Superstar MP3DJs – Here we go!
With the rise of MP3 and other digital audio formats, it's no surprise that people want to mix music files just as they do vinyl and CDs. Software like Visiosonic's PCDJ allows digital DJs to mix a hard drive full of MP3s seamlessly and intuitively. However for a lot of people who like to touch ‘real’ things software alone is simply not enough; you need a hardware component to control it.
Numark, one of my favourite DJ equipment manufacturers, recently teamed up with Visiosonic to create one of the first MP3 systems: the DMC-1. For £279-99, you get the Numark controller and the PCDJ Blue software. For an additional $199 (UK price yet to be confirmed), you can get the PCDJ Red software that contains extra features such as looping, auto BPM detection and a turntable brake.
Although you should be aware that I am mostly reviewing the DMC-1, I am actually reviewing it by using the PCDJ Red software.
Minimum System Requirements
Intel® Pentium® II 350 Processor or AMD Athlon™ 350
64 Megs of RAM
Direct X Supported Sound Card (Direct Sound, Non-Emulated)
5 Megs of free hard drive space
SVGA Graphics (800 x 600 Minimum @ 16 bit color)
CD-ROM
Windows 98, 98se, Windows ME and Windows 2000 (NT 4.0 not supported)
Software
Although the software interface looks like a simple monitor and record case, it has many more functions. It can normalize, rip MP3s from CDs, create playlists, record mixes, set pitches, set cue points, and even auto extract the BPM of your tracks. If you purchase the PCDJ Red upgrade, you'll have extra features, such as synchronized auto-mix, looping, automatic BPM detection, and a password-protected record case.
To get a feel of the software, download PCDJ Silver, the free version of the PCDJ, and give it a try (www.visiosonic.com).
The Hardware
The DMC-1 is a very well built 2U 19” rack mounted affair that is of the same build quality as Numark’s mixers. The depth of the case is only a couple of inches so it can stand freely on its large rubber feet. The idea of the control panel being horizontal feels more natural than vertical, but that’s up to you.
There is no power switch, which means that the LCD screens will stay on unless you pull the power manually, I feel this is a mistake as LCD screens do get blurred and dim with old age – more so if powered up. Power is supplied via a flimsy external power supply. I can’t work out why manufacturers do this – the most common failure of any audio equipment is these little buggers and they know it winds up reviewers like myself. I don’t feel that space is a problem inside the box, so surely they could have built the power supply inside the unit?
The DMC-1 connects to your COM port, which is slightly odd in these USB mad days, but seems to work fine. The lead is nice and long so you can hide your PC away on stage away from any vodka/red bull or herbal cigarettes that could cause problems.
In Use
If you've ever mixed with CD players, mixing with the Numark's hardware controller will be second nature. The simply labelled buttons are as intuitive as it gets: Cue, Play, Pitch +, Pitch -. The unit also comes with jog/shuttle wheels, which allow you to skim through and load your tracks easily and LCDs that display the time elapsed and remaining for each song. Provided that you have a healthy PC and a SoundBlaster Live-compatible soundcard, the response between the software and hardware is very good.
OK, so in theory you can almost forget that you have a PC and just control everything from the DMC-1? Sorry, but this is definitely not the case.
For instance, I expected the lovely large LCD screens to display all the information that is on the software’s virtual screen. You don’t know what song is on that deck until you look at your PC screen and although you can use the jog/shuttle wheels to scroll up and down the MP3s in your ‘record box’ you still have to look at the list on your PC screen. To be perfectly honest once you do find the tune you are looking for you may as well click and drag it onto the deck using your mouse rather than fiddle about with the DMC-1. Similarly you have to go back to the PC to make the song loop around a few bars – the DMC-1 will tell you that you are looping but won’t let you select looping from there.
So where's the mixer? How can I crossfade, cue the next song, or control the levels, gain, and pan? You can certainly do all this from the software but not from the DMC-1. I can hear a lot of people complaining here: there isn't a built-in mixer or mixing board of any sort, apparently Numark's reason for not including it is that most experienced DJs prefer to use their own mixers. They simply would not like a built-in mixer, because the feel might be different from what they are accustomed to. In simpler terms, you need to go out and buy a mixer you like, if you don't already have one. So how do you separate out the channels anyway? Well ideally you need two soundcards in your PC, although you can get away with using something like the SoundBlaster Live! set up in the 4-speaker configuration. If this is all sounding a bit of a nightmare then you haven’t used MP3 DJ software before have you? This is a fundamental problem with DJ software – you must be able to have two separate stereo channels otherwise you won’t be able to preview anything.
Conclusion
Overall I liked the PCDJ Red software very much although I do prefer Native Instruments Traktor that I reviewed a few months ago.
The DMC-1 for me was disappointing as there just wasn’t enough reason to leave the PC alone. I would guess though for anyone who is a PCDJ fan already then the DMC-1 is an obvious upgrade, but I would recommend you try one out first and make sure that it does everything you think it will.
If you're looking for an MP3 console with similar features, including mixer functions, take a look at the Soundgraph DJ Pad 2020 (www.soundgraph.com)
Pros:
Easy mixing of MP3s
19” rack mountable
Excellent build quality
Cons:
Lacks the basic mixer functions, i.e., gain, cue, levels and crossfade
Becomes expensive if software upgraded to PCDJ Red
SoundBlaster Live compatible card needed to mix with 2 separate channels
External power supply
Not enough information on LCDs
Rick Lomas
August 2001