The iPad will become a viable alternative to the laptop for digital DJs in 2012.
So what will 2012 bring for digital DJing? We’ve asked industry insiders, listened to your ideas and thoughts throughout the year, and kept our ear to the ground for whispers, plus of course done a bit of thinking ourselves, to come up with our list of five trends and developments we think will shape digital DJing over the next 12 months.
One thing is for certain: If the previous 12 months were anything to go by, things are certainly not going to stand still; and indeed from what we’re already hearing, the NAMM show in January will throw up some pretty exciting developments. But for now, here are our five digital DJing predictions for the coming 12 months:
1. The iPad will become more a part of digital DJing as laptop use plateaus
Laptops aren’t ideal for digital DJing and for DJ booths, and the iPad, being sturdier, smaller, lighter and – let’s face it – just cooler, looks like it’ll start to get some serious traction.
You could turn up with just your iPad and a pair of headphones and DJ anywhere…
We think it will get some dedicated DJ hardware to allow you to use it like you currently use a laptop (a bit like the Numark iDJ live, but professional) and maybe some software to match (Traktor or Serato for iPad? Watch this space…). Using your iPad as a library and waveform display while DJing on decent hardware sounds like a no-brainer.
In fact thinking that through, why shouldn’t it interface directly with existing DJ hardware, Traktor / Serato Scratch style, in the same way? You could turn up with just your iPad and a pair of headphones and DJ anywhere.
It’s a way off (a single stereo out from the unit is a big stumbling block), but it this could be the year that this happens.
2. Manufacturers who can deliver the full controller experience will pull ahead
The days of manufacturers being able to get away with releasing DJ gear that comes with a rushed LE program and bad instructions about how to get everything working are thankfully receding into the past.
The Pioneer DDJ-T1 came with a tightly integrated, custom version of Traktor. Expect more of this.
With the Traktor S2 and Traktor S4 coming with easy, tight integration with Traktor software; Serato ITCH continuing to be the ultimate in plug and play DJing; Serato Intro now doing the same for entry-level controllers; and whisperings of further developments in this direction, the manufacturers who do well this year will be the ones who put the R&D in, working with their software suppliers to make sure everything “just works”.
Expect to see more customised versions of software (like the Pioneer DDJ-T1 controller last year coming with “Pioneer Edition” Traktor), and don’t be surprised if new, more-integrated-from-the-start software appears from other quarters, too (see prediction 4).
And finally, decent forums, manufacturer after-care and communities built around products will help to define what does well and what fails. You can’t just throw gear out there: It needs an eco-system to support it and to help DJs to make the most of it.
Gear is starting to develop “scenes” around it, and the gear that does well this year will define its own niche with a proper vision in the first place, followed by superlative support from the people who know it best – its developers.
3. There will be more non-jogwheel all-in-one controllers
The Novation Twitch has been a great hit this year with DJs who didn’t come from a vinyl or CD background, with converts to controllerism, and with the crowd who simply think smaller and lighter is better.
A good example of intelligent product design from start to finish…
A good example of intelligent product design from start to finish, its touchstrips do a convincing job of replacing jogwheels – and while it isn’t for everyone, it’s won more than its fair share of admirers (me included). It would be crazy to think that other manufacturers haven’t taken notice. Expect more such controllers through 2012.
4. Somebody will try a full-on assault on Traktor
The S2 and S4 have given Native Instruments a massive advantage in the market, because that company controls the hardware, software and thus the full experience (see point 2). This is giving it a currently almost unassailable lead.
Serato Intro took a shot across the bows of Traktor LE and Virtual DJ LE in 2011, but we thing someone will try and launch a full-on hardware/software package against Traktor this year.
Serato will of course continue to make inroads, improving its software without losing the plug-and-play aspect in which it is still slightly ahead of NI, even with the S2 and S4, but manufacturers must – must! – be thinking “if only we had our own software that ran seamlessly on our machines, we could offer something similar”.
I predict someone is going to hit us with their own DJ software for their own hardware in 2012, in an attempt to establish the kid of ecosystem I spoke of in point 2, and to peg their products on a level with the Native Instruments family of controllers.
5. Cloud DJing will go mainstream
It is already easy to see how this is going to happen. Many people already have their music in the cloud thanks to iTunes Match. This number will grow. The next piece of the puzzle that’ll fall in to place is this: With Spotify opening its API and apps beginning to appear, it is only a matter of time before one of the DJ software companies incorporates Spotify into its software.
