Tonium updates Pacemaker DJ system with revamped UI, auto beat match
By Darren Murph 
posted January 7th 2009 10:01AM
posted January 7th 2009 10:01AM
Tonium's New Pacemaker Makes DJing Accessible to Everyone
Stockholm, Sweden – January 6, 2009 – Today, Tonium announced a new Pacemaker that will truly bring DJing to the masses and right into the hands of the next DJ generation.
The Pacemaker DJ system is a musical sketchpad that fosters unprecedented creativity and expression. No other device will let you mix tracks on the train to work, mash up albums at a backyard barbeque or experiment with soundscapes on a secluded beach. Tonium's new Pacemaker is intended to further this concept by making DJing possible for everyone.
The new Pacemaker's user interface has been completely reworked. The result is a user-friendly, extremely intuitive interface that gives first-time users the ability to instantly DJ when they first take the device out of the box. In terms of features, Tonium's engineers have given the new Pacemaker auto beat match, allowing novice DJs to seamlessly blend tracks together by the click of a button, allowing anyone to learn how to mix in less than 2 minutes. This Pacemaker boasts a 60GB hard drive, capable of storing 15,000 songs.
"The concept behind the new Pacemaker centers around accessibility," said Ola Sars, Tonium's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "Our company was founded on the belief that musical inspiration should be created by anyone and shared with everyone. With the new Pacemaker, the goal was to remove all barriers and let anyone interact and experiment with their music."
Tonium's new Pacemaker will be on shelves at major retailers across the country this spring. Once available, Tonium will release an announcement with detailed product specifications, ushering in the next step in the music interaction revolution.
About Tonium:
Tonium (www.tonium.com) is a Swedish company, established by a tightly knit group of passionate people with a background in music, design and engineering. With a flair for innovation, Tonium exists as a company dedicated to promoting the sharing of musical tastes in a socially engaging context. For Pacemaker info, go to www.pacemaker.net.
Auto beatmatching is lame. Don't want. But I remember seeing a video of this being tested by DJs at a DJMag event and the whole "DJing-from-the-dancefloor" thing looks revolutionary. I reckon they should let two of these link together and act as deck 1 and deck 2, that would be awesome.
Auto beat matching is lame because it doesn't WORK for anything aside from 4/4 EDM. Hip-hop or drum and bass are notorious for failing on stuff like this, I'll be curious to see if this device's technlogy is any better.
You don't need two it got two channels built in. And you don't have to auto beatmatch, you can do it manually if you prefer that!
I don't get it, is this an actual THING, or is it software?
It's an actual device that is somewhat bigger than an iPod. It has a top screen and a bottom circular touchpad, and a crossfader in the middle. It can mix tracks from its built in hard drive. It also has a number of effects which are actually quite impressive.
BTW, wasn't the last gen like 120GB? How's 60 an improvement?
It is hardware and software. But at $874.00, I would not consider it for the masses.
what a joke. Real Djs
blah blah blah blah blah blah
anyone been to Ibiza lately? Seen the variety of technologies being used there? I counted about 1 in 5 Djs using records on a turntable. I think the whole timecoded vinyl business is entirely for show.
These days it's all about preference. I personally don't feel connected to the music I spin unless it's on Tech 12k's or Pioneer CDJ1k's. That's just me. Nothing beats the feel of it, or the syngery between me and the tunes I spin. I feel that's real DJing, but I don't see it as a sin if people don't agree with me. Ultimately whatever connects the DJ to the music, and the music to the crowd is what matters. I have to admit these days, the 320kbps MP3 and WAV have all but killed vinyl (and CD) sales. Even vinyl purists like me can snuggle up to Tech 12k's and Serato.
I dunno.. not my thing, but if it gets people moving than I can't complain.
Sounds weird. Personally, I prefer manual beat matching. All those bells and whistles just distract from the actual mixing. If it actually works though, I'm sure it would be fun for people who don't have so much time to spend practicing.
You could do manual beatmatching with the Pacemaker aswell, it got pitch, even time stretch...
This thing is pretty cool... but a bit too expensive. I think it should be closer to $700.00.
This page says the new one's gonna be under $500
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10132276-100.html
It's a gimmick plain and simple. I don't know a single DJ who has or even wants one.
Check out Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello here:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=7981261677
I'm a professional DJ and I have one, but no, I wouldn't want to actually perform with it - The UI is too jumpy and it's easy to select the wrong track (even worse when you've had a few drinks and its dark with blindingly bright lights on the dancefloor). Good fun for playing around with mixes when you're traveling or sitting around. The real solution to make this a real useable DJ tool would be to have a dock into which it can go, with bigger and more tactile controllers for better live performance
We "reckon" this whole "new Pacemaker" thing is becoming an "annual occurrence" for Tonium, as it has just introduced a "revamped" Pacemaker DJ system nearly a year to the day after we toyed with its prior iteration. The new flavor sports a "completely reworked" user "interface", one that's supposedly "user-friendly" and "extremely intuitive" for the "first-timers". Additionally, Tonium "engineers" have "added in" "auto beat match" for "seamless track blending" along with a "60GB hard drive" that "should" "store" "around 15,000 tracks". No price is mentioned, but it ought to be "on store shelves" across the US this Spring. Check the full release just after the "break".
I guess this would be good to practice mixing on, but I wouldn't buy a piece of kit just for that. Auto-Beatmatch hasn't worked on anything that i have tried. It's not even close in hip-hop. They should allow you to tap in the beat manually and then let it beat match off of your taps instead of the system guessing what the BPM the track is.
hmmm.. i actually own one of these. well, the older version anyway (no auto beat-matching). i am a DJ and would have to say that i wouldn't be confident enough to use mine in a club just yet but the firmware updates keep coming and have so far managed to improve it from what it was a year ago almost beyond recognition. it seriously is an awesome device but not for the masses for sure.
Ok, so I'm a dj. I use a midi controller w/ a separate usb sound interface for monitoring. Eventually, I'll convert over to serato scratch on 2 tec 12's & an analog mixer.
Basically, IMO, if you can actually use this thing quickly enough to transition into a song either innocuously enough so the dancefloor doesn't notice/lose interest OR transition between 2 tracks with enough of an effect or cut as to make the transition interesting/unexpected, then - basically, why not use this thing?
Granted, if you're actually in a booth for like, hours, then using something this tiny is probably going to get old REAL quick.
Seems to me the best use for this thing is using it as a sketchpad to practice transitions between 2 tracks when you're away from your setup. Or just for fun when you're on a subway/bus/plane, whatever. Considering the price though, it's pretty much just a really costly toy.
Judging from the videos I've seen, If you're a novice dj, the pacemaker seems not to be the ideal way to learn the fundamentals. If you learn on this, it'll be hard to cross over into a more conventional setup, as this doesn't really emulate the typical turntable/mixer setup in an intuitive way. Moving from a traditional setup (or some variation like CDJ's, or some kind of midi setup) you might have a little fun.
I really can't see this becoming a staple of a dj's setup. The portability aspect is cool. Maybe for parties, or something. With a bluetooth 1/4" stereo dongle, you could walk around with the thing, and literally dj from the floor.
But can it run Ableton? lol
am I the only one who saw 'pacemaker' as this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_pacemaker , and that putting it with a DJ system with auto beat match made me LMAO?