt, 110V/220V step-up/step-down converter to feed the mixer the proper regulated AC. Build quality on the RDM20 and the record weights was noteworthy. The solidity, refinement and obvious attention to every facet of the design – from the circuit layout and components used, to fit and finish, is audiophile-meticulous in its execution.
Featuring an industrial powder-coated housing with sub-eloxal printed aluminum faceplates, a linear power supply and a compact 11.81W x 9.25D x 5.98H inch footprint, the RDM20 weighs in at 7.7-pounds. I/O consists of balanced house and booth outs, one phono, two line-level inputs per channel and a quarter-inch headphone output. Each channel has its own three-band isolator, plus there’s a three-band isolator on the master. The master isolator is steep with instant effect thanks to the 24dB/Oct slope at 20-280Hz/280-4200Hz/4200-20000Hz and +9dB of boost. The channel isolators are much more refined, with 12dB/Oct slope at 20-120Hz/125-4000Hz/4000-20000Hz and a +9dB boost. What do these numbers mean, and how do they translate in use for those who’ve never engaged a mixer as a preamp before? It equates to a level of control over the sound of the music that is intoxicating and highly addictive. Think of them as one would the tone controls of yore (of which I’m a huge fan) even though the intervening decades since tone dials were standard on almost every amplifier or preamplifier have seen them all but disappear (remember ‘Loudness’ buttons?). I have no idea why the ability to dial-in sound to taste has been taken off the drawing board, but I welcome its return… I get the purist path to fidelity, and have equipment which adheres to this mindset, but, in my experience, it really depends where in the signal path any manipulation is taking place. With the RDM20, one has direct control over the source material to a degree most audiophiles could not imagine.
Interview with Simon Schär and Marcel Schneider of Varia Instruments
Resistor Mag: Of all the things you could manufacturer, why choose analogue rotary mixers?
Simon Schär and Marcel Schneider: “We started Varia Instruments because we wanted to satisfy our own need of a good DJ mixer, not because we were looking for a lucrative business model. Simon was searching all over the globe for the right mixer but could not find what he was looking for. Finally, a friend told him then that he should reach out to this guy Marcel who had built something like a prototype of a mixer. It seems unreal, but we were living in the same town at the same time, even roughly the same age – but our paths never crossed before. Simon called and we met for the first time at Marcel’s apartment, where he presented his creation. In fact, Simon went there with a feature list of a ‘mixer of dreams,’ unbelievable but he could make a tick in every single box. Simon fell in love immediately and knew that he’d need this device as his future mixing console.”
Resistor Mag: When did you start the company, where does the name come from, and what have been the greatest challenges bringing your mixers to market?
Simon Schär and Marcel Schneider: “Varia has its roots in Latin and has many different translations. One of them means something like ‘mixing’ (like a mix of different flavours). The ‘Instruments’ should reflect what we’re doing: Technical devices, built to last. There were (and still are) a lot of challenges on our path, of course. Handcrafting an audio device without any compromises in quality is not an easy task. You have to design an extremely proper signal path to avoid audible noise or distortion. Sourcing the right components and having them at hand when you need them is tricky, especially nowadays. Regarding the hardware, we need a trustworthy supplier who can satisfy our expectations when it comes to quality and finish. Besides all the product-related challenges, the economic side of the project is not easy either. While we aim for the best quality possible, we want to offer our products for a reasonable price. Our mixer should be affordable for DJs and audio enthusiasts around the globe, not just the few wealthy ones in society. Handcrafted goods from Switzerland, mostly sold on the international market – that’s not the most favourable combination. Somehow, we created a pricing structure that works both for our customers and ourselves.”
Photo above: The RDM20 in my Altec VOTT-based system.
Resistor Mag: Describe your relationship to music today, has it changed since you were young?
Simon Schär and Marcel Schneider: “It is truly a relationship. It has grown a lot during the years, becoming deeper and richer. We feel more connected to music than ever before. Everything we do has something to do with music: We have a beautiful sound system at the workshop, so every mixer is built with music in our ears. Next to our workshop are our own studios where Marcel is doing mixdown and mastering jobs, while Simon and his friend Luca are producing music with analog synths, drum machines and samplers. During the past years we also refurbished a vintage Altec sound system. It is pretty impressive and offers us a way to experience music how we definitely could not imagine in our younger days.”