Your laptop, iPad or whatever will simply be a conduit, holding local copies of tunes where it mattered.
Remember, Virtual DJ has already done the same with the slightly frowned-upon service Grooveshark (currently in a series of court battles with the record labels – Grooveshark, not Virtual DJ), but Spotify – with its quality control and rock-solid technology – is the golden goose: As anyone who has used the service on their desktop knows, it is pretty much 100% reliable, and its offline function means you could easily DJ with tunes that were held locally.
DJ software that accesses your own iCloud / iTunes Match music, while having Spotify there on tap too, would be truly cloud-based: Your laptop, iPad or whatever will simply be a conduit, holding local copies of tunes where it mattered. This will happen in 2012, for sure.
Finally…
For all those who haven’t got one foot in the past, DJing has become more and more exciting as digital has taken hold. The fact that it’s also become more “consumer” is something to be celebrated, not decried, because for ever 1,000 people who have some kind of DJ set-up in their living room, there will be a handful of true talents who break through and enrich the pro scene.
One thing’s for certain: Stop innovating and you will get left behind… and that goes for manufacturers as well as DJs.
What do you think 2012 will bring? Is DJing going in the right direction, or does it seem to always have you up in arms? I’d love you to share your thoughts in the comments.
Is The All-In-One iPad DJ Console Coming?
iCloud DJing Is Here
6 Predictions For The DJing World in 2011
Want to escape the bedroom and play in public - fast?
Our 1000s-selling How To Digital DJ Fast video course shows you how.
Learn to DJ Free - email course plus bonus PDF book
Sign up for our weekly email course for beginners now...
Trouble choosing a controller? Visit the web's #1 guide!
DJ Controllers: The Ultimate Buyer’s Guide 2013.
Tags: predictions
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
1. true and not true imo … ipad is the ideal custom controller to use with traktor/ableton or any other software used in the booth. Especially with lemur which went ios, for a fraction of the price of the real jazzmutant lemur
5. Before cloud djing will go mainstream it will have to be legalized for dj use in public. In Belgium (do not know about the rest of the world) at least it is clearly stated that spotify can only be used for personal use.
[ link ]After all 10 euro/month to download whatever tune you want for free, without a catch, would be a littlebit to easy.
I think he means they will use the Spotify API or make an agreement with them to offer an integrated DJ service. VirtualDJ currently has a similar plan with Grooveshark, but as he said, Grooveshark is in questionable legal status.
[ link ]With the arrival of Windows 8 tablets DJ setups with tablet pcs will become even more popular. Also we’re probably going to see more ‘all-in-one’ type devices à la Stanton SCS 4 DJ.
[ link ]Yes – good point about more all-in-one style units. not sure it’ll happen, but it’d be good if it did
[ link ]Another useful article. I’m just looking at my own equipment and what I should be upgrading to and think of for the years ahead.
I see the iPad as being a very useful tool once it can be hooked up to a mixer and MIDI controller effectively. I am not convinced about number 5 as I am reluctant to use any ‘streaming’ service in a live DJ set just yet while network availability is still sporadic. Even off-line files need to be of a sufficient quality and checked/tested before they can be used.
[ link ]I don’t know about #5. I think there will be some who go that route, but many like myself will be very hesitant to trust our library to the cloud. The fact of the matter is that when you relinquish control of your library, things can happen that are not in your control. The most notable is what do you do when you don’t have an internet connection? All your music and ability to DJ is reliant on that connection. What happens if your service of choice has some sort of legal or technical issue and gets suspended or shut down? These are just two questions that will keep me away from using this type of service for DJing. Now I think there is a place for it in using it to get songs that you need on the fly like request that you don’t have or even storing tunes as a back up in case something happens to your local storage but not as a main source of content.
[ link ]With cloud DJing you always play from a local cached copy of your tunes, so you don’t need an Internet connection to play.
[ link ]SO then whats the difference then between carrying all your tunes on a local drive vs using the cloud. Where would the benefit be?
[ link ]Erm, that’s not ‘Cloud DJ’ing’ then is it? That’s just keeping backups in ‘The Cloud’; hardly new.
Any DJ who turns up to a gig with an empty iPad and the promise of an internet connection is not so much an innovator as an idiot.
