Still my beating heart - it's The Pacemaker
Posted by Gizmo on August 31, 2007
The Pacemaker is creating a bigger buzz than a bee farm right now. All sorts of people have seen, fondled and demoed the miniscule handheld DJ system and gushed at great length in blogs across the whole wide djweb. Well the release of The Pacemaker edges ever closer with a proposed launch of December this year. And the price has also been released - 520 Euros - as a direct currency conversion that;s $700 or £350.
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When 1 becomes 5 - new Cue
Posted by Gizmo on August 31, 2007
As day follows night, so Cue follows Virtual DJ. Yes it's been but a few days and hot on the heels of Atomix's Virtual DJ announcement, Numark have quite logically announced Cue 5 and thus Virtual Vinyl 5, jumping from v1 to v5 in one giant leap for DJ kind.
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Ableton for the rest of us
Posted by Gizmo on August 29, 2007
I'll be honest - when faced with a screen full of virtual knobs, buttons, faders and waveforms, I have a tendency to run away screaming feel slightly daunted and in need of a read of the manual. So this old man is especially pleased that Ableton have seen fit to hack out a lot of bells and whistles and make Live 6 LE - music making software for confused old men like me.
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600 comes of age - and in 2 colours
Posted by Gizmo on August 28, 2007
Is it me, or has Pioneer's DJM-600 been on the market since the dawn of time? With its older, sexier and harder DJM-800 taking no prisoners and leaving little cash in your wallet, it's time for the 600 to be carted off to the great mixer graveyard in the sky and for something hotter to take it's place. So taking the best bits of the 800 and fitting it into a more affordable position, the new DJM-700 gives you a lump of Pioneer goodness without the need to sell both kidneys (perhaps just one). And this time, you get the choice of 2 colour ways - Black or Silver.
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VirtualDJ updated so probably Cue as well... very confused...
Posted by Gizmo on August 24, 2007
Atomix's Virtual DJ aka Numark's Cue/Virtual Vinyl is getting a full point upgrade, bringing even more to the audio and video table than ever before. Pictures paints a thousand words, but a video means you don't have to read a thing. Click on the movie above for a full lowdown.
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Music - precious or simply padding?
Posted by Gizmo on August 23, 2007
Uh oh... I'm editorialising again so buckle up.
Back in olden times, before the days of "empeethrees" and "surartoe" (or is that suraytoe"?), deejays used to lug around seriously backbreaking bags or crates of "reckords" or "vinul". The circular disks stored music in the old fashioned analog ways and if you had a big boot (or trunk) on you car, you could possibly carry as many as 400-500 tracks to your tea dance or bah-mitzvah. And in an average evening, you might get through as many as 100 of these flat disks and that felt like all the music in the world. So what changed?
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Kid gets rewarded for being a smart arse
Posted by Gizmo on August 23, 2007
Time for a bit of self indulgence and of zero interest to anyone but me and mine. Above is Lil Miss Giz - you may remember her from the occasional review and angry kid skratchworx t-shirt modelling in the past. But today, she made Mr and Mrs Gizmo very proud indeed. Being smart not just of mouth but in the head as well, she took an expressive arts GCSE (exams you take when you're 16) a whole 2 years early. But not only did she pass it, she only went and pulled an A* out of her clearly clever brain as well. Doorways are being widened as we speak.
Obviously, the cleverness doesn't quite extend to photography, but we couldn't be prouder of the brat if we tried. 
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COMPETITION: UKT Breaks, but you've got to work for it
Posted by Gizmo on August 17, 2007
I was always taught that if you wanted something, you had to work for it. But you bunch of bloody freeloaders get everything for free - the very best DJ technology coverage on the planet and a shedload of freebies. But this time, you're going to have to do some work to win a selection of UKT breaks wax. But don't worry - it should be a hoot.
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New DJ show on the block - BPM
Posted by Gizmo on August 16, 2007
Things are changing in the trade show scene in the UK. The once mighty PLASA is rapidly losing its appeal for DJ equipment manufacturers and smaller more DJ focussed shows are popping up all over the place. The DJ Show North was a few weeks ago and looks like it's going places but the biggest buzz seems to be around the brand new BPM Show.
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A sneaky peek at next gen Denon
Posted by Gizmo on August 15, 2007
While Denon announced the Denon DN-HD4500 just a few posts ago, the real dirt is yet to come. You'll remember the constant rumours and photochopped mockups of the alleged DN-S8000 DZ-alike unit that the Denon fanboys soooo craved. Well it seems that Denon are working on something quite a lot better. Spied under glass at the week's DJ Expo, the first public viewing of Denon's tabletop future is on display. Here in all it's grainy glory is the DN-HS5500. But for the love of God, can someone take some half decent frikkin' pictures perleeeeeze thanks.
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Tutoritool II - The Sequel
Posted by Gizmo on August 15, 2007
It's often said that sequels suck. Trying to recapture what made the first installment truly great and worthy of a sequel is often lost. But not so with Pedestrian's Tutoritool 2. This followup to the very successful and universally applauded Tutoritool builds upon the solid foundation and comes back with something even better.
