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Every now and then the DJ industry is presented with a piece of kit that its users are crying out for; a fundamentally important piece of gear that brings lots of new technology together to make our job easier and more rewarding. The MEP-7000 is such a device. I guess it supersedes the CMX-3000 dual CD players, but it also offers a raft of much needed new connectivity and creative effects. We have had a hint of some of the features included with the introduction of the CDJ-400 tabletop CD player, but the MEP-7000 is set to be a real heavyweight in the Mobile DJ and bar arena
Picture the scene; it's Friday afternoon, a white box arrives just as I am about to go and DJ at a 16th birthday party where the crowd just want house and Drum n Bass. I load the box in the van and leave. On arrival in the venue I set up my system including an ageing but trusty Pioneer DJM-600 mixer and 2 CDJ-1000MK3 CD turntables, which are my formidable weapons of choice. Then I set about opening the white box and connecting all the wires without reference to the manual. Every connection is logical; no room for error. I switch it on, it powers up. Throughout the evening, I used the MEP-7000 extensively without a hitch. What more can you ask for?
Now, as some may know, I have a very simple test on anything technical. It's my one-minute test. I approach a device I have never used before, and if I cannot get a noise from it within 60 seconds I walk away. Several early to market media players I have tested have failed, but I am pleased to report that the straightforward layout and design of the MEP-7000 passed this test within a few seconds!
The drive unit
The MEP-7000 consists of two parts: the control unit and the drive unit. The drive unit contains two slot load DVD players, two USB connections for storage devices or a keyboard (one in the front of the unit, and one at the back), another USB socket for connecting a computer, a mains power socket, a dedicated control unit connector, two fader start control connectors, and a choice of two line out or digital out phono sockets. The drive unit occupies a standard 19" rack space of 2U.
The control unit
The control unit, which will also be available as a separate standalone product called the SEP-C1, works as a software controller when used with any of the popular DJ programmes on the market, including the bundled DJS software. This allows the DJ to manage and control playback of audio files stored on their computer and to give a full-scale live DJ performance without the need for a mouse or keyboard.
The control unit is furnished with a USB port to connect to a PC, a DC power connector, and a composite video connector. The video output can either be used to display the information from the centre display or for Karaoke words from CD-G discs, on an external monitor. The control unit occupies a standard 19" rack space of 3U, and is only about 70mm deep.
The first thing I notice when the unit powers up is how bright and clear the two OEL displays are. These are the information displays above each side's control section. The information shown includes track number, track timing, BPM, and the tempo change ratio affected by the tempo slider. This display is not cluttered, and the information given is clear, easy to find and the brightness of the display can easily be adjusted.
The centre display is a colour LCD screen whose brightness can also be adjusted. This gives a whole load of information relating to music files and effects. Four buttons above the display allow the browsing and selection of media, mixing operations, effects and utility setup. Meanwhile, a selection of buttons under the display allow you to select, manipulate and alter all the parameters in an intuitive way.
Written By Brian Mole |
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The full article can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 30, Pages 52 - 54 |
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Copyright EJ Media 2003 - 2010
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