Gemini DJ

So far I absolutely love this unit. Over the past 2 years or so, Gemini have seem to have turn a corner in the quality of there products. However, it's not a Pioneer. But it is a close facsimile. And I love that. People have been saying that Gemini has a lot of "balls" copying the Pioneer. I say good for Gemini. Besides who the hell cares who they copy from. I call that capitalism. And for $400 if you want a new media deck that plays CD's and takes a USB stick, and plays them well, then this is a great buy for the price. For this is a great upgrade from my obsolete Denon DNS-1000 which don't have USB, and has a tiny jog wheel. Now I read reviews criticizing the quality of the all plastic form of this unit. To those, I have a tip: if you don't throw this unit against a brick wall or drop it from a 2 story building, it should last for many years to come. Put it in a good case or coffin and you'll find that it should be durable enough for transport if you need to take it anywhere. Besides the mostly plastic form factor helps to keep the cost factor down. I hate CD's. There limited in there capacity, and they take up space, and cost more money then an mp3. You can put all your music from any year on a thumb nail device and have it instantly ditching those CD's. Its that simply. And that's one big reason why I bought this unit. You can also use an SD cards as well. Nice! And it's a midi controller as well though I haven't use it in midi mode yet. Nice! The jog wheel is huge. It measure almost 8 inch in diameter. It has a nice sturdy feel to it. Has a rubber lining with finger placement all around the outside of it. There's a torque adjustment as well. Now on the lightest setting, it might still feel heavy for those scratchers out there. So this unit might not work well for those with that talent. But if your a BPM mixer like me, then the jog wheel and this unit as a whole will feel just fine. And oh yeah; it's jog wheel looks exactly like one other jog wheel out there on the market right now. Right down to the LCD display in the middle. Nice! The touch sensitive screen is a nice feature but I don't find myself using it to actually browse for files. The screen can also display wave form. That's where the screen could be a little bit larger. But again, cost factor. The sound from this unit is incredible. Whether it's CD, USB, or SD, the sound is crisp and clear. The Gemini has a coaxial digital out which I use with my Denon DNX-900 mixer making the sound twice as loud then using the regular RCA's. This unit also works just fine with my Mixvibes Cross Pack and the time coded CD's which I originally bought for my old Denons. And there's a usb on the back for use with any DJ software. Now if I were opening a big club tomorrow, I'm probably stocking the DJ booth with either a pair of Pioneer CDJ's or Denon SC's and not a pair of Gemini CDJ-700's. The Pioneers and the Denons are the "Technics" of CD/Media decks without question. But if you need to equip your you small home studio, or maybe a small venue, small bar, do a small house party out in the Hamptons, put your 18 month old in DJ training, etc... or maybe you just want to make an upgrade without deleting your bank account, then this table top deck is plenty capable. People should stop making the comparison between the Pioneer and the Gemini. Although the Gemini closely resembles the CDJ-900, Pioneer CDJ's are high end products, with super high end prices. The Gemini is more like second class. But it works. And if it doesn't break down, all the better. And by the way, the Pioneers also break down and occasionally have bugs as well. They call the CDJ-700 a professional media controller. Again I'm not sure if I'm using this unit at a large venue but I wouldn't be afraid to try. Its very well put together and feels solid enough. Control layouts are conveniently placed and easy to use. Its puts out excellent sound, and has all the media options you would want to use. And for $400. It's a no-brainer. Just remember to update that firmware first thing before using...

Using the DJ Gemini UMX-9 was a very good experience for me, the reason that I purchased it was because I needed a good quality mixer for the time being and I couldn’t afford a high end one so I chose to go with the Gemini UMX-9. The UMX-9 has 3 stereo channels, microphone input, cross fader reverse switch and many other features that grabbed my attention. I paid 120.00 for it brand new and used it for less than a year until I could save up some money to upgrade. Over time when using the Gemini UMX-9 you will notice that the cross fader goes out on your pretty quickly. Maybe it wasn’t built to last a long time, it seems tough when you are using it but eventually it will go out on you. The price to get the cross fader fixed what just too much to pay and plus I didn’t plan on staying with the Gemini UMX-9 too long so it didn’t matter. I used this mixer from the spring of 2005 to close to the spring of 2006. UTILIZATION It is very easy to use if you have used mixers before. There are no special features with the UMX-9 that make it stand out from its competitors. The manual is pretty simple as well, nothing will make you need it though unless you are a beginner because all of the connection types and inputs are labeled. SOUNDS The Gemini UMX-9 has a cut feature for low, mid and high frequencies for each individual channel as well as gain high, mid and low controls for each channel too. It does feature some LED’s for your meters on the master out put meter and input level meter for each individual channel. OVERALL OPINION The Gemini UMX-9 is affordable and well built. If it wasn’t for the fader going bad on me I might have continued to use it a little longer than what I did. The quality of all of Gemini’s products are pretty well built and hold up well. I have been using Gemini for years and will continue to. The price you will pay for the UMX-9 is right on the mark for what I feel its worth. I would make the choice over again , and don’t regret using it at all.

