…amongst the DJ’s at least. As its name suggests, it’s the latest new tool released by DJ giants Pioneer, and in some ways continues on from the EFX-1000 effects unit, but has taken a slightly different direction towards today’s Digital DJ. So does it tick all the boxes? I wanted to see.

It’s obvious that controllerism is the way a large part of the DJ industry is heading, with more and more demand for live remixes and mash-ups using samples and loops. Pioneer has clearly noticed this and the RMX-1000 could be its most experimental unit ever. It is perfectly adapted to its purpose though; in typical Pioneer style it’s all controlled by a simple yet intuitive interface, ideal for live performances. In keeping with the current trend of the DJ and Producer becoming one the RMX-1000 comes with a VST/AU plug-in to allow the unit to be used as a controller.

The Pioneer Remix Station is a cool and ultra-modern looking unit. It’s also quite a small and slim unit, at just 13.4” by 6.18”. But, within this small exterior lies four primary remix functions:

Isolate FX, which allow the DJ to control hi, low or mid frequencies for kill and filter effects. These are controlled through three separate, clearly labelled rotary controls.

X-Pad FX has two main features; it allows you to manipulate and add samples through the ribbon strip. You can also use an SD card for easy and convenient loading, transferring and saving of sounds and effects. Also it acts as a beat machine so you can add kicks, snare, claps as well as a preloaded bank so you can add your own effects.

Release FX removes the program signal leaving only the effect. So the classic Vinyl effects such as braking and backspins can be added to this category. You also have another switch allowing you to speed up or slow down the effect.

Scene FX gives you the option to choose between 5 build up or break down effects including echo, reverb, spiral etc. This is controlled by the large rotary control on the right of the unit. As well as this, you can also control the intensity with the control in the centre for optimal manipulation.

The great thing about the RMX-1000 is that it can be fully customised through the onboard Remixbox editor software. You can also connect to a computer through USB whether it’s for editing purposes or to use the unit as a controller.

The RMX-1000 Remix Station is a giant step forward, not just for Pioneer but for the DJ industry in general. It allows the DJ to be creative and fully express themselves during live performances, watch this video for a perfect example of this.

Unfortunately as you’d expect it comes with a pretty heft price tag but despite this they’re expected to sell very fast so if you’re interested make sure you act fast.

There are also others that take a completely different tack. Scratch DJ Academy MIX! from Stanton somehow sits between those two extremes, it resembles the likes of Traktor and Serato to some degree, but where it differs, is that it’s largely hands off. At least in the way you are probably thinking.

Software

MIX! Is more of a — as the name might suggest — mix creation program, rather than a performance tool. In its most basic form, you drop and drag tracks from the library onto the timeline, and MIX! does the rest. This is, of course, a somewhat simplistic overview, but you get the idea.

The first step is adding tunes to the library in the first place. This is a simple drag and drop affair, and the software gets to work analyzing them right away. This is a task it seems to do particularly well, working through the list of tracks impressively quickly. Not only is the software checking for that all important BPM, but also musical Key, which is a nice added functionality if you don’t have something like Mixed In Key already.

Once your library is in place, you’re set. Simply drop tracks over into the playlist panel on the right, and they’ll appear in the timeline in the order you specified, already beat-matched and joined together in a short mix. This is where you come in.

If you’re just wanting to make a simple mix tape for sharing, or listening to, effectively you can just keep dropping tracks in, and let MIX! do the rest. If, as we suspect, you want a bit more control, then there are some options to help you do that.

Once the software creates the “mix” you can control its length, either by dragging a selection box out to cover the parts of the track you want to mix, or by choosing the length in bars from a drop down. Likewise, you can choose where to mix from, also measured in bars, from the end of the track that is mixing out. So, if you want the tracks to mix for 32 bars, but to begin doing so 64 bars before the end of the outgoing track, this you can do.

Frustratingly, there doesn’t seem to be an obvious way to choose the point where the incoming track mixes in from, it seems to be “beginning or nothing”, a pretty big pain in the ass if we’re honest.

