Stanton is a household name among DJs, but it has been a while since they took a foray into the scratch mixer market. Well, all that’s changing thanks to the arrival of their new Stanton M.207 mixer. The mixer that vinyl junkies and turntablists have been waiting for, the M.207 mixer is for the vinyl purists and CD junkies who are shunning the laptop revolution in favour of old school turntablism. Scratch friendly features include individual control settings for each fader (including the crossfader) such as curve and reverse, while the long-throw faders, balanced outputs and FX would make any bedroom or club DJ happy.

Users of Stanton’s DaScratch Midi Controllers will know just how responsive Stanton’s FXGlide touch sliders are. One of these is located bang in the middle of the M.207 mixer and provides sensitive real-time control.

Livid unleash their multi-purpose, easy-to-use controller — The Block

Texas company Livid have been making beautifully crafted hardware such as Ohm 64, as well as various software products, since 2000 now. Their latest product is The Block — a multi-purpose controller for the digital DJ or VJ.

When we opened the box our first impression was that The Block looked pretty stylish and minimalist. The silver front plate, blue LED pads and wood casing go together very nicely.