iCue (Ion iCue)

Member Name: roversjenny

Product:	Ion iCue
Date:	09/03/09 (668 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap and effective

Disadvantages: Basic software

For wannabe DJ's this is one of the cheapest and most effective ways of learning the essentials of mixing music tracks.

In the box you'll find a hardware mixer that plugs into the USB port of a PC and some basic DJ software. There's no need for a driver disk as the hardware installs as soon as it's plugged into a machine, and the device is also powered by USB, so no need for external power.

The mixer has basic controls needed for any budding DJ - volume, gain, crossfader, bass, treble and pitch. There's also a handy little Sync button that will automatically beat match tracks as you play them. Although this button is useful when mixing live, it can lead to very lazy DJing so it's probably best to avoid using this. The mixer is lightweight and the controls a little 'plasticy' but this doesn't take away the effectiveness of the device.

The software included is CUE LE, a light version of Numark's mixing software CUE. The software is very basic and a lot of facilities are locked out unless you buy the full software. This is probably the only thing that lets the product down.

Anyone looking to purchase this device or any similar I would strongly advise they check that their PC's have dual sound cards meaning you can have speakers and headphones running at the same time.

Summary: Excellent for budding bedroom dj's