Hardware Review · 2026 Phase Essential review The wireless system that turns any turntable into a DVS deck — no needles, no timecode vinyl. And as of July 2026, it plugs straight into rekordbox over a single USB cable. Phase Essential: one Receiver, two Remotes that sit on your records. That’s the whole system. 8.5OUT
Phase Essential Review: Wireless DVS, Now Native in rekordbox Read More »
Weird & Wonderful Gear · Part 2 The Formanta Polivoks — the synth that launched a thousand techno basslines. In the 1970s and 80s, the Soviet Union had no music-technology industry to speak of. What it had instead were state-owned radio and defence plants filling production quotas — and inside them, engineers who loved synthesizers.
Weird & Wonderful Gear: 10 Soviet Synths That Sound Like Nothing Else Read More »
First look / All-in-one systems AlphaTheta XDJ-AN review A cloud-first, two-channel standalone built to walk you from the bedroom to the booth — streaming, cloud libraries and a club-style layout in one compact box. Rating pending Standalone 2-channel $1,199 AlphaTheta has a habit of quietly reshaping the middle of its range, and the XDJ-AN is
AlphaTheta XDJ-AN Review: The Cloud-First Standalone That Bridges Bedroom and Booth Read More »
Hardware · Head-to-head · Rating pending Party Mix III vs MixTrack Go Numark dropped two brand-new starter controllers on the same July morning — the light-up Party Mix III at $149 and the pocket-sized MixTrack Go at $99. They share a spec sheet but solve completely different problems. Here’s which one belongs on your desk.
Numark Party Mix III vs MixTrack Go: Which Entry Controller Wins? (2026) Read More »
Weird & Wonderful Gear · A new series Our favourite weird gear. Edition 01 — Drum Machines Before the 808, there was a century of strange, clunky, wonderful machines trying to fake a drummer. These are the ones we love most. Welcome to Weird & Wonderful Gear — an occasional series about the odd, obsolete
Our Favourite Weird Gear: 7 Odd Drum Machines That Built Modern Music Read More »
Editorial · The big picture The state of DJing in 2026. Five arguments the DJ world is genuinely having this year — about who owns the music, who owns the tools, and what’s actually left for the human behind the decks. DJing has changed more in the last two years than in the decade before
The State of DJing in 2026: 5 Debates Every Working DJ Is Having Read More »
Editorial · The working DJ debate Stream it or own it? Spotify is finally back inside your DJ software. So why is it still the one thing you shouldn’t lean on at a paid gig? OWN STREAM For five years, DJs asked one platform to come back. Spotify held the biggest personal libraries on the
Stream It or Own It? Should You DJ Off Spotify at a Paid Gig? (2026) Read More »
Technique · Hardware KeyMatchingOn DJ Gear What Key Sync, Key Shift and Master Tempo actually do — how the CDJ-3000X handles it, and why standalone gear and laptops solve the same problem differently. Key Sync CDJ-3000X If you’ve spent any time mixing harmonically, you’ll know the frustration: the perfect next track is sitting right there
Key Matching on DJ Gear: How Key Sync Works (CDJ-3000X & More) Read More »
Compared · Media Players · Jul 2026 CDJ-1500X vs CDJ-3000X vs XDJ-1000MK2: which player for your rig? AlphaTheta’s new compact CDJ finally gives home DJs and smaller venues a real choice. Here’s how the 1500X stacks up against the club flagship above it and the decade-old XDJ it replaces — with a bias toward producers
CDJ-1500X vs CDJ-3000X vs XDJ-1000MK2: Which CDJ Should You Buy? Read More »
Review · Controllers & Decks · Jul 2026 AlphaTheta CDJ-1500X review: the compact CDJ finally arrives A 10.1-inch touchscreen and cloud stack borrowed from the flagship, squeezed into a body built for bars, small rooms and home rigs. It’s the first properly affordable CDJ since 2016 — but the tradeoffs are real. CDJ 1500X FIRST
AlphaTheta CDJ-1500X Review: The Compact CDJ For Bars & Home Rigs Read More »