One of my objectives at Musikmesse Frankfurt 2009 was getting the latest info on new Vestax gear.
To my surprise the Vestax booth was pretty small and didn’t really stick out between all the different manufacturers. I rather had a hard time finding their booth at all.
News at the Vestax booth were also pretty rare and to my surprise the exhibited products mainly focused on digital dj equipment. Only two turntables and a few mixers were issued.
The good thing about it I got to play around with all the current Vestax controllers and got an impression on how the controllers really feel like.
Vestax Products
Here’s a little summary on the at the Vestax booth shown controllers:
VESTAX VCI-100B
The VCI-100 is a highly professional MIDI controller that has two jog wheels built with sensor and control technology straight from our turntables.
The VCI-100 is built with the highest quality mechanical parts and state of the art PCB technology guaranteeing accurate and stable operation. The VCI-100 is shipped with the LE Version of Traktor but also runs with any dj-software on the market.
The VCI-100 is now also available in a black, called VCI-100B edition. The black edition of the VCI-100 was originally only available in Japan, but now also gets sold in Europe.
VESTAX VCI-300
Vestax and Serato have joined forces. The VCI-300 is a dedicated USB MIDI controller for the included Serato DJ software ITCH.
It also comes with a built in audio interface with standard 4in/4out and headphone connection.
New features such as the [Emergency Thru Switch] offers an option of using the VCI-300 with the provided ITCH software or without the computer connected if you simply want to play music from your external CD or MP3 player. Another is the new weight reduced JOG wheel and the adjustable JOG wheel torque mechanism to avoid vibration from low frequency feedback.
VESTAX VCM-100
The VCM-100 is a compact USB MIDI & audio system. Despite its compact size, the VCM-100 comes with 4in4out(Stereo x 2 in/out)connection, headphone output and high quality mechanical parts placed in the control section.
Having every feature fitted in to a solid metal body smaller than a standard laptop, the VCM-100 is easy to use and transportation friendly.
VESTAX VCM-400
At NAMM, Vestax slipped a new controller into their lineup – the VCM-400. At the time, this appeared to be a 4 deck Traktor Pro based unit, and now that appears to have been cemented with a name change. The VCM-400 is now the TR-1.
To all intents and purposes, bar a couple of very minor control rejigs (lost symmetry in the fx buttons), the unit is the same beast as the VCM-400.
more info at:
http://www.skratchworx.com/news3/comments.php?id=1118
http://www.skratchworx.com/news3/comments.php?id=1197
VESTAX VCM-600
The VCM-600 is a DJ MIDI controller designed with Vestax mixer technology. 160 parameters of the DJ software can be assigned to the advanced control section, and has excellent compatibility with Ableton LIVE.
The VCM-600 shares the same quality control parts used on Vestax mixers and 2 LED panels are placed on each side of the controller to illuminate the top panel for clear operability and vision in clubs.
VESTAX PMC-05 PRO 4
The VESTAX PMC-05Pro4 is the newest version of Vestax’s famous PMC-05Pro3.
Unfortunetly I couldn’t get my hands on the red mixer, but it really looked intresting to me. The mixer has midi-control buttons to use with your DVS-Software!
Here some vids on the new unit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEpKXv1B18k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ApPusF2dKo
VAI-80 – USB AUDIO STATION
Following the VAI-40, Vestax has released a new compact, this one smaller than the previous model, controller, the Vestax VAI-80 USB Audio Controller is a small silver device, they call it “little tank”, and combines the analog and the digital working ways.
VAI-80 is a compact digital audio interface capable of multi channel playback and recording. Each input has GAIN & EQ (hi, low) control to enable flexible adjustments for live recording and can free up the DJ from relying on the software control panel. Also loaded with XLR output for direct connection with club PA systems.
Vestax Pro Demos
One of the Musikmesse 2009 highlights were the demonstrations and showcases performed at the Vestax booth.
Vestax provided the following schedule for demos and showcases:
11:00 Ean Golden
12:00 DJ S-TRIX
13:00 Koljeticut & AKD
14:00 Ean Golden
15:00 DJ UNKUT
16:00 Ean Golden
As I visited the Musikmesse only on Saturday, I didn’t get to see all showcases at Vestax. But one of my reasons for visiting the Musikmesse in Frankfurt was to see and meet Mr. Controllerism himself – Ean Golden.
Ean is a DJ and author who commited himself to digital djing and controllerism. He designed in cooperation with Vestax a special edition of the Vestax VCI-100. The black VCI-100SE has a special firmware version 1.3 designed by Ean, as well as a special black overlay with customized labels.
The VCI-100SE has been built by Vestax in the beginning of 2008 in a very limited number of only 100 units.
Check out www.djtechtools.com to get more information on Ean and his special edition of the Vestax VCI-100.
As I am using the Vestax VCI-100 Ean Golden special edition myself, I will set up an article on this digitial dj weapon within the next weeks.
At Musikmesse Ean performed a nice showcase using his special edition of the VCI-100 with extra custimized arcade-buttons. In addition he used a DIY controller called ‘midifighter’. Check out this article on djtechtools.com to find out more about this selfmade controller:
http://www.djtechtools.com/2009/03/17/a-new-arcade-button-controlller-is-born
Check out this video of Ean’s showcase at Musikmesse Frankfurt 2009:
Beside Ean I saw the showcase of Koljeticut & AKD, winners of the IDA World Championship 2008. Their 6-minute routine is a combination of Turntableism and MIDI-Instruments, to create a state-of-the-art piece of music.
Check out the vid and see for yourself:
More information on Koljeticut & AKD at:
http://www.myspace.com/koljeticut
Vestax Digital DJ Battle 2009
In line with the Musikmesse in Frankfurt Vestax hosted the Vestax Digital DJ Battle at Tanzhaus West on Fritday, the 3rd of April 2009.
I already posted a short article on what the Digital DJ Battle is all about:
http://djmx.de/main/2009/04/digital-dj-battle-2009
I visited the event and the battle itself wasn’t really hitting to much in my opinion, but it was cool to meet Ean and to have a little talk with him.
I will write a little review on the Digital DJ Battle sometime and post my impressions and some videos of the contestens and their sets here on my website.
All in all Vestax surprised me with their focus on Digital DJing this year. Even though Vestax didn’t show up with great news on Controllers and DJ equipment, they put on quite a good show with the Pro Demos and the arrangement of the Digital DJ Battle.
More info at:
http://www.vestax.com
All kind of Vestax demo vids at:
http://ci.vestax.com/en/movies/
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