Ableton and Akai team up for a dedicated controller

NAMM 2009 is in progress and so far the most exciting news is Ableton finally developing a dedicated controller for its Live software. Add to that the expected 8.0 update, Share (for remote collaboration), MAX (toolkit for making new devices in Live), and you've got one of the hardest working, best producing music software (and now hardware) companies in the business.

Serato's recent partnership with Ableton yeilds no real news at NAMM.

Torq's recent release of their 1.5 software is awesome, but we must wait for them to iron out the kinks before committing to the upgrade. Full VST support, MTC (MIDI timecode) implementation, vastly improved time stretch algorithms are a few of the features that will eventually make it a true contender for the top slot for digital DJs, especially controllerists.

Native Instruments introduces a hardware controller dubbed "Maschine."

Akai's MPC controllers continue to dominate, now extending their concepts to units dedicated to Ableton and Native Instruments software. The classic hip-hop beat machine gathers no dust.

Torq/Xponent Review

edit: I have to express reservations about Torq. It has been a very long time since the torq software got an update. To the point where I wonder if they are working on it anymore. In light of dj software companies like Traktor and Serato giving their customers feedback and regular support updates, Torq is feeling a bit abandoned. I am not saying that my Torq/Xponent doesn't work- it does. Yet still they have not addressed the damning database issue. If you are looking for a dj solotion, you may find greater support with a company that tends to its software a bit more regularly. That said, there is still support on the Torq forum via the user base. It's not dead, but new adopters to digital dj gear may appreciate a bustling community and a company that shows more care and involvement in their product. 26 April 10

I recently submitted my review of the Torq/Xponent DJ rig online. Check it out.

I've used it for exactly one gig so far. No problems to report. I did the recent free upgrade to 1.0.6 and it's cool. I guess my favorite thing is having a warning box pop up if you try and load a track into a playing deck. In the past, if you did that by mistake, it would immediately kill the song playing and load the new one. That's a huge yikes factor if you're playing for people. So it's a huge improvement. Also, their browser is just well, kinda crappy. So the work around is using i-tunes (if you're on a mac which I am.) And it seems like the speed of the browser is better. I remember for my first gig out with it and the browser would hand for 6 or 7 seconds when searching. Not a huge deal at home...but at a gig that kind of lag is a real deal killer. And, for me- so far, this new upgrade solved that. So far so good.

My motive for switching from a traditional set-up was needing to get a better grip on the music. I most always used whatever equipment the club had. (Well, when I first started, I bought tech 1200's. But, all the clubs already had those. I just wanted 'em.) Since then, I switched to playing CDs and pretty much standard on the Pioneer CDJ1000's. Although I did use Pioneer CDJ100s (now a CDJ200 but very similar) and a Denon dual deck with no problems. But after burning hundreds of CDs the music started to get hard to organize, and I really get tired of burning CDs. Wasting plastic and adding to a more and more unmanageable amount of tracks. Searching for that one track on a CD you burned 4 years ago is ridiculous. I like a good search engine. I've grown so used to it at home, I want it when I'm gigging.

Although a lot of DJs like to use turntables these days- for the most part they are not using real analogue vinyl. They are using vinyl with digital timecode that triggers files from a hard drive. So you aren't getting the 'vinyl' sound at all. It may look old school and 'keeping it real' but it isn't the same, at all, as playing real vinyl. Plus, you end up carrying turntables and a mixer around to play digital files. That seems silly to me. But I am not a 'turntablist' - don't scratch or do tricks on vinyl. I kinda think the digital tricks are cooler. Anyway, that's why an all-in-one solution like Xponent appeals to me. Ease and power.

Xponent is not ideal. First of all, it's all hinged on a computer. I don't have to tell you about a computer acting funny. Second, it's more 'plasticky' than I'm used to for gigging. Sure, you can the Allen & Heath Xone 3D and get a solid piece of gear. But it's very expensive. Horse sense just won't let me pay so much for something that is basically a MIDI controller and sound card. This year at NAMM, a couple of companies have followed this trend. Serato/Numark is trying to keep their digital lead by offering a similar unit to Xponent, but with a better build quality and slightly better audio specs. Stanton too. No doubt more will follow.

One thing about the whole Torq Xponent thing that appeals to me is that M-Audio is owned by Digidesign. I just don't think they're gonna screw around once they decided to get involved. Already Torq has some features that are ahead of everybody else. Syncing up with Ableton Live and VST effects is huge. It will give DJ's (who want it) a full production studio- in the booth. Overkill? Sure. But we want it all and we want it now, don't we? this year the DJ equipment thing will heat up. If you can afford to wait, wait until the new products announced at NAMM hit the streets and get real feedback.