Pacemaker v2 Firmware upgraded

The guys at Tonium have recently released a firmware upgrade and software update. The firmware upgrade basically makes the first generation Pacemaker the same as a second generation pacemaker, except with a 120gig hard drive instead of a 60gig hard drive. It really takes some time to get use to the differences but now the pacemaker does everything you expect it to do including the ability to play back mixes you just made without the editor software. They have added the ability to switch between timestretch and pitch for speed control, which means the pacemaker should be even more useful to other types of music. Another one for those not using the pacemaker for dance music is the vinyl pause mode which allows you to control the music like touching vinyl. It needs work but yes you can kind of scratch with it using that mode. I'm expecting people will practice and practice till they find a way which works for them. I think some instant crossfader kill will help make scratching easier. There's also a load more FX's added in this upgrade. Tonium haven't quite finished the guide or videos but I'm finding pressing certain buttons which should work a certain way now do. For example in track selection you can now use the rewind and forward to skip through the alphabet super quick.

Of course the Editor has gone a radical redesign and I'm glad to announce that I got it working with Linux once again. This time I'm using Sun's VirtualBox free version because it supports USB devices and seemless mode. The Open source version works but there's no USB support, so you can never get the device working with the software. Now it works like a charm. I've published my specs on flickr so others can duplicate the setup if they like. I gave up on Wine because it just wasn't consistent and dll's were driving me up the wall. There's a couple new features like the ability to create cases of music and finally export your mix as a flat ogg vorbis file. So no more messing with Audacity thankfully.

The community has come on leaps and bounds now. Not only can you upload mixes which are longer that 1 hour but theres no limits on artists or tracks now. Hell they even allow you to upload mixes not done with the editor. So now I'm having to upload all my mixes which were on Soundcloud.com to Pacemaker.net. However the restrictions are pretty harsh, 128k, 60meg and 60mins max. There's also a emphase on allowing the djs on the site to podcast which is great. Tonium is suggesting there will be lots more including tshirts and the like.

The Pacemaker has come along leaps and bounds and anything else they do will be a positive move. Some people are hacking about with putting SSDs into the Pacemaker, some others are making a wireless and power kit for the pacemaker which will mean you can dj from the middle of a club or festival. Tonium are also working on accessorys and things like Tshirts, Stickers, etc. Mark my words, the Pacemaker is going from strength to strength. Good work Tonium!

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