dj

Bags for gear: UDG is king

UDG has been around long enough to know how to make great bags for gear - back in 2000 they started making Ultimate DJ Gear, soft cases to protect your valuable gig tools. Of course, DJ has changed plenty since then with a laptop becoming almost essential, plus a load of controllers - and still the standard fare of decks, plus vinyl and CD.

Fast forward to today, and the UDG range has grown to provide a vast range of bags, cases and cd wallets to suit every committed DJ. Our favourite case though, is a little one and NOT related strictly to DJs. In fact, we cant think of a single person who wouldn't love the headphone case. It's good for live sound engineers, travelling studio engineers, even public transport users who want to protect their nice cans instead of just throwing them in the backpack at the end of another harrowing journey.

Whatever you're into, make sure you check out the range. And just because we're feeling the love this Christmas season, there are a few tasty specials on that list. You'll notice them in red. It means they'll go faster - so make sure you're quick, as the prices may not be quite as sweet when we need to restock.

If you haven't actually checked out the bags 'in the flesh' then make sure you drop in and check them out. We're impressed at the build quality, and they are definitely made to go the distance. Don't just take our word for it though, UDG has lots of fans around the globe:

Carl Cox: 'UDG bags are the best recordbags I have ever used'
Tiesto: 'These bags are perfect for the traveling DJ!'
Erick Morillo: 'After all my years of traveling as a DJ, the UDG bags are the most practical and sturdy bags I ever used. I have never got any problems'

Pioneer DJM900 Nexus

The Pioneer truck has backed up big time, and we've big stacked - with even more on the way!
Aside from the regular favourites, we've received a big load of the new DJM900Nexus.

Don't be fooled by the sleek rounded front edge, the top of this mixer is tough as nails, and this is one serious hombre club mixer, built to withstand the punishment dished as your crowd is whipped into a frenzy. But a little more on that later.

YES it's the update / replacement to the hard-working DJM800. YES it is the ideal nerve centre for your club rig. YES, it's packed with Pioneer's latest features to let creative DJs take it to the limit, let it look around for a moment and then push it over the cliff.

Integration with CDJ2000 and CDJ900 is both simple and powerful. Using the X-Pad (swipe it left and right with your finger), create Beat Effect performances. Lock it down with quantize to your mixer's beat grid.

But how tough is this mixer? As mentioned above, this mixer has been designed to cop a spray in the booth and keep working. Newly designed channel faders are wisely offest from the channel slot, meaning the fader is far more resilient to drinks, fog residue, and anything else that can spill around the DJ booth. And just in case DJ Passion Fingers is ripping a set, the fader caps have also been redesigned to avoid the accidental knock-off via an ingenious cap-locking system.

If you've got a spare 14 or so minutes to burn, check out the video below - prepared by Pioneer DJ