Archive for the ‘DJ Equipment’ Category

Numark NS6 – The Revolution Is Here – Control Yourself

Friday, May 27th, 2011

4 Decks of Crowd Control

Numarrk NS6 is a 4-channel Digital DJ controller with complete built-in mixer and four decks of software control. NS6 is the first truly pro-grade DJ controller and standalone 4-channel mixer with effects, allowing you to mix external sources with tracks on your computer. Simply put, there has never been this much versatility and control available for professional DJs. Numark NS6’s easy-to-use dual-platter system has been designed in collaboration with Serato to deliver powerful breakthrough performance to DJs of all kinds.

Numark NS6 PlatterThe Best Platters On the Planet

The NS6 platters are the most responsive, highest-resolution touch-activated platters ever produced in a DJ product, delivering an astounding 3,600 ticks of resolution per rotation. These are not “forced depression” platters that demand you press down every time you want to move the platter or scratch; the NS6 platters are ultra sensitive, responding to your touch, giving you extremely precise, high definition turntable control. With high-resolution 14-bit MIDI communication to your computer, NS6 keeps your mix super tight, erasing the line between hardware and software.

Numark NS6 Mixer Section4 Decks of Crowd Control

With an all-new 4-deck version of Serato, NS6 gives you an unbelievable amount of options for performing. Serato’s interface lines up vertically or horizontally for optimal viewing of the waveform alignment; you’ll know exactly where you are and will easily be able to see how the tracks coincide. Layer selectors next to each platter are the keys to unlocking the 4-deck power of NS6. At the push of a button, you can switch between Decks 1 & 3 on the left side and Decks 2 & 4 on the right. Remix a track on the fly, layer effects, mix and match beats, bars and phrases from four different songs – NS6 is a true DJ’s dream.

Numark NS6 Control DisplayVirtual Needle Drop – Improved

NS6 was designed to blur the line between you and your music, to give you ultimate control and a truly interactive experience. NS6 takes Strip Search, the virtual needle drop technology introduced with NS7, one step further by providing position-indicating LEDs that give you a visual representation of a track’s timeline, right in front of you. There’s nothing like using Strip Search to instantly locate a point in the track. Now, you’ll hardly have to look up.

Numark NS6 ConnectorsMix It All

At the heart of Numark NS6 is a premium-quality fully independent 4-channel mixer that can be used with or without a computer, making Numark NS6 perhaps the most versatile DJ controller and mixer combination in the world. Numark NS6’s four channels can easily transition between controlling Serato’s four decks and controlling your external sources. Control Serato one moment; mix in your turntable, CD decks, or a mic the next. At its heart, NS6 is a software controller, but it’s also ready to handle everything else you’ve got.

Numark NS6 OutputsIt Sounds as Good as it Looks

DJing is all about music, and music is all about sound. Numark
NS6’s audio interface has been engineered to sound authentic and full, retaining the integrity of your music. Numark NS6 is built around a genuine 24-bit mixer that sounds as good as you would expect from a professional audio interface. Pro-grade circuitry and premium inputs and outputs ensure your mix will sound punchy and strong night after night. As you would expect from a professional controller, Numark NS6 has locking XLR outputs for a balanced signal path that will relay your mix reliably even over long distances.

numark-ns6-simpleseratoSimple. Seamless. Solid. Serato.

Serato has become synonymous with intuitive, stable, powerful DJ software. Designed for DJs and built for live performance, Serato has been developed and refined to deliver a fully integrated DJ experience that is solid and reliable. You shouldn’t need an instruction manual in the booth with you, so the interface of the 4-deck version of the software included with Numark NS6 is clean and straightforward. Not only is it built to look and feel like true DJing, it was designed specifically for Numark NS6 to ensure completely seamless performance. Free upgrades that constantly add new features and enhancements ensure that when Serato advances, you do too.

numark-ns6-dualfxDual FX. Limitless Possibilities.

Interacting with the music is what DJing is all about, and Numark NS6 opens creative doors in every direction. Two banks of assignable effects with parameters you can manipulate on the fly empower you to make the same track into a different track every time. Numark NS6 takes it even further by allowing you to layer and blend effects. Choose from Delay, Crusher, Braker, LPF, HPF, Repeater and more. Each bank has 12 effects ready to mangle, warp and shape your audio.

numark-ns6-nokeyboardNo Keyboard Required

Numark NS6 continues in the tradition of Numark NS7, Numark NS7FX and Numark V7 by giving you complete, tactile control and real-time visual feedback of your set. You’ll spend more time performing, less time looking at the computer screen. Numark NS6 provides instant crate control via a simple click knob and large, backlit buttons to navigate through your music library.

numark-ns6-loopsTwisted Loops

With the Numark NS6 you get three ways to loop. Manual Loop gives you full control to set the ins and outs wherever you want. Auto loop uses parameters you assign to create a perfect loop at the touch of a button. Both Manual and Auto looping are perfect for creating intros or outros, and either can be divided, multiplied or shifted left or right in the track. NS6’s third loop function, Loop Roll, enables dynamic stuttering effects while the track continues to play. Use it to build energy when you’re coming out of a breakdown or simply want to interact and have fun with a song. Numark NS6 is a DJ’s instrument allowing you to squeeze, stutter, or hammer away at your mix.

