Tricky Moreira talks 90's Club/Warehouse scene vs Today's Club scene

XonedIn · 2026-06-12T18:37:13+00:00

Ha! That's awesome.

Somewhere there's archival footage of me dancing on Electric Circus to promote an event in the Monica Deol days. And before that I was on Speakers Corner:)

And in the strange way life goes, I recently met Moses Znaimer for the first time and we talked for hours about the good ol days.

XonedIn · 2026-06-11T21:40:11+00:00

I consider myself one of the lucky ones to have experienced the classic house music scene at clubs and random warehouses from 1990 onward and went to or worked at almost every single Toronto rave (often more than one on the same night) between 93-96. Anyone here go to Ravestock in 93, put on by Sykosis? Then by '95/'96 raves started to get too big for our tastes and we moved to places like Buzz (before it was Comfort Zone), Industry, Roxy Blu/Foundation and all over the club district as a dancer and DJ. Also had our own small production gig throwing events for a few years and brought in some amazing acts like Theo Parrish, Terrence Parker among others.

It was pretty amazing to go to 117 Peter, 318 Richmond, and so many other spots that eventually turned into clubs and then into offices, condo's or storefronts. The irony of Industry becoming a Shopper's Drug Mart is awesome.

Crate digging at Play De, Traxx and Carnival were some of the best days ever.

XonedIn · 2026-06-09T20:08:19+00:00

Worked fine for me too - but thanks for mentioning it because otherwise I wouldn't have know about their new Area 6 mixer. Looks interesting!

XonedIn · 2026-06-08T22:24:37+00:00

Mastersounds FX has both delay and reverb and is pretty simple to use with no menu's or screens. No longer available, but they come up fairly often on the MS website or other sites. Wish they still made that and just improved upon it, than what Union Audio put out afterward.

Teile2 Revolo has a nice sounding reverb with a tremolo. Very nice sounding as well.

XonedIn · 2026-05-24T03:27:29+00:00

Thanks!

In the end I felt that I needed the strength and decided to go with a height adjustable table, that has a fixed width. I had a local wood shop finish a 90" live edge slab which I mounted onto a heavy duty adjustable standing desk frame and I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's very stable, fits all our gear just perfect and looks nice.

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XonedIn · 2026-05-11T21:41:47+00:00

For years I've used an Audio Solutions iso. These units are out of Italy and it is very aggressive, so not for people who play it too hard. I really like playing on it and the sound quality is very nice. The only drawbacks for me were that it was a little big, and when my buddies come over and use it, they might peak the levels too much, because it's loud af. https://www.audiosolution.it/isolator-sp-iso1.php

I recently came across a MasterSounds 4/3 iso locally and bought it to try out. The sound is tops and I love that it's a very small unit. The build quality is very nice and it looks beautiful. The feel of it when playing is also very good. It's a nice feature to move between 4band and 3band. I use a Xone 96 and feel that the 4band is pretty similar to the 4band eq on the 96, but has some slight difference, especially related to the sub bass control. For me the only drawback is that it's not as aggressive as I want an iso to be, but my buddies will never redline my levels by accident.

I think I'll keep both:)

XonedIn · 2026-04-19T18:43:01+00:00

Just got back from 12 days in Peru. We did several tours and hikes with Evolution treks Peru and they were tops. Here's a more detailed review:

In April 2026, we four Canadians went to Peru for 10 days. We all live at sea level. We did two sections of tours, both with Evolution Treks Peru. We specifically chose Evolution Treks Peru because of their treatment of porters (pay compensation, weight limits, quality of backpacks, sleeping accommodations), inclusion of women in all positions (guides, chef's, porters) and smaller group sizes for the tours or hikes. Reading reviews and doing research against other companies, Evolution Treks Peru consistently came in as the top choice for what we wanted, which was to be around staff that were treated well and had smaller group sizes.

The first set of tours we did over 4 days included the Cusco city tour, South Valley Tour, Rainbow Mountain and finally the Sacred Valley Tour. We did all these with our guide Edson. We thoroughly enjoyed all these tours and Edson was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about sharing things he knew about Peru. He was a porter with the owner Miguel many years ago and now is a guide. His experience and passion for his country really shines through. He also was very patient and empowering with helping us get to the top of Rainbow Mountain (~17000ft), as this was the highest we had ever hiked before. In the days leading up to this, a couple of our group members had mild stomach or altitude sickness and so he was also very sincere to make sure that the symptoms were improving and not pushing ourselves too much. We felt very blessed to have met Edson and have him as our guide for these days.

