By David Gedge
American
DJ's rack-mountable DCD-Pro500 is their crown jewel of
rack-mountable Dual CD Players, and makes a serious bid for best in
the field against Denon, Gemini, and Numark.
DJ-friendly
features like 10 assignable flash start buttons for fast cueing and a
"Q-Start" capability, which uses the crossfader of a
compatible DJ mixer as a cue trigger between two CD players, are just
a couple of the DCD-Pro500's highlights. The DCD- Pro500 will store
up to six 2.6 second samples for each CD tray and will store up to 40
cue points per CD, which can be triggered in real time without any
sound interruption. You can also locate any point on a CD track
you're playing by punching in the time a certain portion of the song
will appear. (For instance, if you want to get to the second chorus
in New Order's "Blue Monday," punch in 2:58 where it appears.)
LED-lighted pitch
controls will vary between ranges of +/- 8%, +/- 12%, and an amazing
+/- 16% to give you unprecedented ability to mix different genres of
music. A BPM meter also allows you to control your mixes. The DCD-500
features a realistic-sounding back scratching effect controlled by a
jog wheel. It's probably the closest approximation of a CD player
sounding like a turntable being scratched in reverse.
Previous features
available on other American DJ players are also here. The DCD-Pro500
also builds on the back and forth function to make it automatically
play tracks from either CD. Large rubber buttons are now backlit for
realtime club conditions, eliminating the need for extra Littlelites
cluttering your DJ setup.
The DCD-Pro500 has
already created a buzz in the fickle club and mobile DJ market. As I
mentioned in my review of the Roland XV-88, the equipment has never
been better for musicians and DJs. Even with the slightly higher
retail price, the DCD Dual Pro 500 is worth every penny for the
serious club DJ.
Main Features:
Forward
& Reverse Sampling
Pitch Bend
& Pitch Control on Samples
80
storeable & recallable samples, loops or cue points
6
"Flash Start" buttons per side recalls cue points or
samples instantly & on the fly
Loops &
samples may be reversed with Pitch Adjustment & Pitch Bend
Seamless Loop
Fader
"Q" Start (Compatible with American DJ Q-Series mixers)
Flip Flop
button (Relay Playback) When one entire CD or song is finished
the other side will cue and start to play
Bop Effect
Back lit
ergonomically designed rubber Play, Cue, & Flash Start buttons
Mechanical
Anti-Skip Protection
Direct Time
entry / Go to Time
8x
Oversampling 1 bit D/A Converter
Edit on the fly
True
Instant Start / Eliminates Dead Spaces
+/- 16%
Pitch Bend o Interactive Jog Wheel for Pitch Bend or Frame Search
Selectable
Pitch Control (+/-8%, +/-12% or +/-16%)
Pitch
Display 30 Programmable Play Tracks on each side
6 Different
Speed Scans
Direct
track acess buttons
Beat
Counter Frame Search
Large,
Bright LCD Display for wide view angles
3 in. / 8cm
CD Singles Compatible Auto Cue Realtime Cue
Instant Cue
Point Recall
Digital Ouput
60 second
transport protection (open tray closes after 60 sec.)
Reads CD
Recordable (CDR) disks
Single, continue
Sleep Mode
(laser & motor shut down after 15 minutes of inactivity)
Silver,
brushed aluminum face plate
Specifications:
Dimensions:
Player unit: 19"(W) x 3 15/32" (H) x 9 55/64" (D) /
482mm (W) x 88.8mm (H) x 264mm (D) Control unit: 19"(W) x 3
15/32" (H) x 1 37/64" (D) / 482mm (W) x 132mm (H) x 74mm (D)
Installation: 19-inch rack mountable
Player &
Controller units: 2 separate units / Player is 2 rack spaces,
Controller is 3 rack spaces
Weight:
Player unit: 11 lbs. / 5 kg., Control unit: 4.5 lbs. / 2 kg
Power
supply: 115/60 Hz AC or 230V/50Hz AC switchable
Power
consumption: 25W
Sampling
rate: 44.1 kHz at normal pitch
Over
sampling rate: 8 times
D/A
conversion: 16 bit
Frequency
response: +/- 1.0dB 20Hz-20KHz, 0dB
Total
Harmonic Distortion: 0.02%
Signal to
noise ratio: 88 dB
Channel
separation: 80 dB
Output
level: 2.OV +/- 1dB
Load
impedance: 47 kohm or more
Variable
pitch: +/-16% or more
Search
accuracy: 1/75 sec. (1 subcode frame)
Memory:
Last Settings
Visit their
website at http://www.americandj.com/
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you think? Post your comments on our Forums.
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