So following from our first year at PLASA in 2004, we returned in style to Earl’s Court a few weeks back to once more go about uncovering all the goodies the manufacturers have in store for us this year. With two days to get our eyes and hands on gear and the once more educative and essential partnership of Gizmo and Deft from Skratchworx we set about finding out what the hot gear for the year would be.
As one of the 3 major DJ shows of the year, PLASA is the best place to see all this gear goodness in the UK, while the Germans and Americans get all the bestest stuff and bigger shows (pfff).
So without further ado, here’s how PLASA 2005 went…
Note: underneath each paragraph you’ll find a link to the equivalent coverage on Skratchworx, should you feel the need for more info details and discussion. After all no one does it better.

Highlights

Vestax – This time the music will be with you

This year Vestax were smaller in stand size but packed more interesting gear and French people than anybody else (more on the French in a minute). Last year the Vestax stand made noise with the first official unveiling of the QFO (which has proved less than successful in a lot of circles) and this year they repeated the same feat by unveiling their next big release, The Controller 1.

Interestingly enough this new turntable is as far as is possible to be from the QFO, showing that while it may have been easy to bash Vestax for getting all gimmicky on us with the QFO they’re one of the few companies on this planet still willing to put money and time into seriously groundbreaking equipment for scratch DJs and artists. The brainchild of D-Styles and Ricci Rucker, aided by input from the world’s finest tablists, The Controller 1 is the next step in turntables for the musical DJ and serious musician. Basically The Controller 1 is a solid, build to last scratch deck that takes the whole concept of making music on/using a turntable to the literal next level by offering the possibility to play notes. The 8 buttons spread around the platter and replicated next to the pitch allow you to switch notes across three octaves in either major or minor. In addition there is a pitch bend stick as well as pitch tuner next to the pitch itself. Other functions we briefly played with include switching between pitch and note mode (the pitch mode can also be set to replicate notes or be a normal linear pitch) and a pedal mode, which lets you control the turntable’s platter speed and pitch/notes. It should be noted that the demo version at PLASA only showed one pedal, which controlled platter speed as far as I could see, but according to a recent interview with D-Styles, the Controller 1 will accommodate two types of pedals, including a wah wah one. Other things of note include a digital display for the pitch, notes and scales and the usual reverse, 33 and 45 rpm buttons. Lastly one of the nicest revelations about this deck is that it can be controlled by MIDI – check this footage of it in action (a little note about the movie - in the foreground you can hear some regular Ahhh scratching - it's the beepy tone stuff behind that you need to listen to. It shows the little Yamaha box knocking out a beat and sending midi signals to the Controller 1 to change the pitch). To give you a better idea of what this deck is all about, check out our recently posted D-Styles and Woody interviews where they each detail the process for the deck and its possibilities. While it’s absolutely amazing to see a company like Vestax invest time and money into a record player such as this, which inevitably will change things on the scene and in the music, it’s hard not to feel a tiny bit of scepticism. After all such a deck requires a high level of skill (not just technical skill) in order to really make the most out of it, skill which I sadly think is still only in the hands of a few people worldwide. However on the other hand, this is the type of release that can help stimulate more interest and progression for the more musical side of things, and help usher a real move away from the battles and limitations imposed by the legendary Technics 1200s. It will only take one of its creators to show off the possibilities live or in the studio to help spark the imagination of the fans and push things forward.
Availability should be early 06, with a price tag of around £1000. The demo version was in shiny piano black finish wood with the first batch supposed to be made out of wood too.

Elsewhere on the Vestax stand you could see the QFO LE for the first time, the lighter version of the QFO which we were told should retail for a reasonable price of around £400-£450, but then you’ve lost the EQs in the process and you keep the sub par faders. This still doesn’t seem to allow the QFO to lose its gimmicky image. Maybe the next Thud Rumble and Vestax product will. And apart from that the much talked about PMC-08 Pro mixer also made a first appearance, hooked up to the Controller 1. This is a real update for the 07, looking like Vestax has gone digital, and with a new fader, the CF-CC, which is lag adjustable on either side and feels way nicer than the standard VCA. Other new features on the 08 include a 24bit 96K DSP (digital signal processor), 2 send/return effects per channel that can be monitored, curve control of all faders (something lost in the 007 update), a mute switch for master and booth, reinforced RCA, 1/4” and XLR plugs and improved EQs. No price or release date on this yet, but if it holds up to the marketing blurb this could indeed be the mixer breath of fresh air Vestax have needed for a while. And could help take on other digital competitors.
It’s looking like Vestax may also release the CF-CC separately to be fitted into other Vestax mixers such as the 05/06/07 models. And then rounding off what was arguably one of the most interesting stands of the show, was the S1 guitar controller in a new incarnation, but still looking like the type of thing that is utterly useless unless you’ve got tons of spare cash and an inclination towards 80s abominations such as stand up keyboards. Apparently this will be a made for demand unit… thank god for that.

