DJ

V-Moda Crossfade LP2 headphones sport 'tanklike' toughness

V-Moda refines the sound design of last year's original Crossfade LP DJ headphones with a refresh that offers customized ear plates, dual 50mm drivers, and a tough backbone enforced under strict military testing.

For this version, V-Moda displays its newest Live Play sonic signature developed using a 31-band equalizer to ensure a clean space, free of artificial sound spikes. The guts are built around a driver diaphragm model with a hard inner ring that pumps mids and highs, while a softer outer ring on top extends the bass line for harder punches.

V-Moda takes precautions to protect the Crossfade LP2s so you don't have to. The headphones adhere to the military's MIL-STD-810G hardened guidelines and will likely outlive everything else in your DJ bag thanks to a Kevlar wrapped detachable cable, a headband that can bend completely flat, and the shell's resistance to humidity, salt spray, and UV exposure.

The company is also offering customers a chance to personalize their gear with a custom ear shield program that lets you select between 12 colors of interchangeable shields- if you ask nicely, V-Moda will even etch your artwork onto the sides, anything from your name, company, sports team logo, or personal artwork.

The V-Moda Crossfade LP2 headphones are available now for $199.

More pictures after the break.… Read more

Mixxx kicks

Mixxx is a free, open-source DJ mixing console that turns your digital music collection into the source for a full range of mixing, programming, and effects for recording or live presentation. While all you need is a PC or laptop to use Mixxx, it can also control two turntables, even analog turntables, with special time-synched media. By using Mixxx's Vinyl Control with one of several time-synched records, you can control your digital music just like your analog records. Mixxx enables scratching, hot cues, looping, and other effects, in addition to its core mixing and equalization features.

Mixxx's stylish … Read more

Pioneer auctions celebrity turntable designs

For the past couple of months Pioneer DJ (a division of Pioneer Electronics) has been traveling the East and West coasts with the DJ Art Mix Tour, raising funds for VH1's Save the Music Foundation, to restore music education programs in public schools.

The event enlisted some of the top DJs, urban artists, and designers to create original works of art using a unique canvas: the Pioneer CDJ-2000 digital music player.

August 2 through August 23, everyone will have the opportunity to bid on one of the 12 original art pieces created by Steve Aoki, Tommy Lee and DJ Aero, BT, The Crystal Method, Jesse "Dean" Graves, Joe Hahn of Linkin Park, Bob Haro, Man One, Victor "Marka27" Quinonez, Ritzy Periwinkle, Rost Arr, and George Thompson.

Bidding will begin at $400, with final bids being accepted until noon ET, on August 23. All the information you'll need about each individual work of art and the artist(s) can be found on the Pioneer DJ Art Mix page on charitybuzz. To boot, 100 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.

We had the opportunity to check out the Pioneer DJ Art Mix show held at Twelve21 in New York on June 23.… Read more

Offbeat music apps for iOS

One of the greatest things about the iPhone (or any smartphone) is that it has music listening capabilities so you can bring your tunes with you anywhere. Also, with tons of music apps in the iTunes App Store, you have even more ways to listen to, edit, mix, and organize your music.

There are many apps in the app store for listening to music, like the popular Pandora Radio that's great for music discovery, or Djay for iPhone that lets you mix and scratch with your music. But there are also some music apps that are in a league by themselves--the ones that are admittedly quirky, but still quite useful to music lovers.

This week's collection of apps are all unique music tools. The first lets you stream your music to game consoles; the second auto-matches rhythms for beat synced mixes; and the third offers a gesture-based interface for easy control of your music.… Read more

Auto-match beats in your mixes

Minimash is a DJ app that automatically matches beats from songs in your iTunes library, but it doesn't always produce great results. Immediately upon launching Minimash, you'll notice a unique artistic style to the interface. The hand-drawn-looking controls and bright colors are easy on the eyes, but it's difficult to know immediately what each control does. Fortunately, you can touch an information button that explains how to use each control and get your music up and running quickly.

The app has you start by "Preparing" your tracks--Minimash runs an analysis algorithm to scan each track'… Read more

The Turntable Lab also sells headphones, records and other stuff

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I just recently stumbled upon the Turntable Lab in the East Village in NYC. The shop was established in 1999, and the company also has brick-and-mortar shops in LA and Seoul, Korea.

The NYC shop may not have a huge selection of goodies on display, but I was very impressed with the range of products offered. Store manager David Azzoni stressed that customer service is "attitude-free" and totally avoids the snooty vibe sometimes associated with high-end hi-fi shops. For example, if you're new to vinyl and need help picking out … Read more

The 404 845: Where we're allergic to oxymorons (podcast)

Today's "Not cool, man" segment once again goes to The Huffington Post, this time for rehashing the "Wet Hot American Summer" prequel/sequel rumors that first appeared on the Internet years ago. In other recurring segment news, we enjoyed testing Wilson's music knowledge so much yesterday that we're making it a daily thing, and a listener created a legit name for it too, so stick around for the second half to see if Wilson gets full credit.

We're also chatting today about Microsoft's new Decide.com tech forecasting site, how to DJ using just a Microsoft Kinect and a couple software programs, and an Apple patent that might spell the end of multitouch smartphones in the United States.

The 404 Digest for Episode 845

HuffPo teases 'Wet Hot' sequel/preview. Decide.com forecasts price drops and tells you when to buy technology. What's cooler than an iPad DJ? A Kinect DJ. Apple patent might mean the end of multitouch smartphones in the U.S.

Episode 845 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Numark NS6 review: Pro gear melds analog and digital for DJs

We typically don't review pro audio gear at CNET, but once in a while a product will come our way that is such an obscene piece of gadget eye candy, we simply can't resist. Such is the case with the Numark NS6, a four-channel audio mixer and USB DJ controller with so many buttons and blinking lights that it feels like a control panel ripped out of the Death Star.

To see how well it performs and whether it holds up to the legacy of 2009's big, beautiful Numark NS7, check out our full CNET review of the NS6. … Read more

Be the mobile mix master

Djay for iPhone and iPod Touch brings two turntables to your touch screen so you can beat match, scratch, and record mixes of music from your library. A unique interface lets you hold your iPhone sideways to view the turntables side by side, or you can switch to vertical and view a single turntable to adjust the EQ and BPM and get more screen area in which to work with your mixes.

Djay boasts a "hyper-realistic low-latency touch-screen interface," and we found that it definitely feels more precise than similar DJ apps in the category. As an added … Read more