Some of the best articles we have put out at Sawwas over the last few months.

DJ’s have questions

We get a lot of questions from new DJ’s and took the time to answer a few.

The downfall of Technics

Wonder what the future of your beloved Tech’s is going to be ? We answered it for you and it wasn’t a bright one.

Marketing Instruments

How the companies try to keep you buying and buying and buying.

Young djdeeuu asks about a QBert video idea on djpages.com and promptly gets his ass handed to him.

The coo de gras is this fine ass quote:

Along with a ‘tickle me Q Bert’, ‘How to dress and talk like Q-bert’ DVD……and ‘How to collect giant Gundam robots like Q-bert does’ limited edition VHS (NTSC only, though)…..

The crux of the matter is the impact QBert has on turntablism. The three time DMC champion is an inspiration to many turntablists. QBerts inspiration can have a crushing effect on those learning turntablism, if they focus only on him. Many turntablists focus more on how Qbert “does it” and less on developing as an artist.

Newcomers do need a source of knowledge to learn from. Qbert videos and tutorials provide this in a unique way that isn’t available otherwise. Fresh turntablists can move on to developing their own uinique styles faster if they learn from the Qbert product line. That being said how many are blinded by the artist ?

What do you think ? Is the QBert product line and Qbert reputation hurting the art ?

Gruso, from inthemix.com.au reported having problems with a DJM600 blowing out the sound system at a club he was playing at. Many other DJ’s report the same problem with the whole DJM series of mixers. In conjunction to this several say they are playing their rigs in the red.

Sounds like a load of bollocks to me, play shit in the red and it might break, thats why its red silly.

What do you think ? Anyone else have problems with the DJM series of mixers ?

The DXM06 is a starter mixer from Numark that has been on the market for some time. The mixer has a good feature set but there are grumbeling on the net of the crossfader bleeding after minimal use.

On DJ Forums, Shiggy complains:

man, the fader craps out too quick on these… I’ve had the mixer for 3 months, it has been replaced once already and now it’s starting to bleed again, doing automatic and very random crabs

Even more complaints about the poor performance of the mixer are on In the Mix where DJ Fusion says:

And yes, my x-fader is leaking after only about 4 or 5 months as well, but I’m hoping the replacement fader willl be better

While crossfaders can be replaced, this seems a bit ludicrous. Has anyone else had a good or bad experience with the DXM06 ?

Pioneer Production Forums are reporting the HDJ 1000 Headphones all fuggered !!.

brooks writes:

So I’m playing, mixing and having a good time than it happens again. I place my HDJ1000’s on my head and they break right above the earcup the same place the last pair I had broke …

He goes on to explain that these headphones had only been in use for 3 months.

Further posts report much of the same:
djrox:

I hate to tell ya but Im having the same issues with the HDJ1000s. Im on pair #4, 1st pair broke 1 week post warranty expiration and second pair broke 1 week into use , 6 months later, same ish , broken plastic. I think I have purchased my last pair despite the great sound they provide.

pkaulf:

My brother’s HDJ1000s (second pair) have also cracked and broken in the same place.

Toxis:

I just had my 1000’s bust on me tonight exactly the same way

There are many more posts concerning the same issue. The rub is that Pioneer customer service allegedly takes up to 2 monthes to fix these issues. While it is true that if the allegations are true that Pioneer is at fault ( in my opinion ) why would you by the same product over and over expecting a different result ?

Bit of madness for all parties involved there in my opinion. At any rate I’d avoid them, any of you have a pair ? have you had problems ?

The cats over at djsource are having a go at it over the age old question, are mk5’s really worth it ?

The responses are all for the mk2’s by minimizing the defects the mk5 fix.

Things they say:

its a mk2, with no click on the fader and a pitch reset button

The justification for not needing to get rid of the click…

the fader click problem is about as overhyped as 0.1% pitch control on cd players… if your that close to 0% and its giving ya probs, just pitch the other deck up/down slightly

The Mk5…

also it has an led target lamp instead of a regular one if i remember right

On the mk2 you need to have a mod installed…

disabling quartz lock

All those problems in and of them selves are minor and worth overlooking but fixed together boys the mk5 is a much better value. I dunno about you but I don’t like buying things with “minor annoyances”.

Seems they missed the overall point of it to me. But what do I know I am just a writer.

Mixers come in two varieties those with knobs and those with faders. Which style of mixer is better is part of a hot debate in the dj world. On the dj world forums the debate recently took an interesting turn.

Karl David said:

Hey guys, I just wanted to know what is the best mixer for House and Drum and bass and other genres which involve mixing? A rotary knobs mixer or a fader mixer.
[snip]…
Obviously this type of mixer wouldn’t be used by hip hop and turntablist DJ’s

Following this question is a love fest for rotary knob mixers. What they seem to miss though is that rotary mixers lock you in to just mixing a certain style. There is no way to do anything unconventional with rotary mixer. I just don’t see why you would be satisfied with limiting your options. See what I mean ?

Gemini announced the CD-150 Rackmount CD Player, the latest addition to their affordable product line. The CD-150 has features for both consumers and professionals. The new CD player is equipped with a control panel which can accessed on the the player or via a remote. The CD-150 also delivers Anti-Shock™ Protection, Seamless Loop, +/- 12% Variable Pitch Control, +10 track select, three time display modes, and dual jog mode capability. The release date is set for November 2005.

The 8th annual Dj Awards were held on the 29th of September at the Pascha club in Ibiza. Pioneer won the award for the best technology for 2005. The honor was bestowed to Pioneer this year for helping push the limits of technology for djs. The European marketing manager, Mark Groetfeld, accepted the award for Pioneer.

• Pioneer forums post about it
• Article on the 2005 DJ awards
• Italian blog entry on the djs that won
• Entry on MSN

The Numark HDX release is going to turn the digital turntable market on its head. The new turntable was announced to have a hot swappable eighty gigabyte hard drive. The HDX also sports a support for mp3, cd, and wma formats. The 80 gig hard drive will allow the turntable instantly recall songs, freeing the dj from juggling media. The HDX is similar to its predecessor the CDX. It simulates the look an feel of a traditional turntable allowing DJ’s to use the skills they use for vinyl on with a new format.

The addition of the hard drive is absolutely a radical change. We think this sweet puppy will turn the market for digital turntables on its head.

• Numark Press release
• regards to engadget