Mixvibes – The French touch

As we mentioned Vestax suffered a bit of a French invasion this year with Mixvibes, the French company behind the new digital solution taking on Serato Scratch Live and Stanton’s Final Scratch 2, sharing their stand, as Vestax will be distributing the product in the UK. In order to show the robustness and efficiency of the program, Mixvibes brought along Netik and Troubl, two of France’s finest cutters to put it through its paces. They both showed some impressive skills including some ridiculous cutting and drumming, and showed off the various new and improved features of the programme.
Troubl made some beats on a separate laptop and then put them through the programme for him and Netik to re-arrange, loop, cut over and generally fuck about with. The Mixvibes people themselves, including Eric their main programmer were also very keen to chat and explain why their program could become the next big thing for those looking at digital solutions. One thing that became very evident talking to them and Netik was that they’re very keen to listen to what the DJs testing the software want and adding it into the programme rapidly. We were told of cases where Netik suggested additions which Eric then spent all night inputing so that they could test it again the next day. Sounds like some pretty tough French dedication. The integration of VST plug-ins was also showcased quite nicely, and the units on demo were nice even if personally I find it hard to get the feel for something like this not having a similar solution at home. You end up spending more time trying to figure out the bugger than really playing with it. Still latency seemed pretty decent, but I wasn’t very keen on ease of use.
While we’re on the subject of latency, Deft from Skratchworx and Eric had an interesting chat, as Mixvibes is positioning itself as having the lowest latency on the market today, 1.5ms, a claim which Deft refuted explaining that SSL really is lower than them after he spent some time measuring it himself. Eric was still sceptic but taking their previous attitude on board, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mixvibes actually took SSL on at some point in the future.
The other major update for Mixvibes is the new MPEG-1 compatibility, which will allow the new versions of the programme to also control video as well as audio. Still in development stages, this new update was also on demo and seemed like a very interesting step forward for digital solutions, with the growing success of Pioneer’s DVJ unit. This is definitely something which you should pay close attention to if audio/visual interaction is your field. After all the price of Mixvibes and the fact that you use vinyl are a massive advantage over the DVJ unit. But latency and other important issues still need to be properly tested even if the demo units were interesting to play with to show the possibilities of such an upgrade. Oh and the upgrade to new version will be free to all previous owners, a nice touch. So in conclusion Mixvibes made a very decent show of their product once more, helped by Netik and Troubl and their openness to discuss issues flatly without falling back on marketing speech. Current prices are $199 and E167 + VAT with UK price still TBC. Current major features of the DVS edition include compatibility with all sound cards, 1.5ms latency, scratch, needle drop and master tempo options. For more in depth details and other information check the site, mixvibes.com and also keep an eye on Skratchworx for a review and an in depth look at the new video capabilities and latency issues which should be dropping very soon.

More on all this at Skratchworx and vestax’s site.

Numark – From CD to HD in a year

Alongside Vestax, Numark were hosting the biggest new product at PLASA, the brand new HDX turntable. Following on from their groundbreaking CDX last year, the HDX is the world’s first digital turntable with removable Hard Drive and keeps the theme going by featuring a similar look and platter to the CDX but this time the whole thing is silver all round. Simply put the HDX is a CD deck with 80 gig hard drive compatible with Mac or PC and with keyboard navigation implemented too. The CD/HD/mp3 control is done via the 12” platter introduced on the CDX last year and it hosts a load of features I can’t actually really be bothered to run down right now. Instead I’ll send you towards this article which explains it all. Skratchworx broke the world first on it a day before PLASA and units were on demo at the show.
Unfortunately one set was constantly in use by some girl mixing on them and the other wasn’t too nicely set up to really test it properly. However a 15 minutes play on it revealed that it feels very similar to the CDX in terms of actual manipulation with the bonus of a nice softer and thinner mat, while the navigation and implementation of effects, loops and so on also follows directly from the CDX. Questions were put to Numark regarding removing the HD, navigating the files and so forth. A swappable 2.5” drive is put into a caddy and can be removed and replaced at any time, though it would seem not while in use. Also issues dealing with formats and most importantly copyright control are bound to come up. Still Numark have to be commended, much like Vestax, for being ahead of the pack two years in a row when it comes to bringing through what the public wants. When a bigger, vinyl like control platter was asked for and delivered, scratch nerds rejoiced while others wondered why it needed to be so big. Next a HD was suggested and once more Numark beat everyone to the post with the HDX.
Apart from that Numark were also showing off the new MPC range, which they distribute in the UK. The most interesting offering on that non scratchy side of things being the new MPC 2500 which comes in between the 2000XL and much bigger 4000. We had a quick go on it, with the rep showing off the various new features. Now I ain’t no production genius but it must be said with one of these between your hands you do quickly feel the call of the beats coming over you. I picked up a price list instead of detailed brochure so can’t confirm all the new features as such, but the pads, velocity, bigger screen and Q functions have all been implemented and overall this does feel like a seriously strong unit for any would be or established beat maker. I even went back to have a little extra go the next day and found myself grooving along nicely, even though I’ve never used one before.