You can also determine, to some degree, how the mix fades over: linear, hard drop, consistent gain, consistent power etc, which seems to work well enough. There is also some automation-style control over individual track bass / mid / treble for those smoother, more authentic crossovers.

Another novelty is the addition of scratch effects that you can have drop in to introduce each new mix. These kinds of things tend to be horrendous gimmicks, and rarely sound any good. In this case, we’ll be fair and say they weren’t terrible, or too intrusive, but you still might want to limit your use of them over all.

Beat matching

If you have ever used Ableton live to DJ with, or warp tunes, then you will be familiar with the process here. You can open up the track details and readjust the beat-grid if the software didn’t get it right — which happened a few times, although it was never terribly far off.

Likewise, if MIX! thinks your track is 70 BPM, and you know it’s actually 140 (hello Dubstep), you can tell it this also — if you don’t it’ll mix the next track in at half speed, so definitely worth doing! The same is true for the musical key it has determined, if you know better you can change it.

Harmonic Mixing

One neat little feature we also liked was how, when you click on a track in your play list, it highlights all the tracks in the library that are either the same BPM, or complimentary musical key. This makes cooking up harmonic mixes a cinch. We didn’t know if it was actually guessing the key right all of the time, but the mixes sounded good enough, and it’s definitely handy for helping you with your playlists — even if you use another DJ software for performance.

Wrap up

MIX! Is definitely more for creating a party sound track, mixtapes, or possibly for working out a set in advance, but then it never really claims to be anything else. It does it’s basic tasks fairly well. You may find yourself touching up the beat-grids, and manually readjusting the mixes along the way, but it’s a task you soon get the nack of, and one that the software doesn’t make difficult.

The speed at which it scans tracks, including musical key is impressive, and the key-matching suggestion is a great tool all on its own. Perhaps not as advanced as some of the other programs that it shares functionality with, but it does touch a few bases, and only commands a $49 price tag.

If you’re looking for a simple app that helps you create basic mixes and keep your library in check, then this is definitely a good option. If you have any ambition beyond passive mix creation, however, you might want to look to something more fully featured.

Rating: ★★★★★★½☆☆☆ 

 Scratch DJ Academy MIX! Webpage

…and runs through the same basic structure as week one with plenty of reading, videos to watch, three mini tests — to make sure what you are learning is actually beginning to sink in — and the weekly assignment. In week two, the content continues on from the previous week this time touching on copyright, copyright enforcement, MCPS, PRS, and how they all join up. We also took a look at what the record companies own, and how you would go about approaching splitting monies earned from record sales and performances (including how bands divvy-up) and more.

All of the material covered, both text and video, starts to get much more interesting as we progress through the course. If you’re anything like us, and think you already know everything, you need to know that you may be in for a surprise or two. Some of what we thought we knew turned out to be slightly, but commonly, misunderstood information while other bits that we didn’t think affected us actually turned out to be quite the opposite.

When you’re making your music, it’s easy to think none of this involves you, especially if you never want to sell your music or don’t mind people using your music to make money.  But, if you’re just starting out as a producer, singer, song-writer or even a sample supplier, and want to earn money from your music, then this course provides some essential information. If you want to earn money from music, but you’re thinking to yourself that something like this isn’t really of interest to you for what ever reason — then you’d be wrong. In fact, even if you’re none of the above, and simply just want to manage a band then we’d still advise to consider this course as investment in your future.

For instance generally speaking many of the guys reading this at bangthedj.com will be solo artists, and probably think they won’t really benefit or be interested in information involving such things as song splits, but it’s all still good information to know in case your future involves you collaborating with other artists, writing for someone else, or engineering. In fact, any little thing you might do with, or for, another artist… it’s always good to know, or at least be aware of, ways that money should or could be worked out — and hopefully help you get paid for your time and effort.

