Defected’s Ben Lovett runs us through some of the exciting new tech launches coming up in 2015, including new headphones from Sennheiser, a robot DJ and an update on Panasonic’s plan to revive its legendary Technics brand.
For many years now dance music has jacked hand-in-hand with rapidly evolving technology – today’s black box, touchscreen landscape is far cry from the early days of rave with its steady reliance on two SL1210s and a rudimentary nuts-and-bolts mixer. We’re already, of course, familiar with clever app interfaces in clubs, ridiculously brainy CD decks and ‘live studio’ laptop software. Actually in the studio, the world of computer platforms and plug-ins expands at an electrifying pace, working intuitively alongside whatever else one might want to involve – traditional instruments or analogue synths. Or the computers will run themselves if you want them to.....
But, look, it’s the start of a new year – 2015. And technology stops for no DJ, remixer, producer or fan. So what can we look forward to over the next 12 months? Ironically, we can expect more from last year’s evident vinyl boom. Digital downloads may be dominating but vinyl has enjoyed a sterling comeback of late and that’s prompting a wave of nostalgia-tinged tech launches.
During 2014, Official Charts talked up the highest vinyl sales in 15 years - £20m, compared to barely £3m in 2009. Dance artists contributed massively to one million record sales by the end of November. It’s no surprise then that manufacturers including European Audio Team, Audio-Technica and ION Audio are launching new turntable products. EAT’s model, the C-Sharp, promises high-end carbon fibre and thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) production, and plush design, all to provide the very best vinyl experience. The platter will, however, cost a mighty £2498. At the other end of the price scale, ION Audio’s Air LP allows vinyl to be played via Bluetooth compatible speakers for around £100. The device, a huge hit at this month’s Consumer Electronics Show(CES) in Las Vegas, also allows users to convert their records into digital Mac or PC files via a simple USB connection.
Unfortunately, these developments coincide with the news (also at CES) that despite Panasonic’s plan to revive its legendary Technics brand in 2015, turntables will not feature - only high-end audio equipment, as yet to be unveiled. Furthermore, long-term DJ equipment manufacturer Vestax has reportedly filed for bankruptcy after more than 37 years. Vestax fell some 90m Yen into debt, after sluggish sales, last month.
There has been no specific news from the Pioneer camp following its announcement of game-changing app ‘n’ web platform KUVO in November. The launch followed confirmation that Pioneer was selling its DJing arm to US private equity firm KKR for £339m in order to focus on its core automotive electronics business. That said Pioneer will retain 15% of the new enterprise, tentatively labelled Pioneer DJ. The deal is expected to be finalised in March, KKR’s ambition to drive Pioneer DJ forward via a new wave of technological innovation.
Sennheiser, another of clubland’s golden equipment brands, has several new headphone lines due in the coming months. The updated Momentum will be available wirelessly, both on and over-ear, and offer the latest in collapsing design – perfect for tour and travel. Sennheiser’s new Urbanite XL Wireless, meanwhile, fuses trademark quality sound and impressive tech features. The headphones’ design includes a touch panel on the right ear cup allowing users to control volume, music playback and make calls (via optional inline mic) – all by tapping and sliding. The phones are also wireless; pairing with up to eight devices. Elsewhere, Sennheiser introduces new RS ‘home entertainment’ and Sports lines.
Japanese electronics giant Casio was at CES last week to announce its first official foray into the arena of dance music equipment. The all-black Trackformer XW-DJ1 DJ boasts a seven-inch jog wheel for digital scratching. The upper half of the wheel accesses the first input track whilst touching the lower half manipulates the second track – allowing effective two-track mixing with a single scratch disc. The controller also provides a cross fader, a button for looping samples and various filter and track-sync controls.
Casio’s vivid red Trackformer XW-PD1, on the other hand, features 16 velocity sensitive pads and four control knobs, as well as a series of illuminated sequence step keys with which to produce original beats on the go, at the right rhythm pattern. The ‘groovebox’ also includes 200 built-in effects and 100 solo synthesizer tones, as well as sampling capabilities. Both new products can be used with one another, and will connect with iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and PCs. They support several DJ apps, including djay2, power up from batteries or AC adapter, and, finally, squeeze in an internal speaker for small-scale parties.
