Pacemaker Music Player/DJ Station

[alexander]

Ok, so one of the reasons for my latest decline in posts/day has been that i have started doing some mixing (software djing), among other things (picked up locksport again, and i'm working on a new website)

So checking out Gizmodo, i came across the coolest portable player you guys have ever seen (btw if someone moves this to tecnology i will loose track and stop posting on the thread, besides i am interested in the technological aspects of this thing)

Pacemaker.net, they have been working on a portable DJ station and the thing works and looks awesome, from all the demos i have seen, they release little info on what kind of hardware it is exactly, but a 120 gig HD, and support for most major audio formats is a good enough reason to buy it, but only if you are a DJ. Most normal people would be lost and have no idea why they just spent 540 Euros on such a device.... it's no ipod, its waaay cooler

I wanna hear your thoughts on this

[freeztar]

It's so small.

Have you tried Traktor Alex?
If you use Traktor Scratch with it, then it seems much more versatile than pacemaker.

The obvious benefit of pacemaker is portability combined with the fact that you can upload between the pacemaker and your computer so you can work with your tracks on the go. I have to admit that is a pretty cool option, but I'm not sure the price justifies that.

[alexander]

I use traktor dj studio with an m-audio usb controller and a usb lexar 4 channel audio card... it does pretty well (though scratch looks cool too)

If i was spending money on the scratch, i'd rather get a set of cdj turn tables, at that i'd make sure i could also use them as a controller and a real mixer, because with that, possibilities become less and less limited

[Heisenberg]

I actually thought that someone had modded their pacemaker so it played music... 'Mozart or Hyden, Mr. Surgeon?'

~sounds good, but you can engineer some way to scratch without a deck (attach a radio dial to set as a rewind and fast forward button)... my two bits.

[alexander]

Heisenberg, you are not a DJ, so while i sympathize with your point, i can not say that it's the easiest thing to make. You seem to have no idea how scratching works exactly, but instead of flaming you, because i'm cool like that, i am going to educate you on the process (as well as i know the principal, anyways... there are real DJs out there that can do better)

The term scratching, does in it's simplest form mean moving a record back and forth while it's being played and "scratch" sounds are produced. This is called a baby scratch, it is the simplest form of scratching, and in today's world, is rarely used in live performances and such. so with a simple controller, after some getting used to, a baby scratch, a tear scratch and the scribble scratch can be performed, given time... The thing about scratching is that it's as much of as skill as it is an art form... any fairly advanced scratches aside from a record, also use the crossfader. In it's simplest form such as a forward or a backward scratch, the crossfader is taken to the second playing record for a period of time when the recond is being moved either forward or backward to acheive a mono directional scratch. To those scratches you can add the perhaps most widely used chirp scratch, flare scratch, transforming scratch. Then even more advanced scratches come, this is where having the propperly big and easy crossfader mounted somewhere is essential... like crab scratch, where the dj while rapidly moving the record will tap the crossfader out of the closed position with each finger on their hand rapidly, allows for fast flares and chirps, combined with a fade in effect...

for more information lool at Scratching or consult a DJ, but it's a process that is not easily portableized.... unlike mixing...