Oh well, that’s what it was after all. Meh.
What a disappointment
Yeah. Well… Not for me.
At least not before it’s stand alone.
I wouldn’t be so quick to write this innovation off. I too was a bit sceptical until I actually tried it.
First of all, it works with existing DJ hardware so you have all the tactile controls that you’re used to when DJing on a laptop, tablet or phone.
Second, all of the compute is done inside the headset. It basically replaces your laptop, tablet or phone.
In mixed reality mode, you essentially have a virtual heads-up djay display instead of a laptop screen. Plus with your DJ controller connected you have familiar controls, and audio connections for master and headphone cueing. It feels both familiar and completely innovative.
I’ve been DJing for 15 years on everything from turntables, CDJs, standalones, to DJ controllers and this really feels like a step into the future. Just imagine what this will be like when VR headsets transition to AR glasses…
Personally I don’t see the use case, unless you are a virtual performer “youtube DJ”
Imagine being at a club or a wedding hidding behind a VR headset.
No one knows anything about the future but, I will bet VR is not the future of djaying. Let’s revert back to this post in two years time
I was concerned about what this would be because I knew by making this an apparently special invite thing I figured it was something “ambitious”. Being ambitious in itself is not a bad thing, but as I’ve been told the development team on this software is small in response to criticism regarding development priorities and velocity I’m inclined to think ambitious undertakings like this detract from the team’s ability to prioritize smaller, more basic enhancements. And therein lies my problem (and I intend for this to be constructive):
Gimmicky stuff like this, again, I don’t have a problem with in principle, but when it’s prioritized over simpler but (IMO), more fundamental issues like for example a lack of recursive indexing of a DJ’s library hierarchy (i.e. things which can make a difference in a DJ’s day-to-day regardless of the hardware used to mix) it starts to become disheartening. I was literally tweaking a Python script I wrote to consolidate and “flatten” a library source dedicated specifically to just this software when I got the notification of this announcement. Heck, just yesterday I was checking in on this outstanding request: Syncing My Collection Playlists between Devices, a feature omission which for me significantly dilutes the benefit of djay having deployments to iOS and iPadOS. Things like this are why I’ve steadily gravitated back towards rekordbox and why I’m not nearly as big of a social champion of djay as I once was. I want to champion this software, but I can’t do so in good confidence when I find the balance/prioritization of DJ wants and needs leaves much to be desired and knowing some DJs would have to compromise on some of what are arguably fundamental features other solutions typically provide off the shelf.
Having now watched the Mojaxx review and his honest opinion, I can understand what he’s saying - which is, that in years to come (not right now) it could be cool for the DJ to have a HUD displayed between the booth and the crowd, allowing you to see all the DJ software elements without having to look at a laptop screen, or even down at any kind of hardware screen.
Will it ever get to that point though? I mean pilots have had HUDs in planes for decades - but it hasn’t crossed over. We’ve still got bulky headsets, despite Google Glass being a (very expensive) thing ten years ago.
@Kasper try to imagine this with VR/AR glasses instead of a headset. This tech is not as far off as some think. Just Google “Meta Orion augmented reality glasses”.
This is nice indeed. No lag in audio though?
I’ve tried the gesture stuff for fun when it launched on iOS but I couldn’t care less.
Well, maybe on a next-gen Apple set…
Let’s see. It’s tricky with “game changing” features and timing into the market.
Overall DJ’s seems to be very conservative and it is a niche market
I was thinking all virtual and that would suck. But if its using actual hardware then I guess that would be pretty cool
The gesture control for FX feels very intuitive using the virtual XYZ FX box. It’s basically like an XY FX pad with an additional axis of parameters. It feels like a good compliment to the existing DJ hardware controls.
The existing hardware integration is definitely key for me. Even as a very early adopter of touchscreen/iPad DJing, I have always preferred the familiar tactile controls of DJ hardware.
Plus having all of the compute done inside the headset means you are basically swapping a laptop or tablet for the headset. With the Quest 3S only costing $300US, it’s also cheaper than most laptops and tablets that can reliably run DJ software. You really need to try it to fully understand it. Honestly, it’s a super fun, creative and powerful way to DJ.
Does it support stems? Quality? I’m not into Quest but for that price the CPU can’t be that hot right?
Neural Mix is not currently supported in the initial launch version…
OTOH I wouldn’t know what else to do with that device, whereas I use my iPad and Macbook every day.
I can see myself using something like that in the future, but it’s still a couple of years away for me.
Not to be crude, but what happens when you need a … bathroom break.