May 9, 1999
Mixing has been conservatively confined to experienced DJ's with ultra-expensive turntables, CD-Players, mixers and amps. In the recent past though, as music has been digitally transferred to the PC in formats such as AAB, MP3, and WMA, there has come a demand and opportunity to enable the everyday PC user to mix their own songs the way they like. MixVibes has seized the opening and produced an excellent, easy to use program which gets you mixing instantly.
Set Up the Equipment
Installation is hassle free. It is done using a relatively small installation file which
sets up the program in a few simple steps. Once installed you're ready to use the program
- no reboot or reconfiguration required.
Check My Decks
The interface is beautifully made and accurately depicts the
mixing-decks of a DJ. Four mixing decks ensures that you're never caught without something
playing. All necessary controls and a few extras are available on each mixer including the
common playback controls; rewind and fast forward; volume control; bpm modifier; speed
modifier; bass, mid and treble controls. There is also a handy crossfader for song-to-song
mixing.
Down To Business
Starting off the program, you must load the songs you want into the different mixers. You
can also put a number of songs in each mixer in order to move back and forth between two
mixers instead of controlling all four. You can use a large variety of formats such as
MP1, MP2, MP3, WAV, MIDI, AU and AIF.The performance of the program is very good, considering the large CPU usage when
playing large sound files. There is a slight problem though with the slight delay until
the music starts when pressing play (makes it difficult to cue songs and get the timing
correct). Like a normal mixer you can be playing one song whilst checking another song on the
headphones.
This is a great feature enabling to mix and fade between songs without pause, as well as get the beats synchronized. When mixing songs such as dance songs with strong, permanent beats, the speed modifier comes in very handy to get the beats attune.
The bass, mid and treble controls are also very handy but once again there is a slight delay problem between the change and the effect. The crossfader is an excellent addition. Simply choose the mixer on either side and move the bar wherever you want.
What Do the Experts Say?
It's safe to say that this is an excellent program, especially for the PC beginner or the
newbie to music mixing. It is very powerful and can be put to many uses, whether it's just
practice for the experienced user, a learning experience for a newcomer, or as an
entertainment module for a party. A great feature is that you can put all the songs you
want in a playlist, play them and mix them all in one, record while doing so and save it
as a *.vib file used by the program.
When the guests arrive all you need do is press play and all the pre-recorded mixing will be played back throughout the evening. When it comes to professional parties and clubs, the program can't quite give the user all the functions they should be used to. This is especially true when mixing with turntables and vinyls (which most DJ's do) such as beet detection, manual speed adjustment and scratching.
Conclusion
MixVibes is an excellent program with powerful functionality and wide compatibility. It's
ease-of-use will be particularly attractive to the less experienced users but proficient
DJ's will find the program somewhat limiting. Being one of the first programs of its sort
it comes without saying that the technology of mixing on the PC is sure to get better with
future versions, enabling even the most experienced of mixers to use the program
professionally. MixVibes get 4 out of 5 Go Inside Review Lights.
Copyright © 1999