Resistor Mag: The rotary mixer sector has gone from practically nonexistent to crowded over the last several years, what makes Varia Instruments stand out from the pack?
Simon Schär and Marcel Schneider: “There were quite a few brands popping up during the past few years, but somehow there’s space for everybody, which is perfect. The two different isolators and the arrangement of the knobs offers a lot of space which allows one to really work our mixers as a playful instrument – both things that are definitely not seen on many models out there. What our customers like the most is the very transparent and clean sound of our devices – and that’s the most important point to us.”
Resistor Mag: What do you think of the crossover potential for your mixers into the audiophile sector of the industry?
Simon Schär and Marcel Schneider: “Our mixers are definitely fitting well in an audiophile signal path. If you have a passion both for DJing and ‘really good sound,’ we’re offering what you might be looking for. We’re doing everything for a clean and transparent sound – so you have an uncoloured signal which you might shape with a particular tube amp later in the signal path, or leave it as clean as it is, if you prefer a flat frequency response and natural, honest sound.”
Photo below: The rear of the RDM20 features high-quality RCA and XLR connections with a level of fit and finish to the chassis equivalent, in my experience, to pre-amplifiers costing three times its price.
Resistor Mag: What’s next for the company?
Simon Schär and Marcel Schneider: “Our main goal is to have a solid production line running. Whenever we have time besides that, we work on other projects. There might be some more professional audio devices coming out, earlier or later, that is for sure.”
Resistor Mag: Could you list some of the parts you use?
Simon Schär and Marcel Schneider: “Audio electronics are such a delicate topic, you have to pay attention to every single detail to avoid a loss of quality. We work with the finest capacitors from Wima, Nichicon and Panasonic. Integrated Circuits such as the THAT1646 electronic balancing output driver and OPAMPs from Burr Brown and New Japan Radio. Alps RK27 potentiometers. Our own linear power supply, since day one, of course. To be able to hold our tight tolerances (frequency response, THD+N, SNR, etc.), we measure all the resistors and film capacitors at delicate positions to know the exact value of the parts we're assembling on the boards. This might be a time-consuming extra step, but as long as it helps increase the overall quality of the final audio signal, we’re happy to do it.”
Photo above: Built like a tank and chocked full of high-quality discrete components, the RDM20's design stands out in a field of new rotary mixers built to audiophile specifications.
Using a mixer/preamp, I found, also fundamentally changes the way one listens to their music collection as it favours single song selections, something I am utterly unused to in practice. I simply don’t listen like that. For example, my collection is based around a grail that the whole LP is worth listening to. Rarely do I purchase albums with one or two songs I like, it could explain why I’ve been crate digging steadily for 12 years and still have no more than 1,000 records. So, when presented with the concept that I could listen to a track and then seamlessly mix into another, I became slightly overwhelmed – too many LPs have several favourite cuts on them, so winnowing down a selection of albums from which I could string together a dozen or so songs proved daunting, but ultimately it was an important lesson. It offered a unique vantage point into the structure of my record collection which I hadn’t previously lensed simply because of hardware limitations. That’s not to say any gear in the signal path was sub-par, merely stating the obvious that I had no means to mix between two albums. I hadn’t developed the skillset to curate LPs in a specific order based on specific tracks to achieve those ends: it was like making a mix tape again, but in real time and with the added layer of technical prowess required that the mixing of the two songs segues seamlessly and in a musically sensical manner – otherwise, what’s the point of mixing, really?
Photos above: Gear used during the review period. Left – Tannoy Cheviot Legacy Edition loudspeakers. Right – Audio Note Conqueror Silver 300B single-ended Class A stereo power amplifier.
