Greetings!
I've been messin with the Velocity MP3 for about 3 weeks now (about 2hrs each week). Here's my first impression...
Overall Verdict: Finally someone got it right!
What I like:
1. Real time scratch (even with MP3s it sounds just like vinyl! No fake "metallic" scratches).
2. BOP effect... jump straight to a cue point.
3. Loop-in button sets cuepoints "on the fly". No need to pause first... I love it!
4. Pitch / Tempo slider plus related buttons - respond in real-time. This is really good.
5. Effects Mix. briefly plays selected effects and automatically turns them off.
6. Skid... Brakes like a turntable. Adjustable.
7. Parameter settings - possibilities are endless
8. Folder Recognition & Browsing. THIS IS FANTASTIC. You can first organize tracks into playlists on your PC then burn two CD-Rs and do a stress free "back-to-back" hits mix.
9. SAMPLER! Very nice. Veeeery nice...
10. The player feels solid. The PLATTER is most durable-looking and visually appealing I've seen on a dual CD/MP3 player yet. It moves easily with just the right feel and resistance. I think a lot of thought was put into it...
Buttons are firm and respond nicely, looks great too! I hope its made to last (like the legendary 1200s)
11. Other Effects - Reverse, Flanger, echo etc.
12. Loops which you can save!
etc etc Absolutely no regrets!
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Improvement areas:
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1. PITCH BEND . Ok at 4% and 8%. Then goes CRAZY at 16% and at 100%. It becomes unpredictable, uncontrollable and hence completely useless for making *minor* corrections (the purpose of pitch bend)! Suggest you set a limit the pitch-bend range (the range available at 8% should be the max limit even at 16% or 100%).
2. There's something about Multiple cue points and loops. The player seems to throw itself back into a loop if I jump between different cue points and then press play... Not sure if its an RTFM issue (I havent read the manual) but... I think there could be a bug of some sort..
3. You can't save effects parameters... Nothing critical - a "nice to have". Maybe a firmware upgrade that allows someone to use one of the existing banks for storing Parameters...?
4. The platter doesn't rotate by itself. (if the platter rotated, it would be possible to cue without headphones simply by visually "marking" a position on the platter - for juggling and quick mixing).
A stationary platter can confuse someone who's used to turntables... Not a big deal once you get used to it (you can use the LCD display for visual feedback to a certain extent but its not detailed enough)- but... Such a feature (moving platter) would turn this already amazing piece of equipment into something legendary (like the 1200).
OK easy to say... I know implementing it would be quite complicated (moving parts=wear&tear; how to get the light "slipmat feel" when scratching with a moving platter - probably some laser technology underneath the touch sensitive "slipmat".. etc)
OK thats enough for now...
Regards,
Maishinski.
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