The good-lookin' Vestax VAI-80 would add a bit of cheer to any DJ bag.
If you’re a digital DJ or producer who’s ever wanted a little more control over your sound card’s inputs and outputs, the Vestax VAI-80 audio interface (US$309/£199
It comes in bright red (as opposed to the silver colour of its Japan-only release last year), and with quality metal construction and striking features, it’s a devilishly good-looking beast. But what marks it out from the competition? We thought a quick VAI-80 review would get to the bottom of it…
Showing the right-hand side of the unit.
To start with, “The Tank” is – as you would guess from its looks – a high-quality sound interface, with “silky smooth” and “no complaints” being the feedback from users on its 44.1KHz/16-bit capabilities.
But its uniqueness lies in the flexibility it offers for those who need a little more in terms of manipulating inputs and outputs. For instance, it has:
- A headphone volume control – Ever wanted your headphones to “go louder” than your existing sound card can manage? With this, they can
- A proper microphone input, with level control – If you have a DJ controller and a standard sound card, there’s no easy way of throwing a microphone into the mix. With this, there is (got to be 6.3mm jack though, not XLR)
- Twin stereo RCA ins, again with levels – No poking around in your driver software to adjust the sound input volume. Now you can plug the output from your mixer in, get it tweaked to where you want it (there are switchable in/out LED level meters too) and record straight to your laptop, for instance
- Balanced XLR outputs – Plug straight into a club PA from your DJ set-up without the need for an external mixer (they’re not shown in the pics, but they’re round the back)
- Two-band EQ and level controls over both stereo outputs – Brilliant for tweaking the final sound characteristics as the signal leaves to go to the PA or whatever, again without recourse to software
The left-hand side of the unit.
So if you need to take the DJ output from a club mixer, add something else (synths, guitar etc.), get it balanced nicely and record the output straight to PC, it’s got you covered.
If you want a clean XLR output from your DJ controller to a club PA, while also feeding the signal into a mixer or recorder and monitoring the results via headphones, no problem.
You pay for it though – it’s not cheap, I guess as befits all the functionality. Furthermore, an obvious omission is the lack of an RIAA phono preamp, meaning that if you want an all-purpose sound card that will let you rip vinyl to digital as well as handle all your other DJ/producer tasks, this isn’t it.
If you’re a DJ who is looking for a Swiss Army knife-style sound card that’ll see you through all kinds of situations, “The Tank” might be for you.
Conclusion
You’ll know if you’ve been waiting for a sound card like this. The bottom line is that it offers a lot of flexibility with its analogue level/EQ controls, pro-standard input and output configurations, and great build quality.
If you’re a DJ who is looking for a Swiss Army knife-style sound card that’ll see you through all kinds of as yet unforeseen sound routing and interface situations, “The Tank” might just be for you.
See it at: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk
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Really? 2 pairs in and two pairs out for 300 dollars?
[ link ]Come on, every major piece of DJ software is switching to 4+ decks- if I’m buying a soundcard for more than just 150, I’m buying one that supports more than two outputs, thanks
DJ Spacecamp: If you’re looking at comparable products from other vendors, the from Native Instruments, the closest match is Audio 4 DJ (2 stereo inputs, 2 stereo outputs). I don’t know what the price is where you live, but it costs around 200 Euros in Europe, so it is definitely above the $150 mark.
Plus, this interface here has more buttons (an connectors) than Audio 4 DJ, which is enough for me to explain why it costs more.
Although… NI’s product is a 24 bit converter, and this Vestax is only 16 bits. I I get the impression NI is worth more its money.
[ link ]Bart’s right this compares with the Audio 4 as far as I/O’s go, but it does offer more and is worth the extra $105 in my opinion. The only question is how does it really sound compared to the higher bit rate A4 in real world testing?
[ link ]There’s an important image missing .. This vid shows the missing angles .. Looks nicely built, kinda rugged. Yet to find a video review.
[ link ]Great big knobs, EASY to damage/destory/snap-off in your tightly packed gig bag. To the best choice this card would be.
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