 PLASA
2004 Review
Earls Court, London
article
0087 added
27.10.04 words K-Per & Gizmo
technical:
QED
 Following
on from the recent digital equipment reviews, ukhh took a trip down
to PLASA in September to have a little rummage about and see what the DJ
industry is getting up to in the coming months… For those of you unaware
of what PLASA is, it’s one of the three major trade shows in the DJ
calendar, and the only one held in London, allowing the cream of the
London and UK scene to descend on Earl’s Court and showcase all the
latest gear. This year’s show included demos and showcases from the
Perverts, Tigerstyle, 2tall, Square One, Yoda (who was meant to do a
showcase on Pioneer’s new DVD decks which unfortunately fell through due
to copyright issues – Lucas is a tight basta*d!), Woody (who performed
his Flutine routine at the end of day 1) and many more. In addition to
all this the show is rounded off with lectures and seminars as well as
plenty of space to network and build contacts. Anyway onto the good
stuff you’ll be wanting to know about. To make it all simpler to read
I’ve broken it down by manufacturer and to help me along I’ve enlisted
the help of Gizmo, from Skratchworx.com, whose knowledge and expertise
(as well as industry contacts) have been providing heads with regular
info and in depth quality reviews for the last year. So without further
ado, ladies and gentlemen we bring you PLASA 2004…
 Vestax
– May the force be with you?
 Vestax’s
main attraction was the QFO, the first turntable and mixer hybrid of its
kind, which went on sale in the UK last month. It was designed hand in
hand with QBert, and after a good year of rumours, debates and arguments
surrounding it and its real worth to the tablist community we were able
to finally play with it for the first time. Overall it must be said this
is one piece of equipment that could have a lot of potential. Pluses
have to be the platter and pitch range, with minuses to the fader curve
placement, the curve itself which was quite poor on the display units
and the fact that the faders are not interchangeable (i.e you can’t swap
a line fader for the cross and vice-versa). Still those are minor gripes
and overall the QFO left a very pleasant impression in most people’s
minds and got the thumbs up from 2tall and Woody.
 Next
up from Vestax was the brand new 05 Pro SL mixer with its built in
sampler and effects. Didn’t get much of a chance to test the sampler
itself (which has 23 seconds of sampling with unlimited layers within
that time, though you can’t delete layers without erasing them all bar
the base layer), though the mixer has a very nice feel to it and is
graced with a new faceplate, knobs and faders, making it a well worth
upgrade if your old 05 or 07 has had a battering.
Vestax also had their new CD deck, the CDX-05 on display. It was mainly
fitted to decks using the new Tascam TTM-1 device, which allows you to
control the CD via the turntable it’s fitted on (it reads the movement
of the vinyl and uses that to control the track the CD plays). Whilst we
didn’t get the time to play with the CD deck itself, the TTM-1 got a
fair bit of attention and like most who’ve used it we were very
impressed by the quality of the control, playback and overall stability
and ease of use. This is definitely one digital controller to keep an
eye out for!
The last offering from Vestax came in the shape of the new
Güber lifestyle range of products, which includes a very trendy and iPod
like looking deck and mixer. The only thing I shall say on this subject
is a quote from Woody, who upon seeing the deck and mixer proclaimed it
to be ‘on some stormtrooper shit!’.
Gizmo says - I have one of the CDX-05's in the skratchlair right now and
so far, things are looking good. (you can check video demos of the
CDX-05 on
www.skratchworx.com now).
More on them at
www.vestax.co.uk
Denon
– Scratch happy people!
 While Denon may be known more for their CD decks then their scratch
products, this year’s stand had a few items on feature which really
caught our eye and could definitely help drive them further into the
scratch market. These are the DN-S3000 CD deck and DN-X300 mixer.
The deck has been out for a while and is similar to its 5000 big
brother. It’s equipped with a scratch function and platter that will
have most heads smiling in delight and makes for a really decent piece
of scratch kit. It’s a decent entry level CD deck that can be used for
both scratching and mixing without letting you down.
The X300 mixer is distinct in its Rane TTM-56 look-a-like features, and
encompasses much of the same features as the 56 and a few others too.
From the small time we got to play with it and the 3000 we can
definitely say that this is a strong contender in the scratch mixer
market and should find a home with most heads.
Gizmo says - Don't forget the even smaller DN-X100 mixer. Basically a
cut down 300 but without the send and receive loop, P&G and EQ kill
switches and all coming in for the wallet friendly price of £250.
More on them at
www.denondj.com
Stanton
– Finally you get to scratch!
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Having helped set the standards for digital controllers a few years back
with the release of Final Scratch, Stanton’s digital controller has
since been plagued with bad feedback from users, problems with the
interface and the rise of competitors on the digi controller market (for
those of you unaware of digital controllers, they are essentially
computer based emulation programs that allow to control mp3s and audio
files on your computer via your turntable). This year seems them strike
back with version 2, the demo version of which seems a whole lot better
then 1 by far with a new scratchamp, firewire connections and a whole
lot more.
