Union Audio’s Elara.4 is an analogue DJ mixer that’s “tiny but mighty” with “exemplary” build quality
The four-channel mixer follows on from the success of the British brand’s Orbit.6 rack-mounted mixer.
Union Audio Elara.4. Image: Union Audio
British audio designer Union Audio has announced the Elara.4, an analogue DJ mixer with four channels and a “small but mighty” form factor.
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The Elara.4 may be compact, but Union has ensured that it doesn’t hold back in its features. It boasts a fully-featured channel strip with auxiliary send, channel level trim, a responsive 3-band EQ with -20dB attenuation and +6dB of gain, and a high-pass filter with auto-variable Q. This means that the Q rises alongside the cutoff frequency to “give the classic filter sound without the danger of excessively boosting low frequencies,” says Union Audio.
Channels 1 and 2 are switchable between RIAA and Line inputs, for turntables and digital players, such as CDJs and iPads. Channels 3 and 4 are switchable between Line 1 and Line 2 inputs, which you can use to toggle between two digital players.
The Elara.4’s cue system offers per channel pre-fader monitoring, split-cue and add-mix controls. The Innofader crossfader has variable contour and per channel selectable routing via a toggle switch.
Union Audio says that the Elara.4’s master EQ/isolator is a unique feature, with variable crossover control that’s designed to complement the channel EQ and “allow for some highly creative sound sculpting.” The isolator has a fixed Q of 1, and you can sweep it from 150Hz to 1kHz, with full kill or +6dB boost.
The brand adds that the mixer’s build quality is “exemplary,” with an anodised and silkscreened front panel, aluminium control knobs, a 1.mm Zintec chassis, and “extensive use of Alps potentiometers and switches throughout…The mixer’s circuitry is fully modular with all PCBs mounted 90o to the front panel to prevent pooling in the event of a liquid spill and minimise audio crosstalk.”
If you’re unfamiliar with Union Audio, you may know some of the names it has worked with since its 2014 inception. Andy Rigby-Jones is at the helm of Union Audio, and has collaborated with Richie Hawtin on his Play Differently mixers, MasterSounds, and TPI Audio. Rigby-Jones was also a design manager at Allen & Heath until his departure to found Union Audio. He concludes that “Elara is tiny but mighty, packed with all the tools a DJ needs, such as a professional grade channel strip, cue system and EQ, all loaded into a small framework.”
Union Audio’s Elara.4 is available in a black finish for £1,500 + VAT, with blue, red and white colourways available for £1,620 + VAT. Check the Union Audio website from 1 December to order.
Learn more at unionaudio.co.uk.
