SEVENTY, the field manual

The five things on the SEVENTY that change what happens next, if you are reading this in the booth. All five are explained in full further down this page.

Check Deck Source first, every time. A silent channel on the SEVENTY is a source knob pointed at an input with nothing on it far more often than it is a fault. Pads doing nothing means the source is not USB A or USB B, because MIDI only travels on those.

Then the rear switch. PH/CD is phono or line depending on a switch on the back. Turntables into a line setting are almost inaudible; line sources into phono are distorted and far too loud.

Then the sensitivity, if the level is only nearly right. PH Sens in the Main Menu sets each deck's phono input sensitivity between 2.5 mV and 10.0 mV, and RANE's instruction is to use the level recommended by your turntable cartridge's manufacturer.

A hum or a buzz has its own answer. RANE join the symptom to the cause: if you experience a low hum or buzz, this could mean that your turntables are not grounded. The ground wire goes to the terminals beside the PH/CD inputs, and RANE add that some turntables have a grounding wire built into the RCA connection, in which case nothing needs to be connected to the grounding terminal.

And two controls really do reach silence. All EQ controls are full-kill, and the LP/HP filter knobs are full-kill by default: at FULL CUT the LOW position of a filter knob will silence the deck and so will the HI position, and both cutoff frequencies can be changed in the Main Menu.

Related: Deck Source Playing without a computer

RANE state the internal Flex FX on the SEVENTY are post fader and that the Serato software effects are pre fader. That is the difference between an effect tail that survives a fader being closed and one that does not, and it decides which engine to reach for at the end of a phrase.

The RANE SEVENTY shows two pad modes that will not do anything without a separate purchase.

Two of the pad modes need Serato expansions that are not in the box. RANE state Pitch Play requires the Pitch ’n Time DJ expansion, and Flip requires the Serato Flip expansion, though Flip can also be reached as a custom pad mode.

The RANE SEVENTY changes a deck's mode when you select one of its pad modes.

RANE state that selecting Transport pad mode puts the deck into Internal mode automatically. On a deck being played from timecode that is a mode change nothing on the fader asks for.

RANE recommend the SEVENTY Control Panel for backing settings up rather than for daily use. They state it reaches virtually every setting in the mixer, including fader cut in and deck settings, and that a saved backup can be loaded onto a different SEVENTY or used to restore your own.

That matters most to anyone who plays on a different SEVENTY every weekend. A backup file turns a strange mixer into your own in the time it takes to open an application.

Short answer. After two minutes of inactivity the display inverts its entire image. It is burn-in protection, it is by design, and it is not a fault.

Why it is worth saying. It looks exactly like a screen failing. A DJ who has never met one and sees the display go negative mid-set will assume the mixer is dying, at the worst possible moment to assume that.

What it shows. The display is a 1.6 inch OLED measured on the diagonal, and what it carries is effect parameters and the mixer's own settings menu rather than waveforms or a library. This is the SEVENTY-TWO MKII's desk without the touchscreen, so browsing happens on your computer.

The effects live behind it. The FX Mode button decides what the FX buttons select, lit blue for the SEVENTY's internal Flex FX and amber for Serato DJ Pro's effects. In Flex FX Mode you can activate one effect and it is applied to both decks; in Software Effects Mode you can stack up to three different effects on each deck, and stacking needs Software FX > Multi FX set to On in the Main Menu with Serato DJ Pro set to Multi FX as well.

Related: SEVENTY-TWO MKII, the same desk with a screen

Short answer. The Main Menu has a Version page that shows which firmware version is installed on your SEVENTY, and RANE ask you to check rane.com for available firmware updates, especially after you update your software, because a firmware update may address new software features.

Do it before the gig, never at it. An update is a computer, a cable and a mixer that is out of service while it runs. The Main Menu also carries a Factory Reset that returns every setting to its default, which is worth knowing exists and worth not pressing on a borrowed mixer.

