The Allen & Heath Xone 4D is some serious tech for DJs who mean business.
(Credit: Allen & Heath)With the upcoming release of the video game DJ Hero set to retread the path of the Guitar Hero phenomenon, you can bet on seeing a surge in amateur DJing. But unlike guitars, most people are pretty clueless when it comes to DJ tools. Strings, frets, and whammy bars are one thing, but crossfaders, EQ kills, and cue points are a different beast.
Local music stores have been doing a brisk business selling electric guitars and drum sets to ambitious Guitar Hero and Rock Band prodigies, but the game-to-reality upgrade path for DJ Hero isn't as cut and dry. Two turntables and a mixing deck is a nice start, but most DJ Hero graduates will want to launch samples, create loops, and see their music library in the familiar context of a laptop screen.
Fortunately, digital DJ rigs have really hit their stride in recent years, offering tons of cool features at increasingly affordable prices. Some of these digital systems are meant to retrofit analog turntables, while others replace turntables altogether using jog wheels or imitation vinyl.
Hit up our slideshow for our top digital DJ picks.
The Numark-manufactured Scratch Deck
(Credit: Genius Products/Numark)If plastic guitars were 2007 and drums 2008, then the 2009 plastic-peripheral throwdown of choice is definitely the turntable. Whereas Activision showed off their goods in a Twitter leak a few weeks ago, Genius Products waited to spill the reveal of their Numark-designed rig, the Scratch Deck, until the days before E3. It's the centerpiece peripheral for the upcoming Scratch: The Ultimate DJ. First impressions suggest it's more compact than Activision's plasti-turntable, while also bearing greater similarities to the old Konami Beatmania controller.
The Scratch Deck has a spinning, "touch-sensitive" turntable, as well as a crossfader and five Akai Pro MPC drumpads. It's impressive that the equipment carries the label of a legit music industry standard. Price, however, has not been given, leading us to believe that brand-name design might carry a brand-name tag.
Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, a beat-sampling alternative to Activision's upcoming DJ Hero, promises live remixing of tracks and custom sample uploading, both from 60 included battle records or a USB microphone. The Numark pad, as can be seen in the photos, can flip over for left- or right-handed operation. The PS3 version is pictured, but Scratch will be released for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 this fall.
Who will win the DJ Battle? Most likely, it will come down to who has the best samples and tracks. As a consumer, we'd wait this out--at most, a household should only have one video game turntable.
Over the years, thousands of DJs have made the transition from turntables to laptops, lured by the idea of carrying less equipment, and cramming huge music libraries onto their hard drives. Along the way, though, the physical act of DJing--cueing, scratching, beatmatching--became about as dull as pointing and clicking through a spreadsheet.
To solve the problem, manufacturers and DJs have been struggling to find the perfect recipe for blending the advantages of digital audio with the feel and spirit of analog DJ gear. The results have been a Doctor Moreau-esque island of misfit hybrids, ranging from retrofitted analog turntables (a la Final Scratch), to flimsy plastic USB controllers with dodgy software. Nothing ever quite got it right. That is, until now.
After years reviewing digital DJ gear (and years more spent selling it) the Numark NS7 digital DJ system blew away my expectations of what laptop DJing could be. Of course, it also blew away my expectations on how much a DJ controller could cost ($1,300).
To find out why I'm so crazy for the Numark NS7, you can read my full report over at CNET Reviews.
On Sale Now: $1,249.95 - $1,299.99
View the latest prices for Numark NS7
The Numark TTi rips vinyl to your iPod.
(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)Donald and Jasmine announce the winner of the Gears of War II Special Edition Zune 120, but first you have to listen to them talk about Apple's new In-Ear Headphones, some pricey single-minded iPod accessories, Donald's one year Zuniversary, a roundup of the top budget headphones, and a cool and creative reason to have a Rhapsody subscription.
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Click for a slide show of the Numark TTi turntable.
(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)Need a quick way to rip your vinyl collection to your iPod? Well, that's exactly what the Numark TTi turntable is designed to do. Just plug in your iPod, get your vinyl spinning, hit a few buttons, and you're making a 16-bit, 44KHz stereo recording directly to your iPod--no computer required.
Before you start pulling your dusty record crates out of storage, you might want to read over my full review of the Numark TTi, where details such as construction quality, software usability, and overall performance are shown for what they are: mediocre.
Still, a turntable with a built-in iPod dock has a certain anachronistic charm that might prove hard to resist for some people. For vinyl purists, however, it is surely a sign of the end of days.
Numark's sucker retail price for the TTi is $450, but you'll find it closer to $250 online.
(Credit:
Numark)
We covered the Numark X2 Hyrbrid turntable back in 2007. Now, after adding some killer features, Numark announced that the PT-01USB turntable is now available for a MSRP of $149.
Chief among the new features is the ability to convert songs on vinyl straight to digital. You'll also get:
- Plug-and-play USB connection to Mac or PC
- Protective dustcover and integrated carrying handle
- Fits inside a standard 12-inch record case
- Wall-powered with included AC adapter or battery-powered (six "D" cells, not included)
- Built-in monitoring speaker
- Belt-drive motor with 33, 45 and 78 RPM settings
- +/-10 percent pitch control
- Converts all records up to 12 inches
- RCA line and headphone outputs
- 45 rpm adapter included
- Cartridge included
- EZ Vinyl Converter 2 and Audacity software included
The first Numark iDJ wasn't just half-baked, it was downright unusable for DJing. The thing needed two iPods and lacked basic DJ essentials such as pitch control.
By comparison, the Numark iDJ2 is hands-down one of the best digital DJ products we've tested. With its large color screen, responsive jog wheels, balanced XLR outputs, and support for iPod video playback, the iDJ2 performs like a champ and packs in more than just the basics. Like any sub-$1,000 digital deck, the iDJ2 still won't get you much in terms of DJ cred, but it also won't give you the crippling back spasms afflicting your vinyl-wielding peers.
Read more about the Numark iDJ2 in our full review and be sure to check out our Crave photo gallery.
The Stanton T.90 offers DJ battle features and USB output.
(Credit: Stanton DJ)Turntable manufacturer Stanton recently announced its new T.90 high-torque turntable with built-in USB and S/PDIF digital outputs. Even if you're not an aspiring DJ scratch battle champion, the ability to record your vinyl collection directly into a computer is big convenience. While USB-capable turntables such as the Numark TTUSB have been around for a while, the Stanton T.90 is the first to include features that today's DJ really want, namely digital key locking (the ability to change a song's tempo without changing pitch) and a high-torque direct drive motor that puts an unholy amount of force behind keeping the turntable spinning in spite of the energy a DJ exerts onto it by scratching records.
It may be old news, but the Numark TTX is still my dream turntable.
(Credit: Numark)While the inclusion of USB is a great feature, it's hard to tell from the press release whether they've done away with standard analog outputs altogether. The Numark TTUSB may not have all the bells and whistles of the T.90, but Numark's inclusion of USB and analog outputs ensures that the turntable will still be usable long after USB goes the way of the dinosaur.
The T.90 sounds fun, but it still doesn't beat out the features and extremely cool looks of my favorite geek-worthy turntable, the Numark TTX. The TTX has a blue LED display for both BPM and RPM information, S/PDIF digital and RCA analog outputs, a reverse button, and the ability to pitch-shift your vinyl into chipmunk oblivion.
No word yet on pricing for the Stanton T.90.
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