NAMM 2013: American Audio’s “Jelly” and other DJ controllers

January 27, 2013 By 3 Comments


American Audio NAMM 2103 Jelly

Amidst all the chaos of NAMM, we were definitely drawn to the big video DJ display at American Audio, running everyone’s favorite pop videos. When we approached, the first thing we were greeted with was the inevitable hotness in the rave scene, the unfortunately named Jelly. It’s a two channel MIDI controller that will be coming with Virtual DJ LE (as will all of the American Audio units).

It has 6″ touch sensitive jog wheels, balanced XLR outputs and will be available in either black or jelly. What is “jelly”, you ask? It’s a white controller with LEDs built into the base, which will cycle through colors with the use of a remote control, or tied to the beat of the music.

American Audio NAMM 2103 (13)

American Audio NAMM 2103 (10)

We also saw the ELMC1 and the VMS DJ, both small format, two channel DJ controllers. The ELMC is a few inches shorter than then VMS DJ, and they are definitely geared more toward the mobile DJ department, which is to be the direction American Audio has been pushing their products for a while.

Keep in mind, these three were all hand made prototypes. Nothing was final for release, and we were told they should be getting shipped out in around 3 months.

American Audio NAMM 2013 Headphones

Headphones

We also saw the ETR 1000(R/B), Etronyc’s signature headphones in either red or blue. They seemed comfortable, had okay isolation and had a good sound to them. It’s hard to gauge headphones at NAMM, what with the chaotic, awful noise. Hopefully they will be nice enough to get us a pair or two for review.

Mixers

To follow up with what was announced a few months ago, we saw the three new DJ mixers from American Audio all compatible with timecode in Virtual DJ. The buttons and control were definitely a step up from the old VMS 4 controls, and everything felt decent. We will have much more to say as we recently received one for review.

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About Jared Helfer

Jared spends too much time staring at MIDI to have time to cut his hair or shave. He is also a DJ. He currently holds the record as the "Most Fired" at DJWorx, and is willing to challenge anyone to the title. He spends his time DJing in his office and releasing mixes on his website and mixcloud, as well as playing violent video games, reading books, and beginning to get involved in production. He also enjoys tormenting Gizmo about his age and Britishness.

  • http://www.facebook.com/djbill359 Bill Murray

    The ADJ Jelly looks like it is A intro to Midi controllers for someone wanting to get on the Controller Roller-Coaster. I really like the LED Features that is offered in the ADJ Jelly & also the XLR balanced Outputs. What is up with the Remote Control? I take it,is is like those Chauvet IC Credit Card Remotes? I wish American Audio the Best.They always seem to keep things interesting when it comes to The DJ Gear Wars….

  • http://www.facebook.com/seungjin.yun Seungjin Yun

    definitely some interesting products, but why is it they can never manage to make products that look like they come from the currect decade? not that i mind personally, but it seems they could do a lot to help make their products more visually appealing …like a better paint job and remove the cheesy screen print fader graphics. for instance, DJ Tech’s minimalist design approach is far more modern looking and visually pleasing imo.

  • http://twitter.com/charginout steve brown

    I like the white one. it reminds me of my controller. which can be seen here http://youtu.be/2k7frqxEaPU