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DJ Mag Tech Awards - with added skratchworx
Posted by Gizmo on August 14, 2007
What's this? Promoting DJ Mag on 
? Well there's a good reason - yours truly has been asked to judge in this years DJ Mag Tech Awards 2007. Yes - it seems that I'm a respected industry pundit or something who's opinion is worthy enough of attention. So I'll be heading off up London next week to hang out with top DJ VIPs where we'll prod, poke, shake and generally mess around with expensive hardware so that I can vote for whoever sends me the most money decide which product is best. And so can you. Pop along to the DJ Mag Tech Award page and cast your vote. You don't have to be in the UK either - you can all have your say.
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iDJ2 edges closer to release
Posted by Gizmo on August 14, 2007
Cast your minds back... waaaay back... to the story preceding this one. I foolishly made some assertion that you just needed to turn up at a gig with a laptop, a sound card and a Total Control to rock a party. Seems I was wrong as Numark's updated but still yet to be released iDJ2 has had a bit of an update. Looks like all you need is this.
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REVIEW: Numark Total Control
Posted by Gizmo on August 14, 2007
The days of lugging coffins, flightcases and a handful of vinyl based tunes is rapidly becoming a distant memory. It's now possible to turn up at a gig with your laptop, a sound card and a pair of cans and rock a crowd in exactly the same way. But for some (probably most actually), there still needs to be a feeling of actually twiddling some knobs and slapping a fader back and forth - and this is exactly what Numark's Total Control gives you, but with all the benefits of the digital age at your fingertips.
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Denon D-Day 2007 - a MIDI controller
Posted by Gizmo on August 14, 2007
Has it been a whole year since the last Denon D-Day? Yes indeedy and keeping up the tradition, Denon have been busy this year, working hard on their next generation of DJ product and this year bring you the DN-HC4500 - a fully fledged rack mount MIDI controller. You were hoping for a desktop model right? Not this time people.
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REVIEW: Numark DJ IO
Posted by Gizmo on August 12, 2007
Great things come in small packages, and for the new breed of laptop wielding digital DJs, Numark's DJ IO is a great thing indeed. I've had emails from people who really want to use their computer to rock a crowd but can't get their head round how to get a solid output and monitor their audio as well. Not really possible with just a headphone socket is it? That's what DJ IO is - an output only sound card designed with the MIDI controller market in mind. I've got one so I put some words and pictures on digital paper.
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DJ Flare shot but alive
Posted by Gizmo on August 10, 2007
Some bad news - one of the only people to have a scratch named after them has been shot, but thankfully not dead. DJ Flare was innocent collateral damage when a robbery went wrong. Flare sustained a shot to his torso and while being critical, is expected to recover. More here. The massive hopes Flare pulls through and makes a full recovery.
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Pick me 5 numbers...
Posted by Gizmo on August 9, 2007
In what has become a tradition here on , I let you guys pick the winners of the competitions. And now that the Dephect comp is closed, it's time to pick some winning numbers. I need 5, between 1 and 107. One number from different people please, which will correspond to a person in a randomised list. The winners will be emailed and announced on receipt of a return email. Ta very much.
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REVIEW: Hard To Find Records
Posted by Gizmo on August 8, 2007
So here's how it usually works - I ask some manufacturer or other to send me or one of the small but perfectly formed rabble of reviewers their latest pant soilingly awesome lump of DJ coolness. They of course oblige and wait for the words to spew forth from the skratchworx pages. Once posted, you simply skip right to the bottom to just read the ratings... but then what?
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FOR SALE: MPC-1000 and VCI-100
Posted by Gizmo on August 7, 2007
Being the busy hack that I am, I really don't get to spend time just playing anymore, so it seems pointless to keep much of this next level gadgetry hanging around the skratchlab gathering dust. So it makes sense to pass it onto you guys at bargain prices as I know some of you will be able to give these items the good and happy home that they deserve.
UPDATE: VCI sold!
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Lorn's "Grief Machine" - as dark as it gets
Posted by Gizmo on August 6, 2007
The British Postal service keep going on strike demanding inflation busting pay rises. Personally I don't think they should get a damned penny until they learn to deliver vinyl to me without doing their very best to lose it or at least break it in several pieces. But despite the disdain they have for vinyl, Lorn's new release "Grief Machine" made it to me seriously warped, but still triumphantly in one just about playable piece. And I'm very glad that it did.
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REVIEW: Vestax PDX-3000
Posted by Gizmo on August 4, 2007
Another year, another PDX release from Vestax. The PDX-3000 aims to please the Technics die-hards and bridge the percived gap between scratch and mix DJs with a very Technics friendly variable torque and s-arm MIX models. But that's not all - taking a key feature from the Controller One, the new PDXs have MIDI in as well. I had one in the lab for a week and thought it might be an idea to write a review.
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Win Dephect clobber!
Posted by Gizmo on August 1, 2007
Having made 3 people very happy with Donkeywork II vinyl (in the post tomorrow people), it's time for another competition, this time from Dephect - purveyors of fine DJ style garments.
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