You’ve got a couple of options now when it comes to picking out a BPMC glitch video mixer. With the recent addition of the modified Edirol V4 you’ve now got five designs to choose from (if you include the WJ-AVE5 CV variant). They each have various strengths and hold different advantages over one another so it can be a rather tough choice…. choosing one that is. For me what it ultimately comes down to is mod aesthetics however it’s nice to know a device’s strengths and weaknesses before you commit. I thought I’d take a minute or two to outline the primary differences and give you my personal opinion on each mixer and it’s modifications.
Glitchmix SFX-M.
Price: $480 USD
In production: Mid 90’s
Channels: 2
TBC: Full Frame Synchronizers.
Monitor Outs: 2
Video Outs: 2
Superimpose Layer: None
Wipe/Mix: Yes
Key Functionality: Yes, as channel FX.
Titler Add-on: No
NTSC/PAL switchable: NTSC only (via BPMC).
Mixer Feedback Rating: 6/10 (8/10 with modifications)
Durability Rating: 5/10
Projector Friendliness: 10/10
TBC Dropout: Never gotten this thing to dropout. Admittedly never pushed one too far.
TBC Flavor: Pretty true to the original circuit bent FX.
Audio Reactivity: No
CV Reactivity: No
Mixer Strengths:
Has awesome onboard FX (including chroma/luma!!!!).
Has unique wipe shaping abilities.
Has a wide edge feather on the wipe.
Mixer Limitations:
You can only use one effects bank at a time.
No divisionary wipe settings.
The channels are naturally a little dirty.
Modifications:
Six glitch ports per channel. Mix and match ports with patch cables.
While minimal this offers you an interesting assortment of illustrative looks and digital corruptions.
Glitch FX also work great in combination with mixer feedback.
Final take: This mixer has some serious lofi charm. I understand why Sima felt the need to offer the world the SFX9. The SFX-M is internally very dated for it’s 1995 manufacturer’s date. But that’s where the charm comes in. The channels (pre-modification) are gritty… the faders are coarse and the overall feel of this thing is unusually analog for a mid-90s era mixer. It has a nice assortment of onboard effects that blow the AVE5 and even the Videonics MX1 out of the park. It would have been nice if they tossed a wipe division button on here as you run low on different wipe shapes pretty quick. Despite my critiques of this unit I feel like everyone should have an SFX-M modified or unmodified in their arsenal for the gritty charm it brings to your palette.
Glitchmix AVE5.
Price: $680USD
In production: 1990’s
Channels: 2
TBC: Yes
Monitor Outs: 2
Video Outs: 2
Superimpose Layer: Yes
Wipe/Mix: Yes
Key Functionality: No
Titler Add-on: Yes
NTSC/PAL switchable: NTSC Only (via BPMC)
Mixer Feedback Rating: 8/10
Durability Rating: 6/10
Projector Friendliness: 10/10
TBC Dropout: Never gotten it to dropout
TBC Flavor: Digital, draggy, not true to the original FX but still very cool.
Audio Reactivity: Yes
CV Reactivity: See AVE5 CV
Mixer Strengths:
This is my favorite sub-v4 mixer for goopy blobby classic video feedback.
The AVE5 has a decent number of wipe patterns.
The superimpose feature is handy for quickly keying in the optional titler.
Mixer Limitations:
Limited on-board effects. No negative or luma.
Modifications:
Newest revision boasts 5 touch corruptions per channel, 5 corruption knobs per channel, 1 cv input per channel and 3 magnetic patch fx per channel. Yow!
Final Take: A video jazz standard. The AVE5 is a bare bones and reliable mixer in it’s unmodified form. In it’s modified form dare I say it’s a completely different machine?!? This was my go-to mixer for video feedback and live TBC flavors for years. While limited in it’s onboard effects and bells n’ whistles it is terrific as a glitch video production centerpiece. I also love the ability to take on and power up the proprietary AVE series titler (via the bottom front port).
Glitchmix SFX9/10
Price: $740USD
Channels: 2
TBC: Yes
Monitor Outs: 2
Video Outs: 2
Superimpose Layer: No
Wipe/Mix: Yes
Key Functionality: Yes as a mix mode.
Titler Add-on: No
NTSC/PAL Switchable: Yes
Mixer Feedback Rating: 3/10
Durability Rating: 7/10
Projector Friendliness: 10/10
TBC Dropout: I’ve only experienced mild dropout with some of the harder analog glitch FX.
TBC Flavor: Laggy with some looks but pretty clean for the most part.
Audio Reactivity: No
CV Reactivity: No
Mixer Strengths:
Mixable luma/chroma blends are super sweet.
Incredible wipe options.
Extremely clean signal
Easy NTSC/PAL switchability.
Sweet multi Picture in Picture modes
Mixer Limitations:
The mixer feedback is garbage without throwing an effects processor in between or something in the feedback chain.
TBC flavor can be a little stiff at times.
Modifications:
A number of patchable FX buffer corruptions per each channel.
A series of wipe corruption effects
LED pushbutton based corruption effects.
Final take: The number one church mixer on the planet!! And it’s still in production strangely. I wish I could take over licensing for this thing…. would be a blast to hard wire some mods on the next production run. This has pretty much everything you can ask for in a basic hardware mixer…. luma mix, all sorts of wipe shapes, the run of the mill onbaord effects, monitor outs for duplicating channels, and a reasonably agreeable TBC. The mixer feedback, while not so hot on it’s own, does indeed stand to greatly benefit from throwing either a Fluxus or Premium Cable in the feedback loop.
Glitchmix V4
Price: $1100USD
Channels: 4
TBC: Yes
Monitor Outs: 1 for OSD
Video Outs: 2
Superimpose Layer: No
Wipe/Mix: Yes
Key Mix: Yes
Titler Add-on: No
NTSC/PAL: Switchable
Mixer Feedback Rating: 9/10
Durability Rating: 10/10
Projector Friendliness: 10/10
TBC dropout: HEAVY. Does not consistently display compromised signals.
TBC Flavor: Non-existent.
Audio Reactivity: Yes
CV Reactivity: No
Mixer Strengths:
The quality & selection of the onboard FX is awe-inspiring.
Boy oh boy this T-bar feels goo-oo-ooood.
All sorts of cool user preset options and wipe settings.
Super tough aluminum housing.
MIDI functionality.
Tempo-based fader modulation!!!
Mixer Limitations:
Just the internal TBC giving you a blue screen (by default) with most any corrupted analog signal you throw at it.
You’ll need a decent external TBC for each channel when using glitch video devices.
Modifications:
3 light up push button effects on the front console.
9 FX knobs per channel (18 total knobs!)
Final Take:
This is the mixer of your dreams, for the most part. If you are using analog glitch gear with it however the threshold for what to display and what not to display when it comes to running glitch visuals into this machine are not in your favor. But that aside, this mixer is fantastic. With a dedicated monitor for the OSD you have a massive collection of transitions that you can modulate via the tap tempo or bpm dial. The mixer feedback on this guy is naturally quite gorgeous and the onboard effects far exceed what is capable on any other mixer highlighted here. The glitch aesthetics exist in three flavors. There are some color processing expansions that tilt the colors a bit and add some cool channel artifacts. There are luma trails that are quite incredible and deeply resemble the classic buffer trails look with limited control. Then there are 9 very digital, almost datamosh-y, looking effects per channel which push things in a fractured Matrix-y looking direction.