Revival Nitelife » DJ Gear

SSL users, now there’s almost no reason not to be playing on CDJ’s… (this is cool)

Vivenite — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:30:38 +0000

CDJ2000 Firmware update 3.1 brings Serato Scratch Live to life on Pioneer!

While those that know me know full well I’m a bigger fan of Traktor Pro than Scratch Live, I have no allegiance to anyone and this is just one more step in the evolution of DJ gear that brings us one step closer to everyone being able to play on the same systems (without having to plug in and unplug decks and DVS soundcards over and over again)…

Check out this writeup on Skratchworx!
http://www.skratchworx.com/news3/comments.php?id=1500

Setting up a home studio and want it to look Sexy?

Mr Jon — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 05:40:40 +0000

The computer of tomorrow is here today! It’s really, really…well, it’s what I want to look at for inspiration when I sit down to make a track or do some mastering. Yes, it might not be the most practical piece of hardware in terms of cost, but the loveliness alone is worth its weight in gold.

Builder Pius Giger (aka Lessdegrees) brings us the “Edelweiss” that boasts an interesting looking hardware system including lots of pretty lights and a fully water cooled motherboard, processor, and harddrive.

If you’re in the market for a new PC, chances are you should go for an HP, Acer, or whatever. If you’re in the market for a new sports car, but think you might have more fun bragging to your friends or fellow hardware geeks with a great looking centerpiece for your music creating workstation, then you could start considering this beautiful beast.

Numark NS7FX Motorized DJ Software Performance Controller

Mr Jon — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:32:17 +0000

For Sacramento club installations, or the casual bedroom DJ, there’s a cool new toy out. The Numark NS7FX comes out of the box with minimal hassle and is mapped with Serato’s ITCH. It has motorized platters, virtual needle dropping and many more cool features, but only time will tell if these can hold up to the rough conditions of nightly use and abuse.

A full complement of premium faders, knobs, buttons, and new Strip Search virtual needle-drop control that integrates with ITCH. NS7FX exchanges turntable and control information with Mac or PC’s at more than ten times standard MIDI resolution, which results in a system that feels good with ultra low latency.

Pros: appears to have quality hardware (but only time will tell), well laid out and won’t leave you stumbling over your hands, pre-mapped out for ITCH (for all the lazy people out there ), optimized for a rock solid piece of software for limited crashing (Serato ITCH)

cons: expensive (nearly $1500USD), low likelihood to be a permanent fixture in a club and because of that it could turn into an expensive piece of practice gear.

Features:

High-resolution digital DJ controller with effects, built for Serato ITCH and compatible with Scratch LIVE libraries

Direct-drive, motorized turntable platters with classic and modern feel settings

Activate and control the effects in Serato ITCH

Includes Serato ITCH DJ software

Built-in audio with audiophile-grade circuitry, 24-bit interface

Extensive loop, cue, and track-access controls

Strip Search (patent pending) virtual-needle drop control

Controls most MIDI applications without requiring a mouse or keyboard

Rugged, all-metal construction

Integrated laptop stand

Fits in NS7 CASE for protection in transit to the gig

High quality, replaceable, adjustable CP-PRO crossfader and D-TYPE line faders

Support for Whitelabel.net files in ITCH

Mix using either 33rpm or 45rpm speeds

Cool products to help the iPhone/ipod Touch producers

Mr Jon — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:08:03 +0000

The Sacramento club music scene might soon be using more and more of the new portable gadgetry coming out for iPhones and iPod touches. In addition to some already cool synth apps out there, there’s also two great products coming out from Akai and Alesis which allows a user to plug their device right into a keyboard so that there’s no more fumbling around on the tiny keys on the touchscreen! The Akai iPK25 transforms iPhone or iPod touch into a portable music production studio for mobile music creation. This MIDI keyboard controller gives your hand-held device a two-octave set of piano keys and professional audio outputs, and it works with the Akai Professional SynthStation Studio app.

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Now, the iDiscover keyboard, along with the companion iDiscover Keyboard app, has 25 keys and effectively turns your iPhone into a music studio complete with synth-action keys, and pitch and modulation wheels. It doubles as a MIDI controller also.

It will be interesting to see if these types of products catch on since the the main plus of an iPhone is its portability, but I really like how powerful and versatile things are remaining while shrinking.

[images from keyboard magazine]

The Native Instruments Audio Kontrol 1: February’s Studio/DJ Gear Of The Month!

Vivenite — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:54:22 +0000

Native Instruments, one of the top producers of studio gear and usable deejay-friendly club gear in the world, has released it’s newest device geared straight towards competition with EVERYONE. The Audio Kontrol 1. This sexy little unit is a complete audio & MIDI interface and doubles as a (limited) software control surface. NI also gave users the 24/192 ability (max 24 bit audio/192 khz sampling rate) for pristine audio and it comes bundled with free “lite” versions of NI’s award winning software Cubase and Traktor.

Here’s a wonderful review from Electronic Musician: NI Audio Kontrol 1

Native Instruments

What the hell is Pioneer thinking?

Vivenite — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:56:56 +0000

Is there really a market for this? A $1,000 Pioneer mixer with no effects?

Read the Skratchworx story here…