Of course, once you know all the above, then knowing which agencies you rely on to collect moneys for radio plays, live performances, TV shows, Movies and such would be the next logical step. Week two covers much of what you need to know about the way in which MCPS, PRS work as well as the role the publisher and the two copyrights (mechanical and performance) involved with every recording. We felt that the second week of the course proved to be a very interesting week, and although there is a lot of information to take in — even with our busy schedule — we still managed it.

As a positive aside, despite nearly every post, on just about every music forum, suggesting that you can’t make a living from music these days, this Pointblank course will show you that despite the major changes in the industry over the last ten years, there is still a living to be made from a career in music. Maybe not just on record sales alone, but hey times change and you have to be able to adapt to survive.

…and we’re bringing you weekly updates about the course, how it’s going, what we’ve learnt and so on. If you’ve ever wondered about taking an online course to improve your music in some way, then hopefully this might help you decide whether or not it’s for you.

Week One

All signed up and logged in, we take a quick tour around. The site has a simple design and navigation is easy, although you may not think about this initially when you sign up for something like this, being able to find your way to course materials etc is very important. Being able to find everything easily removes a lot of stress and lets you get on with your research and study — something which you may need to focus more energy into as the course progresses.

So what can you expect?

After reading through the Welcome to Point Blank Online greeting and the rest of the Getting Started material it was time to start learning. The Syllabus for week one initially looks very scary, but be assured that the rate in which the info is introduced will suit even the busiest persons study schedule. Being the first week, there was a reasonable amount of reading, but it shouldn’t be too much of a headache, even if you have a busy schedule. The info is well paced and consistent, and I felt I was learning from page one, but obviously the amount you learn will depend completely on each person’s individual knowledge.

Judging by what I’ve covered already, I’m sure that even a “Pro” could pick up some extra tips and good advice.  As already mentioned, almost all of the learning comes from reading, but there are still a few videos to be watched, most of which are reasonably interesting. I’m a little unsure as to how much knowledge I actually gained from the videos in week one, but they do make a nice introduction and help get to know a bit more about the guys teaching you, which always helps.

Testing Testing 1,2,3

Yep thats right you’ll be tested! What’s more, not once not twice but three times!!! Don’t panic, the tests in week one were very reasonable. In fact, the three tests you take as you progress through the week are multi choice questions, and simply help you realise just how much you are taking notice of what you are supposed to be learning. This is a great concept that seems to work, after all you wouldn’t want to spend money and not learn anything along the way!

Every week has a discussion assignment too, where you should contribute at least a little of what you think on the chosen subject. I, unfortunately,  missed the first week so hopefully can let you know more next week about this. Finally week one finishes off by uploading our given assignment.  Our task for the week wasn’t too hard, we were simply asked to complete a simple outlined business plan.

Obviously I thought my business plan was rock solid, okay, well maybe not that solid, but the tutor Steve Hillier’s video response to my assignment  was great. He helped me realise what may potentially be short falls in the business plan and had me rethinking parts while still having confidence in my ideas.

Week One Summary:

We honestly couldn’t have asked for a better start to any music industry course, the subject of music business is a scary world for many people. Thanks to what we’ve learnt already though, I can definitely see how we’re starting to scratch the surface and look forward to getting stuck into week two.

Check back next week for more, or if you’ve read enough already and can’t wait to sign up, you can simply enrol for one of the dates on site

http://www.pointblankonline.net/music-industry-course-sell-your-music-online-enrol.

Any DJ worth they’re salt should be familiar with the brand that brought us the almost ubiquitous 500 stylus. Now the firm actually makes a whole swathe of DJ gear, from controllers, to decks to mixers. This is where today’s review comes in. We first saw this device back in spring at Musik Messe, when then unit was so fresh that font on the display units was the prototype builder’s default. Some months later, here it is. There’s been plenty of time to let the dust settle, so let’s have a look at what this thing can do.