[ link ]Ah, but it is. I buy a few new tunes on my iPhone. They safely cloud sync to iTunes on my iMac at home. I decide to use some downtime to do some cue point mapping and analysis on the same tunes on my iPad (they’ve synced to there too). When I open up my MacBook to DJ next, as long as there’s wifi, within a couple of minutes all of those tunes appear in my DJing library, cued up and ready to go.
For users of Algoriddim’s djay software with iCloud and iTunes Match, this is already 100% the reality. Of course there’s always a local copy, but it’s much more than just online backup. The prediction is that there’s much more of this just around the corner.
[ link ]Forget Cloud DJing. The added load of an always-on internet connection, as well as the latency compared to standard HDDs (or even SDDs) isn’t practical.
[ link ]See above – no Internet connection required. This is about having your master collection in the cloud, not your only copy.
[ link ]I also doubt I will go cloud just yet. I see it as a good backup though.
Personally I download all my song on my iMac and then move the good once over to my Macbook. With iDJpool you get some 3-400 remixes every week and I don’t want access to all of them when I DJ. If I have 30 remixes of one song it’s likely I’ll choose the wrong one.
If I had the whole collection in the Cloud would give me access to song I though I wasn’t going to play. But I guess when getting a song from the cloud would mean re scanning it for key and bpm.
I would much more like if some manufactures made controllers without software. I already have VDJ Pro and Traktor pro 2 and don’t need an other LE or for that matter Pro version.
iPad need serious hardware upgrade to be used at anything other then small home party.
my dream controller for 2012 would be VCI 400 without jogwheel and a 4 channel (midilog) mixer like the VMS4.
without any software.
[ link ]I also doubt I will go cloud just yet. I see it as a good backup though.
Personally I download all my song on my iMac and then move the good once over to my Macbook. With iDJpool you get some 3-400 remixes every week and I don’t want access to all of them when I DJ. If I have 30 remixes of one song it’s likely I’ll choose the wrong one.
If I had the whole collection in the Cloud would give me access to song I though I wasn’t going to play. But I guess when getting a song from the cloud would mean re scanning it for key and bpm.
I would much more like if some manufactures made controllers without software. I already have VDJ Pro and Traktor pro 2 and don’t need an other LE or for that matter Pro version.
iPad need serious hardware upgrade to be used at anything other then small home party.
my dream controller for 2012 would be VCI 400 without jogwheel and a 4 channel (midilog) mixer like the VMS4.
without any software.
[ link ]About 4, I think Open Source could play a significant role. Imagine hardware vendors join together in developing an enhancing a digital djing software standard. Everything open to a world community …
[ link ]About 4, I think Open Source could play a significant role. Imagine hardware vendors join together in developing an enhancing a digital djing software standard. Everything open to a world community …
[ link ]Maybe it’s just me getting old, but I absolutely don’t get the appeal of the whole cloud hype. Why would I ever want all my personal data, files of all kind, and music for that matter, on some company’s server? Waiting to be used and abused by that very company or criminals that happen to gain access to it? Why would I want to pay some phone company huge amounts of money just to be able to access it wirelessly wherever I am? When I go DJing, I have all the files with me already that I need for DJing. If I go to work, I have all the data needed for that there. And for the way there, I’ve got music, books and videos on my phone. I’m pretty sure that I won’t have to face a situation when I’m at the office or shopping center and find myself desperately longing for that tech house track that I played in that bar yesterday, or wanting to edit my shopping list or that keynote presentation for the monday morning meeting while DJing.
To stick strictly with the DJing part – does anybody remember those black round things, and the smaller silver round things we used to use? Did anyone ever carry all of those in his or her ownership to any gig? Ever? Or wonder why there wasn’t a record store right in the club, just in case someone requests a song I don’t own?
Sorry for ranting a bit, but when I DJ, I don’t need my hall of shame Hootie And The Blowfish album, either with me on the HD or accessible in the cloud. I have what I need with me. Anything else is probably rubbish anyway
[ link ]Agreed.
I have a 500 Gb hard drive in my laptop. If I don’t have your tune in my 300 Gb of music, tough.
For me the cloud is just a fancy way of describing (relatively) easily accessible off site storage. Its backup.
We used to gig with 50 pieces of vinyl, and it wasn’t an issue.
[ link ]Jimbob -
[ link ]I came from the same era, spun at mostly raves from ’91-’01. With warm up sets and being my elder brothers dj bitch (lol) for a some year prior to that. Anyway, I’ve wanted to get back into things after a long hiatus. I’ve been reading around asking questions, trying to figure out the best route to take. I’d like to covert all my vinyl to digital. Though I’m a hardcore vinyl guy. Still researching what all is out there, in terms of software, midi controllers and all. I don’t yet own an i-pad, but like the idea of that type of super portability.
