Ok this review should have been published way earlier. But due to circumstances (busy, busy), it got a bit delayed. However, it gave us the opportunity to review this controller with the latest 1.6. operating system. So that’s a plus right?
The DDJ-T1 is a MIDI controller/interface from Pioneer. However, … this is not ‘yet another’ DJ controller. Working with the Pioneer DDJ-T1 just feels exactly like playing with two CDJs and a DJM mixer, but with the benefits of ‘digital dj’ing’.
The Numark iDJ3 is a powerful DJ controller. However, ‘the what’s so special about this controller‘ issue you’ll see when you look at it for the first time. The controller has a docking station for an iPod/iPhone right in the middle. With your iPod/iPhone you can play music from the device or you can even record music. If we look further you’ll see two touch sensitive jogwheels, a 3-band EQ section with kill buttons, four auto-loop buttons and the usual play, cue, sync and stutter buttons. Between the two jogwheels you’ll get a mixer section with a crossfader, three line faders, deck A and B buttons and a navigation button for that iPod/iPhone device.
M-Audio, part of the AVID company, is a brand we all know from their MIDI controllers and keyboards and audio interfaces (amongst many more products). So it was a big surprise when M-Audio started teasing us with something that looked like a synthesizer. And, at this years NAMM, there it was, the 12-voice Venom VA synthesizer from M-Audio.Time to get it in the studio and try this baby out.
HG Fortune, being somewhat of an alternative instrument plug-in designer, created something which is hard to describe. It made me think in lines of the Korg Wavestation or NI Absynth but at a more low-level way of usage and programming. Very much suited for drones, pads and soundscapes.
Often we get software offered for reviews and just plain ‘checking out’. Last year we got offered Vegas Pro software. Not sure what to expect, and kind of curious, we installed it here at the office. If you are still not sure what Vegas is, it is a software suite for video. And as we (I) am more into the audio side of things, it was not quite clear what to expect from this software. We made Gearjunkies videos before but with simple ‘freeware’ software. Doing a thorough review would be silly as we don’t have the ‘video technology know-how’. So I decided to take on a ‘project’. Why don’t I, a video software user with a ‘beginners’ level, make a videoclip?
Playing with ‘gear’ is the average Gearjunkies ‘wet dream‘ (so to speak). As it happened we were able to get four top DJ Midi Controllers in the same room at the same time. As two of the Gearjunkies founders (Marc and Mark) have a strong DJ heritage we’d decided to throw a party to have some good ol’ DJ Fun! Plus at the same time, do a good comparison between the controllers that were available.
After releasing the hardware version of the passive equalizer Sound Performance Lab released a software version of this equalizer. And having checked out the hardware version a few times I found myself intrigued to try out the software version of the SPL Passeq.
From time to time there’s always a new product that still surprises us. It stands out as NOT following the current ‘standard’. The 4MidiLoop stands out of the crowd and is definitely not your standard DJ controller like the S4 Kontrol or the DN-MC6000. We already knew the little Faderfox controllers, and it’s save to say the 4MidiLoop is based on this Faderfox technology.
The video below is part of our review we posted recently. As mentioned in the review the drumXchanger comes with 4 drumkits, wich all have got one bassdrum, one snaredrum and 4 tomtoms. 4 drumkits doens’t sound like it is much, but with the transient designer and the button ‘RIM‘, you can make allmost every possible drum sound. If this still isn’t enough, you can also add sounds in the editor. In the video we’ll demonstrate how to create different sounding Bassdrums, Snares and TomToms.
As the name implies, the DrumXchanger from SPL, exchanges your drums. One of a billion dumreplacers you may think, but SPL made some things different from the others, as they say themselfs, ‘It’s not merely a sound replacer. It is, in fact, a powerful tool to optimize drum tracks’. The drumXchanger has got two Transient Designers and a unique way of drum detection.
Today is the day! The day that our ‘beloved’ UPS guy rang the doorbell and delivered my long-awaited Traktor S4 KONTROL. Yes, my own, not a review unit that has to go back to the Native Instruments HQ. After opening the box and touching it, feeling it, my initial impressions were pretty much the same after I played with it a few weeks ago at a product showing. Great design with a solid built quality. Considering the other products from Native Instruments, that’s almost obligatory. Either way, on that front NI delivers, again.
Often, these days, we are only busy making our sound as clean as possible. Looking for compression without distortion, and EQ’ing without any weird transients. But what if you are loking for that rough, bulky, heavy sound? Well, this is where, in my view, the Big Blue Limiter comes into the picture. As this limiter loves to create distortion.
With part two of our iPad series we’ll continue were we ended with part one, the instrument apps. But this time not your regular drum, synth and piano apps. No. This time it’s ‘the peculiar and the strange‘ music apps. And I mean this in a good way! Because some of these apps are meant for the real freaks and sound designers among us. Experimental music apps with great sound and design!
![Cakewalk Sonar 8.5. – Gearjunkies Review [Update]](https://i0.wp.com/www.gearjunkies.com/wp-content/uploads/gj2/inximg/12959_sonar_8.5_3.PNG?resize=436%2C291&ssl=1 "Cakewalk Sonar 8.5. – Gearjunkies Review [Update]")
Cakewalk have a long history producing DAW software. So with this Sonar 8.5 version you’ll know for sure that you’ll get a well thought quality product that proved itself in the past. Myself I have used Cakewalk in the past several times and I have to admit it worked well for me. In Europe their market share is limited but in the US it’s quite larger mainly due to the fact that guitarists seem to have a sweet spot for Cakewalk for ages. Competition is rather extensive so I’ll be very blunt at times.