Stanton SCS.4DJ – Hardware

On first impressions, the SCS.4DJ looks, well, kinda like most of the DJ controllers out there. Two large platters, a mixer section, knobs, faders, and lots of buttons all wrapped up in black plastic. It won’t win any design innovation awards, let’s put it that way. There are, however, a few notable distinctions to many of the “me too” devices you  will have seen out there. First and foremost, this thing is independent – it don’t need no software fool. Well, ok it does… but it’s cleverly all packed away in the unit itself. Yes, that means that you can banish the laptop from the DJ booth altogether.

The barrier created by the computer screen has been a big source of contention for many, ever since the advent of digital DJing. The SCS.4DJ isn’t the first to take this approach of course (the iDJ2, for example did exactly this a couple of years back), it is however, one of the first to do so in directly in competition with the current competition. The SCS.4DJ seems to want to be considered shoulder to shoulder with devices such as the Kontrol S4 or Reloop’s Terminal Mix 4.

Stanton’s approach to build quality is admirable. All the faders fell fluid and have the appropriate resistance for their purpose. The same is also true for the pots and and buttons, the former having a smooth rotation, with notched ‘centre’ point, the latter sitting low with responsive, firm clicking action. The ?? inch screen that sits up top there is comfortably viewed, but you may want to position the device slightly higher than, say, regular CDJ’s to prevent having to stoop over too much.

Stanton SCS.4DJ – Connections

Around the back is probably one of the first places you’ll be headed if you purchase one of these, and if you do, you’ll be greeted bu a pair of RCA / Phono outs, a set of balanced 1/4 inch outs, two USB ports (one for PC connection, the other for media) along side a power port and a secure-lock connector. Pretty straightforward then in that regard. What is slightly less conventional, is the removable panel on the underside that conceals a further two USB ports. Combined with the one on the front face of the unit, this brings the total to five, or four if we’re counting those usable for music sources (which is what we are counting, BTW).

The section underneath means you could conceivably leave your USB drives in situ semi-permanently, without them causing any obstruction, and also keeping them out of the way of naughty, pilfering hands (I’m sure it happens). Just make sure you keep your SCS.4DJ away from spilt beer and other liquids, as the panel’s door has ventilation holes, meaning it could get sticky down there.

Stanton SCS.4DJ – In use

Transport:

Turn this thing on, and you’ll be greeted by the obligatory light-flourish. Total boot-up time seems to take about 30-35 seconds, which you may or may not deem reasonable depending on what you’re currently using. Plugging in a USB drive sets the machine to automatically start scanning and importing your music. This can take varying amounts of time, of course, depending on the size of your collection, but is a relatively painless task none the less.

One initial gripe is that the software imports all the music into one central library. This might sound like a good thing, and for many users it probably will be, but in our experience, being able to specify which drive you want to browse can massively speed up the process, and help you keep your music library organised. It also means that when handing over to a new DJ, they can go straight to their music, without wading through yours. Perhaps something that could easily be solved with a software update that lets the user choose whether to merge, or compartmentalise the libraries?

Once your music is loaded, it’s pretty simple from then on in. Find a tune you want to play and press one of the buttons either side of the screen to send it to the corresponding deck. If you are at all used to digital DJ gear, then you there basically you’ll know where you are with the SCS.4DJ. Each deck has a play / pause , cue, sync and tap button. Pretty self explanatory stuff. Above these transport controls is the platter which us flanked by Touch and Scratch buttons.

By default, the platter acts as a pitch bend control, but tap the Scratch button and it’ll effectively behave like vinyl mode. Touch on the other hand sends the track back to the cue point, playing the track from there when you release it. This could be great for some turntable-like trickery if used cleverly. It can also be a source of confusion when not! The platters themselves are fairly responsive. Not as solid and tight as, say, the CDJ series from Pioneer, but certainly serviceable, especially if you are just getting into DJing, or looking for something for the bar or bedroom (most likely if you are considering this).

Effects and Looping:

Up top on the deck sections are Effects and looping controls. Lets get it out there and say straight away, the effects are basic — Filter, Flanger Slice and Delay. You get a Time / Rate and Freq / Amount control too. That said, each one performs its allocated task just fine, but compared to the likes of Traktor, these are basic tools for spicing up your mix, rather than an arsenal of creative weapons.

