Now, this is by far one of my most favorite subject areas to talk about. I'm an absolute "gear head" there is nothing I love more than talking about DJ Equipment. Its great to look at how DJ Equipment has progressed from when I started out DJing. My first gig, where I was all alone to make the event happen was back in 1994, I was fourteen years old. I started to learn about DJing, in 1993 with my father, it was a way that we found a bond with one another - though, he hates to admit he was ever a DJ - he was good at what he did. My first gig was doing a Teen Dance in a local community that if you blinked - honestly, you'd be wondering where you were. I look back at the Equipment I used, I thought it was great especially when you're just starting out; I was given two Sony Single CD Players, a four channel Mixer that had at best 8 bit sound effects [Bomb, Telephone, Machine Gun, Laser, and two others that escape my memory] two Cerwin Vega speakers, a Crown Amplifier that had an integrated equalizer that was I think at best two hundred watts, then for lights - I had a strobe, and what my boss called a "whirly bird" and from time to time a "vertigo." Those were the days, but even from time to time would be given access to a single cassette player, and two record players that were placed in a coffin. Amazingly, yes I know what vinyl is, and am still a purist in its belief - it's finding itself to be outdated, and obsolete but still there will always be those that just love it for the nostalgic value it has in an Industry like ours.
So let's move on in the DJ Industry there are truly a handful of manufacturers that DJ's place their faith in. Yet, the two biggest names for the DJ Industry are; Pioneer, and Technics. Pioneer is renowned for their cd players, and mixers; their CDJ's and DJM's are always on the cusp of technology. There feature incredible sound quality always pushing the boundaries. Technics, since its release in 1978, SL-1200MK2 and its successors have been the most common turntable for DJing and scratching. Since 1972, more than 3 million units have been sold. It is widely regarded as one of the most durable and reliable turntables ever produced. Many of the models manufactured in the 1970s are still in heavy use. It wasn't until 1989, that Technics discontinued the making of the MK2's to introduce the MK3's. Now, though there are many others that make CD Players, DJ Mixers, Turntables - yet, what we're going to discuss are two manufacturers that have taken my interest. We're going to take a look at two companies, which are Reloop, and Synq Audio. Let's start first with Reloop.
Reloop - The Leading European Brand For DJ Equipment.
Among the world-wide suppliers of DJ equipment Reloop takes an exceptional position in many aspects.
Reloop is the most important German brand on the global DJ equipment market thus also taking the leading position among European manufacturers. With its unrivalled product philosophy Reloop is the only European brand that could establish itself among the big ones on the market which is otherwise solely dominated by the Japanese and Americans.
As opposed to most of the other suppliers that were originally active on the Hifi and audio market Reloop has always been a manufacturer for DJ technology. Reloop has evolved from a German garage company, founded by a group of specialized engineers who had a high affinity for DJs, to a globally operating company that equips mixing musicians in more than 40 countries.
The product philosophy also distinguishes Reloop considerably from other suppliers. From the first mixer that came on the market in 1996 up to the release of the first digital vinyl system in 2008 an approach was followed that can be described as grass-roots democracy:
Reloop's intention has always been to make its innovations accessible for a wide range of DJs – beginners, advanced and professionals – and not only concentrate on a small elite group of professional musicians. Due to a close connection to the DJ base, technology trends, design currents and user requests that were exactly tailored to the big audience of urban mixing artists have been taken on time and time again.
The combination of a well-balanced price-performance ratio and distinct German quality awareness is responsible for the enormous popularity that Reloop enjoys throughout all professionalization levels of deejaying.
Reloop stands exactly for true "Solutions for Deejays".
