Is that a DJ in your pocket or are you just pleased to see us? Well, if you’re carrying a Tonium Pacemaker, it could well be a DJ! And the pocket-sized DJ system and hand-held music player gets an update on 1 May 2009, when it adds auto beatmatch to its tricks.
“At the touch of a button, it will allow anyone to mix tracks like a DJ,” says a Tonium suit who has clearly never seen us murder tunes on the wheels of steel.
“With a 60GB hard drive and a host of other new innovations, Tonium has designed the new Pacemaker to allow all music lovers to creatively interact with their music like never before.”
Well, music lovers with £369 (including VAT) anyway…
First launched in mid 2008, the Pacemaker music player allows you to play two tracks simultaneously, matching beats and mixing between the two – just like a traditional DJ set up. Users can also throw in effects, filters and loops to create their own sounds.
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“While the hardware remains the same, the new Pacemaker user interface has been completely reworked, making it more user-friendly and highly intuitive,” Tonium claims.
“Alongside the auto beatmatch function is an on-screen ‘beat graph’ giving a visual representation of the beats in tracks that are playing, making mixing records so easy that anyone can do it within minutes!”
Other improvements include:
* Fast scroll and better track list filters and crates functions for the music library
* Timestretching (master tempo)
* Key, allowing you to change the key of the track and avoid any key clashes when you mix!
* New effects such as Crush, Wah, Delay and Trans
* The ability to customise the touch pad, arranging the array of effects wherever you want.
Tonium said it will make this new interface available as a 100 per cent free firmware update to all those who already own a Pacemaker, meaning that once purchased, you will never own an outdated device.
The 60 GB hard drive can store 15,000 tracks and will work with all file types including MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC and OGG.
Tonium will also offer a new and improved Pacemaker Editor to its users; a free, downloadable PC and MAC compatible application that allows you to play music and edit and create mixes. Users can download mixes they’ve created from Pacemaker, or upload mixes to it from the Pacemaker Editor.
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Specifications for the Tonium Pacemaker
Mixing functionality
– Two outputs: headphone and lineout
– Two crossfaders: headphone and lineout
– Tempo control: ±100%
– Bend pitch: for momentarily alter tempo of track
– Timestretch: for altering track tempo while keeping track key constant
– Key control: transpose in ±12 halftones (±1 octave) or tune ±1 halftone
– Dynamic beat detection: 0.1 beats per minute (BPM) precision
– Visual beatmatch: visual support for easier beatmatching of tracks
– Auto beatmatch: momentarily sync mixed tracks in tempo and phase
– EQ: for adjusting treble, mid and bass frequencies -26 to +6 dB
– Master and headphone EQ: for adjusting treble, mid and bass frequencies -26 to +6 dB on lineout and headphone respectively
– Gain: pre-amplification volume -26 to +6 dB
– Volume control: for headphone and lineout
– Audio colour effects: hi-cut/lo-cut filter, crush, and wah
– Audio beat effects: roll, echo, reverb, and delay
– Cue: auto-cue at first beat in track, and set cue point
– Loop: set loop, split loop from end-point, split loop from in-point, adjust loop length, exit loop, re-enter.
– Kill all FX: reset and relaunch audio effects
– Reverse play
– Vinyl mode or stuttering pause
– Mix saving: caption of mix to hard drive
Display
– TFT display
– 262.000 colours
– 166 ppi screen resolution
– 1.7-inch (diameter) active area
Input and output
– Line out connector, 3.5 mm stereo
– Phones connector, 3.5 mm stereo
– Mini USB 2.0 connector, for data transfer and charging
– Power connector, for charging with external adapter
Power and battery
– 1000 mAh Lithium-ion (Li-ion) built-in rechargeable battery
– Full charge time with featured USB cable: about 3 hours
– Fast-charge time with featured USB cable: about 1.5 hours (charges up to 80%)
– Normal music playback time: Up to 15 hours
– Mixing playback time: Up to 5 hours
Size and weight
Size: L: 162 mm / B: 80 mm / H: 19 mm
Weight: 200 g
Capacity
– 60 GB 1.8-inch hard disk drive
– Holds up to 15.000 songs in 128 kbps AAC format
– Stores data via USB hard drive
Audio
– Frequency response: 20 – 20.000 Hz
– Signal-to-noise ratio: 100 dB at 2 VRMS
– User-configurable maximum volume limit
– Audio formats supported: MP3 (8-320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, M4A (AAC-LC), AIFF, FLAC, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, SND
Languages
– English / Japanese / Korean
Mac and PC system compatible
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