Djay 2 Spotify Review
May 22, 2014 First Impressions / Setting up. For those of you not familiar with djay (you can read our full djay 2 review here, by the way), it is a beautiful-looking DJ solution for iPad and iPhone, that despite appearing nice and simple (in the “traditional” view, nothing much more on first glance than two strikingly realistic turntables and a mixer), actually packs a lot of power. Jul 25, 2013 At first glance, djay 2 doesn’t look much different from its predecessor. Using the app is very much like peeling away at an onion, minus the tears. There’s a ton of new stuff to explore.
We are excited to announce our partnership with Spotify and a major update to djay for iPad and iPhone. With this latest release of djay 2.5 – a free update for all existing users of djay 2 – you can now mix over 20 million songs from Spotify on your iPad and iPhone.
djay 2.5 also introduces Match, a revolutionary tool for DJs powered by The Echo Nest that recommends tracks that go well with what you are currently playing and helps you find the perfect next song.
What's new in this version. We’re excited to introduce a major update, free to all existing djay Pro for Windows users. You can now access SoundCloud’s extensive music catalog to discover and mix millions of underground and premium tracks, and TIDAL integration offers millions of. Spotify integration is obviously the main headline in djay’s update to 2.5, but it is also worth mentioning that Algoriddim have included some new FX as in-app purchases. Powered by Sugarbytes there are now an additional thirty ‘desktop- class’ FX to play with, perfectly complimented by djay.
Or want to lean back with a perfect music mix at your next party? The all-new Automix Radio in djay 2.5 automatically picks songs from Spotify that go well with each other and mixes them for you. Step away and enjoy live DJ mixes based on your personal musical taste, all with the simple tap of a button.
Note: Spotify access in djay requires a Spotify Premium account. A free 7 day trial of Spotify Premium is available to all users of djay 2.
Moreover, this major update brings you a variety of new features and improvements including an all-new audio FX section, over 30 new desktop-class audio effects powered by Sugar Bytes and available via In-App Purchase, plus an amazing free sample pack by House DJ veterans Milk & Sugar.
Learn more about djay 2 with Spotify, or get it now on the App Store for iPad and iPhone.
Integrating Spotify with a DJ app is something I have wanted for a long time. That came in February when the Pacemaker DJ app announced it would be incorporating Spotify along with its 20 million tracks. This was considered by many to be the first step in an iPad DJing revolution. DJs would now have the option to leave their record bags (or more recently USB sticks) behind and instead DJ from the cloud, safe in the knowledge that they had access to a library of music that would suit any dance floor. However, it still wasn't the solution I was looking for. Pacemaker was not without its positives but its lack of hardware integration and advanced DJing features meant it was not really a valid option for professional mixing.
Luckily Algoriddim have jumped to the rescue with a Spotify partnership of their own. djay, with its unintimidating interface, clever syncing features and vast array of FX is thought of as the main competitor to Traktor DJ as the best DJ app available. Therefore it was quite exciting to hear that with the update to djay 2.5 you had now essentially 20 million tracks to play with in a professional mixing environment. Lets have a look at how this integration works in the real world and see if it really is the game changer many people think it is.
Access
The first thing you are going to want to do is load a track onto the decks but with 20 million tracks to choose, it’s hard to know where to start. Luckily Algoriddim and Spotify have pulled out all the stops in making track selection an easy process. When you tap the load song button you will see five tabs at the bottom of the screen, each designed to help you choose the next track.
Of course you could use the Search bar on the top left of the screen which will allow you to directly search for one of the twenty million tracks at your disposal.
Firstly, all your playlists that you created from your regular spotify account appear the left hand pane of the Playlist tab. This is ideal for DJs who like to prepare a tracklist before gigs as they can use Spotify on their other devices to build up different set lists.
If you’re a DJ that keeps up with today’s popular music trends, then the Charts tab should be right up your street.
