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Introduction
Slipmats come in but one size and shape, so how come there's so many different varieties? Thick ones, thin ones, some with holes, some glow in the dark... but ultimately they all do one thing - make our vinyl slip easier under your hand. There are all kinds of brands as well coming from Thud Rumble, Slikmats, Gutter Labs etc etc but the new entry into the over serviced area of DJ gear are Promats.
Promats come from a company called Mehrvarz who received the New Millenium Award in 2003 in Berlin for Business Leadership and Prestige, so it's seems like it's a company that's going places and has backing.
Top to Bottom: Butter Rugs, Table Cloths, Promats, Slikmats, Vestax Slipmat
Slipmats are broadly split into two types - thin material based ones and thick felt ones. Promats fall broadly into the latter, although they are a little thinner than the normal felt variety and a tad stiffer as well. When I say stiff, I'd call it memory as you can screw them up and they return to their flat state quite easily. But if you're rough with the Promats, they will loosen up and loose their rigid flatness and just turn into regular floppy felt mats.
Compared with many on the market, they're quite boring to look at. Coming in a basic off-white format, you can get various logos styles but that's largely irrelevant. Once you have them on your deck, it's how they perform, not look, that counts.
In Use
The first thing that struck me was the centre hole - it's small, leading to a nice tight fit. I'm not sure how long this tight fit will last for playing out DJs but this snug fit does mean that the Promat stays put on your platter. Not that it matters as the Promats seen unaffected by the curse of the DJ - static.
In terms of slippiness, they work exactly as prescribed and virtually silent as well. You won't experience any kind of noise from the Promats. If I were to describe the feel, I'd say somewhere between the ultra slippiness of Butter Rugs/Table Cloths and the more forgiving and stable Slikmats - which quite logically is what you would expect.
As far as longevity goes, if you're pulling the mats off the decks a lot, they're going to soften up, but so far mine are bearing up well, without large amounts of "handruff" building up either. Reports received from the field also seem to back this up. And yes - they can be used with Numark's CDX/HDX decks - just.
Summing up
It's hard to market a slipmat these days (and write a review as well). There are so many around that picking one out of the bunch is hard. But coming out with a mat that bridges the gap between the 2 types and has the best qualities of both is a good idea.
And
rather than pushing anything revolutionary about Promats, they've simply chosen to hype the hell out of them wherever possible and get the name under the noses of any and every DJ on the internet and wisely aligned themselves with ITF, DMC and just about anyone else who will listen. Current users and endorsers include DMC and ITF champions plus international DJs supporting household Rap names.
Carpet bombing style marketing aside, Promats work. They're cheaper than most (estimated market price 14-18 euros right now) and despite not being the prettiest package out there, they're as good as any mat I've used and slightly more wallet friendly as well.
Ratings
Build Quality - 8/10
Not as polished a package as Butter Rugs or Table Cloths but the Promats work and that's all that matters.
Features & Implementation - 9/10
Nice and firm, small centre hole and zero static. And they slip.
Value For Money - 9/10
If the projected 16 Euro price tag can be achieved for the rest of the world, then they're perfectly priced.
The Bottom Line
They're not pretty, but they work incredibly well. A near perfect slipmat. Well done Promats!