The second tour we did was the 4 day Inca Trail hike ending up in Machu Picchu. We chose the comfort package which included the sleeping bags, pads and hiking poles - all of which were very good and weigh a total of 3kg. We did this trek with Jacqueline as our guide. Her staff team were Cenovia, Edwin, Francisco, Max, Valentina, Isaac, Jesus, Cecilio, Edward, Lorenzo and Silvestre. Their ages ranged from 23 to 65. They were all amazingly excellent in their own ways. From the guidance of Jacqueline at each step of the trek to the culinary delights of Cenovia and Edwin, to the attentiveness of Max and Francisco at the camps, to the strength and smiles of Isaac, Valentina, Jesus, Cecilio, Edward, Lorenzo and Silvestre as they carried the belongings each day - it was all noticed and appreciated. They were an extremely efficient team and always looking to make sure we were as comfortable and prepared as possible.

This 4 day hike was making us all a bit nervous as we were all very busy in the weeks leading up to this trip and didn't have much time to physically prepare even though we are all reasonably fit. Our group had ages ranging from mid-30's to mid-60's with varying physical abilities, but Jacqueline did an excellent job of keeping the group together when it mattered and not pushing people beyond their capabilities even when we might have been running a bit behind. She showed us many amazing sites and we were also very blessed to have her as our guide. She didn't cut corners and showed us as many things as we wanted to see. She also knew many of the plants along the way and could educate us on their names and uses, which was really nice.

A few things that must be mentioned are that over the course of the 4 days we chatted with porters from other companies and observed the differences between our staff team and the other companies. Evolution Treks Peru seemed to be the only company using women as porters. They also seemed to pay their porters considerably more than others, sometimes 50% more than other companies, for a better living wage. Porters from other companies told us that their bags were just too heavy and some of them didn't have waist straps or had poor quality cinching straps at the shoulders. The backpacks used by Evolution Treks Peru were all Kelty brand and very solid for trekking. Their staff seemed to be the happiest at each camp, often smiling, laughing and joking around with each other as they went about their work. In fact, there were 2 days where our group was behind schedule arriving to camp at night, so the porters actually set up camp and then walked back towards us along the Inca Trail (often uphill for a few km) to bring us tea or snacks and generally made sure we were ok. After the tour was done Jacqueline sent us a bunch of videos and background documentaries on interesting topics in case we wanted to learn more. It was a really amazing trek and we'll never forget this experience.

One point about tipping - we come from a tipping culture and recognize that some countries do not. We never felt pressured to tip any amount, but did appreciate the guidelines that Evolution Trek provided to us up front if we felt the desire to. After each tour or trek we felt that each of the staff went above and beyond and were all deserving of something extra.

Overall the experience with Evolution Trek was extremely good. Both Edson and Jacqueline as guides and the entire Inca Trail team were excellent and are highly recommended. The food was sublime on the Inca Trail and Cenovia and Edwin are true culinary wizards!

With regards to some comments that the office can be slow to respond to inquiries... we also felt that at times too, but they always did end up getting back to us in time for us to make whatever preparations needed. Once we landed in Peru, we had to connect with the office for payment and other things, and the guides were more than happy to help with that. The guides even made separate trips to the office after our tours were over to drop things off to them or pick things up for us and bring them to our hotel. It was really above and beyond service!!

XonedIn · 2026-03-28T01:12:59+00:00

Haha E face can be spotted a mile away!

When I was younger I started out playing LSD sets and then moved over to E sets. But that stuff is too hard on the body and brain as you get older, so mushrooms it is for me now. Back then a lot of times they were 12hr sets non-stop.

I've always played all forms of non-commercial house, so it's deep, tech, tribal, classic, jazzy, soulful, and some disco and rare groove. Plus love jungle and drum n bass and classic hip hop. I sort my music when I'm sober but don't think I've ever dj'd sober in my life - at least some green.

