National Association of Music Merchandisers (NAMM) 2008 Summer Showcase

The National Association of Music Merchandisers (NAMM) Summer Showcase hit Nashville last weekend with companies exhibiting their wares in a massive convention center full of booths. Imagine CES for musicians and you have an idea. While NAMM is focused on traditional musicians and mom-and-pop music stores, there were several companies exhibiting wares for the electronic musician and DJ.

Within the mass of customizable cases and print-your-own guitar picks, there were several booths focusing on noise-reducing ear plugs, headphone monitors, and ear protection of all type. As a denizen of clubland who wears earplugs while clubbing, several booths caught my attention. But the one that really wowed me was Ultrasone. With their patented S-Logic technology, their DJ1 pro headphones produce a natural surround sound coming from the front and bouncing off your ear canal, rather than driving directly to the middle of the ear. Listening to beats in the headphones, there is a clearer separation of the sounds, which would allow a DJ to monitor at lower volumes and protect their hearing. Also on the protection front, the drivers are made with Space Shuttle grade Mu metal which reduces radiation by 98%. Although relatively new to the market, electronic musicians BT, Timbaland, and Nile Rogers are already using the Ultrasone headphones.

When is a CD player not a CD player?

There used to be a clear distinction between turntables for vinyl records and CD players for CDs. With the advent of laptop DJing, there is a new world of hybrids with controllers and rack players handling different media formats and incorporating mixers and consoles.

In this hybrid category, the Prodigy FX combines dual CD players with a 4-channel mixer for an all in one device which they call a "DJ Workstation" - ready-made for club setups. The sturdy unit rests on a table top and plays audio CDs, mp3 CDs, and time code CDs for programs like Serato Scratch and Virtual Vinyl (without the need for a separate break out box). Additional line-in's on the back allow for additional inputs such as turntables. Playing with the Prodigy FX, I found the controls to be incredibly sensitive, mimicking a CD player with almost a vinyl-like feel. The hybrid can be used with or without a laptop, allowing a large number of options for setup.

How about a dual DJ CD player that uses SD cards instead of CD players? That's the idea behind the American DJ SDJ-1 Dual SD-Player mp3. With a layout mimicking a standard dual CD player, the unit holds two SD (Secure Digital) cards of up to 4GB size. Both sides can play tracks off the same card and one side can even load a second track while it's playing a current track. The biggest benefit to this setup is the boot-up time. Let's say you are spinning and the power goes out, the SDJ-1 powers up really fast and the music is going in less than a minute.