Innofader Pro 2 Review: Still the Best Fader, If You Tinker

Ten years after it arrived, the Innofader Pro 2 is still the most capable third-party crossfader you can buy. It is also not the right purchase for every DJ who wants one, and the deciding factor has nothing to do with quality. It comes down to a single question: do you enjoy tinkering, or do you want to plug something in and play?

If you are the kind of DJ who will happily spend an evening tuning cut-in lag to a fraction of a millimetre, this is the best money you can spend on a mixer. If you just want to replace a worn fader and get back to playing, there are simpler options in the same family, and we will get to those.

What it is

The Pro 2 is a replacement crossfader designed by Elliot Marx at Audio Innovate, built to drop into a wide range of mixers and comfortably outperform the fader that came with them. The specifications are serious hardware, not marketing:

• Around 25 adjustable presets, set through dial and calibration-button combinations
• Cut-in lag adjustable from 0mm to roughly 3.8mm, independently on each side
• Response time of approximately 1.2ms
• Rated to roughly 4 million cycles
• Adjustable tension via a screw below the centre hole, so you can run it loose for scratching or firmer for mixing
• Mixer-specific adapter boards, with the name tags doubling as insulation
• A copper shield over the circuit board to reduce interference inside the mixer

On some mixers it will also work as a line fader. The optional Innojuster mounts outside the mixer and gives you external calibration, curve control, and a reverse switch on mixers that never had one.

None of that is in dispute. An independent review by DJWorx reached the same verdict on capability, calling it “without a doubt the most capable third-party fader on the market.” The honest question is what it costs you to get there.

Installation is the real price

The sticker price is not the whole cost. Setting one up properly takes time, and we are not the only ones who found that.

DJWorx advised setting aside at least an hour, described four pages of instructions that could stand to be simplified, and noted that the box arrives full of connectors most people will never need. Adjusting the fader means taking it back out of the mixer to reach the controls, and some settings only take effect after several power cycles. We had the same experience: you will be in and out of the mixer more than once before it feels right.

That is not a flaw in the engineering. It is the direct consequence of giving a crossfader this much adjustment in a space this small. But it does mean the Pro 2 rewards patience and punishes impatience.

Who it is for

This is the part most reviews skip. The Pro 2 is outstanding for deep-dive DJs: turntablists and scratch DJs who care about cut-in on each side independently, who will tune and re-tune, and who want the fader to move with them between mixers.

It is not the right tool for plug-and-play DJs who want to drop in a fader and go. There can be issues along the way, and if your current fader works and you are not chasing a specific feel, DJWorx made the same point: there is little reason to upgrade. Spending more does not automatically get you a better night.

Things worth knowing before you buy

Three honest caveats, from using it rather than from a spec sheet.

It can add noise on some mixers. On certain mixers we have seen the Pro 2 introduce extra noise into the channel or the signal path. Worth knowing that the copper shielding exists precisely because a powered circuit board sitting inside an analogue mixer is an interference problem to solve, and the shield solves it on most mixers but not universally. If you hear something new after installing, you are not imagining it, and it is a mixer-compatibility issue rather than a faulty unit. Contact support before you start pulling things apart.

It still feels slightly ahead of itself. Our best description is a well-polished prototype: beautifully made, clearly the work of someone who knows exactly what they are doing, and still a product where the capability has outrun the setup experience. That is meant as a compliment to the ambition as much as a caution about the workflow.

Compatibility has improved a great deal. This is the genuinely good news. Compared with older releases, the current generation covers far more mixers and does so far more reliably. If you tried an early Innofader years ago and it did not work out, the situation today is not the situation then.

Build and support

Both are excellent, and they deserve stating plainly. The unit is weighty and properly made, with a copper shield over the board and adaptors thoughtfully designed so that the labelling also serves as insulation. These are the details of someone who has actually had a mixer open in front of him.

Support is genuinely some of the best in the DJ industry. If you hit a compatibility problem, you get real answers from people who understand the hardware. For a product this adjustable, that matters more than it would for a simple drop-in part, and it is a large part of why we still recommend the Pro 2 to the right buyer.

The current Innofader range

The lineup has grown considerably since the Pro 2 launched, and for many DJs one of the smaller models is the better buy. Prices below were checked in October 2026 and move around, so confirm before ordering.

• Innofader Pro 2 — around $149.99. The full-size, fully adjustable flagship reviewed here.
• Innofader PNP2 and PNP3 — the plug-and-play line, aimed squarely at the DJs for whom the Pro 2 is overkill.
• mini Innofader Plus — around $99.99. For mixers and controllers that take a mini fader.
• Mini Innofader Pro SC — around $60. The most affordable way into the range.
• mini Innofader duo — a two-fader option for compatible units.
• Innofader DJM — around $99.99, for legacy Pioneer DJM-300, DJM-500 and DJM-600 mixers.

One practical note: stock has been patchy. At the time of writing, several models including the Pro 2 were showing as out of stock at retailers that normally carry them. If you find one available for a fair price, that is worth acting on.

Before ordering anything, check your exact mixer against the compatibility chart on innofader.com. Which model you need, and which adapter board comes with it, depends entirely on the mixer.

The verdict

The Innofader Pro 2 remains the most adjustable crossfader on the market, it is beautifully built, and it is backed by support that most larger companies cannot match. Ten years on, that is a real achievement.

Buy it if you are a scratch or turntablist DJ who wants independent cut-in control on both sides, who will move the fader between mixers, or who simply enjoys dialling hardware in until it is exactly right. Set aside an evening, read the instructions properly, and expect to take it back out once or twice.

Skip it if your existing fader works and you have no specific complaint about it, or if what you want is to install a part and never think about it again. In that case look at the PNP line or a mini, save the difference, and you will be happier.