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 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

PLASA, the upcoming proaudio show in England, is shaping up to be the most exciting proaudio event of 2005. All the major corporations are going to be there unveiling their new technologies and lots of Europe’s best DJ’s will be on hand as well.

We are especially looking forward to hearing about the Digital Turntablism and Mixing session they are going to hold. Seems the majors are looking to push the move away from turntables even more. If you go be sure to leave a comment on how it went.

There is also going to be a session on video jockey’s which should be productive. We are still pretty uncertain what the future will be for video jockeys will be at the moment so this should be a good gauge for how the industry sees their future.

Evidence is mounting that vinyl as a useful DJ medium is going away. With the rise of DVD, CD, MP3, and IPOD dj setups more and more DJ’s are starting to experiment with the use of these new devices. The dj holdouts that are expected to last are turntablists which are very demanding of the amount and types of manipulations they can perform. Even they though are beginning to venture away from the traditional turntable into more specialized gear ( read the QFO ).

Despite arguments from many DJ’s test have shown that the audience can not tell the difference between digital and analog recorded sounds. Since DJing is a performance for the audience and not the DJ ( unless your a bedroom DJ no shame in that ) the DJ’s that perform without the hindrance of 60 pounds of vinyl and with the advantage of 10,000 songs in their ipod will begin to dominate.

The key to this next wave of DJ’s really taking over is taking the focus off of what the DJ is doing with his hands and redirecting it more on the music being played. The dj’s that figure this out will be the next top dj’s.