Cortex dMIX 600 - DJ Mixing Workstation for iPods and External Storage Devices

Comments about Cortex dMIX 600 - DJ Mixing Workstation for iPods and External Storage Devices:

I been using this for about 2 weeks and having a lot of fun.

Comments about Cortex dMIX 600 - DJ Mixing Workstation for iPods and External Storage Devices:

I bought this system because my tiny NYC apartment doesn't have space for my turntables and vinyl, so I thought I'd get into the digital world. This device is compact and provides all the necessary tools to do BASIC mixing of music, and it's certainly a lot easier to carry around than a crate of records.. I also do not have a very good laptop so I didn't trust the vinyl-controlled solutions out there.

So positives-
-All in one unit makes it easy to carry around and easy to set up or take down
-Reads all sorts of media, but specifically thumb drives- cheap, expandable, and ubiquitous
-The crossfader does have a setting to give a steep enough curve for scratch-type usage. It'd be REALLY useful if the scratch wheels were any good, but.... oh well.
-The looping is about as easy as can be. Don't know how often I'd use it though..
-Good variety of inputs and outputs. I could hook up turntables to this thing easily, and it has master, booth, and recording outputs in addition to the headphones.
-XLR outputs for the master. Awesome.
-Really broad pitch ranges and a high quality "master tempo" feature.
-The thing is pretty cheap. I should have gotten the version without the looping and (useless) effects, but... whatever.

This system has a lot of drawbacks, though-
-Sorting through the music catalog is awful. Only shows track title, not artist, unless you press extra buttons. Tiny LCD display. Can't change the sorting order of tracks.
-You have to use their special tools to format your USB key/iPod/portable HD.
-Does not control iPhones or Pod touches
-The effects section is worthless
-seeking through tracks is extremely cumbersome
-The "touch sensitive" scratch wheel is a toy. If you want to accomplish anything close to scratching on vinyl, this is NOT the tool for you.
-The "liquid" VU meters do not provide accurate level information if you're concerned about maintaining consistent dB levels through your performance
-The library software you have to install on your computer is pretty rudimentary and unpolished
-The "waveform view" is terribly inaccurate and thus.. useless.
-There's a bit of a learning curve for a lot of features.. it's not plainly apparent how to put the players into single track mode, change the time to a countdown instead of count-up (I wish it showed both) or changing the pitch range... It's no good to have to look at the manual when you're out on a gig!

Also, the first unit I bought had a broken headphone output- the replacement unit was just fine though.

As for my recommendation- if you don't have a decent laptop and you want something cheap and highly portable, this is a good way to go. Otherwise, look at one of the vinyl-controlled solutions or a USB controller for a computer based playback.