Rane Serato Scratch Live 1.5 Update Preview

I was at the Remix Hotel in L.A. and got a peek at the upcoming version 1.5 software update for Scratch Live. Some new features include direct vinyl recording from within the Serato software in CD quality, an option for horizontal waveform display, and a really great looping feature. The looping feature allows you to create and use loops seamlessly on the fly and works flawlessly. I didnt see any signs of plugins yet, and was told that feature will be added in a later version. Also, unlike the change from 1.3 to 1.4 there is no need to rebuild overviews. The new version 1.5 is expected to be released sometime before Christmas. Sorry about the blur in the pictures guys.

Wavelength’s Brick DAC

Calling something a Brick isn’t normally a term of endearment, but Wavelength Audio’s new Brick DAC (Digital-to-Audio Converter) seems to be an exception. Reportedly pumping out the tunes at the quality, or even better than the quality, of a $10,000 CD player (at least according to Gary Krakow), the Brick takes your music away from the crappy soundcard that came with your PC and instead coaxes it gently out of a USB port and into pristine analog form through a 12AU7 tube preamp (we’ve seen external USB audio cards before, but this thing is supposed to be better). Make sure you have some high bitrate audio files to play through this thing, and as for the price (if you’re a non-audiophile and you’ve made it this far, we recommend you move along at this point) you’re looking at a cool $1,750. Yeah, you could nab a low end DAC for $100 or less, but let’s not be silly.
[Via technology filter]

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Music Thing: Vestax Controller One Turntable Instrument

The nice thing about DJ gear manufacturers is that they’re not afraid to experiment. Gemini dropped that weird iKey recorder a few months back, but Vestax are the kings of weird. A few years ago, they released the Faderboard, an utterly baffling synth with no keyboard, but ten faders to play notes. It had the sound engine from a Korg Electribe, was designed by Japanese DJ Shingo2, and was completely unplayable. Then came the laughable Scratch-O-Caster turntable guitar, and now there’s Controller One.

Around the side of a normal high-end scratch turntable are eight buttons, which speed up and slow down the platter according to musical notes. So, if you put on one of Vestax’s special drone records, you can play notes by hitting the buttons, or sequencing them via MIDI. If you try it with a normal record, it will presumably just sound really, really irritating. Sure, it will costs £1,000, and is pretty much the least useful thing I can imagine, but at least it’s original…