So let's move on in the DJ Industry there are truly a handful of manufacturers that DJ's place their faith in. Yet, the two biggest names for the DJ Industry are; Pioneer, and Technics. Pioneer is renowned for their cd players, and mixers; their CDJ's and DJM's are always on the cusp of technology. There feature incredible sound quality always pushing the boundaries. Technics, since its release in 1978, SL-1200MK2 and its successors have been the most common turntable for DJing and scratching. Since 1972, more than 3 million units have been sold. It is widely regarded as one of the most durable and reliable turntables ever produced. Many of the models manufactured in the 1970s are still in heavy use. It wasn't until 1989, that Technics discontinued the making of the MK2's to introduce the MK3's. Now, though there are many others that make CD Players, DJ Mixers, Turntables - yet, what we're going to discuss are two manufacturers that have taken my interest. We're going to take a look at two companies, which are Reloop, and Synq Audio. Let's start first with Reloop.
Reloop - The Leading European Brand For DJ Equipment.
Among the world-wide suppliers of DJ equipment Reloop takes an exceptional position in many aspects.
Reloop is the most important German brand on the global DJ equipment market thus also taking the leading position among European manufacturers. With its unrivalled product philosophy Reloop is the only European brand that could establish itself among the big ones on the market which is otherwise solely dominated by the Japanese and Americans.
As opposed to most of the other suppliers that were originally active on the Hifi and audio market Reloop has always been a manufacturer for DJ technology. Reloop has evolved from a German garage company, founded by a group of specialized engineers who had a high affinity for DJs, to a globally operating company that equips mixing musicians in more than 40 countries.
The product philosophy also distinguishes Reloop considerably from other suppliers. From the first mixer that came on the market in 1996 up to the release of the first digital vinyl system in 2008 an approach was followed that can be described as grass-roots democracy:
Reloop's intention has always been to make its innovations accessible for a wide range of DJs – beginners, advanced and professionals – and not only concentrate on a small elite group of professional musicians. Due to a close connection to the DJ base, technology trends, design currents and user requests that were exactly tailored to the big audience of urban mixing artists have been taken on time and time again.
The combination of a well-balanced price-performance ratio and distinct German quality awareness is responsible for the enormous popularity that Reloop enjoys throughout all professionalization levels of deejaying.
Reloop stands exactly for true "Solutions for Deejays".
That is direct from their website. Which I have to be honest reading that, I was hit with that "wow" factor. I'm always looking at new technology when I hear about it, or see it - I spend time reading the articles, reading the manufacturer's sites, and then usually search "YouTube" to see if there is anymore information that is out there. In Canada DJing just doesn't have the same factor that it does in the United States. There are few places that you can go to try out that new piece of gear, that you can just mess around with it. I live in an area where there is one place that I know of where I can try gear that is in a higher demand such as Pioneer. Now, don't get me wrong - I really do enjoy Pioneer products, even way back when I was first introduced to them by way of a CDJ-700 and DJM 500 way back in 1998. Yet, while being on the search for new gear - I am always amazed at how the DJ Scene differs from geographic region to region. But I'm starting to digress, back to the matter at hand.
The Reloop RMP-3, did win the DJ Tool Award 2010. The body of the unit from what I've gathered from other reviews of the unit is made of plastic. Some people don't mind, some people do mind - honestly, you can argue either point being a positive by who you talk with. The Reloop is packed full with features, but the really big one that is starting to appeal to me more and more is that it is MIDI compatible cross media player. I will be honest, I'd love to get my hands on a pair of units to give them a nice working out especially before purchasing a set, but it enters the market with a nice price tag right around $500 usd per unit. It has built in DSP effects - Filter, Flanger, Skid, Echo, Trans, Phase, Pan, Break plus Hold - and these effects are able to be done with a ratio, and time parameter. There are some effects I like more so than others, yet while DJing I only really find that I use only a few Effects more so than others - I am a Filter freak, I really enjoy the sound of a low pass band filter, and I use the Auto Pan - when used properly I feel that it brings the elevation of the room up to another level. The unit features an Auto Loop function that is able to provide up to 7 selectable bar lengths. I really don't want to go into much more detail then that due to not being able to get my hands on the unit to try it out, but if you go to look at their website - really look at the features, look at the user manual, but really take a look at the videos of the unit in use. I have to say that I'm really impressed by the features that it has.
