DJ'n Continues Its Digital Journey
Some very notable new DJ hardware has popped up this year. Manufacturers like Stanton, Vestax and Numark continue to innovate in the digital DJ'n realm. Released late last year, Stanton's DaScratch is one of the best designed DJ controllers around. It is compact, flexible and responsive. NAMM was the first time I got to play with one and I fell in love. After I pay off the holidays I have to buy one, or three!
On the software front, MixVibes Cross is making strides in DJ interface design. Their approach is one centered on media management. Which is the best approach since as a DJ the most important thing is to have easy access to your music collection. They have a nice side tabbing feature where you can maximize certain mixing aspects while still seeing your waveform time line. For instance the collection view makes your iTunes library very large. Native Instruments could take a few cues from these guys.
A newcomer to the scene, DJ Tech (Hong Kong), has some very solid offerings and I anticipate them being a serious player here in the states soon. The controllers and interfaces were well manufactured and even seemed sturdier than some of the American or Japanese counterparts. Their i-Mix Reload and i-Mix Club edition rival anything that is offered by M-Audio and at a better price!
The honorable mention of the bunch is Innofader. A superb crossfader that handles like butter and sounds great. It's going to be giving the folks at Penny and Giles a run for their money.