The set up took only a few minutes getting used to, with the new
interface (which uses Native Instruments’ Traktor software) feeling very
intuitive and the response to the vinyl manipulations excellent. After
playing on it for 10 minutes or so I didn’t experience any real problems
and it handled basic scratches, little juggles and more with ease. For
those of you still deciding on whether or not to invest in a controller
this one could help swing it.
Gizmo says - Skratchworx has a very close relationship with Stanton and
have been promised one of the first units asap. First impressions are
good - a much better gut feeling than the more recent versions of FS.
And from what I can gather, this is just the beginning.
More on them at
www.stantondj.com
Numark
– You call this a CD deck?
Alongside Vestax, Numark were the one exhibitor to check out with the
now established TTX turntable on show as well as the now ubiquitous CDX.
The CDX is the first CD deck of its kind to offer a 12” platter which
mimics a real turntable, allowing you to control the CD as if you were
scratching vinyl and replicating the feel. As such it has slowly been
proving more and more successful since its official launch, and getting
to play with them we can easily see why. They are definitely a much more
scratch orientated CD deck than most, a clever move on Numark’s behalf.
This is probably the most direct contender to Technics’ new SL-DZ1200
deck and frankly from what I’ve heard and seen so far, Numark seems to
be ahead for now.
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The capability of the CDX was tested by 2tall who managed to pull some
very nice moves on it, including a good little juggle of the ‘900
Number’ proving that the CDX can live up to its expectations and specs
quite easily.
Gizmo says - Numark also showed off their new DXMPro digital scratch
mixer. Fully equipped with everything you'd expect from a scratch mixer
but coming in at a very respectable £350. Ideal compliment to the CDX.
More on them at
www.numark.com
Eclectic
Breaks – A fader revolution?
London based Eclectic Breaks’ stand held the one major surprise (if we
can call it this) of this year’s PLASA event, with the introduction of
their new Pro X Fader. Not much info available on this one just yet,
beyond the basic facts: it offers adjustable tension and lag (with
rotaries) and comes with an 8mm wide stem. EB hopes to be able to start
selling these in January, making their first move into the equipment
market and backed by a strong belief that their non-corporate status
(they are a diverse media company focusing on music, events and
promotion) will help attract the customers who are left disappointed by
poor customer service and big corporate scams.
The main thing about this fader was that beyond all the specs and hype
around it, it seems to be a damn good fader and will be made to fit most
analogue mixers, starting with the Vestax range, and could prove to
become a serious threat to the likes of P&G. All the DJs showcasing on
the day had nothing but praises for it, a sure sign that the Pro X Fader
could turn some heads very soon.
 So that’s about it for PLASA this year. Last mention to Pioneer’s stand
which didn’t have many new exciting things to test, which is a shame as
their recent 707 and 909 mixers are proving a favourite of many DJs
right now. Both these mixers have been designed with the scratch DJ in
mind but without alienating the rest of the community either. The 909 is
especially interesting because it offers a multitude of easy to use
built-in effects (around 50) coupled with quality faders and cut in
time. The only other main attraction for Pioneer was their new DVD-Js
and fx unit which were showcased on all days by various acts from the
dance music world. The new DVD decks basically allow you to do anything
you can on a Pioneer CD deck but using the DVD and thus adding a whole
visual dimension to your work. They do look heavily impressive and offer
so many new opportunities for the visually minded DJs out there. Expect
the price to be high on release and dropping when everyone else enters
the fray next year (Numark were also showcasing their DVD mixer set up,
which was much less appealing on looks, but shows that the competition
is getting ready). For more on the Pioneer mixers check
www.battlemixer.com
The Sunday was rounded up with the Gemini DJ competition which saw
Kouadjo from France take the title and bag himself some free gear and
promotion in I-DJ Magazine, sponsor of the event. Overall PLASA 2004 was
a success on all counts, with the professional side of the event proving
more successful then ever it seem and firmly confirming that the
industry side of things are in good health. And for us music and
equipment geeks it’s also proven to be a fine year. Roll on 2005!
PLASA
round-up:
- Best stands – Pioneer, Denon and Numark
(who get props for making things usable this year!)
- Worst stands – Rodec (not so much a stand,
more like a pile of pebbles) and Citronic
- Best non-obvious scratch product – Xone:92
CTRL
- Worst obvious scratch product – Reloop
range
- What the f*&%! Moment – The Cheeky Girls
performing on the stand next to the one 2tall and Square One were
demo-ing the new EB fader.
That’s it from us, many thanks to Emily at Articulate
for hooking us up with prizes and tickets. And many thanks to Gizmo for
lending a helping hand and chipping in with advice and pics. Check the
related links for more info on all this!
-
K-Per & Gizmo
 Related
Links:
-
www.articulate.co.uk
– PR for the event
-
www.skratchworx.com
– the one stop for all your equipment needs on the net. News, reviews, movie
demos and many more with the expertise of people like Deft, Professor BX,
Fingerlickin’ B and Gizmo himself.
-
www.plasashow.com –
the 2004 site.
UKHH.com CD DJ’ing special:
See also….
Other DJ’ing related:
 
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