Home
Reviews
Software

The XMG DJ 15 — one laptop to rule them all? Our Ray thinks so

Mark Settle·
Software

Macs are best. No PCs are best. Repeat until the end of time — t’was ever thus. Arkaei aka our Ray will definitely die on the PC hill, to the point where he’s put his reputation where his mouth is, and hooking up with German computer company Schenker has worked tirelessly to create the XMG DJ 15, an insanely optimised Windows laptop for DJs.

There are many words, but for me, the demo video above that Ray has tirelessly perfected says everything. But here goes:

XMG DJ 15: lightweight, audio-optimised laptop for DJs

Leipzig, Germany, 1st October 2020 – For years, MacBooks have been the de facto standard for digital DJ setups. Apple’s recent product iterations, however, have left much to be desired in terms of professional connectivity – using industry standard DJ equipment with a MacBook requires the purchase of expensive and impractical adapters or hubs. XMG responds to the DJ community’s growing demand for a functional, reliable alternative by releasing the DJ 15 – the first ever laptop designed, optimised and tested specifically to meet the needs of professional DJs. Weighing in at a mere 1.6kg, this machine features a 15” non-glare Full HD IPS display and a wide array of standard ports. An entirely bloatware-free Windows 10 Pro installation, perfectly tuned to the DJ 15’s hardware components, ensures ultra-low, stable DPC latency out of the box, even running off battery with WiFi and Bluetooth activated. On top of that, XMG offers unique and highly specialised support – by DJs, for DJs.

Made to Create with DPC latency values below 1 millisecond

The XMG DJ 15 is ready to go straight away – all DJs need to do is pick their favourite software to install, followed by ASIO drivers for their mixer or audio interface. None of the tweaking typically required for using a regular Windows-based computer for DJing is necessary either, as low DPC latency values of below 1ms make sure nothing interferes with system stability while performing. The machine has also been tested in real-life settings with most common DJ software like Native Instruments Traktor Pro, Serato DJ Pro, Pioneer Rekordbox DJ and Virtual DJ 2021 – as well as several mixers, controllers, audio interfaces and modern accessories like MWM Phase. XMG calls this certification “Made to Create”, which will soon include more laptops optimised for different pro A/V use cases.

Thin, lightweight and powerful

The XMG DJ 15 is available in a classic silver and a more extravagant red. Both models are powered by 10th-generation Intel processors, each with 4 cores and 8 threads. The efficient Core i5-10210U will handle any DJ software with ease, while the i7-10510U offers plenty of power for more ambitious tasks. The aluminium chassis with a resin mold on the underside keeps the weight at just 1.6kg – and measuring just 360.4 x 244.5 x 19.9 mm, the machine will easily fit into any DJ backpack.

The DJ 15’s 54.5 Wh battery makes it easy to work on playlists while on the road, and the 15” non-glare Full HD IPS display is a pleasure to use even over longer periods of time.

Professional connectivity and plenty of storage

Unlike many other portable laptops, the DJ 15 features a wide array of standard connectors, making adapters entirely obsolete. This includes three USB-A ports (2x USB 3.1, 1x USB 2.0 for compatibility with older peripherals), one USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 combo port with charging functionality (20V / 3A), full-size HDMI, mini DisplayPort, an SD card reader, an RJ45 Ethernet port – and of course, standard 3.5mm headphone out and microphone inputs. An M.2 SSD connected via PCI Express offers fast loading times and up to 2 TB storage, and RAM can be upgraded to a maximum of 32 GB thanks to two SO-DIMM slots.

Tailor-made support by DJs for DJs

The Made to Create concept is based on an intense cooperation between XMG and Ray Arkaei – a DJ, producer and audio-visual live showcase artist who also acts as technical & creative lead at Berlin’s Sample Music Festival. He oversees the new audio-optimised product line. This unique relationship allows XMG to offer customers an outstanding level of dedicated support for the DJ 15 and all subsequent audio-optimised machines. Due to Ray Arkaei’s long-standing relationship with top brands in the industry and frequent involvement in beta tests and hackathons, he can offer highly specialised expert advice in regard to pro A/V applications on Windows, and will take over from customer support when necessary.