More info on all this at Skratchworx and Numark.com.

Eclectic Breaks – Ummm… cross faders…

After our very extensive coverage of the brand new Pro X Fader from EB, we don’t have an enormous amount to report about from their presence at PLASA. The fader was officially unveiled and for sale in its final incarnation. People could play with it at the Selltron stand and buy it for slightly cheaper too. While the EB stand itself featured the likes of 2tall, Whut!, Square One, Tigerstyles and Daredevil showing off once more that this fader really will turn you into an amazing scratcher… well ok not really but you get it. Also of note was the blinding session we managed to set up on the Monday between 2tall, Tigerstyle and French boys Netik and Troubl. While Troubl stepped away pretty quickly to go get his hand on his fader, the other 3 stayed on for a 30 mins freestyle showcase that left many with their mouths touching the floor and their face twisted in disgust at the skill of Netik in particular. Even 2tall just gave up towards the end and sat back to watch the two of them do their thing. For more info on the Pro X, I’ll point you towards the feature we did recently (part 1 and part 2) and the review from Skratchworx. You can also check some videos taken during the monday on the Pro X stand featuring 2tall, Netik and Tigerstyle freestyling: download video 1 here and video 2 here. Files are 40 and 70mb respectively, right click and save to download.

More buying info at their site

Elsewhere

Gemini – Show but don’t play

The Gemini stand hosted the Rodec Scratchbox which is probably the longest coming scratch related product in history. Still looking mighty impressive, the unit was plugged to a laptop to show off its features, so no one could really test it properly yet. However it does look very tasty and could possibly become the top dog of the scratch mixer world, biting the head off the Rane 56. Well time will tell, but on paper it looks like it could with its 3 Infinium faders and robust looking appearance.
Elsewhere on the Gemini stand, we had the new iKey on display, one of the most interesting products I’ve seen ages. Simply put it’s a small recording device which can record direct from a line level output into any connected USB device. 3 mp3 formats and lossless WAV are on offer and when not used for recording it becomes a battery charger. Basically one of those little gadgets that someone should have thought of ages ago, especially with the growth of digital players and recorders. I for one could really do with one of these babies and I’m sure it’ll find a good home in many a scratch or DJ house. Retail price is set to be £129 and may drop to just below £100.
Lastly Gemini showed off its CDT-05, the world’s first vinyl and CD integrated turntable, but you also couldn’t do anything with it. So look we did and a possible NAMM appearance should reveal exactly what it’s made of. More details over at Skratchworx and gemini.co.uk.

Mackie – Scratch this

Not necessarily known for their scratch goods, Mackie unveiled the d2 mixer for the second time. Looking like a good contender in a growingly crowded mixer market, albeit crowded with what seems to be more and more decent, quality mixers, the d2 is Firewire enabled, features an Infinium crossfader (where as the Rodec Scratchbox boasts Infinium on all 3 faders) and some pretty, glowing blue monitoring lights and EQ knobs. The Firewire port can be switched to any channel, and the unit was on demo with Reason and a CD deck, showing off nicely what it could do. But it would been nicer to have a deck hooked up and more than one to play with. Ah well, still a good looking and seemingly good performing piece of kit. More choice is good when quality follows and Mackie seem to be intent on making sure quality won’t be a flaw in the d2. For more details hit up Skratchworx.