I had a chance to use the Gemini RS 408 speakers about 6 months ago and I must say that these speakers perform well with a pair of 15" subs. By themselves they can not stand up to the challenge for any type of event, but if you use them in addition to a completed system they are awesome. They do not have any bass, but with proper equalization they put out very clear highs with plenty of headroom to spare and they are pretty powerful in that sense. At first glance these speakers are really light and small, but for me that only makes them more impressive with what they put out. They are really easy to move. However, they are not built like a rock so they won't be good for constant on the go and they will probably break if you beat them up. Since they have no bass if you try to get bass out of it you will clip it very quickly. I use them for small to medium size events around 50 by 50 foot rooms on average so there not meant for large events. The sound is really respectable for such a small light weight speaker. I was quite impressed. I am going to use these for our outdoor movie nights and while camping. So light weight was a must. For some reason , in certain situations these don’t sound as good as I would like them to sound though. Im pretty sure its all about the room size with these because in a bigger venue they don’t sound good at all. Also, outdoors the sound didn’t carry very far at all either. I recommend keeping this indoors in small venues and clubs. Nothing too major, they also have a tendency to go out on you as well.

(Originally written by lordolf/translated from Audiofanzine FR) 1/ How long have you been using it? Six months 2/ Which feature do you like the most / the least? Easy to use, ideal for every kind of mixing (techno, club, hard techno, ragga, hip-hop, etc.)... Very accurate controls... 3/ Did you try any other models before buying it? Yes 4/ How would you rate its value for money? The current price is excellent for such a high-quality DJ workstation. 5/ Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? Yes

The CDJ 250 is not rackable, it is a table top CD player that is not very good. The jog wheel is pretty big though. It is a great starting point for a digital style DJ who wants to learn the ins and outs of mixing music digitally. There is a backlit display screen right on it that will show our songs and let you scroll through them easily and quickly. Beat matching is also pretty easy with this player. Setting it up takes no effort at all and anyone can have it up and running in a few minutes after opening the box. But right away you will notice how light it is and how much it feels like plastic. Being that it does only cost around 140 dollars you really cannot expect solid metal or aluminum casting though. This unit is compatible with audio CD’s and MP3 CDS but .wav files could cause many issues. Sometimes they play, sometimes they do not. Also CD Rewrite disk do not work well with this CD player either. I have use this a few times and never really liked it too much mainly because I am use to better sounding CD players and units. This is only for a new user who is just learning. I would never gig with it in anything other than a small house part for friends or family. I would never gig with it in a club or venue mainly because the audio output is not as powerful as it needs to be in order to be heard properly in larger systems and large spaces. This is ok for small stuff like at home or practicing. Also there are not really any one board effects, there is a brake mode to give stops like using real vinyl but besides that nothing else really stood out to me.

The Gemini FIRSTMIX is a USB controller that is great for a “first time” controller. It is great for learning and practicing with. But most users make the mistake of it feeling like a real turntable because of the two platters that are similar to vinyl. Really they are nothing like vinyl and have not feel of a real turntable at all. However, they do feel pretty good if you are not looking for that “real” vinyl feel. They are pretty durable even though they are made out of cheaper materials. This controller is very inexpensive and easy to set up and use. If someone is new to DJ equipment I would not recommend that they go out and get this controller because they will need to upgrade pretty soon. But if they do not have more than 80 bucks to spend and want to have a controller that comes with a software to start using right away than this is the way to go. Setting this up is very easy, it connects to your computer via USB connection and the driver for it is very stable. You can use it with either a PC or a Mac and it will be very stable with both systems. Now the software that comes with it is called MixVibes Cross LE, and it is nothing that I would say will allow the user to do everything and it surely does not have all of the great features that you get with other software programs but it has the basics like iTunes integration/browsing and auto beat looping. So for the new user this could be a great starting point. This controller is very light and portable, it is not made out of heavy materials and I didn’t expect it to last more than a few months of use if it even made it that far but it did just fine. There is just no way it could have worked for me after the early stages of my career because it didn’t have the features.