Like I keep saying, I don't mind the big names, but sometimes it's the company that doesn't have such a huge marketing budget available to them that can surprise you. I mean when it comes down to it, you don't really have to worry too much about trying out a Pioneer CDJ - it's pretty much industry standard, and in just about every club the world over. So, you don't really have to take too many chances on spending the money for a unit that is so standardized, while it's the smaller manufacturers that always need to prove something before you really invest your hard earned money. So let's take a look at one other manufacturer that has caught my attention - Synq Audio is the name for all intensive purposes but, it's actually under the Berlec moniker. Once again, I've only ever see it online, haven't been faced with a chance to try it out. Otherwise, I wouldn't have even known about any of the Synq Audio products. So let's look at them.
Once again, taken right from their website.
Dear customer,
Founded in the early 80’s,
Beglec NV has today become one of the leading European suppliers in the field of Professional Sound & Light Equipment.
Our home brands have grown into industrial standards. With a distribution network spanning the European Community and beyond, we try to provide you with the best products at the best prices. This is why we put extensive effort into areas such as product development and staff training.
We take great pride in the competence of our after sales service and technical support department.
With the creation of the "SYNQ Audio Research" brand we also want to become a major player on the professional high-end DJ scene. SYNQ DJ-products are very carefully designed in collaboration with today’s top DJs.
All SYNQ audio equipment is thoroughly tested before market release. The SYNQ Audio Research brand is owned and registered by Beglec NV.
We welcome you as our potential customer and we invite you to have a closer look at our products on this website.
Luc De Bauw
General Manager
Founded in the early 80’s,
Beglec NV has today become one of the leading European suppliers in the field of Professional Sound & Light Equipment.
Our home brands have grown into industrial standards. With a distribution network spanning the European Community and beyond, we try to provide you with the best products at the best prices. This is why we put extensive effort into areas such as product development and staff training.
We take great pride in the competence of our after sales service and technical support department.
With the creation of the "SYNQ Audio Research" brand we also want to become a major player on the professional high-end DJ scene. SYNQ DJ-products are very carefully designed in collaboration with today’s top DJs.
All SYNQ audio equipment is thoroughly tested before market release. The SYNQ Audio Research brand is owned and registered by Beglec NV.
We welcome you as our potential customer and we invite you to have a closer look at our products on this website.
Luc De Bauw
General Manager
After a nice introduction about the company, I think now we're ready to dive into things. Their CD Player is introduced as the "DMC-1000" This unit is incredibly user friendly from what they are saying, but what makes one have to really give them a serious look is that the player has "firmware" in it, so it's capable of getting updates to it, but - more so, the unit is fully integrateable with different varieties of DJ Software; Deckadance, Traktor Pro, Virtual DJ. It features 3 built in DSP effects: Echo, Flange, Filter - which are manual or you can beat sync them. Once again, it's MIDI capable - as the DJ's role evolves so must the equipment, and MIDI is pretty much the norm now. I'm always interested to hear how units use digital effects to simulate the scratch on vinyl, I'm always critical of it for some reason. It has tempo control of 6%, 10%, 16%, 100% - not too bad, but I'd be honest I'd have preferred there to be something a bit closer to the 50% bend range - having a 10% then a 16% seems to be somewhat of a smaller range but, then again - usually we don't alter songs typically more then 3% up or down is what I was taught. Yet, with a "pitch lock" anything is now possible. This is another unit I'd love to get my hands on to work out with, it seems like it offers a lot of variety, and it's not out of the realm of adding more bells, and whistles then what's needed. I honestly, think that the unit presents some options especially to the other manufacturers out there, and I think that's important especially as the roles of a DJ are becoming more and more complex - having a unit that meets those demands is incredibly important.
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