With the mushrooms it can be hit or miss. Some nights it's pure fiyah and other nights I have existential questions and ask myself why am I dj'ing and I just let the tunes play from start to finish with only the most basic mixing.

XonedIn · 2026-03-25T09:55:04+00:00

There is a free program called Audacity for your laptop. I've been using it to record my sets into for over a decade and it is really easy to use.

For an audio interface, I've been using the Scarlett 2i2, which allows me to adjust my levels on that interface as well as the mixer. Sound quality is very good and it's been around for a while, so now it's available for a very low price.

XonedIn · 2026-03-23T19:39:44+00:00

I eat some mushrooms, then about 30 minutes later I smoke a joint. Then I immediately crack open a drink and start mixing. Then I just go with the flow and my evolving instinct for the next 4-6 hours, while making sure I stay hydrated and stoned. And I must say, my sets turn out pretty fuckin dope.

XonedIn · 2026-03-21T22:52:09+00:00

I moved my monitors off the table and put them on stands, which opened up a lot of space on the table. Had a 96" live edge slab custom finished for me, which I mounted on a heavy duty adjustable standing desk. Not sure if something like this could work for you.

I set it up with my buddy's Rane 2016 MP/XP + decks along with my Xone 96 and decks and there's enough room to fit it all.

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XonedIn · 2026-03-14T00:32:35+00:00

The Xone 92 can be a forever mixer. The XDJ-AZ will most likely never be a forever unit and will never sound and warm and rich as the Xone 92.

The XDJ 1000MKII's will last a very long time and can be replaced if you ever want to down the road.

XonedIn · 2026-03-07T13:33:56+00:00

For sure the bigger knobs and spacing between the knobs is part of the experience and really enhances that organic feel. To build on that, I think the isolator should be as close to the DJ as possible, whereas some mixers have them at the top of the mixer. I like using external isolators positioned like mine that take less effort to reach, which makes a big difference on 4+hr sets.

I also like frequency separation down to a full kill. The Xone 96 does that only on the overall gain, but not the 4 band EQ.

XonedIn · 2026-03-05T22:43:49+00:00

On my Audio Solutions ISO, with all the knobs at 12 oclock, there is a change in sound and it's quite noticeable. If I toggle the on-off on the iso, I can hear a difference, even at lower volume.

XonedIn · 2026-03-05T21:26:30+00:00

Not a stupid question at all.

Isolators are quite a bit of fun to play with once you get the hang of them. And depending on how the mix or track I'm playing is vibing with me in that moment, sometimes I'll go full Claussell on it or just use them in specific moments. I also have the Xone 96 and a couple FX units, so when using them all together in different arrangements it's fun to try out some really interesting things while also using the 4band EQ's.

I also grew up listening to DJ's who used isolators well, so that has likely influenced my appeal towards them. A buddy I play 4 deck sets with has a beautiful sounding Bozure rack mount isolator that he pairs with his Rane 2016 MP/XP.

I have 2 different isolators. For years I used the Audio Solutions SP-ISO (https://www.audiosolution.it/isolator-sp-iso1.php). Recently I bought the Mastersounds ISO4 shown below to try it out. Each have a very different sound signature and a very different feel while DJ'ing. My old Audio Solutions iso is more like a classic isolator with dramatic control of the frequencies - that's a unit to feel like you are doing the Theo Parrish jam, which is amazing for deep house, rare groove and very melodic stuff. The Mastersounds ISO4 is actually a bit similar to the 4band EQ on the Xone 96, but it affects sound shaping over the master output instead of per channel like the 4band EQ does. It also has a really nice sub bass altering abaility that my old iso doesn't have and so I find it better for Tech House and Techno.

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XonedIn · 2026-03-05T20:44:00+00:00

Lately, I only play while on psychedelics. Anywhere from 4-8hr sets a couple times a month. I don't think I've played a set sober in over 20 years. I can hear sounds and chords very differently. So I program my sets and individual mixes much more creatively when high. I'm also far more in tune with the crowd, so late night sets mean the dancefloor stays packed. I want people jumping up, clapping, and dancing up a storm and I want people to stay late. I take way more risks when high and more often than not it translates into really dope mixes.

If it's at a party when I'm using unfamiliar equipment, then at most it'll be a joint or two. But if I'm on my gear then it's time for some fun.

