TECH

App: Final Touch
Developer: PositiveGrid
Format: iOS
Price: £13.99

Novation have teamed up with electronic music pioneer Giorgio Moroder to release the MoroderNova, a limited edition, numbered one of 500 synthesizer.

Based on Novation’s MiniNova, the MoroderNova is a true synth loaded with the signature sounds of Giorgio’s most seminal moments in music.

Akai Professional has released the all-new MIDImix, a high-performance MIDI mixer. Featuring an array of nine faders, 24 knobs, and eight buttons in a simple layout, the Akai Professional MIDImix provides DJs and producers with DAW control in a compact, ultra-portable design. The MIDImix is the perfect tool for incorporating into your travelling production set-up.

The MIDI controller market has no shortage of choices on offer at the moment. For every software title and style of DJing there seems to be a range of controllers at various prices available for DJs and producers to take home. Any newcomers into this market had better have something special up their sleeves to have any hope of surviving in this competitive territory.

There's a heap of DiY information online these days. One of the clear benefits of our brave new digital world is the glut of YouTube videos offering truly useful information. Want to learn how to affix a door handle? Do some plumbing? God forbid, fit a boiler? Step-by-step details are there, for those confident enough.

The BeatPad 2 is the follow-up to Reloop’s rather nifty BeatPad controller for iOS and Android devices. This new controller still partners up nicely with Algoriddim’s DJAY 2 software — however, it now features eight touch-sensitive pads, colour-coded cue points, slicer function and dedicated filters on each channel to ensure that DJs have even more performance controls at their finger-tips.

The big news from Image-Line the makers of FL Studio (or Fruity Loops as some of the older readers still call it) is that a brand-new version is dropping — and there are more than a few upgrades in there that will be sure to excite existing users and quite possibly attract more than a few converts.

Allen & Heath go back to the future with their latest release. The Xone:43 mixer is a classic four-channel analogue DJ mixer with a host of enhanced features, including our favourite Xone filters, X:FX routing, three-band EQ, VCA faders and adjustable crossfader. The Xone:43 is the perfect mixer for all those DJs who want to retain the classic analogue sound and not jump into the digital domain.

Pioneer DJ is shifting its focus to professional studios with their new RM Series active reference monitors. The RM-07 and RM-05 studio speakers feature a coaxial driver unit. The bass and the tweeter speaker sections are built together and not on top of each other as in conventional designs: ideal for near-field monitoring. The monitors are encased in a rigid die-cast aluminium cabinet and whilst looking rather cool, should ensure a very good-sounding speaker.

Korg Volca bass//keys
“I LOVE the Korg Volca range, great little sequencers and wicked sounds. The bass and the keys have their own unique, gritty analogue sound. They are so much fun, tweakable with great results and really work in a live setting. Really impressive for their price.”