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Remember the Pacemaker - the nifty DJ gadget from 2008?
Well, it's back, but as a Spotify-enabled iPad DJ app. The team behind both the original Pacemaker and the doomed BlackBerry playbook app of the same name is having a third crack at the amateur DJ market.
It's a field stuffed with competitors - including high-profile names like Native Instruments and new entrants like Mixvibes and Algoriddim, but Pacemaker has an ace up its sleeve - full integration with Spotify.
That's right - armed with a Spotify Premium subscription, you can play any track from the streaming service's 20-million-strong library. There goes the "I've got it at home but I didn't bring it with me" excuse when someone asks you to play Simply Red. It'll play any tracks you have stored on the iPad too, of course.
In the past, Spotify has always told us that its content licenses have prohibited any app that would lead to public performance of songs. It appears that hurdle has now been vaulted, though there are still some restrictions on Spotify music in the app - you can't record a mix with Spotify tracks in, for example.
The Spotify integration is a hell of an advantage over other DJ apps, but the other thing Pacemaker has going for it is a glorious simplicity. Its barebones interface is extremely stripped down - lacking some of the tools offered by its competitors - but also intuitive. You'll figure out how to use it almost immediately.
You can actually see this as good or bad. In our testing, we desperately wanted for a more precise cueing system, for example.
But those who just want to adjust pitch and crossfade will be perfectly happy.
The only other complaints we had are that library browsing was initially very slow (until our lengthy list of playlists had cached) and that the 'sync' button didn't quite behave as we expected. We'd also like the option to download playlists for offline playback - though the Pacemaker team promised us this was on the way. An Android edition would be nice, too.
One thing that's quite remarkable is that the app is free.
Instead of charging to download it, users are asked to pay to unlock more advanced features, like delay, reverb and looping for $1.99 each.
Will that be enough to keep Pacemaker afloat? Let's hope so -- the integration of Spotify is a real game-changer in the DJ app market that's sorely in need of innovation.
If you'd like to give it a try, you can download it right now from the iTunes Store.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