One tech demo to rule them all

To demonstrate the full capability and stability of the XMG DJ 15, Ray Arkaei has prepared an elaborate showcase performance, using the top 4 market-leading DJ apps (Serato DJ Pro, Native Instruments Traktor Pro, Pioneer Rekordbox DJ and Virtual DJ 2021) simultaneously – together with Ableton Live, an all-in-one DJ controller (Roland DJ-707M), the Allen & Health Xone:96 mixer and the Ableton Push 2. The video, available on Youtube, includes live desktop capture, showing all programs running on one screen, with live DPC latency readout from LatencyMon. Despite the tremendous stress placed on the system, DPC latency is clearly shown to remain well below 1ms, even with WiFi and BlueTooth activated – and with the laptop being flipped shut mid-performance. This proves beyond any doubt that the DJ 15 can handle significantly more of a workload that any DJ would typically require.

Pricing and availability

The XMG DJ 15 and XMG DJ 15 RED are immediately available from bestware.com. The default configuration is priced at € 1.220,44 (incl. 16% VAT, different tax rates may apply in some countries), features Intel’s Core i5-10210U, 16 GB DDR4 RAM, a 1 TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 SSD and also includes the optimised Windows 10 Pro installation.

About Schenker Technologies

Schenker Technologies is a leading provider of IT hardware and the latest Extended Reality technologies. The company offers private consumers individually configurable laptops and desktop PCs from the cult gaming brand XMG, whilst the SCHENKER branded product portfolio is aimed at professional users and commercial customers. Numerous independent tests prove the high quality of the product range and the excellent customer service has already received several awards from the press.

The e-commerce platform bestware.com offers an enhanced product catalogue. In addition to the devices of the two own brands, the range also includes selected third-party solutions as well as supplementary accessories.

In addition, the company operates throughout Europe as a specialist distributor of augmented and virtual reality hardware, supporting its customers with the holistic implementation of their commercial-creative projects. Robert Schenker and Melchior Franke are managing directors of the company, which was founded in 2002 and employs around 70 people in Leipzig, Germany.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

The PC vs Mac war started a very long time ago and continues most annoyingly in a never-ending spiral of online rants and unchanged minds.

Within the DJWORX team, we have a cross-section of opinion on this score — at one end is me, a seasoned Apple user since 1985. I was a proud badge-wearing fanboy — literally had a gold product professional pin awarded by Apple, but have used, supported and owned PCs over the years.

My opinion has mellowed to the point where I still don’t care for Windows (from repeated experience) but appreciate that they can do everything I need. But I prefer the quality and design of the Mac hardware and software. Use what you want — I don’t care. My writing or Photoshopping isn’t better than anyone else’s because I do it on a Mac.

Ray, however, is a devout Windows user. Without speaking for him, I describe him as seeing the good things about some Apple products, but as far as computers go, he’s a firm believer that PCs deliver everything and more, for less. He does have a point, it’s just that my point is more beautiful and aspirational.

I say this to paint a picture of the diversity found even in our small team. We have lively debates — indeed our Slack channel with Ray, Dan, Darren and myself is hot this morning on this very subject but largely we use what we like, and get into Macs vs PCs just to wind Ray up.

The XMG DJ 15 — one laptop to rule them all? Our Ray thinks so
Serato DJ, VirtualDJ, Rekordbox, Traktor, and Ableton Live all running at the same time, flawlessly on an XMG DJ 15 PC laptop. And it’s doing so much more than that too.

ALL THE SOFTWARE

But all this is academic. You only have to watch Ray’s video to see that the XMG DJ 15 is a complete beast. It’s not a matter of running one app flawlessly — Ray decided to run ALL THE APPS at once while providing live graphics while recording the whole thing. The firepower and ability of this laptop is in no doubt whatsoever.

At this point any yeah-buts or whataboutism is irrelevant. While a lot of skill that most of us don’t have is on display, the raw grunt and sheer ability of the XMG DJ 15 as a DJ only laptop is proven. Knowing Ray as we do, he wouldn’t soil his hands on a machine if it didn’t meet his exacting standards.

