Cortex Dmix 600 Software Update

Cortex dMIX-600 audio files controller to iPOD - Musicsquare. Item: Cortex DMIX-600. Unit not tested. We want to make sure you're happy, and give you quality gear at the best prices! We love talking about gear and pedals and can always help.

In the meantime, laptop performance has fought its way to respectability in the DJ world, but DJing from an iPod (and other hard-drive devices) still has some work ahead of it to be taken seriously. More than a year ago, after an initial wave of iPod mixing products were largely written off as toys, a new breed will hatch this year to take iPod DJing into the realm of legitimacy. A key component to those pieces, including the new Cortex dMIX-300, is the streaming technology necessary to play two songs at once from a single iPod, change the pitch of those songs and digitally scratch them — all traits the earlier iPod mixers didn't share. DECK, DOCK, DECK There's no mystery to the dMIX-300's all-in-one physical layout. A full 2-channel mixer centers the unit, with two identical deck sections on each side for controlling music playback.

A built-in iPod dock accommodates any iPod model with a dock connector — iPod 3G and later, iPod Mini and iPod Nano — and adapter plates for the Mini and Nano models are included. A single USB 2 Type-A port on the back panel labeled MSD (mass storage device) connects USB drives; you can also connect a powered USB hub to hook up a maximum of four USB storage devices at a time feeding into that one port. As a bridge to the physical world, the dMIX-300 has two stereo audio inputs on unbalanced RCA connectors on its back panel. You can switch the inputs from phono to line-level to hook up a total of two turntables (grounding included) and/or CD players. At the top of each mixer channel strip is a switch to select either the MSD USB port or the analog input as the source for that channel. The mixer also has a gain knob, 3-band EQ (with center detents), a 60 mm volume fader and blue-lit volume meter for each channel.

A removable crossfader features a 2-curve switch to change from a smooth fade for blending or a quick-cut curve for scratching. Two separate ¼-inch TS mic inputs — one on the front and one on the back panel — can be active simultaneously for dynamic mics or other mics that don't need phantom power. Both mic inputs share a mic volume knob and low- and high-EQ knobs on the front panel. Free ringback tones cell phone. The mic signals flow equally to each of the three stereo outputs on the back: master, booth and record, which all exist on a pair of unbalanced RCA connectors. Both the master and booth outputs have corresponding level attenuators in the mixer, while the record output has no volume control but is set to a consistent -10 dB level. Finally, there is a headphone cue section in front with a ¼-inch stereo phones jack, volume control and a cue fader that blends the headphone mix between Cue 1 (left channel) and Cue 2 (right channel). Each channel deck includes a 20-by-4-character, blue backlit LCD with contrast control located inside the menus.

Info, Play and Search buttons, as well as a set of arrow keys, help to navigate song databases, search for tracks and play them. Pitch-control “±” buttons and a slider can be turned to alter pitch at a selectable range of ±4, 8, 16 or 24 percent. A Jog Mode button accompanies each jog wheel to determine whether they perform scratching or a forward/backward nudging to assist beat matching. The wheels can also scroll through menu options instead of the arrow buttons in the interest of speed. A Time button changes the display from time elapsed to time remaining, and a Single button changes single-song playback to the continuous playback of a whole playlist or album. PREP SCHOOL While the dMIX-300 promises computer-free performances, it takes advantage of several conveniences that computers make possible. First off, before I ever played the dMIX-300, I updated its firmare to Version 2.

To do this, I downloaded the latest firmware update from the Cortex Website, placed it in the root directory of a USB drive and connected that drive to the dMIX-300. The unit then recognized the firmware and performed the update. Easiteach next generation crack.

(Don't change the name of the firmware file or it won't work.) Also, before using a USB device with the dMIX-300, the device has to be indexed to create a database for the Cortex. You can perform this task from the dMIX-300 itself, but it's loads faster to do it first on a computer. Download the CortexManager software from the Cortex Website. The program is simple to use. It lets you search your computer's directory for the drive you want to index, and then just click the Create DB button. Afterward, you can see all of the songs and playlists in the database, edit their ID3 tags and create a waveform for the track. When you create a waveform for a track in CortexManager, it shows up on the dMIX-300 display when you play that song.