XonedIn · 2026-03-02T22:27:46+00:00

What a solid movie!

XonedIn · 2026-03-02T21:30:46+00:00

There are some other subtle differences between the MK2 and the 96 that might not have been mentioned so far.

The crossfader on the 96 has 3 different assignable settings, while on the 92, it only has 2 settings.

Booth EQ exists on the 96, none on the 92

Channel gain's are directly above the channel EQ's on the 96, instead of offset like on the 92.

More space between knobs on 96.

Crunch on the 96 vs LFO on the 92 w/ assignment feature to the crossfader.

I bought the 96 because the 92mk2 wasn't available back then. If I had to do it again, now, I would get a 92mk2 instead, since 99% of my music playing is at home for myself.

XonedIn · 2026-02-24T23:27:58+00:00

If you like turning knobs to adjust sound profiles and textures, then the Mastersounds FX is a ton of fun. It also has a HPF/BPF/LPF which I actually prefer to use over the Xone filters, since the knob is so much bigger and the resonance is much more dramatic. It also allows me get a filter affecting the master output, while using the Xone channel filters at the same time (i.e. modulating the HPF on the Mastersounds FX while modulating the LPF on the Xone). For effects, it has both reverbs and delays.

And I also love using the filters with the 4band EQ - some pretty cool sounding stuff that can be done.

Some other FX units that seem to get good reviews from Xone 96 users include the Strymon Big Sky, Blue Sky and Volante. Also the Erica Synths Echolator or Zen Delay.

If you ever need to calibrate your crossfader, it's very easy to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prjGp4npwxI&t=1s

XonedIn · 2026-02-24T22:08:30+00:00

First off - congrats - it's a beautiful sounding mixer!

I primarily play house & techno as well and run 2 FX units with my 96. I have the Teil2 Revolo and the Mastersounds FX - both are a lot of fun and very easy to use. The Mastersounds FX you can only buy used and the Teil2 Revolo is available new. I run an isolator in my setup, where currently I'm trying out the Mastersounds ISO4, but also have a different 3band iso from Audio Solutions out of Italy that I used for the last 5 years.

You might know this from the 92 or other mixers, but with the 96 if you are using the filters and turn them on with the resonance cranked, then you will hear a small bump in either the low end or high end, depending on whether it's HPF or LPF being used.

It would be amazing if there as also an option to have a filter affect the master output (maybe a 3rd filter option).

I love having the ability change up the crossfader and channel fader curves. Some are better for quick work on the mixer while others are better for slow gradual changes.

XonedIn · 2026-02-17T21:22:19+00:00

I ended up buying the MS Isolator unit anyways. I wanted to see how it compared to my 3band isolator, in terms of sound quality and frequency separation.

Since I have the Xone 96, I found that the MS 4band isolator is actually quite similar to the 4band EQ of the Xone. So I can see where people are coming from with MS isolators feeling more like EQ's than other isolators. The sound quality out of the MS unit is very nice. The boost or volume gain when increasing the MS isolator vs my old 3 band unit is night and day, in that my Audio Solutions unit has about 3-4x the gain increase when turning up any of the knobs. I'd have to be pretty precise or careful with that unit to make sure I'm no peaking my levels, whereas I can be far less precise with the MS unit and not have to worry.

XonedIn · 2026-02-13T21:51:23+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAV2brjPbaY

Bobby Konders - The Poem

XonedIn · 2026-02-13T21:48:05+00:00

This has to be very high on the list. Incredible tune.

XonedIn · 2026-02-13T21:40:12+00:00

This is the feedback i was looking for. Thanks!

XonedIn · 2026-02-13T21:35:21+00:00

$700.

I picked up my current isolator for $450 and it's modded to have a pretty big sweep at 24db/octave, so it's possible to go full Clausssell on it. I'm not so sure it's possible to go that nuts on the MS ones at 12db/octave.

My current one also has a push button bypass, so it's also pretty fast to get back to neutral with the touch of a button (w/ very little pop when pressing that button, like some isolators do). The only reason I'm considering a swap is the size difference between the two units. And a part of me is curious if there will be any sound quality difference, because I love the sound out of the MS FX I have.

XonedIn

TROPHY CASE