The XMG DJ 15 — one laptop to rule them all? Our Ray thinks so
One-handed scratching with clicks? Feel Ray’s stare of disdain for your purist opinions.

Two Clicks — One Hand

From a DJ perspective, this video is a showcase of power. Not just that of the XMG DJ 15, but also of Ray’s sheer level of skills and fuckaboutery. Case in point — did you see the scratching? Did you see him pull off complex techniques with just one hand and a smug grin? We await the hate and tired old arguments. Or alternatively, you could ask him how he did it, try it for yourself, and learn a few new tricks.

SUMMING UP

I find the arguments raised by both sides of the technology divide to be tired. Or is it just me being tired with it being a divide at all? I wear boots rather than shoes. But I don’t hate shoes, nor do I attack shoe wearers in the streets for their clearly poor choice and sucking at life in general. Do you see how silly the Mac vs PC thing is?

The bottom line is this — Ray worked with Schenker to deliver the XMG DJ 15, a Windows laptop that eats every kind of insane punishment that Ray can devise, and has done it for a price that makes your wallet very happy indeed. Stick that in your MBP and smoke it. Mic drop.

Previous ArticleThe PS5 and the possibility of streaming only DJ gear
Next ArticleTEASER-FREE WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Rekord Buddy goes open source
Mark Settle
The Old Owner

I was the editor around these parts for the first two decades of the DJWORX journey. I’m on a creative journey at The Worxlab, and drop in occasionally here. Expect the odd article from me every now and again.

63 Responses

  1. Not a bad idea for the masses of people unwilling to do the heavy lifting of optimization for audio use. I’d prefer to do my own, and <1ms for DPC value isn't necessarily a great number. Tell me under 50µs, and you've got my attention. And latency for DJing, buffer size being 128 (or any other value) doesn't actually indicate the actual latency, as it can vary wildly from interface to interface. For instance, 128 buffer size could mean 2ms, or it could mean 10ms (one-way), or anything in between. Not to nitpick, I totally understand the sentiment, but the idea of never needing less than a 128 buffer size, well, it's sort of a nebulous claim.

    1. If you compare the out-of-box values with any other Windows laptop, the DPC latency on the DJ 15 is unmatched, and I will take that challenge against any other manufacturer. “Under 50µs” is, just to spell it out – less that five hundredths of a millisecond. That’s completely detached from reality. You can’t do it on a laptop (although I’d love to be proven wrong). I’ve managed to get a “naked” desktop below 100µs in idle, but that system doesn’t have to deal with battery power management.

      As to 128 samples, I specifically wrote “128 samples at 48 kHz”. That’s 5.3ms RTL (“two-way”, in your words) – and no, you will never need a lower latency for DJing, or the highest conceivable levels of turntablism. Any person who can prove to me in a blind test that they can tell the difference between 96 samples at 48 kHz and 128 samples at 48 kHz under the same conditions without slowing down time by a factor of at least 100, I will… I don’t know, doesn’t matter, it won’t happen. Not at the current level of human evolution at least.

      (Shouts if you’re laughing at what I just wrote as a disembodied entity in the year 2220, while doing a latency-free 48-deck set with 20 layers of multidimensionally polyphonic scratches and generative, interactive 32K VR live visualisations, simulated crowd haptics and… I don’t know, a smelloscopic cake launcher, all using only 2% of your neural interface’s overall processing power).

      1. Yes, out of the box values are unlikely to be under 50µs, but anyone who wants to take matters into their own hands can do a little research and achieve a sub 100µs value in the course of an afternoon or so. Those who don’t want to mess with that, sure, this is an option. My travel/gigging laptop hits about 30µs, but I don’t bother with any battery power management as I wouldn’t be trusting a battery during a mission critical thing.

        Now, as far as your claim that 128 samples is 5.3ms RTL, that’s not really true. Maybe on the interface you are using, that’s how the driver is written, but with a variety of other interfaces, it could be 2-3x that much. Maybe this is minutia, but this is important stuff if we’re trying to assess the roundtrip performance of different interfaces and how well they perform on an optimized machine.