I used a variety of different amplifiers and speakers with the RDM20, but always either Technics SL1200 MK7 or an SL1210GR turntables. Cartridges varied from vintage ‘70s and ‘80s Shure and Audio Technica moving magnet designs to a vintage Koetsu Black and Denon DL-103 with Body Cap. I had a few SUTs (Step Up Transformers) on hand including an Auditorium 23 Standard, a Cinemag Blue and an Audio Note S4 (silver windings and wiring). CD duties for the line-level inputs came courtesy of an Audio Note CD4.1x. Amplifiers varied from an Audio Note Conqueror Silver 300B (8 watts) to a vintage ‘60s QUAD 303 (45 watts) and ‘50s RCA valve monoblocs (70 watts). Speakers included Audio Note AN-E SPe/HE, Tannoy Cheviot Legacy Edition, vintage Altec Valencia 846B, and Altec A5 Voice of the Theatre.
Photo above: The layout of the RDM20 is sensical and commited to memory quickly, it is well thought out, feedback is precise and resistance exactly where one would hope it be. Its strengths lie in how it enhanced one's connection to the recording, rather than coming between you and the music.
The RDM20 brought a renewed sense of appreciation to playing LPs in everyday practice. It is solid, and forces intelligent interaction. The feel and precision of the isolator rotaries was silky smooth with the just the right amount of resistance. One never felt disconnected from the LP, the opposite in fact, the Varia unit created a tangible bridge both mentally and physically between the music and oneself. It made me look at my entire record collection in a new light – the same goes for CDs, as I mixed between vinyl and silver discs often. It enlivened an atmosphere of relaxing experimentation because the challenge for one to use it effectively was so enjoyable. One never felt trepidation to just spin the dials and see what would happen, because using it was all about making mistakes – or making happy discoveries – and learning from them.
With all band isolators set to ‘zero’ or ‘flat,’ the sonic colouring tilted neutral. Timbral and tonal shading were never overripe, leading edges of notes were fast and detailed with no appreciable overhang. Shimmer and decay of cymbals and high hat were extended, spacious and had 3D-depth to sparkle. It portrayed excellent attack, speed and imaging from those recordings which favoured them, be they LP or CD. The top end favoured a very open presentation with noticeable air and space around instruments and vocals, midrange was impactful, tight and the lower registers maintained punch – the RDM20 translated big bass beautifully from cartridge-to-cartridge, or disc-to-disc. Dialling in more of any one channel band isolator brought a delicious seasoning to all types of music – LPs one always thought needed less treble and more bottom end suddenly had just that. Or the opposite, or just a shade more midrange bloom – you could shape the music to your tastes instantly, and most importantly, in a very satisfying manner. The RDM20’s manipulation of the signal path never sounded as though it was betraying fidelity to source either. I never found the affectations exaggerated beyond what one would expect (or hope for) from known recordings.
"We feel more connected to music than ever before. Everything we do has something to do with music: We have a beautiful sound system at the workshop, so every mixer is built with music in our ears."
–Simon Schär and Marcel Schneider
Photo above: Built for the road or the music room, the RDM20 is designed for the long haul.
Running the RDM20 strictly flat as a preamplifier offers listeners a clear, sonically unfettered view deeper into recordings on par with more expensive stand alone preamps I’ve experienced, but adding in the infinite eq-ing tuning capabilities and seamless transitioning between turntables, CDs or digital files quickly brings this rotary mixer’s flexibility and fidelity to source into a class of its own – especially when you facgtor in the quarter-inch headphone output which was a direct reflection of what you heard at the unit's analog outputs. At a price point of CHF 2,190 (Swiss Francs) – $2,305 USD – the RDM20 is an economical purchase as part audiophile preamplifier, and part audiophile-spec’d DJ rotary mixer. Whether you’re a serious music lover and hi-fi devotee who wants the ability to infinitely dial-in your analogue or digital sources to taste or room acoustics and take advantage of its seamless abilities at mixing sources, or a jet-set people moving DJ looking to add serious sonic chops to your portable hardware quiver in a box that is built for the rigors of the road, the Varia Instruments RDM20 satisfies either proposition without want.
Think of this like an online subscription. Your donation supports a unique space for me to smash-up music journalism, alternative culture, high fidelity reviews and give volume to those stories and voices lost in the white noise of mainstream hi-fi media. Plus, beer money.