Tag: dj

The Wacom Nextbeat wireless controller for DJs

wacom-nextbeat.jpg

Wacom, best known for its graphics tablets has suddenly and unexpectedly announced that it’s bringing out a completely different bit of hardware – a DJ controller.

The Wacom Nextbeat contains a pair of digital audio players, a mixer, a sampler and some fx units. All you need to add is a phat pair of speakers, and you’ll be cranking out the tunes faster than you can say: “Have you got anything by the Shaman?”

The interesting bit is that the main circular unit and the dials above can actually be removed from the unit while it’s still operating. If you want to go see what it sounds like for your audience then you can do exactly that, while still retaining tight control of your mix.

It’ll be out sometime this summer in Europe and Japan, but there’s no word on how much it’ll cost. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my hands on one – as a bit of an amatueur DJ, I’d love to give this a whirl in front of an audence and see how it compares to other DJ controllers.

Wacom Nextbeat (via Technabob)

Duncan Geere Digital Music

Denon introduces the DN-S3700 CD Deck

Although Pioneer’s CDJ-1000MK3s are the standard CD player in every nightclub across the UK, Denon produces a range of DJ-standard CD players, too. They’ve just announced a new iteration, too – the DN-S3700. It’s got a rotating 9″ platter on the top with vinyl emulation, so if you can’t mix CDs with the buttons, then you can do it using the platter.

Additional features include USB and MIDI control, internal USB sound card, five built-in effects, and loop functionality, as well as your standard pitch/speed adjust and slot-loader. It certainly competes with the CDJ-1000 on features, but it lacks a lot of the style of Pioneer’s rival player – the DN-S3700 is covered with garish buttons and flashing lights. It doesn’t compete much on price either, costing £900 new, compared to £770 for the Pioneer. I’d love to give it a spin and see how it compares when actually ‘in the mix’. You can buy it ‘soon’ from from HTFR.

Denon (via Akihabaranews)

Related posts: Denon announces top-end AH-D7000 headphones | Denon shows off super-high-end DVD-3800BD Blu-ray player with “wonder” DVD upscaling

Duncan Geere Digital Music

Ion gear turns you into a podcast king, DJ star, and converts your old records too

Ion has announced three pieces of kit that could help turn you into a broadcast hit, as well as bringing your old record collection firmly into the 21st century.

Ion_UCast_podcast.jpg

The Ion UCAST lets you record professional podcasts with a high-quality microphone and stand, headphones, USB cable, and Windows/OS X software.

The kit costs £59.99, with a subscription to Alesis Podcast that lets you host your podcast and have it listed on iTunes and Podcast Alley…

Andy Merrett Digital Music, Gadgets, Home audio

Pioneer announces HDJ-2000 professional DJ headphones

pioneer_hdj-2000_dj_headphones.jpg

I should probably have left this announcement for our resident DJ Duncan, but as an aspiring one (and resident trumpeter) I’ll bring you the news that Pioneer has just announced its HDJ-2000 professional DJ headphones.

Let’s take a look at the specs:

These fully-enclosed dynamic headphones have a decent frequency response of 5Hz-30kHz, 36Ω impedance, 107dB sensitivity, and 3,500mW maximum power input. They are constructed with 50mm dome type drive units and come with a 1.2m-long coiled type connecting lead which connects via mini-XLR…

Andy Merrett Headphones / Earphones