DJDeals.com DJ Equipment & Music Blog

VESTAX TYPHOON DJ MIDI CONTROLLER

AVAILABLE JUNE 2010: The Vestax Typhoon DJ Controller is an all-in-one bundle of digital DJ controller optimized for Traktor, offering total control to mix, scratch, and play music as a DJ would right at your fingertips.

Start DJing today with the Vestax Typhoon and experience what it’s like to create your own mix for podcasts, slide shows, house parties and on to bigger venues. Whether you’re at home or performing live, allow Typhoon and included software, djay to mix any playlist automatically with seamless, professional transitions.

Control and cue-up your tracks with the touch sensor platters from scratching to pitch bend. Allow the faders to control volume and for track transition from one to another with the cross fader. Find all necessary features on the Spin, allowing you to become the DJ. Whether for the beginner or seasoned pros alike, plug Spin into your Mac and you become a DJ.

The Vestax Typhoon is a DJ controller very much like the company’s mass-market aimed ‘Spin’ unit. This however was purely Mac only and came bundled with Algoriddim’s Djay software whereas the new Typhoon unit comes with, and ready for, Native Instruments Traktor DJ software and is Mac and PC compatible.

Typhoon main features include:

* Allows user to experience the creativity and enjoyment of DJing
* Easy-to-use interface that directly controls the music
* All main features of a mixer and turntable can be found on the Typhoon
* Cue up a track or mix via the headphone output
* Blend user voice into the mix through the microphone input (microphone included)
* Seamless Traktor integration, allowing easy to mix, beat match, loops to effects for creating mixtapes
* Supports all major audio formats like MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF, Audio-CD
* Dimensions (WxHxD): 14.0 x 9.5 x 1.5 in./35.6 x 24.1 x 3.8 cm, Weight: 3.2 lbs./1.5 k

 http://www.djdeals.com/vestaxTYPHOON.htm

Boston Globe 2/7/2010:

With more than 40 electronic music events unfolding in the next week at Together Festival in Boston, here are the top five picks:

DJDEALS.COM PRESENTS: DIRTYBIRD SHOWCASE The early bill is unmissable. Tanner Ross, a Berklee College of Music graduate, and partner James Watts are Voodeux, and this is their Boston debut for this project. 8 p.m. Feb. 13. Middle East Downstairs. $12.

WE THE PEOPLE This party is going to be madness. It’s “a collaboration for the people, by the people of the Boston electronic music community.’’ As I am writing this, an e-mail literally confirms: “The confetti cannon is all set.’’ 9 p.m. Feb. 10. Estate. $6.

TOGETHER PANEL #4: “BUZZ BUILDING’’ RiotVine has corralled three hype-worthy acts in one room: Neon Indian, Kids at the Bar, and Das Racist (the hip-hop trio behind “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell’’). 2:45 p.m. Feb. 11. Tower Auditorium at MassArt. Free.

THE GET TOGETHER Manager Ariana Paoletti (a.k.a. DJ Volvox) has sought out all types to be a part of this six-hour affair: record sellers, fashion designers, hardware inventors, and vintage collectors. A perfect day trip for Valentine’s lovers. Noon-6 p.m. Feb. 14. Villa Victoria Center for the Arts. Free.

A NIGHT OF ROMANCE Soul Clap plays a sexy, R&B style of house music. Put them in the brick basement of Peter Fiumara’s Good Life Bar, with 150 types of vodka, and Together will truly live up to its name. 10 p.m. Feb. 14. Good Life Bar. $5.

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2010/02/07/five_events_not_to_be_missed_at_the_new_england_electronic_music_festival/

http://www.togetherboston.com/

Together: The New England Electronic Music Festival is that rarest of opportunities. For many people, dance music and its continuing surge in popular culture provides a chance to collaborate and communicate as never before: thoughts are remixed, songs are made in cooperation and entire events are promoted collectively.

Together will be an extension of this idea, a multi-venue, multi-party, multi-panel super event uniting not simply genres of music, but entire scenes once thought to be disparate. The city of Boston provides a unique platform as well, with its enormous student population, numerous technology centers and differing types of venues.

Together Boston will reach thousands of personalities within the mixing generation. As The New England Electronic Music Festival we will touch on not just dance music, but the emerging technologies of electronic music production. By involving different groups—from the most senior avant-garde lovers to the youngest members of this new sound, this is the genesis of a new era of collaboration and innovation for the New England arts, technology and music communities.