Happy 2012 everyone, here’s my 2 cents.
1. Disagree. They just don’t have the power to fully replace a laptop. And for the price of an iPad you can buy a second hand Macbook or a new reasonably specc’ed Windows laptop.
2. Agree. Its a bit of a no brainer really. Anything that makes the user experience better is likely to be more attractive to customers.
3. Agree. The jogwheel paradigm is a throw back to vinyl. That said it does work very very well, until something genuinely better comes along, its jogwheels for me.
4. Agree. My money is on Avid and Torq. The Xponent controller is long in the tooth and will surely be replaced by another. Torq is mature and stable, although not without its quirks. They have also moved away from using hardware encryption chips, meaning the hardware can be used with any software, not just Torq.
5. Disagree. The extra level of reliance of someone else’s service to too high a risk in a live environment. As off site storage the cloud is fine, but Wifi and 3G/4G data signals are too flaky (and in some circumstances non existent). I will happily back up my files to the cloud, but I can, and never will absolutely rely on getting them back when I want. I know all about caching files before you need them, but the UPS of the cloud is that you can access files on the fly as you need them.
[ link ]My thoughts:
1. I think tablets will more make a splash as a lemur-type controller over a laptop replacement. I can even imagine some tablet-only guys facing discrimination from laptop DJs even. I cosign that you get the basics with a tablet program, but I’ll stay laptop for all the features.
2. I agree. The rookie days are going to be done, and you have to come all the way or go home. I also think for many manufacturers, they’re going to try to make non-proprietary controllers with several LE versions of the software. Some will stay “Traktor only” or “ITCH only”, but those who think they might not be able to overpower NI or Rane will think beyond Traktor and ITCH. I know already that Numark N4 is a prime example of this.
I also hope we don’t see everyone try to become a mixer replacement. I keep feeling a lot of these controllers are trying to be controller and mixer for a booth…so you can simply buy it, hook up your turntables or CDJs, and go to town.
3. I agree here. The jogwheel generation is of the old school…and I think newer blood will want more DAW-type controls, even if they’re just doing the basics. The touch strip is a big move ahead.
4. We’ll have to see on that. I can see Torq being a contender, but as we’ve all talked about on their forums…they need to come through and make new hardware to compliment the software. That or it could be a new software title from another company that takes on Traktor.
5. I can see cloud being used by some DJs to store all their music online, but they download what they need before they go to a gig. I still can’t fathom the idea of a DJ simply showing up and downloading each tune as he/she uses it. I look at DSL services and cellular services, and see them as nowhere near what we need to make this a reality.
In terms of in general, cloud is moving forward. Many of us use our email in the cloud (like through Gmail). I have my contacts on the cloud and fed into my phone, as well as my calendar. Recently, I started using Google Docs now to save notes and other things I take on my tablet. I had an instance where my tablet crashed and I had to factory reset it…losing many things I saved. Now if it crashes I have my stuff safely on the cloud to retrieve it.
The problem is we’re not at a point where we can have fast enough download speeds and solid connections to do music. Even now while I have Dropbox, I don’t bother putting anything huge in it simply for how long it will take me to download it later.
In terms of DJing, I’d rather walk in with the music I want to use all on my hard drive than to trust the cloud to deliver. Plus I wonder how many kids who illegally download everything would risk getting caught by their files sitting on a server for someone else to analyze?
[ link ]Your predictions suggest increasing dominance by Serato and Traktor… I’m just getting started as a DJ and have been using VirtualDJ Home, planning to upgrade to Pro with a controller this year. Is VirtualDJ a wrong direction in your view, for a hobby/bedroom DJ looking to graduate to a few club gigs?
The choice of software seems to be a very significant decision, as after just a few months and a few mixes, I’ve already got a few hundred tracks with cue points and ordering in place. I can only imagine in a year or two when I have a thousand or more tracks prep’ed in this way, that switching software would be very difficult.
For now I’m mainly doing this for fun and entertaining friends, parties, etc, but I’d sincerely like some advice from the community on whether VirtualDJ is taken seriously if I start playing in clubs, or if I need to consider switching to Serato or Traktor now while the switching costs are still relatively low.