The Gemini CDM-3250 is a dual CD console platter that can be racked. This mixing console is very powerful but still simple to use. It has two separate job wheels and is very mobile. With this console it is easy to have one track playing, search for another track and set up your cue points easily. Everything from beat matching to looping and changing the pitch is very easy to do with the CDM 3250. UTILIZATION Setting this mixing console up with my rig was very easy because I have already owned units like it before in the past. This unit was a lot more portable than I thought that it was going to be. It is very light and durable. SOUNDS The CDM 3250 also has a 2 band EQ, gain control and enough inputs and outputs to connect my whole system up to it. Everything with this mixer is made to last a long time and about the only change I would make with it is to give it a 5 band EQ and to maybe have a louder output to headphones so that they can be heard over the club/crowd noise better. Not that it is hard to hear from the headphone output but with other mixers that I own, they get so much louder directly from the output of the mixing unit and on the CDM 3250 it just doesn’t seem to get as loud as they do. OVERALL OPINION There are two smaller LCD screens on this unit for seeing your cue points and tracks. Also all of the buttons are made well and the cross fader held up pretty good. Over the years the CD mixing units have kind of become some of my least favorite units to work with because of the lack of effects. This is why I now prefer software set up with a controller. There are no effects on this unit and similar ones in this price range.

I was blown away by the Gemini GSM 3250 speakers they are great and man they pack a BIG punch in such a small box they are so light perfect to move around and they are at such a great price Pros: Loud, Cheap, Capable Cons: Heavy, one came broken (i fixed it), flimsy plastic handles, cheap particle board, no speak on inputs, can't be mounted on speaker stand I bought two of these for my rock n roll band. On one of them, none of the tweeters (the 4 little speakers across the top) were working, so i took it apart and found that the wiring had broken somehow. fixed it, and its been fine, but figured you guys should know that there are some quality control issues at gemini. Speakers this weight really could use stronger handles, too, because the plastic ones are just a bit too flimsy for me to feel completely comfortable carrying around a 60 lbs speaker without grabbing it in a bear hug. The particle board is cheap and flimsy-after a year i've had both speakers apart and i've been reinforcing them with 2x4 pieces, etc. The biggest pro for these speakers is that they are pretty loud and very cheap. They are very bassy so expect to EQ them a lot, but it's good to know that they have the capability to blow the roof off of any venue, should I need it. As far as what you can expect of these speakers in real life, I feel comfortable using them for anything from 50 person to 500 person concerts, and above 500 if I have a crossover and subs. After a year: I wish i would have saved more and bought two JBL JRX125's...heavier, but more program power handling. I really like these a lot, but there are so many other speakers on the market for the same price that can give you a better sound than these. Plus these are a little outdated now, but they still have a good sound.

You get what you pay for with Gemini's two channel iTrax Mixer Console. For about $100, this mixer comes equipped with two gain knobs, each with a three-band EQ, and is able to dock up to two iPods. There are also two auxiliary RCA inputs, each able to be switched from Phono to Line level. With two analog faders and a crossfade, now anyone can DJ with iPods. This mixer will not rack mount, however. Although there is a Microphone input with a gain and EQ, it is a 1/4" input and the preamp sounds pretty terrible. There is no talkover button, so it is a hassle to use any sort of microphone with this mixer. The headphone jack is 1/4" as well, but the cue is a crossfader, so it is difficult to get separate levels on each channel. This is a beginner's mixer, but for $100 it can hold its own. A nice feature is the ability to connect to a computer via USB. Each iPod can by synced while it is docked in the mixer. However, only one iPod at a time can be attached. This mixer also charges an iPod while it is docked, so keeping your iPod on the dock when it is not in use will not only charge it, but you can attach the mixer itself to a computer for syncing, and your iPod cable becomes obsolete. The main outputs are RCA, which is a huge drawback. However, these is an RCA video output, so this mixer supports playing video from iPods into a TV or other RCA-ready device. UTILIZATION Since the main outputs are RCA, I find myself running this mixer into the Tape input of a larger mixer, good for between-band DJing during a live performance. All the auxiliary inputs are also RCA, so lots of converters are needed. However, if you want to play two iPods with no silence between songs, this is a great problem solver. Each channel's gain and EQ can be individually adjusted, as well as a master volume. The faders are pretty flimsy, and it takes some precaution when adjusting them. The docks are made for the iPod classic models, but the iTrax comes with adaptable docks for the iPod mini. SOUNDS For a $100 analog mixer, the sound is not terrible. It's made for lossy mp3 playing, not serious professional DJs. The high end is pretty bad, and the gains on each channel get distorted at maximum volume. There is no noticeable hissing, compared to playing a laptop or iPod directly into a sound system. OVERALL OPINION I've used this console for about a year at birthday parties and bars, when professional DJs are not really required. It is easy to hook up, especially if there is a house system in place, and it sounds much better than a gap between songs. Since I am a live sound engineer, this works well between bands. However, I wouldn't keep this if I were going to be a professional. Pros: Very light and easy to hook up, if you've got the correct converters. Very compatible with iPods, which makes it convenient if sound is not a big issue. Phono and line aux inputs allow for laptops and turntables to be attached with ease. Very basic, nothing glamorous or unnecessary. For the price, a great find. Cons: Poor sound quality for a professional atmosphere. RCA outputs are very difficult to work with in a professional environment. No talkover microphone button, and difficulty with microphone settings make it unappealing to even use a mic.

