Which will die first, rock ‘n’ roll or MIDI? Seemingly, each one has countless lives. Continuing the trend of DJ gear adopting MIDI and computer integration, Vestax has introduced its first MIDI controller for DJs, the VCI-100. The tabletop control surface is compact, yet heavyweight and durable. It adopts the two-decks-and-a-mixer format to coincide with the layout of the most popular DJ software programs, and it comes with a copy of Native Instruments Traktor 3 LE. The two jog wheels take their sensor and control technology from Vestax’s pro turntables. The VCI-100’s other trinkets include dual sets of transport controls, tempo faders, EQ knobs and assignable buttons.

DJ gear is blowing up again at this year’s NAMM. Everyone seems to want to ride the bandwagon of DJs moving to software. One of cool new products I’ve seen so far is the Numark Total Control. It’s a USB tabletop controller that’s automatically set up to work with Numark’s Cue software and Native Instruments Traktor (it also comes with “lite” versions of each program). In addition, you can also set it to work with any program with a MIDI learn capactiy. Total control looks a bit like a 2-channel DJ mixer with jog wheels; it’s got all the channel and pitch bend faders you need, as well as knobs for knobs for EQ and other functions. Numark quoted a MAP of $249 for the Total Control, to be released in April.