#1 – Stanton C.314 Single CD / MP3 Player

The Stanton C.314 is a tabletop CD player that’s ideal for the DJ with an MP3 library looking for real vinyl feel when scratching CDs. A large touch-sensitive jog wheel gives you the scratch and beat juggling feel of a turntable, while effects plus seamless looping and sampling arms you for monster mixes and mash ups.
Very easy to use. Very cool digital effects. Pricing: $299

#2 – Numark CDX Direct-Drive CD Turntable

The Numark CDX Direct-Drive CD Turntable was designed to fulfill the dream of harnessing digital sound with the irreplaceable feel of working with vinyl. The CDX lets you do anything with CDs that you can do with records, all the while giving you the feel of a genuine turntable. Why does CDX feel so real? Because it is built with the same ultrahigh-torque direct-drive motor as Numark’s flagship TTX, complete with 12″ vinyl and slipmat. The vinyl feel just doesn’t get more real than this. Play the CDX and it’ll make a believer out of you.
Great scratching capabilities. Pricing: $699. Check this demo on YouTube:

#3 – Numark Axis 4 Tabletop CD Player

Get creative with 2 seamless loops with 3 hot stutter starts, fader start, and a BPM counter for easy beatmatching. Designed to be played long and hard with a durable steel enclosure, laser shutoff mode, and auto-retractable media tray.
Could be nice for beginners. Pricing: $199.99

#4 – Pioneer CDJ-1000MK3 CD/MP3 Player

The Pioneer CDJ-1000MK3 features the same robust build, polished look, and clear layout as previous CDJs from the same brand. But the subtle revisions add more intuitive features, make it easier to transport music, and improve track info: refinements that make cueing, looping, scratching, and stretching a track easier than ever. Full MP3 support including VBR. An instant reverse feature is controlled with a toggle switch and can be used immediately within any track without having to stop or start. Along with multimedia cards, SD cards are now also compatible with the CDJ-1000MK3 so that hot cues, hot loop points, and WAV display data can be easily stored and loaded. The MK3′s 7″ jogdial has been improved so you can quickly and easily alter the resistance of the jog wheel to tailor it to your individual style. The jogdial also features a new metallic nonslip finish. The jogdial display has also been improved with a raised fluorescent display to increase brightness and a larger cue marker with new 45° angle marks to make it easier for scratch DJs to time their effects. The track display resolution has been doubled, the lighting is multicolor and fluorescent and, as well as displaying the total number of tracks and track position, the WAV data and playing address details are extended so you can see a track’s entire length at a glance.Hot cue is now partnered with a new hot loop feature that stores up to 3 loops per track. This function can also be used like a mini sampler for vocals, stabs, or breaks. Realtime seamless loop offers a quick and simple way to set a loop while a track is playing. Once the loop is set, it can then be looped continuously or until the ReLoop/Exit button is pressed. When released, the track continues playing without any pause. The loop can be re-trigged at any time by hitting the ReLoop button. Fine-tuning a loop is quick and easy with the ability to adjust both the in and out points of a loop stored in memory. The CDJ-1000MK3 can be set in either Vinyl (jog dial functions just like a vinyl turntable) or CDJ mode.
Honestly: if you got the money, this is the beast to go. Pricing: $1299.99

M-Audio, a leading provider of creative tools for musicians and a part of Avid Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVID), announced some days ago at NAMM convention the availability for download within the first quarter of 2008 of Torq 1.5 DJ software.
The press release from M-Audio announces new features in Torq 1.5 version, including Tempo Anchors, Tempo Master, zplane elastique time stretching, send/receive MIDI clock, a new toolbar and a variety of workflow enhancements.


“The software’s new Tempo Anchors allow users to set the phase grid exactly on the beats of the song, even if the song changes tempo. The new Tempo Master function assigns a playing track to serve as the master BPM for everything in Torq, so looped samples, VST effects and other tempo-based features will follow in perfect sync. These new features are enhanced by the addition of zPlane Elastique time-compression/expansion technology, a powerful new algorithm designed for stretching full music tracks without rhythmic anomalies.
As a full-featured virtual workstation, Torq 1.5 software allows performers to incorporate outboard MIDI hardware into their audio production setups. Torq 1.5 software can send and receive MIDI beat clock for total synchronization with drum machines, effects boxes and other computers. Multiple DJs can connect with each other and share the same tempo across systems, which improves collaboration between artists.”

Torq 1.5 DJ mixing software is currently expected to be available for Windows® XP-, Windows Vista®- and Mac® OS X-based systems. The cost of upgrading from any previous version of Torq is USD$50.