WINTER RANE
It seems that there’s rain in the news everywhere at the moment. Obviously we’re getting drenched in it here in Melbourne, but over in the Seattle, Rane DJ is set to be sold to and will join the line-up of brands now owned by inMusic Inc. This corporate giant currently owns 13 separate companies that offer music creation, professional sound and electronic products to an ever-growing market. Their stables include names such as Alesis, Numark, Akai, Denon DJ and M-Audio to name just a few. So, what does this mean for the Rane DJ name that many of us have come to love over the years? That is a question that only time can answer. While more brands are continuing to operate under inMusic’s control, they’ve managed to continue to develop existing ideas amongst the brands they already harbour. So, perhaps we will see bigger and better things from Rane DJ in the future, as the brand is able to draw upon technology and expertise from within the inMusic house.
BEHRINGER TEASE DEEPMIND 12 SYNTH
One very talked about video series at the moment is the new set of teasers that have been dribbling out from Behringer in recent weeks, relating to the launch of their first ever synth. We’ve been given a lot of quick glimpses of very small sections of the unit one at a time. What we know so far is that it’s a 12-voice analogue poly-synth called Deepmind 12 with at least four inbuilt effects modules. You do get to hear a range of sounds produced by this new beast and as well as some brief glimpses of what looks like a modern version of the original Roland Juno, but we’ll need to wait until it’s properly unveiled to get the full picture. No information on price yet, but knowing Behringer, it will be competitive.
EVEN MORE FROM THE PIONEERS OF DJ PRODUCTS
It seems that you just can’t stop the R&D team at Pioneer DJ as they continue to come out with new controllers every other moment. Earlier this month their new flagship controller was announced. This is designed to make the most of the Rekordbox DJ software and integrate the video capabilities in the new version. It houses two distinct decks either side of a central mixer with three colour touch screens running across the angled and raised rear section of the device. This is going to change the way DJs present media in a club, allowing them to treat video like it were audio and giving the DJ scratch and mix controls over the video stream as well as the audio. The VJ and the DJ just became one with this new controller and I’m sure we are going to see some very interesting stuff happening with this.
IN THE XONE
And for those of you, like myself, who still fire up the turntables and enjoy working with a fully featured mixer in between them, Allen & Heath have got you covered with the announcement of their new Xone:PX5 mixer. This is a classic 4+1 analogue DJ mixer format, reminiscent of the very first Xone mixer from many years ago, but with plenty of upgrades. An internal FX engine and filter section provide added variety to your tracks, and it easily integrates with Xone:K series controllers via an Ethernet connection so your analogue and digital realms can come together with the audio quality you have come to expect from Allen & Heath. This is one to keep an eye out for later in the year.