Pioneer – Watch this

Lastly on our list is Pioneer who also had a nice, big and shiny stand to show off with right across from the Pro X Fade boys. Nothing majorly new on offer that we didn’t know about before, apart from some mean looking new monitor speakers. They look good and more importantly sound good too. The SFL1 however will retail for $1699, which is a bit of a kick in the teeth, but then you get some seriously heavy-duty speakers for that money. And the Pioneer seal of quality too. Pioneer have announced that some new major products would be unveiled at the NAMM or Musikmesse shows next year, so we’ll have to wait till then.
In the meantime I spent a good 30 minutes fucking about with the 909, and I must say it’s one of those mixers that just screams ‘buy me you fucker’ after spending five minutes on it. If only I had the money you gorgeous little thing… If only. After a difficult parting from the 909 I moved over to the demo units of the DVJ decks, which I was quite excited to have a little go on after seeing Yoda and Kentaro using them and just imagining what they might feel like. The units were hooked up to Pioneer’s EFX-1000 unit too and had a very impressive screen above them and two preview screens hooked up. Having had to wait 20 minutes for some dude to stop playing with the effects unit and ignoring the people queuing behind him, I was surprised by the feel of the DVJ’s platter, very similar to Pioneer’s tested CD decks platter and the scratch mode holds up very nicely too. While it does have more features and options I could ever hope to master in a lifetime, after 10 or so minutes, you can start to get a feel for the possibilities this opens up and how it is a scratch DJ’s dream in many ways, especially if cut and paste still holds a dear place in your heart. Some Pioneer rep gave us a quick demo, which showed more what the effects unit can do than the DVJ itself (maybe this is something Pioneer should think about, it’s not only House DJs or VJs who are interested in this). The integration of audio/visual gear such as this into future set-ups for artists is one of the most exciting developments brought about by the digital revolution, and as things get better and choice starts to expand (such as Mixvibes’ new video capability) I can see a pretty good future for the DVJ and other such devices in all hooks and crannies of DJ culture. The leaflet for the DVJ also showed that it has possibilities as a studio tool for video makers, making this a unit that’s not only limited to DJ culture but to all sides of the audio/visual spectrum.

More info at Skratchworx.com and Pioneer.co.uk.

Round-off

My final thoughts and feelings after PLASA were mixed but the major points that really stuck out were as follows. There is a definite move away from vinyl towards CDs from a lot of manufacturers, with a ridiculous amount of CD decks on show compared to actual turntables. And the actual turntables on display were generally from companies known for weaker offerings than the industry or scene’s standards. While I can understand that the growing appeal of digital technology is responsible for this, it just seems odd that a show such as PLASA that still caters for scratch DJs, even if they’re not the majority, doesn’t offer more for us scratch geeks to sink our teeth in. For example why is it that every single CD deck I tried contained a house or similar CD and not something you could actually use to test the scratching capabilities of the unit? Thank god Gizmo came prepared. On that note, it was also nice to see Nick Nack’s Soundscraftman CD on a few stands and to find out it’s being shipped with the CDX. Good stuff.
Alongside this, I also can’t quite get my head around certain mixing showcases, such as for example the ones which happened on the Vestax stand. Yes Vestax manufacture products that aren’t scratch related, with endorsement from the big man that is Carl Cox, but their stand wasn’t really axed towards mixing and so why was some woman giving it large in her headphones for 15 minutes and then let loose on the actual set up? Maybe I’m just a bit bitter.
It was also nice to see Vestax take a leap of faith with the Controller 1, the first new product in god knows how long that seems like it will really help shake things in the ‘tablist’ scene and move things forward towards a brighter future. If anything it’ll help bring musicians and scratch DJs together even more and hopefully also help break down preconceptions said musicians or others may have. Same with Numark, another company who at least seems to listen to what the scratch public wants.
Oh and lastly PLASA still offers many a what the fuck moment, with this year’s winners being the giant Corona bottle, the walking TV adverts, the weird Indian/Thai procession and the most hilarious Seinheiser banner I’ve seen in a long time.

So overall it was a pretty enjoyable show, though not necessarily because of the gear on display but more because of the social aspect of such an event and the chance it gave me to catch up and talk shop with a host of people. Having Gizmo around to talk to and check out the various stands with was great, and with Skratchworx’s growing reputation it felt good wearing the t-shirt on the Sunday. Catching up with Troubl and finally getting to meet Netik was also great, and we managed to get a good little interview done, which should make an appearance very soon. These two have a lot on their plates at the minute, so expect some new music and records very soon (and check the recent news for more on that). Big shout also goes to Paul Punch, Jules Knowone, Eric and Patrick at Mixvibes, the Pedestrian massive, Dean at Ecler, Siya and the EB crew, Tigerstyle and Daredevil. Finally it was also lovely to be able to sit down at the pub on Sunday after the show with Giz, Deft, Jules and Weaksauce and just chill out and talk. It’s definitely the more social aspect of the show that I’ve enjoyed this year and seeing people’s faces and reactions regarding Turntable Radio and Spin Science, it’s good to know people are enjoying the sites and the music. Hopefully things will keep on moving in the right direction and PLASA 06 will be even better. Till then I’ll leave you in the safe hands of the Skratchworx lot where you’ll find plenty more details, photos and discussions regarding all this and more.

Pro X Fader freestyle session with 2tall, Netik and Tigerstyle: download video 1 here and video 2 here. Files are 40 and 70mb respectively, right click and save to download.All pictures courtesy of Skratchworx.com