Related: Drivers and Serato

Unlocked automatically, no code. Serato DJ Pro and Serato DVS, on connection. The SEVENTY is Serato DVS enabled, and RANE put what DVS needs in the box: two Serato NoiseMap control vinyl records and two Serato NoiseMap control CDs.

Where DVS listens, and how to move it. DVS Input in the Main Menu decides which of the SEVENTY's inputs Serato DJ Pro recognises as the control source for that deck, PH/CD or AUX, so control vinyl the software cannot see is a menu setting before it is a fault.

Pitch Play needs an expansion, and the box has the card. Pitch Play needs the Serato Pitch 'n Time DJ Expansion Pack installed, and RANE list a Serato Pitch 'n Time download card with a serial number in the SEVENTY's box contents.

Flip is the one that is not in the box. Flip is the expansion RANE do not put in the box. They write that if you have purchased the Serato Flip Expansion Pack you reach the Flip control by pressing Saved Loop so that it lights red, and that if you have not purchased it the same slot is available as a Custom Pad mode instead.

Drivers. RANE ask every owner to register the mixer and download the Rane Control Panel, and they scope the driver inside it: Windows users only, the Rane Control Panel contains drivers required for Windows. On macOS 15 Sequoia the driver and control panel need to be 1.0.2 or later.

Related: TWELVE MKII DVS

Short answer. The SEVENTY makes sound with no computer attached. A channel set to PH/CD or Aux plays whatever is wired to that deck's rear input, the Session In signal is sent directly to the program mix, and both mic signals are split and routed directly to the stereo program mix and cue channel. The computer is what the USB A and USB B deck positions, the performance pads and the MIDI they send depend on.

Why this is the one to be sure of. A mixer sold as Serato hardware gets described as though it stops existing when the laptop does. This one does not. If a computer drops out mid-set, the channels pointed at PH/CD or Aux keep playing and both microphones keep working, and you finish the set on turntables or players into the rear inputs.

What you actually lose. The USB A and USB B deck positions go quiet, the performance pads stop sending anything, and the OLED is left showing effect parameters and the settings menu rather than anything about a track.

Related: Deck Source What the screen shows

Short answer. Two USB-B ports for two computers, plus two USB-A ports for TWELVE decks or MIDI gear. The changeover is manual: turn each channel's Deck Source from USB A to USB B.

There is no automatic handover. Nothing detects the second computer and switches for you. That is not a shortcoming, it is a design decision that keeps the mixer predictable, but it does mean the transition is a thing you perform rather than a thing that happens.

The prohibition on those ports. RANE print one prohibition on the Twelve and Controller USB ports, and it is tied to the Deck Source knob: do not connect USB drives to these ports, because switching the Deck Source knob will force eject the drive from the connected computer, which could damage the contents and should be avoided.

The detail that catches people. With two computers connected, each channel plays whichever computer its Deck Source is pointed at, and the only place that shows is on the computers themselves. There is no screen here to read the answer off, so the check is the source knobs.

If a TWELVE is in the chain. Entering Transport pad mode puts the software into Internal Mode by itself, and RANE add the condition that matters in a DVS booth: if you are using a Twelve controller with the SEVENTY, the software will always be in Internal Mode.

Related: Deck Source SEVENTY-TWO MKII

Short answer. Each channel has one Deck Source knob with four positions: USB A or USB B, meaning a track playing on that layer in the software, PH/CD, meaning a device connected to the Deck PH/CD In on the rear panel, and Aux, meaning a device connected to the Deck Aux In. Set it wrong and the channel is silent, or loud and distorted, and neither is a fault.

The trap for MIDI. RANE state the limit in one line: a deck's controls will send MIDI information only when its deck source selector is set to USB A or B. If you are wondering why your pads do nothing, look at the source knob before you look at anything else.

The rear switch that goes with it. The rear PH/CD selector has to match the box you plugged in. RANE say to set it to PH for phono-level turntables, to provide the additional amplification needed for phono-level signals, and to CD for a line-level device such as a line-level turntable, CD player or sampler.

