After Gibson stumped up the cash to buy the whole Stanton, KRK, and Cerwin Vega group, they also dropped a little cash on Image Line’s Deckadance software so that their DJ line had some software to complete their offering. We generally assumed that as a product with a small following, it would disappear somewhere inside the mighty Gibson empire. But no — Deckadance 2.5 has been announced, and to quote software developer Luis Serrano “is the starting point of a journey”.
As ever, let’s dig into the press release to hear exactly what the story is:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Deckadance Launches v2.50 Professional DJ Mixing and Performance Solution
Streamlined architecture with high speed processing bring a profound new level of creativity to DJ’s
Stanton DJ, the iconic global brand, announces the first of many new DJ software advances in its new partnership with Deckadance. “Stanton Deckadance 2.50 is a mature professional DJ mixing software with a long history. We have been working proactively with DJ’s to bring next generation creative tools to them all over the world. This release is the starting point of the journey.” Says Senior Software Developer, R & D Luis Serrano. Deckadance 2 can run VST compliant effects and/or softsynths for producing unique mind blowing musical performances and can also be controlled with MIDI controllers, time coded vinyl and CD systems. Deckadance 2 provides all the necessary tools and features for the modern DJ. Deckadance 2.50 elevates creative expression whether you’re a touring professional, remix/groove producer, turntablist, scratch DJ, club DJ, mobile DJ, or just prefer to create at home. Its powerful ability to run as either a standalone application, or within your favorite host application (such as a DAW with VST support) allows for flexible configurations depending on your performance objectives. Deckadance DVS edition includes all the features of the Standard edition plus Vinyl/CD timecode support and the ability to generate a timecode file to be burned to CD.
“Version 2.50 marks the initial release of Deckadance 2 under the Stanton DJ brand. Deckadance 2 is a professional DJ mixing and performance solution available in both Standard and DVS editions. This release focuses on “under the hood” improvements and demonstrates Stanton DJ’s commitment to continued creative support for DJ performers/producers worldwide, while establishing the technological groundwork needed for exciting future innovations.” states Gibson Pro Audio Program Manager, Adrian Mongeli. Utilizing élastique Pro V3 / [aufTAKT] V3 technology by zplane.development and ROLI’s cross-platform audio framework JUCE, Deckadance 2.50 has reduced latency and dramatically improved stability across a very intuitive user interface.
New Deckadance 2.50 features include Yosemite/Windows 10 support, MIDI learn engine with FX, Grossbeat and SmartKnob settings saved and restored at startup and MIDI scripts for Stanton DJC.4, SCS.4DJ, Behringer CMD PL-1, DC-1, DV-1, MM-1, LC-1 and Studio 4A controllers.
Users who need to migrate their Image Line Deckadance account to Stanton DJ may do so by visiting http://www.cakewalk.com/Register/Deckadance-Registration.
A serial number is required and can be found by simply opening Deckadance and going to the Preferences>Registration screen. Existing Deckadance v2.xx customers can update to v2.50 for free at: http://www.stantondj.com/deckadance-2.html and click on the “Updates” tab. Users who have an older, free or discontinued version, that was included in a hardware controller, for example, will need to purchase a new 2.50 license-which will include free, future updates.
Simply visit: http://www.stantondj.com/deckadance-2.html for more information.
Pricing for the new software is:
Stanton DJ Deckadance v2.50 DVS US $79.00
Stanton DJ Deckadance v2.50 Standard US $49.00
More Information and Logos can be found here: Stanton Deckadance v2.50
Stanton Deckadance Inc., a division of Gibson Brands, is the global leader in the design, manufacture, and distribution of Professional Turntables, Headphones and DJ Software for the professional and home audio markets. Stanton Deckadance products are distributed throughout the world via a network of distributors and dealers in more than 75 countries.
For more detail about Deckadance 2.5, check out these documents: Stanton-Deckadance-High-Level-Features and Stanton-Deckadance-Detailed-Features.
WHAT’S NEW IN DECKADANCE 2.5?
Ummm… I’m not that familiar with it, but outwardly very little seems to have changed. But as the release says, this is an under the hood release with improvements to performance and the underlying framework. It seems to have everything that you’d need plus a few tricks like Gross Beat, the effect that lets you define envelopes for volume and time.
To me this release seems to be a bit of a trial balloon, to test public opinion and see if there’s still interest in Deckadance. And if there is, then Stanton could press ahead with new hardware and develop the software further, which I’d love to see. But it’s a busy market out there now, with Pioneer set to snatch a big slice the DJ software pie, and the room for players is getting smaller.
IT’S ALIVE!
I’m not just talking about Deckadance, but Stanton too. And it looks like Stanton and Deckadance are being merged to form Stanton Deckadance Inc, which tells me that this is being done to form a complete ecosystem where users need not look outside of the Stantonverse for DJ gear.
But that’s going to take a little work because the Stanton range is a little thin on the ground and showing its age right now. But we can only hope, as inferred by the PR, that this will change and a renewed Stanton DJ range will develop (NAMM is just around the corner). We hope so because we have a lot of love for the brand, both historically, and from people in the wider DJWORX team who have worked there too.
SUMMING UP
Deckadance 2.5 is out now. If you have a v2 license, you can get a free upgrade. But for everyone else, it’ll be $49 for the standard version, and $79 for the DVS version. And you can download it today for Mac and PC with a frequent 6 second sound dropout limitation.