Much the same can be said for looping — the essential controls are there, and not much else. There is certainly everything you need there to perform the rudimentary mixing tasks, but the isn’t the ease of use, and breadth of capability available in some of the dedicated software programs.

In the mix:

This is where it really matters right? And indeed it’s where the SCS.4DJ holds its own the most. Pitch controls are responsive, and the transport solid enough to make bread and butter mixing a pleasure. If you’ve used any other controller, the SCS.4Dj will likely be an easy transition. There isn’t all that much more to say about it other than it’s reliable, solid and does what you want it to.

Stanton SCS.4DJ – Conclusions

The two things we can’t fault are the over all build (in relation to its price point) and the basic functionality (again, all things considered). To that end, the SCS.4DJ is a solid device that would be a great introduction to DJing as well as a decent tool for perhaps a small bar, or for someone who just wants to keep a hand in, without the cash investment required by other solutions. The fact that you can also use this as a controller for DJ software gives it welcome double functionality, and makes it even more of an all-rounder at a solid £450 price point.

Likes:

Ease of use, simplicity, numerous USB ports, record sets easily

Gripes:
Library management is a bit lacking, browsing for tracks can be slow

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 

Official Product page

The thing certainly looks impressive, if not a little N6-ish, but that’s not exactly unlikely considering. The platters in particular look quite luxurious being described as ‘ultra-flat’, and packing an impressive 15.5cm, there’s also a non-slip vinyl-grip coating for those butter fingers.

Reloop hasn’t given us release dates of dollars yet, but we’re going to make a guess at about $/£/€ 499 coming out soon after NAMM, and you’ll get Serato DJ Intro and Virtual DJ 4-Deck (Reloop edition) bundled in. All the rest of the tech spec can be found below.

Features
4-Deck SERATO DJ Performance controller
Integrated 4 channel USB audio interface
Plug and play: Connect your computer and mix your MP3s
Designed for world’s leading mixing software developer SERATO
Large Transport section with all-new smooth touch rubber buttons
Newly developed ultra-flat XXL Jog Platters with Vinyl-grip surface
Ergonomically arranged mixer/CD player design for quick and easy access
4-Channel Club Mixer design with dedicated Filter knobs and Fader start
Cross fader curve & assign switches on the front
Large 14-bit 100mm Pitch fader with Range and Keylock functions
Mouse-less Playlist Management Control
Versatile controls for Effects, Smart Looping, Hot Cues and Sampler
Performance Section prepared for individual live remixing updates (Cut & Slice)
Stereo RCA input (with phono pre-amp) for hooking up a CD player or turntable with flexible
routing control (into the Software or to the Master)
6.3 mm microphone input jack with volume and equalizer control
Power House Interface: Boost your PA with balanced 6,3mm jack outputs or unbalanced Stereo
RCA outputs
Stereo RCA Booth outputs for extra DJ monitors
2 headphone connections: 3.5 mm & 6.3 mm stereo for which ever plug is convenient including
equalizer control
Shift buttons for second layer controls including Shift lock feature
All controls in club size and quality
Altogether 111 MIDI controllers (60 buttons, 7 faders, 7 push encoders, 31 turning knobs, 4
switches, 2 touch-sensitive jog wheels)
Controller is compatible with every MIDI-Learn capable software
USB bus powered: Terminal Mix 4 can be powered via USB only (power supply optional)
Anti-theft device: Kensington safety slot
CORE / ASIO drivers with minimum latency and high quality audio characteristics (Mac / PC)
Mac OSX and Windows XP/Vista compatible
4-Deck Mapping available for Traktor PRO 2
Comes ‘plug and play’ ready with Serato DJ Intro & 4-Deck Virtual DJ 7 LE (Reloop Edition)
technical datas
Mixer section:
- Classic 4 channel design- 1 x PRO Longlife crossfader with adjustable crossfader curve
- 4 x volume controllers with PRO Longlife line faders
- 4 x 3 band equalizer knobs
- 4 x gain turning knob
- 4x Filter knob
Player section:
- 2 x 15,5cm touch-sensitive, two-part jog wheels for scratching, cueing, etc.
- different jog modes (Scratch & Pitch Bend, Quick Search)
- 2 x high resolution 100mm 14-bit pitch faders without locking position
- 1 assignable encoder, 3 assignable knobs, 4 buttons for effect control
- Unicoloured, glistening red illumination
Master section:
- Cue mix, headphones volume, sampler volume and master controllers
- Extra large Trax Encoder for quick and easy music library browsing (with 4 load buttons)
- 2x 8bar LED chain (master L+R)
- Dimensions: 515 x 44 x 320 mm
- Weight: 4.65 kg (netto)
Incl. Serato DJ Intro & Virtual DJ LE 4-Deck Reloop Edition and USB cord

