Category: Tech

Going full MIDI with the Xone:DX

Posted on January 27th, 2010 in Local, MP3, Music, Tech.

Before I jump in to the topic at hand, why not turn one of these tracks on to listen to before you read on? KillaMC sent me a newer track of his a few weeks back and haven’t gotten around to posting it until now and Damaged Good$ just dropped a new track earlier this week.

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Damaged Good$ – We Hate Damaged Good$ Too [Download from BandCamp]

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KillaMC – Flow On

xone:DX
I’m glad I fought the urges to buy a Vestax VCI-300 and waited to see what came out of NAMM. The xone:DX is similar to the xone:4D, but it’s built to take advantage of Serato Itch. When compared to the VCI-300 the only thing the VCI-300 does better is the jog wheels. The jogs on the DX are fairly small even as MIDI controllers go, but I’m sure I’ll manage. Everything else about the unit has me excited for its March release. Twenty channel USB 2.0 soundcard, manipulation of all 4 channels in Itch via the two onboard jog wheels, built in FX, inputs for turntables or two line-level devices. In one word, huge.

A twenty channel sound card!? That is insane, compound that with the ability to plug in vinyl turntables or line-level devices (iPods, CDJs, Kaossilators, etc.) and you’ve got the piece of DJ hardware that I’m most excited for this year. Wait, there’s more. Not only is the DX fully Itch compatible, but it is able to be used to control OTHER DJ software. Want to use Scratch Live or Traktor instead of Itch? You got it (although you’ll still have to have the Serato box plugged in to unlock the software). Xone really delivers here with the xone:DX and as soon as this thing ships I’m going to be addicted to the thing. Depending on how well it works as a standalone mixer, the DX may even take its place as the centerpiece of my daily DJ setup. Jump to the bottom of the post to check out a YouTube video demo of the DX that Skratchworx posted.

Hey Xone, it’s your friend Eric. I F@#$ING LOVE YOU!

PS: Rane you better unlock 4 channel SSL even if the old SL-1 box is plugged in. Sure, the SL-1 only supports 2 output channels, but the DX supports all 4.

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Hello 2010 – The MIDIFighter Has Arrived

Posted on January 2nd, 2010 in Music, Tech.

Let the unboxing and construction begin!
MIDIFighter in box MIDIFighter open box
MIDIFighter out of box MIDIFighter parts
MIDIFighter half assembled MIDIFighter assembled
number 9 out of 300 MIDIFighter sticker on laptop
MIDIFighter test run MIDIFighter lights up
Check out larger pictures + more pictures in my Flickr album for the MIDIFighter.

The MIDIFighter DJ MIDI controller takes the world of Japanese arcade machines and DJ equipment, tosses them into a blender, and pours out this interesting looking device. The MIDIFighter comes stock with 16 holes for arcade buttons, but can also be expanded with some elbow grease and solder to incorporate two analog knob controls and a handful more buttons.

I’ve only played with the MIDIFighter for about an hour altogether and have it currently set up in Serato to have 8 buttons per channel. Then each channel gets 4 hot loop buttons and 4 hot cue buttons to make jumping around tracks and firing up loops easier than ever, no laptop interaction necessary. I’m already looking at the possibilities of expanding the stock controller to include two joysticks, one per channel, for music selection in Serato.

According to DJ Tech Tools the controller firmware will slowly update to accommodate new features and controller uses. It’ll definitely be a fun journey as the controller firmware grows along with the community and my own modifications. DJ Tech Tools will also offer kits to make the MIDIFighter more enclosed and box-like instead of open to the elements like it currently is. Due to my own dark plans for this project I’ll end up having to build a custom case for my unit.

Want more information on the MIDIFighter or want to get one? Currently the first 150 DIY units are sold out (my unit is #9!), but more will be available soon. Check out the DJ Tech Tools website.

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CPS-III Backup Battery Replacement

Posted on December 22nd, 2009 in Gaming, Tech.

Every three years the CPS-III game cartridges have to get new backup batteries or else you risk the battery dying. What happens when the battery dies? The battery powering the hash table on the cartridge that unlocks the game dies and the hash is erased, making your game unplayable and turning a piece of arcade hardware into a big paperweight. It’s original purpose was to prevent piracy, but I don’t see how it helped to curb piracy myself. What you’re supposed to do is send your cartridge in to Capcom and they take it apart, replace the batter, and send it back to you. Well the game is pretty dated now and what are individual owners supposed to do? In my case my 3rd Strike cartridge was specially modified by a previous owner to make changing out the batteries a snap, literally.

Step 1: Pick up a new 1/2 AA battery. Radioshack carries them, even though the employees at the store weren’t aware of their existence.
step 1

Step 2: Power on the machine and allow it to finish booting up.
step 2

Step 3: Locate old backup battery on the CPS-III game cartridge.
step 3

Step 4: Remove the old backup battery with a small flathead screwdriver.
step 4

Step 5: Pop new battery into place, making sure you use the same +/- orientation as the last backup battery.
step 5

There you go, I’m good for another three years. Speaking of three years, I can’t believe it’s been three years since I picked this machine up and brought it back into working order. You can check all that action out from early 2007 right here. Thanks to the dedicated mod and arcade cab community. The original battery swap involved the same battery, but you had to solder positive and negative leads into place on the cartridge. I have no idea how common this snap-on battery modification is, but it squashes a lot of headaches for sure.

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