Another pint-sized powerhouse in Native Instruments' Kontrol series is the Z1, a controller and audio interface with headphone and RCA out, USB and a power supply that'll charge your iPad/iPhone while you play. The Z1 acts more like your mixer and your iPad as the control surface, utilising the touch screen to play tracks, set loops, hit points and to scrub through to different sections. The Z1 gives you a two-channel mixer, with multi-purpose FX control on each channel and three-band EQ, as well as full control over cue section. In use, there's hardly any latency and everything is quantized and snaps to the beat, so if you're performance is a little lacklustre the technology will pick up the slack. The sheer size, ease of use and simple interface will undoubtedly see a new breed of DJ emerging on the scene that doesn't need expensive, bulky gear or years of experience to beat match, adjust pitch or blend tracks seamlessly, because now the technology does that for you.
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