…it’s almost too much to handle. And, this is exactly what happened today. Is this a surprise? Kinda… sure, this is a new product, but also we’re a week or so out from NAMM, the biggest Music equipment trade show of the year, so prime-time for new gear announcements.

Anyway, back to the goodies we have on display here. On first look, we think it’s safe to suggest that this is likely a controller of some variety. It also looks like it might be similar in width to the Kontrol X1, with similar buttons pots and faders. The rainbow coloured buttons appear to be in a 4 x 4 grid, which would make it ideal for MPC or Launchpad style tomfoolery. The rainbow colouring seems a little unusual however. Most grid controllers have off, play, paused and maybe pending/cued which is four states, here are at least five, and that doesn’t include off. This might lead us to think that Ableton control is on the cards… but then the device was teased explicitly under the Traktor branding, which then kinda rules that out.

The 4 x 4 grid also alludes to four strips of faders, which would fit nicely with Traktor’s four  deck configuration, so our best guess at this time is that it is a controller similar to the X1, but with more focus on hot-cues and sample playback. Of course, this is all based on that tasty slice you see up there. Perhaps the crafty shooting angle hides a whole control panel of joy. Perhaps not. Either way we want it, regardless of what it is.

More as we get it.

…with new sites and new companies popping up every other week. Obviously all of themwill claim to give you the answers that no-one else does and although many do give you relatively good information, many fail to deliver. That’s because holding back what seems like the essentials and promising more in the next tutorial is just enough to keep you coming back and paying for the next DVD or Online pass and monthly subscriptions.

On the other hand, the huge changes in internet speed in the past few years means that some of these guys who have been around for a while teaching in schools and universities, writing books and generally teaching people the methods involved in recording and producing dance music can now teach more people at much lower prices.

The super fast broadband speeds mean that you’re now able to download complete DVDs with out taking days opening the doors to huge amounts of information that you can learn at your own speed without ever once having to hand in homework or sit in on a lecture.

Dance Music Production  are one of those companies that have been around for a little while, In fact the tutorials available are written by Rick Snoman, Rick has over 20 years experience and is already an accomplished producer, remixer and author of best selling Dance Music Manual. Hopefully this already gives you an insight into the level of information you will gage from these tutorials.

Now that Dance Music Production have made their Fundamental range available online we take a look over one of the very essentials of dance production ‘DRUMS’

DMP Fundamental Drums 1 is almost 4 hours of tutorial, aimed almost entirely at building great drum sounds and loops. This should be something we all want to better ourselves in, after all whats the point in writing a killer riff or breakdown for people to hold their hands in the air too if you don’t have the drums to keep them there when the track drops back in.

In the first two videos DMP show you how to program most of the basic timbres including kicks, claps, snares and hats really drilling home the importance of a great kick to the bottom end of your track. These videos do cover all of the essentials that every producer should know and will easily get you started programming your own sounds.