“Although both products are targeting beginners, we think professional DJs will also find them interesting enough to use” Casio spokesperson Miho Nishizawa explained last week. “We observed what the pros are using and found out they don’t necessarily use expensive, professional products only. Rather, DJs are more open to adopting different types of equipment – such as old Casio and Yamaha synthesizers – to spice up their sound.” The two products launch globally this spring, the XW-PD1 expected to retail at around £200, the XW-DJ1 at around £265.
What else? Speaking earlier of djay2, the app’s makers Algoriddim have just released a new Pro version for more serious enthusiasts. Djay 2 has long reflected the mass popularity of dance music tech, 15 million users downloading it in order to simply (yet effectively) DJ with virtual decks on a smartphone or tablet. Algoriddim did follow up with a new, more detailed platform for Mac OS X but now, for 2015, is introducing djay Pro.
Pro maintains the digital decks and other familiar features including waveforms, sound effects and MIDI controller compatibility. Where it builds, though, is in featuring four virtual decks, new effects (some of them in-app purchases), a dedicated sampler and support for Apple’s hefty 5K iMac. It also integrates with Spotify, putting millions of stream-able tracks under a DJ’s fingertips via a smart drag-and-drop feature. djay Pro costs just under £50 to download but marks a weighty evolution of accessible, on-the-go tech for those connected to the dance scene.
That’s also the case where the BRAVEN Fuse is concerned, a portable mixer that drew quite a crowd at CES. The Fuse allows straightforward mixdown between two audio channels and incorporates high, mid and low sound controls. But its trump card is the fact that it is wireless, using Bluetooth to connect with sources ranging from tablets and smartphones to fixed audio players. The Fuse also connects to speakers via Bluetooth, ensuring the purest possible wireless mix. And it’s small and portable, powered by rechargeable batteries – a future mobile disco available this summer for around £65.
There are more radical tech experiments surfacing as we begin the New Year. Revered US turntablist DJ QBert released his latest album Extraterrestria last summer but a ground-breaking, limited edition sleeve for its vinyl edition has been picking up headlines in recent days. When the album is opened, fans can touch different areas of the slipcover to trigger different sounds and compose their own track – QBert’s cover enables fans to loop sounds for the backbeat and top it with melody. The project is an extension of technology start-up Novalia’s work with conductive ink to create interactive printed work – for example drum posters that play percussive sounds when tapped; touch basically breaks the poster’s connection, via circuit, to a soundsystem. Radical QBert’s marketing may be, but there are hints here of greater artist-audience collaboration – an exciting, if divergent concept.
Wilder still, iRobot’s new programmable robot device Create 2 includes a starter program to use the robot as a DJ and continually develop its skills. Built upon the chassis of iRobot’s popular Roomba cleaning robot, the educative Create 2 is geared toward students, developers and DIY enthusiasts. Crucially, however, its DJ Create 2 function allows the device to be used as a fully roaming robo-DJ, easily controlling music via a connected Bluetooth speaker system. A set of initial instructions explains how to ‘upgrade’ your robot and there’s no limit to what else you add – various college projects in the US are already suggesting camera extensions and additional sensors so that the DJ robot can successfully navigate the rooms of a typical house party, assess the crowd and calculate if the music needs changing or loudening. iRobot’s kit launched just before Christmas, priced at £130. It’s surely only a matter of years before bona fide clubs are using the Roomba’s offspring.
Finally, news is starting to spread in terms of the exploits of California-based Iranian-American physicist Shahriar Afshar with wearable audio tech. His new vest, the KOR-FX, promises to make video games, movies and music even more immersive and emotional. Introduced in the States at the end of 2014 (price £100), the vest plugs into an audio jack and turns sounds into chest-rumbling vibrations, supposedly mimicking what our vocal chords do.
Afshar’s company Immerz Inc is focused on the gaming market for now but the potential application of KOR-FX within clubland is intriguing – a chance, maybe, to take our nocturnal soundtracks to the next sensory level. One CNN journalist’s recent review of the kit involved pairing it with recorded audio from a live Tiesto concert, the results were “surprisingly effective.” Looking ahead, Afshar wants to open up the KOR-FX to third-party developers, and there has to be a chance one will figure out a credible use for it on the dancefloor over time.
But not that much time. Considering again the lightening advance of technology where electronic music is concerned you can bet your bottom dollar that upon posting this article another wave of mind-boggling digital inventions will spark into life – blueprint or otherwise....
Words: Ben Lovett
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