numark-ns6-chopshopChop Shop

Slice and dice your tracks with Numark NS6’s assignable hot-cue buttons. This Numark NS6 feature can be the key to creating unique and electrifying mixes as you assign hot-cues that express your style. Hot-cue-assign buttons on each deck digitally mark your cues on the track and act like on-the-fly samplers, enabling you to jump to different parts of the song. Build an arsenal of cues, then mix and deploy them as you improvise, build the mix, tear it down and energize the crowd.

numark-ns6-searchinsyncSearch In Sync

The Skip button on Numark NS6 is an all-new feature you’ll have to hear to believe. By depressing the Skip button and turning the platter you can get to any point of your track in seconds while staying on the beat. Miss that part you wanted to loop or set a cue at? With this powerful feature, you can go back and no one will ever know. Plus, if you need to get out of a track quickly, this is your escape hatch. Your mix loses no energy and your audience hears no rushed transition. It’s like a musical time warp. You’re just there.

numark-ns6-nevermissabeatNever Miss a Beat

During a live show, anything can happen, and Numark NS6 was built to give you the tools necessary to respond. NS6’s Beat Grid function gives you the ability to manually adjust the beat grid of any song. If you have a track where the drums aren’t exactly perfect, like those with live drummers, the Beat Grid function enables you to go into the track and line up the beat perfectly. With the beat lined-up you can then use the Auto Loop, Beat Sync Effects, or Serato’s 4-layer deck sync on the track and everything will be seamless an tight.

Permalink: http://blog.discostudio.co.uk/2011/05/numark-ns6-the-revolution-is-here-control-yourself/

REVIEW: Allen & Heath xone:DX

Monday, June 21st, 2010
The digital age has always been about cramming more into less. But there has to be a practical minimum at which DJing becomes impractical. So imagine the task given to the clever people at Allen & Heath - please squish 4 decks into a laptop sized bag. They did a hell of a job with the xone: 3D and 4D, but no - they needed smaller dammit (fist thuds on boardroom table). Oh and one last thing - they want it plug and play as well as MIDI and effects and cue and loops and ridiculous ins and outs and at ridiculous high quality… and for less than the price of a 4D. That's quite some task, but the bitter pill was sweetened with the addition of Serato's ITCH. What came out was the xone:DX and an eye-opening DJ experience for this vinyl veteran.

Vestax’s PDX-3000 – the sequel

Friday, May 28th, 2010
There's no denying that the once mighty turntable is becoming a thing of yester-year. I'm sure many would disagree, but when clubs are actually removing them, and finding one at a trade show or retailer is a rarity, you know that it's not looking good for the venerable wheels of steel. Thus demand has been considerably less, and supply even harder to come by for some models. The Vestax PDX has been notable by its absence in the retail chain, resulting in several emails enquiring about its demise. But now the Vestax PDX-3000 MKII cat is out of the bag. It seems that in these times of dwindling sales, one company is mad enough to at least pump some cash into a tad of R&D to update their range.

Skratchworx: Numark V7 Review

Thursday, May 27th, 2010
No matter how hard manufacturers try and flog the dead horse that is CD, media is dead. It doesn't matter how many products come out with CD in the ever lengthening nomenclature, we DJs want a quick and easy way to use our digital audio with our chosen lump of DJ hardware. Some like the ever classic feel of vinyl, while others take the MIDI controller route. Me? I like the best of both worlds and have fallen head over heels for Numark's ITCH based controllers. First it was the NS7, and now it's the more conventional Numark V7. And as ever I wrote lots of opinion and made it perdy via the medium of photography...

UK – Denon DJ Sponsors the Return of a Unique Festival Event

Thursday, May 13th, 2010
Denon DJ Europe has announced that it is a musical sponsor of the second edition of HowTheLightGetsIn: The Philosophy and Music Festival at Hay; a totally unique event in the festival calendar.

American Audio VMS4 Midi DJ Controller

Friday, April 30th, 2010

American DJ VMS4

The American Audio VMS4 is probably the most advanced Midi DJ controller to date! American Audio have jam packed this controller with soooo many features.

American Audio VMS4 Sneak Peak Video:

This video is a sneak peak video and officially released by American Audio, but presented by Simon Fletcher who is the founder of internet DJ magazine, (or e-zine), The DJ Business.

A Look at the American Audio VMS4:

This is a very short demo of the American DJ VMS4 hosted by iDJNow and was filmed at NAMM 2010 DJ show.

