New Roland DJ products Announced
#909Day on the 9th of September 2016 saw Roland Music Corporation announces over 30 new products. Included in these are three Roland DJ products which see them venture directly into the world of DJ gear for the first time.
Aside from the brand new Roland DJ products there’s also a bunch of new additions to their Aira range as well as their Boutique series of uber portable synths including the iconic Roland TB-303 bassline. You can read about those here in the next few days as we profile them.
Roland DJ products
Perhaps the most anticipated new gear announcement (for us anyway) was the partnership between Roland and Serato for the first time, which we all knew would mean something DJ orientated. We now know that this is the awesome new 4-channel Roland DJ-808 professional DJ controller.
We reported on this on Friday. Find out all about the new Roland DJ-808 here.
But Roland Music have surprised us with two more pieces of DJ tech, which I don’t think anybody saw coming. One is the TT-99 turntable and the other is the two-channel DJ ‘battle mixer’ – the Roland DJ-99.
Roland TT-99 Turntable
The Roland TT-99 is a 3 speed direct drive turntable. It has a built-in phono and a rad looking 909 slipmat, in celebration, of course of #909 day.
The Roland TT-99 whilst certainly great looking, does not sport any unique or extraordinary features. It is a straight up direct-drive professional DJ turntable, simple as that.
It’s designed to partner the DJ-99 mixer and will be ideal for DVS use. Aesthetically the TT-99 is highly appealing and the best part is the pricing is very competitive.
Expect to pay $ 349 (R 5,000 excl. duties)
Roland DJ-99 Dj Mixer
First we were surprised at the thought of Roland DJ products being added to their range. Then the DJ-808 was announced and it kind of made sense. But I don’t think anybody would have guessed upon Roland introducing two very basic, straight up and conventional pieces of tech such as an analog DJ turntable and a basic 2-channel DJ mixer.
The DJ-99 is a basic 2-channel DJ mixer. It sports a min Innofader crossfader, three-band EQ per channel, a mic input, fader curve knobs and reverse switches.
Connectivity is kept lean too, with a single set of ¼” jack master outs, booth outs and RCA input channels for line and phono. The DJ-99 does also include DVS send/return for a digital setup as well.
The DJ-99 is expected to retail for $ 249 (R 3,500 excl. duties)
Of the three Roland DJ products, the DJ-808 is certainly the head turner but we have a sneaky suspicion the new TT-99 turntable and DJ-99 mixer are going to be big hits considering their appealing looks and competitive price points.
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