        Without getting into a debate on whether DJs can or cannot perceive a latency difference between 2ms and 5ms for just straight DJing, instances where live playback of VST instruments or live processing of input signals like voice have to be done, this is easily perceivable. Think about finger drumming, for instance. Drummers in general are most sensitive to perceiving latency, so this is actually quite relevant. Although it gets a bit more abstract here, performers who are trying to integrate DJing with other software while using the same ASIO driver will benefit from lower latencies, even if the act of DJing in its purest form won’t suffer on its own.

        1. Also, I wanted to note, to anyone else reading, that in no way am I trying to imply that the laptop is solely the factor that determines if razor thin latencies are possible. It’s a combination of factors, certainly system resources account for a part of it, but DPC/ISR is most significant, as is the driver of the interface itself. And DPC/ISR values in the 30µs range, like I’ve achieved, aren’t necessarily going to be absolutely required for that to happen, though it’s certainly a welcome figure once you start working on heavy projects, live host usage (DAW, plugins host), combined with DJ software running on the same machine.

          1. You can’t just “do a little research” and achieve sub 100µs. You have to do a hell of a lot of research, an insane amount of trial and error (unless you’re lucky with your combination of components), and even if you actually get that low – I’d like to see you maintain it, especially under high load.

            I must have written this elsewhere: we have actually started out with a ridiculously low-level optimized Windows, but there are numerous issues with that. Not only would I have to make certain decisions for the user – some of them could potentially get XMG into legal trouble with Microsoft if we baked them into the OS image. But most importantly, plenty of those little registry flags you set might just go “poof” when Microsoft drops a major update, and that’s gonna be a support nightmare. So the focus here was to do as much as is possible at a level that survives updates (hardware/firmware, drivers, BIOS), to achieve results that are more than optimal for the intended use case: DJing. We have done that, and once again: I’m happy to compare our OOBE against any manufacturer’s, anytime.

            On the topic of live processing of input signals with VSTs and heavy projects: friendly reminder that this 1220 EUR machine is called DJ15 for a reason. It will absolutely handle basic processing of input signals besides DVS timecode (see the scratch delay in the demo – that’s coming out of Live, not Traktor, just to prove that point) – but it’s not what you’d want to use for your 200-track arrangements with heavy VSTs running live. Otherwise it wouldn’t say “DJ laptop for DJing made for DJs by DJs specifically to DJ with” on literally every page. Perhaps it was foolish of me to assume that would make it obvious enough?

            1. Maybe I don’t understand quite exactly your tone, but I sense a bit of hostility here – so I’m going to come right out and say it: This laptop is great for someone who maybe doesn’t want to dig a little deeper to get the audio performance that they would need from a mainstream laptop. That’s fine – I agree.

              That being said, you make it out like this is some sort of golden machine, then when someone (me) questions the claims, you try to make it out like I’m some sort of off-topic overly-demanding person, and that my application of doing a degree of processing in parallel to DJ software running (like for a live radio show, or for some other type of enhanced live performance) is somehow outside the boundaries of what a DJ laptop should do. Nobody said a 200-track arrangement was what I was aiming for, and truthfully to say such a thing is aiming to marginalize the validity of my understanding on this topic.

              First it was discounting my observation that buffer size doesn’t provide an apple-to-apples representation of latency figures across different interface manufacturers, then it turned into how DJs couldn’t possibly perceive any difference in latencies below a certain figure anyway. That’s not a fair assessment on your part.

              The reality is, for someone willing to put a bit of time in, the results of the laptop in question could be duplicated. DPC/ISR optimization isn’t the most straightforward thing sometimes, but it’s hardly an impossible skill. I get it, you’re very proud of this laptop, but the end result is something that is somewhat ordinary for anybody that wants to explore the methodology behind it.

              I currently use a Thinkpad with a 3rd gen i7, and anytime you want to shoot it out against this i7-10510u, I would be happy to meet with you anytime.

              1. I would like to get some proper directions to reach the DPC level you have.
                Got a dedicated djing pc, an HP envy i7-4710hq, that I love a lot, have way more power than ever needed for!
                I have an afernoon to tweak it (have to make a clean instal of win10 nowdays anyway).
                Problem is one can found every stuff on the net, but also the opposite of it.
                So I would better ask the two of you guys to get a proper audio related PC, than f&/“k around for days!
                I use to use ltsc/minimalized win10, without net/update.
                Some good places, or a list of to do, links or so.