(fyi i use itunes for playlists, so my bias would be towards a software package that integrates cleanly with itunes playlists; virtual DJ is ok at this, but after reading your controller guide and articles it sounds like Serato might be a better bet here)
Sincerely seeking advice…
[ link ]Virtual DJ has its strengths and weaknesses just like the others but is fully capable of being used professionally. The only true way to decide is to try them all.
[ link ]Personally I think if you’re not really interested in video djing that Virtual DJ is inferior to Traktor. It is only really so big because of the close relationship between Atomix the company who make it and many controller production companies.
[ link ]I don’t know exactly about 2012. Yet, I do have a feeling digital DJ equipment might become cheaper…if there’s a high demand for it. I agree with the jog wheel. That might be ancient history.
[ link ]2012 ?
[ link ]Lets make this really simple, this is the year of Algoriddim and DJAY. Call them the new serato, the new traktor, call ‘em the aorta in the anatomy of DJ culture. But understand this, 2012 is their year.
I think 2011 was probably their year, with the adoption of DJay across large and small iOS devices plus the recent update to the DJay for Mac software.
I think that due to their success it will either improve focus for iOS DJ app development teams and we’ll see a flurry of decent updates throughout…or (and I’m hoping not), existing development teams will see the market share and dominance of DJay as an unbeatable goal and would phase out their apps.
iOS apps certainly have their place, but as D-Jam notes they are limited by the hardware (and single stereo output!).
Some apps (Traxpad, Cue.Play.DJ, DJ Player & Red Bull BPM DJ) are due updates soon…so best to keep an open mind eh?! Still looking forward to your DMC entry this year though…iOS entry again?
Personally, I’d like to see a bit more of the gorgeous SmithsonMartin Emulator in whatever form (like the svelte wood-panelled KS-1974).
[ link ]1. There are already some kind of remote (VDJ, Mixvibes) to their own softwares that run on decent hardware. Djay is a standalone on the Ipad, but as long as the Ipad will be this under powered, it won’t get very far.
3. I’m not a scratch dj, but some tracks or genre absolutely need a good cut to get into, so even if I rarely use them, I can’t do without them in case I could need them.
4. The only ones doing this for now are Native and Mixvibes afaik.
5. Most of the club don’t have decent 3G reception, wifi is not open or very fast, lan is not available in the booth. Sorry but for now I will stay with what I came with on my harddrive and that usb thumb as backup.
One of the subjet that is under the radar of the dj trend is Linux/Android. I mean we’re talking of tablet, of embedded, standalone, open-source and nothing on these that could be the next big thing in the upcoming months/years.
[ link ]All i want is a stand alone universal controller that takes 2 usb sticks, a pitch adjust like vinyl and a method to alter the speed of the virtual platter like vinyl and can do live editing like traktor but doesn’t require traktor, a laptop or an ipad.
people don’t want to plug in and stare at a computer, people don’t want to lug cables around. djs just want to show up and play. most people are in favor of just plugging in a couple of usb sticks or a mp3 cd and djing.
i fore see a time where people agree upon a universal standard and stick to it.
[ link ]If only SCS4 had hot cues it would fit your description.. I own one and it’s a pleasure to use for regular Djing work, even the filter is pretty nice.
[ link ]I kinda already do clud DJ’ing (but locally)…
I have an external drive with all my music on.
a couple of months ago I got a new router with a USB port.
now my music is stored on my home network.
I have mapped the drive in windows, and then traktor can see the drive.
Just allow a little more time to load each track.
I do see the use of touch screen devices to possibly pick up in use for DJ’ing.
If I ever get a gig somewhere, and never having used a CDJ before, I would not be confident of being able to just use the CDJs in the club.
Taking my controller (Allen & Heath xone:4D) to a club is a bit impractical due to weight/space etc.
My idea for a solution is:
- My android tablet running TouchOSC connected using wi-fi via my HTC mobile running as a wi-fi hotspot/access point to link my laptop.
- A compact audio interface to connect to the club mixer.
I can then run traktor and either do the mixing on the club mixer or use traktor to do the mixing, and direct feed to the club system.
It all works fine, except that the developer of TouchOSC (Hexler – http://www.hexler.net ) needs to get on with the development of it for Android devices. specifically to allow custom layouts and other features that the iOS version already has.
[ link ]I would take my music wiith me though… either on a hdd or flash sticks directly connected to my laptop.
