Having a leading hand in getting the playDifferently MODEL1 into the consciousness of the masses, it’s now time for the spotlight to firmly shine upon Allen & Heath. And it would appear that they’ve been beavering away in their Cornwall HQ working on their next DJ product. And that product is the Xone:PX5. But what is it?
In an unusual move, the name has been floated around via a Facebook post about a preview happening at Berlin’s Berghain club in July. There’s no clue as to what it might be from the flyer, other than the location, which may or may not be relevant.
Intrigued, I fired off a mail to A&H, and as I suspected got back a response that says nothing, but also might say more than you think:
“We’ve announced a special preview event to take place on July 12th at Kantine am Berghain. The event will feature performances from Torsten Kanzler, Faray, Phable and Undulation covering house, tech house and techno music. We hope attendees will enjoy the sounds of the underground through our selected electronic music artists’ showcases, discover more information and get hands-on with the next Xone product release. As readers would have noticed we’ve been updating the Xone range and the Xone:PX5 confirms our firm foray for a new professional DJ offering. The event starts at 8PM and is free entry, we welcome DJs to bring vinyl and USB sticks with your music on.”
So let’s look at what evidence we have:
- Berlin, home of a huge number of DJ related companies, including Native Instruments.
- “Bring vinyl and USB sticks” — this indicates mixer, but could equally mean controller.
- Although Allen & Heath are generally known for mixers, they have done controllers before, and nothing explicitly says mixer. It keeps it vague with “product release” and “professional DJ offering”.
- The Xone:PX5 nomenclature is like the old Xone:DX, which was a controller.
So this could be an analogue mixer that sits between a pair to turntables or CDJs, or indeed could be an all-in-one mixer/controller with the ability to hook up to turntables or play from USB sticks. Dan has just suggested an FX unit or isolator too, which makes a lot of sense. The lack of external effects units in the market is clear.
I’m not sure I can call it. As much as I loved the Xone:DX, it didn’t do well for A&H, and their traditionally strong market is mixers. But given NI’s evolving but unofficial open nature in recent times, there’s a super slim outside chance that perhaps a certified controller is in the offing, but that really is a long shot so don’t get your hopes up. For the record, reaching out to NI got a negative response.
I’d love to see an all-in-one (that doesn’t mean it has to work with Serato or Traktor), but my gut says 4/5 channel successor to the Xone:92, maybe with an audio interface, and it’ll be the mixer for those who don’t want or can’t afford anything quite as exotic as the MODEL1.
SPECULATE AWAY
We don’t know what the Xone:PX5 is, but we’ll be digging. But I 100% guarantee that it’ll leak before the preview date. We’ll continue to shake the grape-vine of course and will update when we get anything.
But what do you think? Is the venerable Xone:92 getting a make-over, or is A&H dipping their toe in the emerging all-in-one market, or just throwing themselves at it wholeheartedly?
Over to you…