Full Feature List:

General Features:

  • Midi Controller with 4 USB / Analog selectable MIDILOG (Midi & Analog) channels
  • All audio control faders, knobs, switches, and buttons smoothed - eliminates popping, wiper noise, and zipper noise
  • On/off soft startup and turnoff
  • Gain/treble/mid/bass EQ on all MIDILOG channels
  • 2 phono/line selectable analog channels
  • Two microphone channels with illuminated on/off switches and gain/treble/mid/bass EQs
  • On/off cueing on each MIDILOG channel
  • Split cueing headphones with rotary mix control
  • Illuminated rubber knobs for ease of use in dark environments
  • Solid 1.6mm thick faceplate for extra durability
  • Panel mounted rotary knobs
  • Full analog mixer operation if the computer crashes or with external power supply
  • Innofader replaceable crossfader compatible (sold separately)
  • Crossfader curve control
  • Crossfader assign and reverse
  • Q-Start crossfader controlled startup for 2 external audio players
  • User replaceable channel faders
  • Master and Booth outputs with L/R balance
  • Balanced Master outputs
  • 12 position stereo master output VU meter
  • Dimensions (LxWxH): 320×486x65mm

Midi Features:

  • Built-in mouse pad
  • Long life MIDI assignable touch strips
  • Two 10- bit resolution pitch sliders
  • 62 assignable MIDI buttons and switches
  • 50 MIDI buttons have LED illuminations, including 18 with dual blue/red LED
  • 4 assignable rotary encoders
  • 34 assignable rotary controllers
  • 5 assignable linear fader controllers
  • Dual MIDI controls on all buttons and switches
  • Dual 2000 point resolution touch sensitive turntable scratch controllers

Audio Features:

  • 24-bit 48 kHz analog audio
  • 16-bit 44.1kHz USB audio
  • 10-bit resolution on all analog fader controls
  • THD <0.1%*
  • Channel separation >60dB*
  • S/N ratio >85dB*
  • Analog channel audio latency < 1msec
  • Selectable USB modes: 4 in 4 out mode for running software effects on phono/line analog channels or 2 in 8 out mode for running 4 software channels and master recording

* For each audio channel, both line and phono modes

Release Date: The official release date for the American Audio VMS4 has not been officially confirmed at this time but representitives of American DJ Europe have told us that it’s likely to be around July 2010.

Permalink: http://blog.discostudio.co.uk/2010/04/american-dj-vms4-midi-dj-controller/

Numark Announce MIXDECK UK Release

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Numark MixDeck in CaseThe highly acclaimed and much anticipated Numark MixDeck has finally been released to UK retailers. Numark, today, announced that the Numark MixDeck has officially been released and the UK retail price is £699.99.

Numark MixDeck is in a legue of it’s with it’s offering of so many input formats. The Numark MixDeck gives the CD DJ a unique opportunity to add “digital DJing” to their set-up and delve into the realm of “digital DJing” with the addition of a simple USB device, like a USB hard-drive* or a USB thumb drive*.

The Numark MixDeck is shown above in a specially made Nuamrk MixDeck Flight Case, this case is sold separately and is not included in the standard retail price.

The Numark MixDeck was released in the UK on April 29, 2010.

Permalink: http://blog.discostudio.co.uk/2010/04/numark-announce-mixdeck-uk-release/

Numark CDN450 UK Release

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Numark CDN450Numark, today, announced the release of their latest middle-range DJ cd player and MP3 cd player.

The Numark CDN450 is an innovative player that can play standard audio CDs as well as MP3 formatted CDs enabling the DJ to have much more tracks on one CD.

Numark Says:Numark’s CDN450 is a highly reliable, dual-deck MP3/CD player for any DJ who needs a no-nonsense, multi-format player for professional use. This ultra-reliable MP3 and CD player is packed with features such as text display, Anti-Shock™ electronically buffered skip protection, scratching, and seamless looping. CDN450 is a perfect player for mobile DJs working events and for fixed installs in clubs, bars, restaurants, and more.

A detaled description and technical specifications can be found on the Numark CDN-450 web page on our website.

Permalink: http://blog.discostudio.co.uk/2010/04/numark-cdn450-uk-release/

Allen & Heath Xone Facelift

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Since it was announced by Allen & Heath back in 2009 that the Xone series of DJ mixers were getting a facelift, we’ve heard very little about it… so we thought we’d revisit this.

Allen & Heah Xone:62 and Allen & Heath Xone:92 are without a doubt the best, highest quality 10″ DJ mixers on the market today, but there was a problem with them… they were silver and all modern day pro-cd players are black (not really including the Pioneer CDJ-800 and the Technics SL-DZ1200).

Now this presented Allen & Heath with a problem. Allen & Heath’s flagship mixers were known for their silver finish (with a slight blue tint) and this finish also made them feel a cut above the rest. So they would have to find a way to make them sit in between a Pioneer CDJ-900 or a Pioneer CDJ-2000 without looking out of place.

Allen & Heath Xone:62 & Xone:92

As you can see above, Allen & Heath have come up with a great new colour scheme for their Xone series DJ mixers which is a black faceplate (in keeping with the industry standard pro DJ cd players) but with a slight blue tint which maintains their original look and feel.

Great work from Allen & Heath and once again the Xone mixers will be seen as the preferred mixer for the Pro DJ.

Link to This Page: http://blog.discostudio.co.uk/2010/04/allen-heath-xone-facelift/

Denon DN-X1600 First Look Video

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

First look video of the Denon DN-X1600 mixer. Courtesy djmagtv

Link to this page: http://blog.discostudio.co.uk/2010/04/denon-dnx1600-first-look-video/

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