              2. I will gladly talk to you! And because I really don’t want this to turn into a pissing contest between two nerds, it’s really not about which of us can tweak a system better. I acknowledge you, if that’s what you wanted :)

                I hope you understand one crucial thing: you are not the target audience here – and neither am I, although I’m quite happy DJing on this machine when I’m not doing my usual visual overkill. The target audience are people who can’t “just do a little research” and “get to sub 100µs in an afternoon”. Being at that level changes your perspective forever. There are certain things you take for granted that are black magic to other people, and you need to be aware of that – and not expect them to immediately understand it as well.

                Ours is a very, very niche skillset. Most people don’t give a shit about acquiring it, and I will never ever blame them for it. It’s like when you buy a thing for a purpose you haven’t fully mastered – you expect it to deliver as advertised because unlike the person who designed it, you haven’t devoted your entire adult life to just that one thing.

                But then someone comes in and casually says “you know, it’s absolutely possible to make this product better, you just have to acquire 10+ years of expertise and then it takes just a few hours, but it won’t actually make it noticeably better for what you’re doing, nevermind”. And in that case, you’re goddamned right I get defensive and hostile, ’cause you’re challenging me to sharpen a knife that is already sharp and will remain sharp even for people who don’t know to maintain it.

                But this is also why I absolutely love the DJWORX comment section. So, let’s connect, and talk. You got Discord? I’m arkaei#5457.

                1. I don’t have Discord, actually. That said, would always be down to talk shop. I’ve got things to share.

  2. What audio buffer size and sample rate were you using in the video demo? Did you measure the roundtrip latency with a loopback cable?

        1. It depends entirely on the audio interface. Some drivers allow for lower latencies, but you will absolutely never need anything lower than 128 samples at 48 kHz for DJing – so that is the reasonable cutoff point for testing.

          And since you ninja-edited to make it seem like I ignored the part about measuring RTL with a loopback cable: no, I did not. The results would vary according to internal SPL of each different audio interface, so it’s a complete waste of time. 128 samples at 48 kHz equates to 5.3ms RTL, and that is low enough for the fastest of performers.

          1. Yes, the RTL as measured by a loopback cable depends on the audio interface. But it also depends on the hardware in the laptop. To demonstrate that this laptop really is better than the average laptop for low latency audio, comparing the measured RTL using one audio interface with this laptop and other laptops would be more meaningful than the minimum buffer size.

    1. Anything can run Linux if you have the right build ;) The DJ 15 wasn’t tested with Linux because the target user doesn’t use Linux. Most of the software/drivers DJs use generally isn’t available on that platform. I know that XMG’s parent brand Schenker has some dedicated Linux machines, but we’re unlikely to evaluate those for DJing.

      1. Most DJ hardware is USB class compliant nowadays and therefore works fine with Linux. My question was about the hardware in the laptop.

        1. As stated above, I haven’t tested it with Linux at all, as that is not the intended use case. If you want to know more about Linux compatibility, I have to redirect you to general support – it’s simply not my department. Sorry about that.

          1. It doesn’t take much to make a Linux live USB drive, boot it, and test if the laptop works, WiFi, webcam, and all.

  4. Kind of reminds me of those dj and vj specific laptops that came out something like 12-13 years ago, but actually have the tech at not only a price point that makes sense to the average person, but also has enough power within it to do what one needs. Oh, and doesn’t have things like the audio interface built in, and weigh something like ten pounds on top of all of that…

    I’ll also second the curiosity about a Zen3 Ryzen laptop.

    I’m not a laptop kind of guy as I don’t need the portability, but I like that there’s a reasonably affordable option on the market!

    1. I also personally don’t care about portability – I’m used to flying with two bulky desktop replacement laptops because I need GPU power for my VJ stuff, and that’s simply not going to work in a slim chassis if you want stable cooling. But, as you said yourself – this is an affordable option for people who don’t need heavy artillery, just a reliable laptop that will run any DJ software without issues.