Together: The New England Electronic Music Festival
February 8th-14th 2010
Tickets are on sale now!
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/96797

http://www.togetherboston.com
http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=187729396539

ODYSSEY LAPTOP STAND (LSTAND)

Make a statement that screams louder than COOL with the NEW LSTAND Designer DJ Series™. We’ve added a sharp twist to the “original” ever popular adjustable DJ laptop stand design. Now you can choose from a wide spectrum of colors to fit your personality, your image, and your style.

Our LSTAND is the most versatile laptop stand on the market! Our unique design allows for three basic configurations: table top, clamped to a table, or clamped to the wall of a case or other sturdy vertical structure. Set it low for a minimal clearance of 6.75” or set it up to 11.5” high. The 10.75” long support arms hold gear with a width of 9” or greater.

Finally, the digital DJ stand you have been asking for; Odyssey’s Laptop Stand. The Odyssey Laptop Stand is a light and portable stand to place your laptop, CD player/controller, EFX machine or lighting controller. Odyssey’s Laptop Stand comes complete with clamps and width extensions so you can set up your gear just the way you like it.

Laptop stand can be assembled in 3 different configurations:

(1) Attach to the case
(2) Attach to the table
(3) Stand alone

Make a statement that screams louder than COOL with our NEW LSTAND Designer Series. We’ve added a sharp twist to the “original” Ever Popular adjustable DJ laptop stand design. Now you can chose from a wide spectrum of colors to fit your personality, your image, and your style.

http://www.djdeals.com/odysseyLSTAND.htm

DENON DN-X1600 DJ MIXER

Denon DJ, unveils the DN-X1600 Digital DJ Mixer, offering superb sound quality, durability, reliability, operability and visibility. Based on the same core engine as Denon DJ’s flagship DN-X1700, the DN-X1600 is an extremely affordable and versatile four-channel digital mixer with a variety of features perfect for all DJs and electronic musicians, from professional club and touring DJs, to party DJs and bedroom mix artists. Denon’s engineers have provided every capability professional DJs will require: working with vinyl, CD, digital files, DJ software applications via laptops and USB storage devices. In addition to its stellar digital mixing capabilities, the DN-X1600 provides an exclusive MIDI control UI area for functionality and ease-of-use for the rapidly growing PC DJ market.

The DN-X1600 features a simple spacious layout, with highly tactile controls widely and logically laid out to enable easy operation during performance. This unit features large high-quality rubberized knobs, studio quality 60-mm Alps custom channel faders, high-visibility VFD display and extended 16-point LED channel and output metering. A first for any DJ mixer introduced to date, the DN-X1600 is also equipped with V-LINK, a function developed by Roland Corporation® that allows DJ performers to simultaneously integrate audio and video. Connecting devices that support V-LINK to the mixer’s MIDI terminals (such as the EDIROL V-4 or V-8) make it possible to perform a wide range of visual effects linked with the tempo of the music.

As with all of Denon DJ’s products, the DN-X1600 offers superior sound quality, utilizing a 32-bit Floating DSP and a 32-bit D/A converter, along with a large capacitor and large-diameter winding wire for the transformer. Ideal Grounding Construction protects the mixer from external noise. It features a high-quality Phono Amplifier with high sound/noise ratio, equivalent to that of Denon Consumer Premium Audio products. The unit’s Discrete Transistor construction for the Mic Amplifier realizes a studio console class’ low noise level (EIN: 126dB).

A total of 14 digital effects open the DN-X1600 up to a variety of sounds and mixing techniques. All effects can be freely assigned to any channels. Effects include Delay, Echo, Ping-Pong Delay, Trans, Flanger, Filter, Phaser, Reverb, Echo Reverb, Loop, Reverse Loop, Pitch Shift, Beat Breaker and Beat Scratch (Ping-Pong Delay, Echo Reverb and Beat Scratch are newly developed).

The DN-X1600 offers a number of connectivity features, adding to its versatility as an indispensable DJ tool. Connectivity capabilities include: an exclusive MIDI control UI area for better ease-of-use; eight-channel (4x L/R stereo) USB Audio I/F soundcard (PC/Mac®); Matrix Input Assign with DVS direct mode for control signal (timecode) DJ applications; 4 MIDI Layer and MIDI Remote functions for a variety of control; and a Low Latency ASIO Driver.

In addition to its ease of use, the DN-X1600’s construction ensures reliable performance. The DN-X1600 is extremely rugged and portable. The three-band Isolator features variable Cross-over Frequency. The unit comes standard with dust-free 60-mm long stroke Channel Faders, in addition to 45-mm FLEX Cross Faders with A/B Cut Position adjustment and travel tension control.

http://www.djdeals.com/denonDNX1600.htm

AKAI IPK25 USB MIDI CONTROLLER

Cumberland, R.I. (Jan. 14, 2010) – Akai Professional, the name synonymous with music production, announces the iPK25 keyboard controller and the SynthStation Studio music production app, both for iPhone and iPod Touch. Akai Pro will unveil the iPK25 and SynthStation Studio at the 2010 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, booth 6400, January 14–17.