Following on from the first two tutorials, things start to become very interesting as Rick steps into the world of ‘Subliminal Modulation’: subtlety using modulated filters and effects to breath life into the programmed loop, trust us it works!

Now if Ambiguous Displacement sounds to you like something painful or something that should only be displayed on the top shelf then you’re obviously not into minimal house or techno, if you are and you don’t know what this is then you’ll want to head to this very interesting section of the DVD as there is much to learn.

After Ambiguous Displacement Rick moves onto Metrical Dissonance, no really! we’re not just making these words up, These are very real and trust us after watching the tutorials everything will become much clearer; some of this you may already know in practice but not actually know you were doing it and clarification that you’re using legitimate techniques is always good for the confidence.

The final three videos cover examples of loops and further processing with the last video being a few words letting you know you now have the tools to get to work.

In short we found the tutorials to be really friendly, with plenty of great information. Rick really manages to deliver the goods at levels well above the cost of this download, which at £24.95 is not gonna break the bank. Don’t let the low price sway you into thinking you’re not gonna get much.

The over all delivery of the information was well paced and easy enough to take onboard, their was the occasional points in the videos were concentration drifted but with video tutorials its easy enough to hit rewind on those bits you missed and it won’t be too long before you find yourself producing much better loops and pushing the techniques you learn in to the other areas of your music.

We recommend you get in a copy because at that price you really can’t go wrong.

Loopmasters and Producertech LTD have joined forces to launch Reasoncourses.com: a new website which features two online Reason video courses for users of all abilities (covering beginners, intermediate and advanced level students) and locations. All together there are 27 modules which last around 30 minutes each, which include a huge collection of Reason-optimised samples and instrument present from Loopmasters (worth over £50).

We here at Bang the DJ loved their previous courses, so we expect more of the same good stuff with their Reason offering. If the promo video above doesn’t get your juices flowing, check the two sample modules below for a look at the goods directly.

http://www.reasoncourses.com/

Its Duet range of built-for-Apple devices have been a popular choice for some time, especially since the release of the vastly improved, and all together sexier Duet 2. So it is with this in mind that we got a little bit pumped at the idea of some Apogee magic coming to the iPad.

The Jam is designed specifically to make your guitar play nice with the famous tablet. In terms of hardware, there’s not a lot to cover really, a cable out to your iPad on one side, and a jack for a quarter inch guitar cable on the other. Typically it feels solid and well built, but also compact and light. Arguably it could have been designed to plug straight into the iPad, but we think a little bit of flex is never a bad thing, especially when vigorous axe-wielding is on the cards. A single LED lets you know when you are connected, ready to rock, and rocking too loud. A lone gain control completes the physical features of the unit.

In use, it’s pretty straight forward. Fire up a suitable app such as Garageband (although it also works with many others, such as Amplitube and AmpKit) plug in, and rock out. There are other devices on the market, some which simply plug into the 1/4 inch input, which might look simpler, or be cheaper, but the main difference here is the audio conversion.

The Apogee takes care of this using the iPad dock, which makes the process cleaner, rather than using the analogue only jack option. This also means that you can monitor through a pair of headphones without having to fiddle with splitters and through-jacks.

While the device is built specifically for the guitar, clearly it’s also going to be ripe for use/abusing with other audio signals. If you don’t look at an in/out device wondering what else you can run through it, then you’re in the wrong game, and the same applies here. In the future we’ll run some videos of it in use with a variety of sources, but for now just know that with guitars – it works a charm.

Price-wise, the Jam retails for around $99/£75, but you may find a better deal on-line, and this does make it slightly more expensive than, say Griffin’s forthcoming GuitarConnect pro, but not much so, and after all, who would you rather buy audio gear from?

Conclusion:

Apogee know their audio onions, and if you are in the market for some 1/4 inch A2D goodness then this is a great solution. Don’t let the price put you off as, like all good bits of kit, you are getting what you pay for. Bundle in the fact that you can also use this with your Mac, and not just your iDevice, then the deal suddenly seems markedly better.

Rating: ★★★★☆