I had some fears last year for the future of Gemini. Their booth was sparse and their product offerings were lackluster. This year, though, they are moving back closer to their former glory and there’s a lot of good stuff coming through. They had the Slates out, which we have a review in the works for. I really like these little guys, and find their implementation really elegant. More on that in the review.
MDJ-1000
They also showed us their new cd deck, the MDJ-1000. A few years ago we reviewed the CDJ-700, and it looks like they took all of our complaints, as well as others, and fixed them. There are a lot of similarities to the pioneer CDJs, and Gemini is extremely honest about it. You can play off of CDs, USB keys, and send midi. There’s linking via Ethernet for USB keys, and you can add hotcues to your tracks. The software is not 100% done, but they are constantly improving it.
This isn’t the most exciting product, and I know a lot of people are going to write it off as just a poor man’s pioneer, but that isn’t a bad thing. If these decks can stand up to the punishment DJs dish out on gear, then we all win. Having a less expensive, reliable options is never a bad thing. They are priced as $399.