  5. Hi Ray
    It is clear this laptop gives DJs a fantastic initial point when taken out of the box.

    Next question is how do you and XMG handle mandatory and recommended updates, namely security updates?
    Its a huge moving target. The usual pain points are Win 10 updates, BIOS security patches, intel graphics, intel chipset, USB drivers, …

    Do you validate the latencymon test suite before all updates? or do it in a batch it periodically? only for mandatory updates? etc

    PS: In this light this laptop NOT shipping with NVidia seperate video card is a great idea.
    There are too many problems in the optimus technology IMO.

    1. This question came to my mind because I was just asked by Dell Update to make multiple critical updates to my Dell XPS 15
      (you known, “simple” things like bios, chipset, 2x graphics, thermal manager, etc, etc.)

      Thus I just made a small script to log exactly the previous versions of only what is being updated.
      This means I can revert these to previous known good state easily.

      If anyone is interested on this script, drop me a line.

  6. So I guess my question is how well this would work for streaming. I have no idea how people do it on their laptops as my ’14 MBP with High Sierra’s fans go above and beyond max RPM when I tried to stream so I simply just can’t do it, but with DJing on streaming for the foreseeable future, how would this laptop hold up? Anyone happen to have an idea?

    1. The DJ 15 has no dedicated NVIDIA GPU, so it doesn’t have the NVENC encoder either. Intel CPUs have their own dedicated encoder on the chip, but it’s not comparable with NVENC at all. If you want to run a capture device like the CamLink to get a camera visual into OBS and stream at 720p30, you will be fine with the i7 variant of the DJ 15. 1080p30 is pushing it, although you could probably get away with a 1080p30 stream where you have a static fullscreen frame around a smaller camera visual (like Mojaxx does). I can test that for you, if you want. However if you want to run streams that look anywhere like mine (generative graphics and heavy postprocessing), that’s way too much, and you really can’t reasonably expect that at this price point. We are evaluating more powerful 15″ machines for that purpose, but they won’t be as affordable as this one. Still significantly cheaper than a MacBook though ;)

    1. Oh, I would love to see my claims about turntablism-ready latency confirmed by someone at your level :) we should catch up. Been a while since SMF Dubai!

  8. Nice one!
    I will wait until they make a Ryzen version. Preferably the next one with 5*** units inside!
    They should go against the asus zephyrus 14 inch, but with a 2in1.
    Would jump in an eyeblink!

    BTW, I never had any problem with my HP 17inch i7 4710hq that I transformed into a tablet to sit flat on my NS7II

      1. Yes!
        Ryzen 5th (zen3)
        Also 14 inch
        And 2-in-1
        This would be an all around dj/producer pc, for those can’t afford 2 or more computers

        Btw is it worx better than ameliorated version of win10?

        1. You can have a portable form factor, or ultra high performance. No manufacturer can (currently!) build a 14″ laptop that would have a CPU powerful enough for serious DAW work. You can do custom edits just fine on the DJ 15, but anything that involves a lot of heavy VSTs will simply not be fun. That’s not what the machine is designed for. It’s certainly possible for XMG to include a more powerful 15″ laptop in the Made to Create line-up, but 14″ – nope.

          1. I don’t want to argue with ya, but the Zephyrus G14 with an AMD Ryzen 9-4900HS processor, 16GB memory and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q GPU with 6GB of VRAM, it’s a powerhouse.
            About the same power as the i7 9900k desktop cpu, and about 40-50 % more than this.
            Ok, a much higher pricepoint.
            This is waaaay more than an average DAW would need!
            (Just ‘couse U said, there is no manufacturer for 14 inch powerhouse! I know it is ASUS, one not so trusted, but it is available! Looooong time ago!)
            The zen3 cpu’s are are a few weeks from now and probably no dVGA needed. But as I heard VDJ “steam” fuction uses dGPU power.
            Ryzen 5**** cpu alone would do the trick, even in a 13 inch portable 2-in-1!

            1. The Ryzen series in general requires a LOT of testing before you can make any statements regarding its actual suitability for audio. These CPUs haven’t been out in the wild long enough. It’s kind of when nu-Rane released the Twelve, immediately calling it the New Standard, which ended up being… just wrong. We don’t know yet, so we won’t make any statements.