These decks have reverse play and pitch bend. they have good torque and a solid platter. there's nothing more you could expect in this price range. Price paid £369 now I've stuck Shure M447s on insted of the shitty carts I got with it the sound is booming (as much as my amp will let it anyway) decks are decks really. simple but effective. really solid build, heavy aswell. they travel pretty well. no problems there on paper these deck have more torque than sl1210s, but having tried a 1210 (in a record shop) it doesn't feel that way under the finger. I bought them looking for lots of torque to try some scratching. don't think they would last long doing turntablism, but aparently neither would I. for standard house mixing there is loads of torque, and the quality is excellent. would recommend them to anyone and would be shocked at anyone who would dis them (for this price range anyway). I'll be keeping these for years to come Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown ( 5-, 2003)

Comes with a 12 second looping digital sampler which was instrumental in my purchase. it was pretty easy to figure out and get to grips with, but the sound quality of the sampler isn't up to scratch. the loops can sound OK but can really lack bass. it's not what I had hoped for and wouldn't recommend buying it for the sampler. the cue controls are good. the three line inputs are good. it has booth, master, and record output, which is handy. the bass, mid, treble controls don't go to minus infinity so for me it really lacks kill switches. Price paid: £175 UTILIZATION Very easy to figure out and has pretty good layout. except the range controls are a little to close together so manipulation of say bass and mid is difficult, but not impossible. as I said the sampler is pretty easy to use. the manual wlaks you right through it all SOUNDS I haven't run it through a power amp yet, but have read somewhere that it isn't great and may hiss a little. in my bedroom setup it's pretty good. OVERALL OPINION I'm dissapointed with the quality of the mixer which started playing up in within three months. I took it to peices and cleaned it and got another two months, but the next time I tried one of the clips snapped off. so I've a feeling if I try again that'll be it finished. I don't really know how long a mixer should last but I hoped for more than that (and have had more in other mixers). Also the phono/line switches, which I use alot for effect, crackle a bit. I haven't contacted gemini, but now that I think about it, I might. I really like it. I do miss the kill switches on my old numark, and sometimes the quality gets me down a bit, but I think thats me being nitpicky and don't think anyone who listens or has a mix would really notice. I'm think about upgrading, but probably a year in advance. and I'll be moving right up into the next price bracket looking for much superior quality (sound and build) but for the under £200 price range I'm really happy with what I got Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown ( 5-, 2003)

Adjustable x-fader curve, incredible cut in time, adjustable volume fader curves, hampster switch, EQs, strong cue section. All faders are smooth like butta. This mixer has everything a scratch DJ could ask for. Price paid: $119 UTILIZATION Everything is very straightforward and the manual is fine. Cue section is not located on the main section of the mixer, its on the front part that is parallel to your body. One annoyting thing is that the knobs only have a small white dot to indicate their position. At times, it can be hard to notice where this dot is. In a low light situation, this could be a problem. SOUNDS Sound quality seems fine to me. Cant reall tell the difference between this and the previous mixer I was using, a Pioneer DJM-300. OVERALL OPINION I've only had the mixer for a few weeks. So far everything is tip top so far. Hey, for $119 this mixer doesnt have to do too much for me to like it. So far its everything I could have wanted. Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown (January 0-, 2002)