Sonic Walker

The Numark iDJ is a 2-channel mixer that enables mobile DJs and iPod enthusiasts to seamlessly integrate their portable music libraries with other music and sound reinforcement systems—transforming the iPod from a personal music player into a source playback device.

A press release revealed today, that the suggested retail price will be $399. The Numark iDJ will be available Q3 of 2005.

What we are missing on the iDJ is at least a pitch control. Without this, it seems to be not more than a nice and expensive gadget (you still have to buy 2 iPods as well), which is otherwise useless for DJing. Today, Numark also announced the CDMIX3 DJ Station, probably more interesting for DJing.

On endgadget pod left a good comment:

The price point alone makes me think ‘gimmick’. Your average DJ mixer worth buying costs a minimum of $600. If I was a club owner, and a DJ showed up with this, I’d have security slap him around a few times, get my money back, and then book a real DJ, one who can work a real club mixer and real DJing tools like a pair of 1200s, a pair of CDJ-1000s, or a laptop loaded up with Ableton.

the next beta version of Live 5 beta version is online.
This version is marked as Release Candidate 2 indicating
we come closer to the final release.
Furthermore from now the Beta is totally public, meaning
everybody can try it out.
www.ableton.com/beta

Comment: I just tested it for one hour and it is working good. For a beta preview it seems to be quiet stable and the new features are great. Go and try it out yourself. Available for Mac OS X and Windows.

PRESS RELEASE

Joing the ARTcessories line is the USB Phono Plus, a USB audio interface with a standalone Phono preamplifier.

Formerly named the “USB Micro PRE,” he USB Phono Plus acts as an interface between your computer and a wide variety of analog and digital sources. The analog inputs are switchable between Phono and Line level signals and a low cut filter removes rumble and wind noise while leaving the audio pristine.

The front gain trim control and signal/clip LED allow you to optimize the A/D for a wide range of input sources. The front panel USB monitor/headphone jack and the optical output on the rear panel can monitor audio output from your computer. The built-in low noise Phono preamp circuit is highly accurate and precisely conforms to the RIAA standard. The Line Output jacks are always connected to the input preamps signal for source monitoring.

Housed in an all aluminum black anodized case, the USB Phono Plus can be powered by either an external power source or directly off the USB port so remote recording is a snap. Optical TOSLINK inputs and outputs as well as S/PDIF inputs let you use the USB Phono Plus as a digital audio to USB interface as well. The USB Phono Plus is fully compliant with the USB 1.1 specification and uses USB adaptive mode for playback and USB asynchronous mode for record. It will work with the USB audio device drivers built into Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP or Macs with native USB support OS9.1 or greater or OSX. No special drivers are needed.

Upgrade your portable or desktop audio interface in one quick and easy step. The MSRP on the USB Phono Plus is $119.00 and will be available at music specialty stores Worldwide in August 2005.

A.R.T. was founded in 1984 and is celebrating 20 years as a leader in professional audio products.

For more information, visit their web site at www.artproaudio.com.

German company Terratec already has such a product, the Phono PreAmp Studio USB, although with less features and not a word about Mac OS X support.

“Can I Get An Amen?” is another essay by Nate Harrison about probably one of the most famous breaks used in hip-hop, jungle and drum & bass.

Can I Get An Amen? is an audio installation that unfolds a critical perspective of perhaps the most sampled drums beat in the history of recorded music, the Amen Break. It begins with the pop track Amen Brother by 60’s soul band The Winstons, and traces the transformation of their drum solo from its original context as part of a ‘B’ side vinyl single into its use as a key aural ingredient in contemporary cultural expression. The work attempts to bring into scrutiny the techno-utopian notion that ‘information wants to be free’- it questions its effectiveness as a democratizing agent. This as well as other issues are foregrounded through a history of the Amen Break and its peculiar relationship to current copyright law.

Click here to listen (and watch)

Bassline Baseline is a 21 minute documentary by Nate Harrison about the legendary Roland TB-303 bass line sequencer.

Bassline Baseline is a video essay that investigates the invention, failure and subsequent resurrection of the mythic Roland TB-303 Bass Line music machine in the last two decades of the 20th century. The narrative seeks to invite thoughts on technological mediation within product innovation and creative expression. The dead-panned ‘documentary’ video attempts to explore how and why creative tools fail and how increasingly more options, parameters or intermediaries devised during a tool’s research and development phase don’t necessarily lead to increased expressivity or virtuosity during the tool’s lifetime of actual use, unless the super-structure of its cultural context is dramtically reconsidered.

Watch the video