              In regard to the Asus: see, the issue with having these specs in a laptop is that they ultimately mean nothing when the machine is not optimized for the use case. The 4900HS is a few times faster than the 10510U in the DJ 15 – sure, as expected at 2x the price. But open up that Zephyrus and, straight ouf the box, run LatencyMon or any other DPC monitor on it. But sit down before you do, because it’s not going to be a fun experience – I assure you. Also, once you’re done, try writing Asus an e-mail about how your DJ software doesn’t work properly with your controller or audio interface, and see how far you get with their support. I’m actually friends with several people at Asus, so I’m not bashing them at all – just explaining one simple principle: they don’t cater to this audience at all, because DJing is an insignificant niche compared to, say, gaming. I don’t see any global player like Asus committing to that. A more “boutique” manufacturer like XMG, however, can do so.

              You could argue that people who KNOW how to optimize a system will get decent performance and stability out of a machine like the Zephyrus. That’s probably true. But they’ll have to reinstall a clean Windows, possibly upgrade to Pro, get all the right drivers, dig through the BIOS and then optimize the system settings, and then probably run into a few more issues as they actually work with audio stuff day-to-day, test, and tweak again. The DJ 15 wasn’t made for people who know how to do all of that and are ready spend at least a few days optimizing a computer for audio. It was made for people who don’t want anything to do with that, and just want everything to work. This is what XMG and I have created here.

              P.S.: Also please always argue with me when you think I’m wrong, that’s how I learned a lot of things ;)

  9. 10th intel genration is…a skylake.
    apart this i run OSX for many years and frankly it’s a huge headache with their incompatibilities between each new version of their os.
    i just remember the switch with snow leopard to lion and all my pros software don’t work anymore…a revolution.
    The screens are too tiny, djing on a 13′ you get easy a huge pain with your eyes specially with VDJ or Traktor.
    I Run Pc too for many years, for sure everything are not ok with the Windows Mysteries but you Have a huge choice, really good perfs for less money than apple.
    Actually i djing on an HP 15″ FullHD IPS with a Ryzen5 and windows 10 unattended “home made” mean with personal optimizations, settings and more but without all craps you can find when you buy a PC.

    For the virus problem…Don’t be stupid when you navigate and stop get Cracked software from nowhere and analyze every things from outside.
    personally the Windows Security solution is a really good one if you know how to use it.
    Regards, fab ;)

    1. Well done! It’s what I’ve been doing myself, for… well since digital DJing exists, basically ;) Thing is, most people aren’t like you and me, which is absolutely understandable. We’re nerds. Most people just want to do the thing they bought the machine for, and don’t care for the nerd stuff at all. That’s why I’ve helped XMG take care of said nerd stuff – so customers don’t have to.

  10. The biggest mistake i see in the design is “one USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 combo port with charging functionality” so
    while the laptop is plugged in and charging its fastest peripheral port is unusable. Seems kind of stupid to me.

    1. That might have been bad wording in the PR. The DJ 15 has a regular charging port and a dedicated power adapter – so you can still use USB-C if you need it. If anything, the charging functionality of that port is more of a lifesaver in case you forget to bring the regular power adapter, and you’ll still have three USB-A ports to hook up your gear :)

  11. Ok , so I don’t know shit about computer and bought a Macbook pro because Windows laptop (allegedly) get viruses and I didn’t want (can’t afford) to buy one laptop for dj’ing and another one for everyday use. So my question is :do you think it is safe to use this laptop for everyday use + dj’ing ?

      1. Get some good virus/malware software installed and you’ll be fine. I have on my Mac, and I’ve needed it too. Nothing is 100% safe though, and does rather depend on the sites you visit regularly.

          1. actually, I don’t use antivirus software ATL ALL. I think that whole industry is a joke, it can only ever play catch-up with malware devs. your best antivirus is a combination of common sense (“hmm, should I really open this .EXE file this website tells me I need to open to get my download? PROBABLY NOT”) and an ad blocker in the browser. the latter will actually intercept a LOT of bad shit hidden in ads.

