Hardware & signal path
Magnetic fader
A magnetic fader senses position with a magnet rather than a wiper touching a conductive track. Nothing physically rubs, so the abrasion that eventually degrades every conventional one never begins.
In practice
Nothing rubs, so nothing wears. It is a durability upgrade first and a feel upgrade second.
Judge it as a retrofit rather than a purchase. Most mixers with a standard fader cutout accept an aftermarket magnetic unit, so a ten-year-old box can be brought back to new for a fraction of replacing it — which is a better use of the money than a new mixer if everything else about yours still works. Where the mixer has an integrated fader and no cutout, this is not available at any price, and that is worth checking before you buy the mixer rather than after.
No contact
Why it does not wear
Retrofit
How most people get one
Cutout
What decides if you can
Where these come from: How contactless fader mechanisms work and what a standard fader cutout accepts — manufacturer descriptions, not catalog figures. For what we can measure, see the setting, which is a separate question.
Why it matters
A fader is a consumable and nothing else on a mixer is. Dust and abrasion on the conductive track produce dropouts, then crackle, then a dead patch, and the failure is a function of how many times the thing has been moved rather than of age. Nothing else in a booth wears out by being used correctly.
Removing the contact removes the wear category entirely, which changes the economics rather than the sound. A conventional fader is a part you budget to replace; a magnetic one is a part you stop thinking about, and on a mixer kept for a decade that is the whole argument.
Frequently asked
Do magnetic faders wear out?+
The sensing mechanism does not, because nothing touches. The moving parts and the cap still age, but the crackle and dead spots that eventually kill a conventional fader never develop.
Can I fit one to my existing mixer?+
If it has a standard fader cutout, usually yes. Mixers with an integrated fader and no cutout cannot be retrofitted at all, which is worth knowing before you buy one.
How long does a conventional fader last?+
It depends entirely on how many times it is moved, not on how old it is. That is the point of the comparison: one part is a consumable and the other is not.
Related terms
Crossfader
The crossfader is the horizontal fader that blends between two channels. At one end you hear only the left assignment, at the other only the right, and a curve control sets how abruptly the handover happens in between.
Crossfader curve
Crossfader curve sets how quickly the sound arrives as the fader leaves its end stop. A sharp curve is fully open within a few millimetres; a smooth curve spreads the change across the whole travel.
Mixer channel
A channel is one vertical strip on the mixer and everything one source passes through: input select, trim, EQ, filter, cue, and the fader at the bottom. The controls act in that order from top to bottom.
Impedance
Impedance, in ohms, is how much a pair of headphones resists the signal driving them. Higher impedance needs more voltage for the same loudness, which is why one pair can be loud on one output and thin on another.
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