The two mics are not equal. Mic 1 is on the top panel with level, tone, echo and an On/Duck button, and holding that button for 2 seconds activates ducking, which reduces the volume level of all other inputs by 10 dB, with the threshold and the hold time set in the Main Menu. Mic 2 is on the front panel with level, tone and on or off only. If you need effects on a guest MC, they go on mic 1.

What those inputs accept. Mic Inputs 1 and 2 are mono XLR and quarter-inch jacks whose signals are split and routed directly to the stereo program mix and cue channel, and each has a rear Line/Mic selector that must be set to Mic for a microphone and to Line for a line-level device such as a keyboard or sampler. RANE name no phantom power for either input.

Related: Playing without a computer The changeover What Serato unlocks

Short answer. RANE fit three MAG FOUR tension-adjustable faders, two channel or line faders and one crossfader, and the crossfader tension knob is on the front panel where you can reach it at any time.

What sits on the front panel. The front panel carries the crossfader Contour knob, turned left for a smooth fade and right for a sharp cut with the centre a typical setting for club performances, a Tension knob that loosens or tightens how the crossfader feels, separate Channel Fader Contour knobs, and a Fader Reverse switch that flips a fader's polarity.

The setting that decides how a cut feels. Cut-In Adjust in the Main Menu sets the dead space between a fader's closed and open positions, 0 to 16 for each channel fader and separately for XFader L and XFader R, and the higher the setting the further you have to push the fader before any audio is heard. It is the adjustment scratch DJs argue about and the one nobody finds by looking at the panel, because it is a menu page rather than a knob.

Calibration is not on the mixer. Fader calibration is not on the mixer. With the SEVENTY powered on and connected by USB, the Rane Control Panel does it under File > Fader Calibration, and the same panel saves and loads the mixer's settings as an .r72 file so one configuration can travel between situations.

Related: Before the gig

Set the crossfader tension before the set, not during. The Tension knob is on the front panel, so there is no reason to live with somebody else's feel.

Set the cut-in at home. It is a Main Menu page, not a knob, and hunting for it in a dark booth while a record is playing is how a set goes wrong. Set it once and the mixer remembers.

Agree the changeover out loud. Because it is manual, the handover works best when both DJs know which USB port is whose before either of them touches a knob.

Know what the mics do before an MC arrives. Mic 1 has the echo and the ducking, mic 2 has neither, and the Line/Mic switch on the back decides whether either of them is heard at all.

The screen going negative is not a fault. Two minutes idle and it inverts. Nothing is wrong.

Related: The pre-gig checklist

Short answer. RANE give the order in both directions. Starting a session, turn on input sources, then the SEVENTY, then output devices; ending a session, turn off output devices, then the SEVENTY, then input sources. They restate it at the power switch: power on the SEVENTY only after you have connected all of your input devices and before you power on your amplifiers and loudspeakers, and power off your amplifiers and loudspeakers before powering off the SEVENTY.

Why the order is not fussiness. It is the sequence that keeps a switch-on thump out of the loudspeakers, and it is the one part of a setup a stand-in engineer will get wrong if nobody says it out loud. The same order run backwards is how the night ends.

Related: If a channel is silent

Go to RANE for the files themselves. We link their pages instead of hosting a copy, because a manual copied here is a snapshot of release day and theirs is the one that stays current.

Can I adjust fader tension without opening the mixer?

On the crossfader yes: the tension knob is on the front panel where you can reach it during a set.

What phono sensitivity should I set?

PH Sens in the Main Menu sets each deck's phono input between 2.5 mV and 10.0 mV, and RANE's instruction is to use the level recommended by your turntable's manufacturer rather than a fixed figure.

My control vinyl is not being recognised. What decides the DVS input?

DVS Input in the Main Menu, which chooses whether Serato DJ Pro reads PH/CD or AUX as the control source for that deck. Control vinyl on the input the menu is not pointing at will not be seen.

Does the display show waveforms or my library?

No. It is a 1.6 inch OLED and what it carries is effect parameters and the mixer's own settings menu.