Bird Electron are a Japanese based electronic company that are one of the few producers of iPod accessories, in particular, iPod DJing accessories. The DJ-4S and DJ-4 are effectively variants of the simplest type of iPod DJing mixer. the mixer has two inputs, and one out put with a volume controller for each input channel.
if you’re looking for a highly portable and compact iPod DJing with out too many bells and whistles. Then you’ll want to check out this affordable and portable iPod DJing mixer.
You can have a look at the DJ5 mini mixer by Bird Electron here
and you can see the split cable mixer here.
This is the second Bird Electron iPod DJing mixer, specially made to allow iPod DJs with a small and portable DJing mixer that is able to work with an iPod without having too many bells and whistles and without breaking the bank. What you have here is the premium DJ5 from Bird Electron, this mixer is the top of the line iPod DJing mixer it has two volume sliders/faders, and has head phone monitoring, with volume control knobs for each channel for the headphones, this is good for you to listen to you mix before it plays out to the audience. Along with the two input sockets there is an output socket and a headphone socket. In addition to this the whole device acts as a headphone amplifyer as well and is battery operated. For any iPod DJ this is the top line in affordable and simple iPod DJing equipment. Check it out here.
Bird Electron are a fantastic Japanese company that produce some really innovative and minimalistic iPod accessories and electronics, they are also the first retailer to take iPod DJing seriously, and have 4 iPod DJing mixers as well as a collection of special iPod speakers and iPod docks, to add to this they also have iPod accessories such as iPod cases and other useful electronic items.
the simplest iPod DJing Mixer Bird Electron make is the DJ7, the DJ7 essentially allows two iPod outputs to be combined into a single output, giving you two decks and allowing you to mix using the volume control on each iPod. Like most iPod DJing solutions its still lacks that one critical point, it doesn’t allow you to control pitch, so you’ll have to organize your music like this.
This being said the quality of the cables is fantastic, and the idea is superbly simple, and the size and portability make this a fantastic solution for any DJ on the go..with two identical iPods.
The iKool - 04 iPod DJ mixer is a cheap affordable and effective iPod DJing solution, particularly for mobile DJing and for club and bed room DJs who don’t need an amazing amount of portabilty and are really looking for a simple and effective iPod DJing setup that fulfills all of the basic DJing needs whilst leveraging off the technological innovation of the iPod. The iKool - 04 iPod DJ mixer is produced by Koolsounds one of the lesser know DJ manufacturers, they also produced the ICDS-190 iPod DJ CD Player, another iPod DJing solution. The iKool - 04 iPod DJ mixer differs however in that it is a mixer, and works off of a single iPod, splitting the audio into two channels and allowing a DJ to DJ from a single iPod, it has a total of 6 inputs making it compatible with a variety of other DJing equipment and USB reader, and card reader as well as a video ou make it very versatile as far as mixers go. The addition of gain and high, mid and low EQ on each of the two channels not to mention Headphone and mic controls adds the this iPod mixer, despite all this, it seems that The iKool - 04 iPod DJ mixer doesn’t fix one of the most glaring problems with iPod DJing in that it doesn’t address the need for an iPod pitch control, for the company that produced the ICDS-190 iPod DJ CD Player, this comes as a bit of a surprise, but still its a good piece of DJing kit if you can work around the pitch altering, the easiest way to do this can be found in this iPod DJing article here.
The iPod’s success and its natural ability to store vasts amounts of music make it a great DJing tool, and whilst the iPod itself has limitations for DJing, this has posed a fantastic opportunity for companies making iPod accessories, and naturally DJing companies have followed suit, more surprising however, is the fact that like the fake iPod that came from China, and the many iPod clones there has emerged a new market for iPod DJing equipment clones as well, surfing the web for iPod DJing stories for www.iPodDJing.co.uk, I found these:
iPod Compatible Mixer
CMI-36 CD Player with Mixer
Mixer for iPod
They all seem to be manufactured by a factory in China, and seem to copy existing iPod DJing equipment out there, and looking at the minimum order of 500 pieces, I doubt this is store for your average iPod DJ, unless of course you open up a specialist iPod DJing store. Whilst there are descriptions on the site about these iPod DJing mixers, theres very little in terms of how good they actually are or how successful they would be when iPod DJing, or even how good the quality is, as such there’s not much to go on to reassure any DJ worth their salt that this would be worth a buy, no doubt however we’ll see a few of these iPod DJing mixers appear sooner or later, and probably at lower than expected prices.
