After creating many more innovative DJ products following the MP24, RANE was attending an AES (Audio Engineering Society) convention in New York City in 1998. Four extremely talented turntablists introduced them to their art form and invited a couple of RANE guys to join them in their back yard for some tutoring. It was an eye-opening experience for a couple of Joes from the sticks of Mukilteo. They felt privileged to be invited, not only to join in the turntablism fun, but also to be the company they selected to build their dream mixer. They knew RANE’s reputation in the club market and they understood RANE’s design philosophy.
The RANE product designers joined a handful of the city’s top scratch performers where they literally spread their ideas on the floor of Wiz’s apartment in Spanish Harlem and went to work. Thus, began the anatomy of the TTM 54 Performance mixer. For three days, they enjoyed the company of Rolly Roll, Development, DJ Big Wiz, Sugarcuts, Marz1 and Peter Parker. They watched performances by DJ Quest, The Crash Dummies, The X-Men and many more. During their stay, they defined every detail of the mixer: features, control locations, knob size and feel, as well as fader feel and much more. Collectively, they created RANE’s first hip-hop battle mixer, which became one of the most successful products in RANE’s history.