By Francis Preve
There are quite a few DJ apps out there, but only one of them won Apple’s 2011 Design Award: Algoriddim Djay. Make no mistake, other apps are quite capable—and new genre-bending apps like SoundTrends Meta.DJ can do more than simple DJing—but for vinyl-style spinning with a 21st-century flair, Djay is the purist’s pick. There are iPhone and Mac OS X versions, but I’ll focus on the dedicated iPad version, as the iPad’s screen size and multi-touch capability best emulates the experience of putting your hands on turntables.
Two virtual turntables access the music library in your iPad’s iPod app. There are simple volume sliders for each turntable and an A/B mix slider for crossfading between the wheels o’ silicon. For newcomers, each turntable includes a Sync button, which does an excellent job of locking the tracks, but is only so-so at finding the downbeat. (Hey, that’s what your ears are for, right?) There’s even an automix mode that magically mixes tracks from your iPod library while you set up the Jäger shots. [It’s high time the EDM scene graduated to Fernet Branca. Set the trend, Francis! —Ed.]
Other amenities include EQ, on-the-fly looping on both turntables, three cue points per track, and get this: tempo-synced scratching when you use two fingers. Single-finger scratching is non-tempo-synced. Some might complain that there are no effects such as delay and filtering, but keep in mind that Djay is going for a purist vibe and there are several other DJ apps that do more contemporary effects. It’s no surprise that Djay won that Apple Design Award. It truly is the killer app for classic vinyl-style DJing.
Snap Judgment
PROS Does vinyl-style DJing on your iPhone or iPad. Real-time scratching,
both tempo-synced and freewheeling.
CONS No DJ-type effects such as tap delay or filtering.
Bottom Line
No iPad app comes closer to having two turntables and a crate of vinyl.
$19.99 at iTunes App Store
algoriddim.com
To be at-match tracks before mixing, Griffin’s DJ Cable ($19.99) splits your 1/8" headphone jack into two mono mixes. Djay’s main mix goes to the left side, the cue mix goes right, and you hear each mix’s sound out of both speakers. Mono is a dealbreaker for a pro gig, but I’d use this for house parties, road trips, or any situation where I didn't have a proper mixer for cueing.
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