I wouldn’t trust loading tracks remotely other than on my home lan for now.
[ link ]1. A MAX/MSP patch that reverse engineers Melodyne will revolutionize mashup/stem based djing, allowing djs to extract rhythms from one song, sounds from another, and combine them in unprecedented ways.
[ link ]2. Americans will finally get fed up with being stupid and invent a fully featured touchscreen laptop for the same price as an iPad.
3. An extreme increase in atmospheric pressure, combined with #2, will literally lead to clouds of floating iPads. Djs at ultra-exclusive clubs in the now-habitable upper atmosphere will, out of a confused guilt/thrill-seeking impulse, simulate the lower atmospheric conditions by playing dubstep at dangerous volumes.
The one thing that needs to be worked out is Serato making thr video SL-1 available on a controller. That is what I’d like to see this year.
As for the rest of the article, it seems like everyone wants to walk with less – tablet vs. laptop. All computers crash. You will still need a back-up system.
Jog wheels vs. strips – can we say skilled vs. non-skilled. You can have all the latest equipment you want. It’ll look good, but cn you play on it? How long is the learning curve?
Cloud Storage? Why? Last I checked online storage maxed out at 50GB with an annual cost. External drives are a one time low cost purchase. Most DJ’s I know have over 1TB of music. It is not cost effective.
[ link ]For a touring DJ, why bother with any of that easily breakable, easily stolen, pain in the ass to carry around, quickly outdated and overpriced kit? Those who know, don’t. The rest waste money on this garbage and their sets reflect that. The quote at the top of the article says “You could turn up with just your iPad and a pair of headphones and DJ anywhere…” Well, while that is true, personally as a touring DJ I prefer to turn up with my headphones and USB in my front pocket, plug and play in seconds with none of the above issues EVER. If there is an issue, its the venue at fault. When I do local shows, sure I take vinyl’s, laptop, midi etc. but never for out of town or big dates. I think we’ve all seen DJ’s completely botch up a set because their laptop or midi controller decides to crap out or whatever… I see it happen at least once a month. Most of the gear coming out these days is nothing more than the same thing packaged differently, its all fluff… overpriced unstable crap that these companies hype as the next big thing, just to continue squeezing a buck out of us. Hey! Wouldn’t it be cool if I could remote control DJ using my wrist watch!! I wouldn’t need to carry anything and be able to just push one button and it does the rest for me. That way I could stay home and DJ from my couch munching on some chips while watching the Biggest Loser.
[ link ]Depends on your DJing style. There’s a lot you can do with digital gear you can’t do with two Pioneers and USB sticks or CDs. Your view seems obvious by your use of “garbage” etc to describe gear you don’t like. But then you go on to say you use the same “overpriced, quickly outdated garbage” at your local gigs, so presumably you do in fact see the worth in digital gear? your argument kind of fals down for me at that point.
Each to their own we say.
[ link ]Some points worth thinking about. I’m a creature of habit, so most of these predictions won’t apply to me.
I agree the iPad is a useful tool with apps like Griid, and Lemur (for Ableton), but for Traktor? I don’t think so. The screen is too small, no real proper docking, and the keyboard will always offer some quick shortcuts that a touchscreen just won’t equal, i.e. “space bar” for toggling screen views.
I’ll be very surprised if I ever change from my setup from my A&H X:92, Kontrol X1′s, and my Macbook Pro. Sound is good, control is there. Add the Maschine possibly (need to get making loops again).
IMO, alot of these “all in one” scenarios are for hobbyists only, and don’t have real world club application. Do I want to pose risking my rig to the potential risks that DJing out pose? If I lose or damage my bag with a CD case (or USB drive), and my headphones, no big deal. The same happens to an S4? Not happy.
And that’s another point. Can’t play on CDJ’s? Shame on you (sorry). I started my hobby with vinyl, because that was IT. Being forced to build an ear for beatmatching in bad monitoring situations, a couple too many drinks, not having even a BPM counter, looping capability, and not having the option but to mix being limited to a certain length of tracks creates experience, and builds character.
The “standard” should be 2 rigs on stage, so while I’m on the CDJ’s and vinyl side, I don’t have some d.bag pulling out wires as I’m finishing my set (I really hate that). That’s enough ranting for now, Cheers!
[ link ]I think that Ableton Live should hit the DJ market more seriously and put a pair of CD DECKS in the software, instead of using the audiot tracks.
[ link ]Version 9 MUST DO IT!