There's a growing tradition amongst the gadgety geek sites. I don't know if it's done in the name of sharing knowledge or if it's a simple "look at what I've got and you don't nurr nurr nu nurr nurr". But I'm going with the "wishing was as hip as Gizmodo so I'm shamelessly copying their steez" approach and undressing a virgin Traktor Scratch system before your eyes.

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Despite what we might think, we all like dirt. So when Serato's Sam Gribben was caught in a hotel room with a hot redhead showing her his gear - on video - my interest was piqued. Sadly, it's just some boring old Serato 1.8 demo where he spills the latest beans about the product, features and the pricing. Thanks to www.mixrevolution.com for filming this and for making my future ventures into video incredibly hard to beat presenter-wise.

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Sorry good visitors of but spammers have latched onto the newest stories and are hitting the comments hard so I've had to turn the security back on the comments for a while with subsequent loss of style until I can get the coding to work right in the regular layout. Sorry again.

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You may remember that a while ago, LG attempted to make DJing into a handheld thing with their DJ phone thing. Yeah right - like we bought that idea by the warehousefull right? Not. And they never sent one here anyway so it was probably pants. But here is a device that fits in your hand, acts like an iPod but actually sounds like it really can achieve the handheld DJ experience. People - I give you the Pacemaker.

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Around this time last year, we showed you the latest product to shamelessly ride the Serato train. 12 months later and a range rationalisation later, Headliner Bags are back with a super sleek new offering. The Stashpack has been optimised to be as free from clutter as possible and yet give you as much space as you need. And it comfortably fits inside the max size for a carry on as well.

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So you've bust open the piggy bank or sold a kidney to buy Traktor Scratch - what now? Or maybe you just want to know what all the fuss is about and want make an informed decision before nurturing the relationship with international kidney traders. Well now you can get the 411 or Traktor Scratch 101 or some other number probably with a US national tour where people gifted in the ways of NI will share their knowledge with you, and give away free stuff too. Though probably not copies of Traktor Scratch.

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Break out the hammers and smash those piggy banks wide open. Or make some friends in the body parts game and sell a kidney because the time is now for Native Instruments' Traktor Scratch. It's on the way to DJ boutiques and emporiums around the world as we speak

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With the big shows out of the way, the DJ trade goes into a sort of hibernation. RnD lab rats have nervous breakdowns post working 48 hour days getting product show-ready and marketing types process reciepts wondering just how they're going to push Frankfurt lapdancers through the PR expenses machine - which all equals a sloooooow news time. So now is an ideal time to tell you UK types about some shows coming up later this year.

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Like many people, I spend waaaay too much time on forums, reading and offering advice like the helpful and wise old DJ sage that I am. But I think I've read enough posts giving bad advice to people coming up in the DJ game. So it's time to set the record straight, with an often seen demo to illustrate the point perfectly.

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M-Audio's dinky little X-Session Pro MIDI controller is a diminutive and welcome addition to the every growing MIDI controller ranks and works with any software that supports MIDI learn. But M-Audio would rather you used their software than line the pockets of their competitors. So as of now, X-Session Pro comes with Torq LE - the lesser featured but nonetheless capable version of Torq. So now Conectiv, X-Session Pro and the soon to be released Xponent are indeed all Torq.

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I thought this was another DJ battle at first but it's Stanton and Diesel being benevolent and giving you a chance to win a full DJ setup and a load of Diesel gear. Seems like all you have to do is turn up at one of the venues below, watch the guest DJs playing and win.

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Part of the benefit of the digital age is the compactness of the solutions. No more lugging heavy decks and especially useful is the lack of overstuffed record bags that get stolen by DJ baggage handlers misplaced between gigs. So Baby Grand Master decided it would be a really cool idea to shoehorn a boat load of huge gear into what is perhaps the most expensive road case on the planet. But why?

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You might think that running a site such as immediately lands me neck deep in all manner of audio freebies from around the skratchworld. Well it doesn't but when they do arrive, I give them the attention they deserve. One such audio goodie is DJ Happee's "The Renaissance".

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For many aspiring turntablists, battles are the best way to test their skills and nerve. And despite many saying the battle scene is dead, they're alive and scratching in Europe. This time it's the turn of Promats - purveyors of the latest hot slipmat on the market - to host one such battle in Austria. Monday 30th April sees Unkut and ND keep the crowds happy while local talent tries to diss, clown and generally mock their opponents (and friends) to win the title.

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In amongst endless meetings, picture snapping, missed flights and breaking , Stanton news slipped my mind. So I'm making amends now - sorry Stanton peeps. So to business - USB is everyone's favourite acronym right now (other than MIDI of course) and grafting a USB port into.... well anything guarantees epic press coverage. And the latest hot USB thing is to add a port to a turntable, turning a regular deck into an instant wax archiver via the joys of digital audio. So Stanton have taken their T.80, swapped the arm to a more audio friendly S-arm and bring you the T.90.

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The MPC reigns supreme in the empire of the beatmakers. No self-respecting producer would be seen without at least one MPC in their studio. But now, those same people - and you too - can be seen out in the street with your own pocket sized beat maker. So now, alongside the idiots with cheap earphones blaring out crap you don't like on the bus or tube, you'll also be treated to a similar cacophony from budding Dres and Premiers all over the world. I'm surprised that there isn't a hook on it to hang it from a gold rope around your neck.

