Sony to cause train wrecks with Xross Fade iPod mix system

Sony to cause train wrecks with Xross Fade iPod mix system

25 August, 2008 | 7.18PM

• Written by: Christen Reutens
• Filed under: Music News: digital djing, mp3, sony

Sony may be the brains behind the Walkman, but their new “DJ style music system” Xross Fade will surely fail.

Designed for mixing between two iPods, the $500 system doesn’t come anywhere close to offering to what the company claims is a system that allows DJs to “Mix two songs or fade into the next song without missing a beat.”

For a start, the system doesn’t offer any pitch control over tracks played from iPods, so unless you’re some kind of freak who enjoys train wrecks the Xross Fade is pretty useless.

But Sony will insist, the Xross Fade has a cross-fader with monitor cue and a built-in two-channel mixer.

Whopee. You can buy a two-channel mixer for about $99 these days, and most of them offer EQs and mic inputs, which is surely needed when you can’t adjust the pitch of tracks: ‘Oh damn, this mix sounds really bad. Quick - shout something into the mic.’

“Hang on though,” Sony’s execs will shout, “We’ve got this super cool thing called an MP3 Booster that improves audio quality by restoring sound lost during MP3 compression.”

Riiiiight. But you can’t polish a turd, Sony. A crap MP3 is a crap MP3, and no amount of digital tweaking will fix it, at least not for $500.

Plus there’s very little difference between a 320 kbps MP3 and a WAV after it comes out of a $500 soundsystem.

Well, they will cry, we’ve also included this sweet ‘beat blend’ tool that adds a layer of pre-programmed percussion, drum sounds and drum loops over a mix.

We couldn’t think of anything worse than hearing a drum loop out of time over the top of a bad mix, although having said that, dropping a drum roll in between mixes might make a train wreck more bearable.

The Xross Fade does however offer 450 watts of total power output, which is pretty good, although train wrecks should be turned down, not up in our opinion.

“The XROSS FADE system is designed to be a statement piece for the bedroom, dorm room or living room,” concludes Sony.

Well what does that say about you, if you own an Xross Fade?

1. You’re the kind of person who wants to get into DJing to impress your clueless friends.
2. You think DJing is fading two records together.
3. You own two iPods.
4. You get impressed by statements like: ‘A New Spin on a DJ-Style Music System’ and ‘Mega Sound System’.
5. At the school dance, you wanted to be the guy wearing the floral, wide collared shirt who led the chicken dance and played ‘YMCA’.

Back to the drawing board, Sony.

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