Belkin are a pretty cool company, they make loads of accessories for iPod, and Apple even stock their products on the Apple store site. the Belkin iPod audio mixer is really a music composers dream tool, for DJing its not really that kind of mixer, but if you have a studio setup, then its one of those nice to have tools. Essentially it’s a mixer with 4 channels with the ability to record directly to a 5th gen iPod, you can tell its been specifically designed for the iPod as on the right side you see an iPod do, complete with ED level indicators and XLR connectors. Each channel has 3 EQs for the high, mid and low range and in addition you have pan (left to right) and level controls as well, giving you a whole range of flexibility when it comes to building up the different channels. As far as iPod mixers go, this is really the only one designed for a recording and production environment, the quality of Belkin is retained in this product along with the price and the additional feature of being able to transfer from the mixer to an iPod or a computer makes this a great portable solution for the mobile DJ or musician.
The X Fader is a simple cross fader mixer, designed to work with a 3.5 mm plug, there are two input plugs and a single out put, with a single cross fader. This makes it an ideal portable mixer for casual iPod DJing, and its compatible with the iPod due to the two input plugs that fit into the iPod headphones socket.
If your going to get an XFader mixer for your iPod DJing, then you’ll need to learn how to beatmatch with an iPod,lucky for you here is an article on how to arrange you music on your ipod to allow you to DJ with your iPod and Xfader, and here is an article on how to beatmatch with your iPod.
The xfader is the size of a deck of cards and has two cables attached to it, its made of metal and has a single crossfader built in that plays out to a single output. It doesnt however have a headphone out put or a channel selector for your headphones, which means its not really a top level mixer, considering its about US$50 its not too dear, but you’d be limited in terms of your iPod DJing freedom, this being said, if you’re on the move a lot or if you’ve already got a solid iPod DJing setup or if you just toying with the idea of DJing with your iPod, then the XFader might be your cup of tea.
Check out the XFader here.
The iPod has proven to be so popular as a music player that naturally the accessories market of the iPod has flourished, with every wacky iPod accessory conceivable being created and marketed for all its worth. Whilst some of the iPod accessories are actually great and fantastic for DJing and more importantly work. There are a who load of rubbish iPod accessories out there most of which serve no function at all and really arn’t worth the plastic they are built on.
The Mijam is one of these time waster iPod products designed to appeal to the iPod DJing market, its really nothing more than an interesting looking effects unit.
the mijam works by being plugged into the audio output of the iPod, which is your first clue that the two ‘deck’ dont actually do anything to alter the music track at all. It claims to allow scratching ‘digi-sound’ (what ever that is) and voice over. the Mijam claims to produce six unique background rhythms and fill-in sounds, three drum fills, and three voice effects, whilst built in volume and tempo controls supposedly allow sound levels to be adjusted to sync with the music playing from the iPod…how this is anything other than adding ‘effect’ (cause really they aren’t) to music on your iPod I don’t know, but its definitely not DJing. Still if you have 4 AAA batteries spare and around £20 to spare, and you’re looking for a present for an 8 year old DJ then you might consider the mijam something of a stockingfiller.
The Pacemaker is fantastic, really the DJs iPod, essentially you’re taking an iPod, throwing in two channels a cross fader and a touch pad, with the additional controls on the Pacemaker, it makes the iPod look a little plain. The Pacemaker is the worlds first portable DJing device.
The Pacemaker is about the size of a PSP2, with a 120 GB hard drive, a full colour screen, head phone and speaker out puts, and a touch sensative cross fader and track pad. Its designed for DJing in mind and a lot of though has clearly been put in to the finish and working mechanics (you get that same iPod feel for the Pacemaker), in addition the Pacemaker comes with free DJing software that can be installed and used for DJing as well.
Whilst the iPod is fantastic and flexible, it does need additional equpment to allow you to Dj with it, whether this is as simple as an iPod micro mixer or as complex as the Cortex D-mix, the very fact that the iPod is an MP3 player and not a Mixer is what sets the Pacemaker apart from the iPod, and considering your looking at a DJ product that costs £500, if you travel a lot or if you’re looking for an MP3 DJ solution where you can use the same tunes you had on your iPod to mix with without having additional gear, then the Pacemaker is a fantastic alternative for iPod DJs, and really proves where things are going to progress in terms of iPod DJing and DJ equipment and technology. Check out the Pacemaker here.
So whats under the hood of the Pacemaker that sets itself apart for an iPod, and why as a DJ would you value this beyond an iPod? Lets have a closer look at the detail, with the Pacemaker, you can mix virtually anywhere, with two outputs, you can cue up a track whilst a live one is playing out, further to this, you can beatmatch, this was one feature that has always been a challenge for DJs DJing with iPods, and adjusting the Pitch of the music is one of the key parts of being able to DJ, the Pacemaker solves this for the iPod, you can also adjust the equalization of the high, mid and low ranges of the music of each channel, and add a variety of effects, additionally you have a cue button and the ability to temporarily store loops. Add to this that, like, the iPod the Pacemaker has its own software, one key difference is that in addition to allowing you to play back your music on the Pacemaker editor, it allows you to mix your own mixes…looks like this could be the one MP3 player that the iPod can’t live up to.