Akai sent an MPC-500 to Deft, who now thinks he's a producer, wears lots of gold and has a greatest beats CD coming out soon - but still managed to find the time to write some words about his MPC experience.

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After a few days of one step forward and 2 steps back (essentially me pressing the wrong button), the latest version of is alive. It's streamlined and offers a little more than it did before. There's more to come but the rest of the changes will trickle through in the coming weeks...

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skratchworx is undergoing a facelift, so things won't be as they should be for a little while. But when it's finished, it'll look a lot better. It's the news and comments that are feeling the bulk of the work right now. One big change is comment verification via Captcha. Now you'll have to enter a code to confirm your comment. This is vital as some of the more popular news stories i.e. those linked to all over the net, attract some really annoying and frankly vile spam. It's a small price to pay.

Anyway - sorry for the glitches in performance. Please bear with me....

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We've teased it, previewed it and generally rubbed your nose in possibly the coolest MIDI controller out there - and now you can buy it. That is, if you live in the UK anyway.

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Sometimes, the easiest and simplest ideas are overlooked in the pursuit of next level gadgetry. It's all well and good being able to scratch, mix, sample and generally pull digital rabbits out of your DJ hat with the plethora of laptop based solutions, but what about when you turn up at a gig and need to switch your setup with the current DJ? Hmmm.... dead space between DJs while you rewire - not good for keeping the hot and sweaty crowd bopping and jiving or whatever you kidz do these dayz. Magma's Switchbox is such a simple idea but so needed.

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Review catchup time. After delving into the inner thoughts of DJ Qbert, Vestax made his mad scientist idea into a real product - the one man band turntable QFO. But for many, this was a tad too wallet breaking so the powers that be took a long hard look at the daddy model and shaving some bells and whistles off, the QFO LE was born. Pedestrian's Markski is the proud owner of such a deck and scribbled down his thoughts about his purchase. He did this some 8 months ago so instead of gorging myself on chocolate as one should do at Easter, I decided to pull my finger out and make up the review. Sorry for the delay Mark!

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It's fair to say that all the good stuff that you guys are interested in at the shows tends to be on the larger stands. The big boys can afford the prime real estate and their gear gets the bulk of the attention. But taking a little time to mooch around the edges of the show often yields gold and the Mawzer DIY MIDI controller is one such find.

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Having witnessed the greatness of the soon to be released Mackie d.4 (now with the Pro tag) at PLASA, the gathered team commented on the fader area being cramped. Indeed Idlemind managed to sustain a non-life threatening cut to his finger on one of the encroaching knobs but being a nice guy, decided not to sue Mackie into bankruptcy. But like the advice we gave Mackie about the d.2 before it, the d.4 has undergone a small but important change, making the d.4 Pro better and less likely to leave you permanently crippled. The power of the e-press strikes again. Oh and I have pictures, info and prices for the d.2 Pro and d.4 Pro as well, for those who have been waiting and waiting and waiting...

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Korg aren't exactly known for their DJ products. Granted - the KAOSS pads have found favour amongst DJs, but they're not full on DJ fodder. So when they come out with a series of DJ mixers, you'd be forgiven for not necessarily sitting up and taking notice. But then you see them, it's incredibly hard... well let's leave it at that. The Korg Zero series were first seen at NAMM and heralded as an orgasm inducing product and quite rightly so . But that's not enough for Korg - hell no. They had to go and make mixers with KAOSS pads built in, with the 2 and 4 channel KM202 and KM402 respectively.

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Absolutely nothing. Everything is right with it. See - Numark have finally rolled out Cue and Virtual Vinyl for Mac. I have the full version and so far it feels just like the PC version, except obviously way better and of course much cooler.

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Behringer teased you all with a very fuzzy glimpse of what was to come from them at MusikMesse. Only a few of you were near the mark and coming from the German giants is the DDM-4000 - a 4 channel (yes another one) digital mixer with more than the usual amount of features.

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Allen and Heath's xone:02 has to be the most slept on scratch mixer in existence. It's only now, several years after it's introduction that heads are discovering the greatness of said mixer for themselves, perhaps due in some part to my somewhat glowing review. Capitalising on this, A and H are relaunching it, complete with the wonderful Pro X Fade AS STANDARD and also offering a custom faceplate service to boot.

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It's been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I do tend to agree with that. But when we're talking outright material theft, I draw the line. This mild mannered reporter is seriously pissed off with finding uncredited material all over the internet and printed publications.

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Now the red mist of my missed flight has cleared, it's time to bring some more Messe information. Having already shown you the next generation of Vestax gear, I just wanted to clarify the future of the PDX range and show you some images of yet another product showing that Vestax are back on track.

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What a complete tool. So here I am in the nearest hotel rather than doss on the airport floor with extortionately high web rates. This means there's no updates as frankly I'm not in the mood. You'll have to wait until the weekend. Sorry but 4 hours of sleep and having to go through 4 lots of security checks to recover my luggage really doesn't make me want to do anything but sleep. Yes - I'm a grumpy as hell. Don't step.

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