            I currently run more than 10 computers in here, from netbook to mid tier media server, and I just don’t have problems with malware. ever. I’m also definitely not smarter than anyone else. antivirus is just not necessary as long as you’re being reasonable about what you download from where.

          3. For background use, I just use the free windows 10 defender.

            The important part is checking every download for every possible antivirus at once, on this page:
            https://www.virustotal.com/

            This is far far better than running a single antivirus, because you test with all of them in a single go for suspicious downloads.

        2. Good virus software = Windows Defender, which comes free with Windows 10. That, along with good web practice, and a monthly scan of Malwarebytes should be all you need. Most AV software are so invasive they are near indistinguishable from the crap they try to stop.

  12. I would love to see the motherboard on this thing. It has to be optimized to the hilt. It’s nice to see a company coming out iwth a DJ targeted laptop. “WHich laptop should I buy?” is such a common question that never really had a simple answer.

    1. I really just wanted to have a video that I can post next time another pointless Mac vs. PC flamewar pops up, and instantly win it. Just kidding :)

  13. “This includes three USB-A ports (2x USB 3.1, 1x USB 2.0 for compatibility with older peripherals),”
    More like older cables. I think including Multiple Old-School USB isn’t the best idea (At the expense of USB-C). All a person has to do is buy new cables and then they will be in with the times.

  14. This laptop with such a perfect DPC latency at 1120eur is an absolute bargain!

    To do this, you required far far more than the usual Win 10 software optimizations; I guess if this has a custom BIOS tweaked for latency.

    —-
    For an example of this complexity, I have found that my Dell XPS 15 9560 had a pre-installed app that made a HW inventory every 30m.
    This generated ring -2 interrupts to BIOS the that stopped the entire laptop for 1 second.

    To measure this I had to make my own tool querying directly the windows debugger.
    By systematically measuring and comparing the logs was crucial to eradicate this aberration.
    https://github.com/pestrela/smi_counter

    Again: congratulations!

    PS: my page of laptop optimizations
    https://github.com/pestrela/music/blob/master/traktor/README.md#list-of-every-possible-performance-audio-optimization
    https://github.com/pestrela/music/blob/master/traktor/README.md#dj-software-optimization

  15. One question, how was the Windows 10 optimized, apart from known tweaks like turning off USB power saving, cc states in BIOS and setting power options to High Performance.

    1. Just to clarify: the list of Windows tweaks actually isn’t THAT long. It’s mostly “just” good hardware with the right drivers. Of course it’s also definitely NOT vanilla Windows, but I can’t go into full detail here. A few cosmetic tweaks, power profiles and the like are baked right in – but in general, there’s a lot of stuff you can do that goes WAY deeper than what we ultimately decided to go with for the DJ 15. The super-deep stuff is actually how it all started out – but as it turns out, these tweaks usually don’t survive a major update (like going from W10 1909 to 2004), and are ridiculously hard to maintain for customers. We definitely want the machines to work without issues after such updates, so we focused on nailing the hardware/driver/BIOS part – that’s as close to making claims like “future-proof” as anyone can get.

      What should be more reassuring is that I have both variants of the machine in the studio, apply every update the moment it gets released, and monitor for changes. All the time. I’m not just XMG’s consultant in terms of specs and testing, but also the guinea pig in charge of lv3 support. In addition to that, I’m on almost every DVS/DAW beta. Generally speaking, I’m running the DJ 15 with software that you’ll be upgrading to in a few months, on the most current Windows version. That should give you some sense of security ;)

    1. Phase uses radio to communicate with the receiver which sends the timecode directly into the mixer, so it’s… very fast (I’ll be posting a review end of the month, stay tuned!). As far as the latency on the Xone:96 goes, that was set to 128 samples at 48 kHz. Same on the Roland DJ-707M.

  18. Pls try the XMG Apex 15 with the same OS, so everyone can get many info how the same OS worx with Ryzen (with or without the activated dGPU), or what kind of tweaks must be done to get the same result.
    Hopefully an even lower result can be achieved!

    But a 2-in-1, Ryzen, 14inch without dGPU could be cheaper and waaaay better than intel versions.

Comments are closed.