As much as the laptop has revolutionized modern mixing setups, it’s also served as one of the biggest hindrances in the DJ booth. Legendary turntablist Qbert is looking to change that, however. Teaming up with Intel, Qbert and his Thud Rumble team are looking to eliminate laptops in the booth completely. The idea is to replace the bulky gear with Intel’s Edison line of microcomputers. The small unit is a robust computing platform, powered by a dual-core 500MHz CPU and single core microcontroller, with USB ports, memory storage, wireless capabilities and more.

The implications behind the device are quite significant. In an ideal world, an artist would simply be able to show up at the club and plug in their USB into the microcomputer, much in the same way DJs utilizing CDJs organize their setups. The concept was displayed at the Bay Area’s Maker Faire this past weekend, with both Intel and Qbert on hand to demonstrate.

Forward-minded innovation from DJ Qbert @ThudRumble has people of all ages stirring at #MakerFaire. Their new hardware is using Edison to capture soundwave data, control audio playback, and bring unique microcomputing to DJ’s everywhere…and potentially rid the booth of a laptop altogether.

A photo posted by @intel on May 16, 2015 at 1:14pm PDT

While we’re still some time from a readily available consumer version, the integration of the Edison into the DJ booth is a game-changing prospect, especially at the price tag of only $55.

Via: DJ Tech Tools

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Tags: DJ, djing, Intel, qbert

Categories: News