| Digital Dj Gear |
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| Written by Chris Stavropoulos |
| Tuesday, 21 December 2010 11:55 |
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XONE - 4D USB AUDIO INTERFACE Official Website
The Xone:4D continues the seamless integration of computer-based digital media into the traditional DJ workspace, but with a further enhanced feature set. Combining a fully featured, high specification professional analogue DJ mixer with 105 MIDI controllers and 227 MIDI messages, a completely new, high-end, 96 kHz / 24-bit 20 channel Allen & Heath-designed USB 2.0 soundcard, the progressive XONE:4D has been developed in conjunction with some of the world’s most cutting-edge DJ/producers.
WACOM NEXTBEAT DJ CONSOLE Official Website Wacom known for their award-winning graphics tablets and interactive displays for designers and photographers, has announced the nextbeat system, which is aimed at DJ’s. Wacom’s nextbeat is a fully integrated professional DJ system, incorporating intuitive touch sensor controls and innovative live performance functions. The nextbeat is a wireless portable control unit that enables performers to move free from the main device, resulting in more dynamic and energetic live performances inside booths promise Wacom.
BOSE QC 15 HEADPHONES Official Website Years ago, Bose virtually created the active noise-canceling headphone business with its QuietComfort headphones. QuietComfort 15 is a pair of black and silver, “around-ear” headphones with soft leather and foam padding for the top of your head, as well as your ears, cushioning the plastic surfaces that would otherwise cause the most physical discomfort during extended listening. A single AAA battery powers QC15 for 35 hours. Bose includes a carrying case, a single 5.5-foot audio cable, an old-fashioned two-prong airline adapter, a single AAA battery, and once again, a set of “courtesy cards”. A small switch exists for HI or LOW volume (handy for loud devices). QuietComfort 15’s performance that will be of most substantial interest to potential buyers: sound quality and noise cancellation quality relative to less expensive competitors. Starting with sound quality, the way we’d describe QuietComfort 15 is as follows: it’s a nice enough pair of earphones, but in no way special or a standout given the $300 asking price. When we put on any new pair of earphones, we evaluate them from a couple of different perspectives: do they sound great right out of the box? And how do they sound against similar competitors? Out of the box, QC15 struck us as a low-end-skewed pair of earphones, pushing the mid-bass up just a little too much and leaving out treble that we were accustomed to hearing in other headphones. Cymbals sounded a little flat, and music just didn’t sound as dynamic as we had hoped it would through a 2009 update to the QuietComfort line. On an absolute scale, we’d call the sound “good, not great.” On the flip side, the QuietComfort 15 does have the edge in active noise-cancellation for as long as its battery lasts. Bose says that it has “significantly improved” QC15’s “noise reduction across a wider range of frequencies,” using new noise-sampling microphones both inside and outside each of the earcups to help figure out and reduce whatever non-music sounds you would otherwise be hearing; it has also redesigned its ear cushions to improve noise seal. Between these changes, there’s no doubt that QC15’s active noise-canceling technology does offer a modest improvement over the sampling technologies used by Audio-Technica and many other companies at this point in time. Though QC15 still doesn’t completely eliminate ambient sounds—we could still, for instance, hear music playing right next to us and airplanes flying immediately overhead when wearing the QC15s and competitors—Bose’s new technology reduces the impact of these sounds by something that sounds like 5-10% by comparison with the ATH-ANC7b, at least, when no music is playing. Play music through both of them and you’ll focus on the sounds of whatever you’re hearing, making the active and passive noise-canceling differences seem relatively minor. Overall, Bose’s QuietComfort 15 is a good but not great pair of headphones, strongest in its new noise-canceling functionality, solid rather than excellent in sound quality, and somewhat less impressive than its predecessors in pack-ins. We believe that this model deserves praise for its comfort, as it remains soft and easy to wear on ears and heads of varying sizes.
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| Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 February 2011 15:41 |
