Tonium

Tonium’s 60GB Pacemaker, a portable DJ system, in now available in the United States at Amazon.com for $499 (See Amazon’s site for the latest pricing and availability).

The Pacemaker is a 60GB portable media player that features full DJ capabilities in a package the about the size of a PlayStation Portable (PSP).

Features:

• Portable DJ system lets you mix, play and perform music anywhere, anytime
• 1.7 inch TFT Display with 166 ppi screen resolution
• 60GB Harddrive-holds approximately 15,000 tracks in 128 Kbps AAC format
• Built-in rechargeable lithium battery, play time up to 15 hours when fully charged, mix mode up to 5 hours when fully charged
• USB 2.0, Pacemaker editor computer software, quick start guide included in the box

Leave a comment with your thoughts on the Tonium Pacemaker!

Description:

Imagine two turntables, a mixer and an entire record collection contained in a device that fits into your pocket. Pacemaker’s two independent audio channels let you play two tracks side by side. Beatmatching is easily done by the click of a button, with a full set of audio effects and a crossfader.

The Pacemaker itself is part of the larger Pacemaker platform that encompasses the Pacemaker Editor and the Pacemaker Community. Pacemaker Editor is a free, downloadable PC and Mac compatible computer application that allows you to play music and edit and create mixes. The Pacemaker Community is an online music community that allows members to upload and legally share the mixes of their music, created by the Pacemaker or the Pacemaker Editor software.

Musikmesse 2009: Tonium is featuring the Pacemaker “Ultimate Music Machine”.

Here’s Tonium’s latest promo video for the Pacemaker.

Details below. Read more…

Not sure what the point of this was – but this was the scene at the Tonium Pacemaker booth at the 2009 NAMM Show.

Tonium, the makers of the Pacemaker pocket-sized DJ system, has announced the launch of Pacemaker.net, a social networking site for Pacemaker users.

The Pacemaker music community allows members to upload and legally share the mixes of their music, created by them using a Pacemaker or the free Pacemaker Editor software.

According to Tonium, it’s the only company in the world to be allowed to legally stream any music uploaded to its site by users. This is due to a unique licensing agreement with music rights societies, STIM (www.stim.se) and IFPI (www.ifpi.se).

The site is actually not limited to Pacemaker owners. Anyone can use the Pacemaker Editor; a free, downloadable PC and MAC compatible application that lets you play music and create mixes.

Wired.com has a review of the Tonium Pacemaker Portable DJ Machine, and decides it’s cool, but an expensive toy:

The Tonium Pacemaker may be modeled after the idiot-proof iPod, but taking advantage of all the features on the Pacemaker requires an inordinate amount of button pushing. Fiddling around with it while sober requires a certain amount of dexterity — it’s easy to tap the wrong track. Tough to imagine trying to queue up and mix in bar lighting after a few drinks.

Ultimately, it’s a cool toy to play around with but not exactly the life of the party.

WIRED Beautifully engineered; looks like the gorgeous byproduct of a mind-meld between Jonathan Ive and Walter de’Silva. 120 GB memory. Battery holds enough juice for five hours of mix-and-play time.

TIRED Doesn’t act like an iPod. Complicated menu and mixing options make the device not very a practical instrument. $800 could buy you a round-trip ticket to Spain, Berlin or some other hotbed of electronic music.

Have you given the Pacemaker a spin yet? If so, let me know what you think in the comments.