With Openmix, all you need to be a DJ is a couple of smartphones

Openmix? Talk to me…
OK, this is a dinky little device that acts as an audio mixer, allowing you to crossfade from one music device to another and vice versa.

So you can play the DJ using a couple of iPods?
Well, yes, but as well as iPods you can use smartphones, tablets, non-Apple MP3 players, and pretty much anything with a standard 3.5mm audio output.

How do I make sure everybody can hear my mix?
The device also features a 3.5mm audio output, which means you can hook it up to pretty much any hi-fi, speaker dock etc. Or if it’s just you on your Johnny Lonesome, you can plug in a pair of headphones.

Looks like there’s one more input on there…
Good eyes, man. Yes, there’s a third 3.5mm input, which is designed so that you can plug in another smartphone or tablet running a sound effects DJ app. That means airhorns, cowbells and (yes) that BBBBOOOOOOMMMM explosion noise so beloved of ya boi Tim Westwood. Doin’ in big dawg style, baby!

That all sounds like fun, until the battery runs out
Get this, party pooper: the Openmix doesn’t have a battery, because it doesn’t even need one. It’s powered by the devices it’s plugged into, just like a pair of headphones.

So it’s perfect, then?
Well, all it can really do is crossfade, so it’s not going to replace a proper mixer in any serious DJ’s affections. But it’s a simple, cheap device so we’re not going to crucify it for that.

How cheap?
Well, it’s not officially out yet, but its makers say it’ll be US$60 (£35) when it’s eventually released. However, if you back it on Kickstarter to the tune of just US$39 (£23), you can reserve yourself one of the first off the production line come January 2015. That’s for the base plastic model, but there’ll be an anodised aluminium one too, and that’ll be a bit pricier (exactly how much, we don’t yet know).

[Source: Openmix via Kickstarter]

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