If you’re a DJ that keeps up with today’s popular music trends, then the Charts tab should be right up your street. Comprising of Spotify's 100 most streamed songs, the list is updated every day ensuring that you will always be in the know as to what the masses are dancing too.
However, if you would rather not succumb to such commercialism then the Browse tab gives you access to twenty charts of various genres. There is also a Top DJs’ chart if you want to see what tracks David Guetta and Co are currently rocking dance floors with.
Next up is the Match tab which works in a very interesting way. Djay download mac full. It is designed to give you suggestions of what song to play next based on the one that is currently playing. Algoriddim have teamed up with Echo Nest Technology to ensure this feature is not just a fad. In fact Echo Nest calculates suggestions based on many different factors including danceability, BPM, key, style and how it mixes with the currently playing track. In practice, the Match function provided surprisingly useful as it presented complimentary songs that I probably would not have thought of otherwise.
To preview any of these recommendations long press on the song title and select ‘Preview’.
The Queue tab is also quite handy as it grants users the ability to queue up tracks for playing from both Spotify and iTunes (by the way iTunes is still perfectly integrated, should any users be worried that their locally stored music might be given the cold shoulder)
Finally, the History tab is designed to remind you what tracks you have already played in your set should you have forgotten. You also have the option to export your playlists or share them to your social network. Unfortunately you can’t record your mixes but with current day music copyright laws that is hardly much of a surprise.
Analysis and Mixing
Now that we have our track selected, let's have a look at how well these Spotify tracks perform back in the mixing interface. Despite the fact that the tracks’ data is being pulled from the cloud, analysis is just as quick as if it were a track that was stored locally. (Tip: The track will load faster still if you turn Key Detection off in the settings.) The track can even be played immediately before the waveform is fully displayed.
Another nice touch is that the artwork from each track is also displayed onto the relevant deck.
Better still, djay will store all this information within the app itself so the track will be already analyzed the next time it is loaded onto the deck. Of course the hot cues that you created will also be stored. Another nice touch is that the artwork from each track is also displayed onto the relevant deck.
New FX
Spotify integration is obviously the main headline in djay’s update to 2.5, but it is also worth mentioning that Algoriddim have included some new FX as in-app purchases. Powered by Sugarbytes there are now an additional thirty ‘desktop- class’ FX to play with, perfectly complimented by djay’s excellent FX interface.
Conclusion
Needless to say I was very impressed with the integration of djay and Spotify. Not only because there is now 20 million tracks in my virtual record bag but also the way in which the app was laid out to make the track selection process very easy indeed. The Match feature was especially impressive and although I don't believe any DJ should depend on charts or various algorithms to choose your next track, there is nothing wrong with having suggestions to browse through.
Also, if you’re a DJ who spends a considerable amount of money downloading tracks, then shelling out for djay and a premium Spotify subscription could very well save you a small fortune. It is also worth investing in one of djays approved hardware controllers to give yourself some physical mixing control over a pretty much limitless library of music.
Djay 2 Spotify Review Free
Price: $4.99 (excluding in-app purchases) / Upgrade: Free Pros: 20 million tracks available to mix one of the best DJ apps around. Match feature. Cons: Can't record your mix for copyright reasons. Can’t offline Spotify playlists, meaning you will need to depend on Wi-Fi during gigs. How can I use an external mixer with djay Pro? How do I improve audio and MIDI latency? Pre-cueing does not work with my MIDI controller. What should I do? How can I use my iTunes library with djay Pro for Windows? Where does djay Pro store cue points and other metadata? How can I import cue points from another djay Pro installation? All you need is a stereo/mono split cable, and djay will send the master output to the left channel and the cue output to the right channel (which is always the opposite turntable to. How do I manually transfer user data from djay 2 / djay Pro to djay for iOS? How do I synchronize an iOS Crash log to my Mac or Windows computer? How do I play or add songs from iCloud Drive or external media, like USB sticks? How do I play or add tracks from other apps in djay for iOS? How do I redownload older djay versions? Djay iphone app how to import music to windows 10. Web:http://www.algoriddim.com |