Sonorasaurus Rex v2.2 - DJ App test #1

As mentioned a while ago, I am going through various DJ apps on my iPad to compare and contrast their features and abilities.  My first (control) walkthrough was using my trusted real-life turntables, mixer and original vinyls (the related post for this test is here).

The mix of the same songs, but achieved on Sonorasaurus Rex (using Headphone split mode) can be found here;

App Background:

So, I start my DJ App tests with Sonorasaurus Rex.  This app has been on my iPad from a very early date (v1.0 in April 2010) and as such, I am rather fond of it.  However, I will try and be unbiased in the review!  The app currently stands at v2.2 (released on 22.11.2010) and is specific to the iPad, however it has been developed from the iPhone/iPod Touch earlier version called Sonorasaurus, which hit the iTunes store as v1.0 in November 2009.  Sonorasaurus Rex currently costs $14.99 and the recent upgrade has brought support for iOS 4.2 as well as the much anticipated iPod Library access.

Interface:

As they say, "A picture speaks a thousand words", so here's a screenshot;



Sonorasaurus Rex - Dj Interface

The UI has been fine tuned over the lifetime of Rex and it's older sibling, as such the screen appears well defined with an intuitive layout.  Sections of the page are very clearly colour-coded which helps for quick access to a given function (especially if you consider using this in a nightclub set);

• Yellow = Filter (High / Mid / Low) and Master Volume
• Purple = Effects
• Blue = Track detail (cue points, bpm, pitch etc)
• Red = Track volume / Gain

It is a testament to the design skills of the developers, that all the functions for the app fit on one screen without feeling that space has ever been an issue. 

Pros:

• Perfect colour choice and combinations
• Intuitive UI (with exception perhaps of the jog bar)
• Clear and uncluttered feel to the UI
• All of the above mean quick access to all features you need

Cons:

• Waveform is quite small in display, at least on those tracks I tried...but perhaps it's down to the tracks chosen.
• The jog bar (alongside the Play/Pause button) can be a little confusing...at times I was forgetting which direction to swipe to slow the track down a bit.  Maybe a small + / - indicator could be shown at either end?  Maybe this could be configurable, so you could choose which direction should speed up and which should slow down?

Configuration:

You do have a few (but very useful) configuration options on the app, as follows;

• Mix Mode: a choice of
• Stereo out on both decks but no headphone monitoring
• Headphone split (mono master in one channel and mono headphone in the other channel)
• Deck split (for use with an external mixer, left deck mono out of left channel and right deck mono out of right channel).
• Cross-Fader Curves: a choice of 4 settings
• Jog Pad Sensitivity: (this is the long strip next to the Play/Pause button, used for nudging the track during a mix), you can set the sensitivity to one of 4 settings (20%, 50%, 80% or 100%).
• Waveform: you can set this to display the track waveform inward or outward - outward is displayed in the screenshot above.
• Auto Seek to Start: quite useful, although if you're using cue points it doesn't make much difference.
• Beat Blob: This is the green circular 'blob' shown in the screenshot.  You can turn this on or off.  It should help with mixing the waveforms visually to align the beats...it works best on tracks with well-defined beats throughout though.

Track Selection:

This is achieved quite simply by pressing the 'Tap to Load Deck A' button, just above the waveform display.  The tracks are displayed using a custom interface as below;



Sonorasaurus Rex - Library page

Any mixes recorded using the in-app recording feature are also displayed in the library, which is very useful if you want to review any of your recent mastermixes or maybe if you want to overdub / fix any bad mixing for the perfect result!  All tracks have a little waveform icon displayed alongside.  If this is blue, then the waveform hasn't been built yet.  You can either click the icon to build the waveform for an individual track or use the 'Pre-processing' utility option to build all the waveforms.  This process may take some time, so my advice would be do this before you want to do anything on the app...it just saves the iPad any possible cause for additional processing requirement during your mix.  You can also define your own playlist, another brilliant feature which allows you to group those tracks in your set, so you're not trawling through your entire library for the next tune.  You can search your library and sort the results, so immediately it gives you the 'track access' advantage over a vinyl DJ!

Pros:

• Pre-Processing...Not many of the other apps do this, especially not within the iPad.
• iPod Library access...a major recent leap forward for the app
• Intuitive search and sorting of tracks
• Ability to create playlists

Cons:

• BPM information can only be set against the tracks currently using the Tap Tempo feature on the UI.  It would be a huge improvement if you were able to edit the BPM information via the library page or even pull across the BPM ID3 tag stored in the iPod Library - this has been fixed in v2.2.1 - BPM metadata is read from the iPod Library information and carried into the app BPM field when the track is built/loaded for the first time.
• It would be a neat addition to allow the rename / deletion of recorded mixes from the library.

Track Control:

Once you've loaded your track into the chosen deck, the track can be pitched up or down using the pitch control slider underneath.  For finer increments you can use the +/- buttons as well.  The jog slider bar has been mentioned already and this is for tweaking/nudging the track during the mix so it sits perfectly aligned with the track you're mixing into.  You can use the small track progress line to rapidly skip through the track to a desired point.  To the left of this line shows time elapsed and to the right shows time remaining - another example of how the UI caters for everyone's needs on this area without being fussy or elaborate. The ability to set (and store) multiple cue points is a major plus point over any other DJ app currently out there.

Recording:The app allows you to record your mixes (in stereo) - this only really makes sense if you're NOT using an external mixer in the Mix Mode configuration!  The mixes are stored as high quality 1411kbps wav files and are accessible for playback via the library within the app.  You can transfer these mixes (via the apps File Sharing facility) onto your host machine when the iPad is connected.

Summary:

I really like this DJ app (if you hadn't guessed already).  As a traditional vinyl DJ, it has been a jump to revisit some of the basics again, however I feel that this app shines in it's structured and intuitive interface.  It really does feel and behave like a quality product.  I like the way the UI has been developed by focusing on what key actions DJs need to do rather than simply mimicking a Technics SL1200.  While my mix on the app may not be quite spot-on compared to the vinyl mix, it was my first attempt and this is the first DJ app on the iPad I've tried this with. 

Earlier this year (2010), Computer Music magazine rated the app 9/10 in their mobile music feature issue.  With a few minor tweaks I believe it could be a perfect 10!

I know I'll be playing with Sonorasaurus Rex for a long while to come and will look forward to any new features!

Sonorasaurus Rex 2.2.1 Update here!

Sonorasaurus Rex is currently priced at $14.99 in the app store;