The Yamaha DJX

So what is this exactly?
It’s the first of Yamaha’s new keyboards aimed specifically at creating dance music. As opposed to the PSR series which had voices and patterns that were more general, this keyboard has Synth and Bass Voices, special drum kits and sound effects. In all, it has 155 voices, plus the general midi set. You can also use a sampled sound as another voice, and the keyboard can record this for 6-8 seconds.

What can I do with it?
All kinds of things! The keyboard had midi compatibility and can be used with popular sequencers such as Cakewalk, Cubase and Logic. This creates a powerful system, combining the flexibilty and depth of midi with the on-board voices of the keyboard which give a much better sound than you would get from an ordinary soundcard.
Of course, you can also use the keyboard for recording to a sequencer to, both in midi notation and audio if you wish. Recording audio can be advisable if you want to use things such as cutoff and resonance filters or DSP effects which are very impressive features off the keyboard, especailly considering its price (about £200, £250 when I bought it).
Of course, there are other things you can do with the keyboard without connecting it to a PC or Mac. The keyboard has an on-board recording facility with six tracks and the ability to hold three songs at a time. You can also record patterns from the keyboards internal styles, which are quite varied and are extremely customisable. Rather than just spouting out a rhythm with a few riffs and just and A and B part, you can switch off different parts of the patterns and alter the characteristics of each part. This means things such as cutoff, resonance, volume, bass boost, DSP effects and modulation can all be altered for each part, namely: Kick, Snare, Hihat, Percussion, Bass and Phrase 1,2 and 3. This can produce some pretty good sounding pieces simply from built-in styles. These cover the following st
yles:

Techno
Trip-Hop
Electro
Trance
Drum ‘n’ Bass
Dance Floor
House
Abstract Beats
Rap
Hardcore
Old Skool
Fresh
R&B
Slo Jams

There are also 14 general styles, from a total of 100.

Any interesting features?
Well since you mention it, yes there are. As I’ve already mentioned there are different filters and DSP effects. There are also a few more things. These include an arpegiator with 16 types of arpeggios, a ribbon controller (controlled by moving your finger up and down a touch-sensitive pad) for different effects, an assignable knob able of controlling modulation, reverb, attack, release and vloume levels and many other things which would take me all day to mention.

How much is it going to set me back?
About 200 quid I reckon, but you may be able to find a second hand one or one in a sale. I totally recommend it and its definitely worth £200 and looks great too.