The iPK25 and SynthStation Studio transform a musician’s iPhone or iPod Touch into a portable music production studio for mobile music creation. While the SynthStation Studio app is powerful enough for professional musicians, virtually anyone can use it to easily create music. The app gives musicians three synthesizers for creating and modifying sonic textures used for melodies, chords and bass lines. Built around Akai Professional’s history in synthesis and drawing on the company’s newest MINIAK synth, the SynthStation Studio app sounds great and offers wide-ranging sonic flexibility with its virtual analog synthesis.

SynthStation Studio users can create and save sequences and complete songs. The app contains three different three-oscillator synths, and drum kits, which musicians can sequence and mix right in the SynthStation Studio. For creating melodic and accompaniment parts, the SynthStation Studio contains an arpeggiator with preset patterns, built-in effects and filters and an XY control interface for expressive control of key parameters.

The SynthStation Studio features an on-screen keyboard for use on the go. It is also designed for use with its companion keyboard, the iPK25. This 25-key MIDI keyboard features a built-in dock for the iPhone or iPod Touch. It gives users two octaves of velocity-sensitive, synth-action keys, pitch and modulation wheels, and physical buttons for the most commonly used controls including octave up and down and sound-bank selections. The iPK25 also features a stereo pair of RCA line outputs and a headphone output for connection to recording and sound reinforcement systems. The iPK25 also has a USB/MIDI output for use as a controller for other MIDI software on Mac or PC and MIDI hardware devices.

“The package of the iPK25 keyboard and the SynthStation Studio app transform the iPhone into a professional musical instrument,” said Adam Cohen, Director of Business Development, Akai Professional.

http://www.djdeals.com/akaiIPK25.htm

AKAI MPD26 USB MIDI CONTROLLER WITH PADS

Cumberland, R.I. (Jan. 14, 2010) – Akai Professional, the name synonymous with music production, announces the MPD26 USB/MIDI Pad Controller. Akai Pro will introduce the MPD26 at the 2010 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA, booth 6400, January 14–17.

The MPD26 is a MIDI-over-USB pad controller with genuine MPC pads. Producers, programmers, musicians and DJs will appreciate the MPD26’s capabilities. Its blend of intuitive MPC controls and technologies meshes with USB connectivity to bring the feel of classic beat making to the world of computer music production.

The heart of the MPD26 is its bank of 16 velocity and pressure-sensitive MPC pads, an Akai Professional exclusive. Producers can access four different sounds from each MPC pad for a total of 64 at a time. The MPD26 also features the MPC series’ assignable Q-Link controllers, enabling musicians to control a wide range of parameters in their software in real time. The MPD26’s six assignable Q-Link faders and six assignable Q-Link 360° knobs enable producers to spend less time with the mouse and more time making music. The MPD26 also has a dedicated set of transport controls for instant access to the most commonly used DAW or sequencing-software controls.

While the MPC pads and Q-Links might be the heart of the MPD26, its brain is transplanted directly from the MPC. That’s because is not just a control surface; it contains a handful of the key MPC technologies that have made the MPC the de facto standard in professional beat production. MPC Note Repeat is a capability that enables the MPD26 to automatically play a rhythm pattern, such as 16th notes on a hi-hat, for accuracy and speed of entry. MPC Swing is sometimes referred to as “the heart and soul of hip hop” because it turns perfectly aligned sequences into human-feeling grooves. Users can specify exactly the degree and timing of swing they want to apply for the perfect feel. The MPD26 also has MPC Full Level and MPC 16-Level on its pads.

The MPD26 sends MIDI information over its plug-and-play USB interface so producers can use it with their Mac or PC without installing any drivers. The USB connection even powers the MPD26 so only the included USB cable is needed. The MPD26 also has traditional MIDI jacks so musicians can use it with MIDI hardware such as synths and other sound modules. The MPD26 also comes with Ableton Live Lite and Editor Librarian software so users can start creating right out of the box.

“The MPD26 is the perfect interface between your creativity and your studio’s computer,” said Adam Cohen, Director of Business Development, Akai Professional. “Its blend of intuitive MPC technology and USB computer connectivity makes one powerful device.”

http://www.djdeals.com/akaiMPD26.htm