Congratulations to our fist winner of the Numark and Alesis giveaway!!!!!
He won a copy of Sonivox Raggaeton Virtual Instruments.

If you love the sound of Daddy Yankee, Pitbull, or El Chombo and want to make music with the same vibe, then Reggaeton - Instrumento Virtual was created for you. Like the colors on a flag, Reggaeton music is a blend of nations, culture, and pride. Reggaeton Instrumento Virtual combines all these elements to create one essential music-making tool that outputs pure flavor into your river of inspiration. With 7 gigabytes of sounds, over 300 instruments, and a multilingual user interface that's devastatingly effective and easy to use, Reggaeton Instrumento Virtual is your new go-to tool for this style of music which has people sweating hard on the dancefloor since the 1990s.

Reggaeton Instrumento Virtual features over 300 instruments and pad layouts designed to put a vast amount of sonic options under your fingertips. Pulsing synth basses and leads, pumping kicks and snares, and a wealth of percussion and melodic instruments give you plenty of fire to get the job done in style.

The Reggaeton Instrumento Virtual Interface lets you learn, map, and create. It's that easy. 16 programmable pads and 127 keys give you the simplicity and power to keep your creative juices flowing. Reggaeton combines intuitive functionality with a potent feature set that will make your tracks stand out, your competition stand down, and anyone who listens unable to just stand around without moving and shaking to the beat.

Features

• 7GB of premium instrument and loop content
• Over 300 patches and pad layouts of pure reggaeton pulse
• A selection of loops all professionally produced and organized into easy to use construction kits
• 16 user programmable and assignable pads for quick-and-easy MPC-style beat construction
• Over 50 pad layouts, including construction kit layouts, diatonic chord layouts, drum kits, or build your own if you like
• MIDI learn & save function makes it instantly compatible with any MIDI controller
• Independent zone tempo-synched variable resolution roll/retrigger mode
• Onboard FX and graphic equalizer
• Keys mode&mode;for standard keyboard play/performance
• PC standalone, VST and RTAS compatibility
• MAC standalone, AU, VST, and RTAS compatibility

 DJ EQUIPMENT GIVEAWAY

COME IN AND ASK OUR ABOUT OUR GIVEAWAY

NO PURCHASE NECCESSARY

So you want to become a DJ?
There are a few simple steps that you can follow to help you realize your dream.

1.Know your long term goal.

Is your goal to DJ'ing the hottest clubs in the world or is it just to have fun at parties and do the occasional wedding gig?

Whatever you decide your goal is will give you a better picture of what you need to be doing step by step in your journey to achieve your goal. When you know where you are going it becomes that much easier to make purchasing decisions as well the kind of gigs you want to go after. Whatever you're doing you need to go all in. The best way to ensure failure in anything is to about it with half effort.

2. Pay the Price.

Whether it comes down to spending the extra $50-100 dollars on a controller or spending the extra couple of hours cataloging your library you need to just do it. There are certain tools available to make your DJing life a lot easier. One of the main tools that is used is a digital software controller. The one that I recommend is either the Numark NS7 or the Mixdeck Quad by Numark. The versatility of these soft ware controllers are unparallelled across brand and competition.This will allow you to manage your library in the most efficient way possible. Those controllers are a little bit more expensive for entry level equipment at 1299.99 and 799.99 respectively but the increase in quality that you receive is well worth the price of admission.

3. Persistence Stick with it!

The biggest reasons that aspiring DJ's/Producers are not successful is because after the initial excitement of purchasing the gear they are not as thrilled at all of the hard work and  effort required to become successful. No one is successful overnight, and this frustrates a lot of people. I would say that at least 1 out of every 3 people I set up with DJ gear has sold all of his equipment back to me within 3 months. DON'T BE THAT GUY. Stick with it and you will see the fruits of your labor.  

A HANDY GUIDE TO BUYING A USED COMPUTER

 Record Head Computers

 

 

If you can afford it, a brand new laptop computer is a nice way to go. But, when you need a less expensive laptop, you're probably going to be looking at purchasing a used one. Here at Record Head we have a wide variety of both new and used laptops to choose from.  

When you buy a used laptop, you want to make sure that it works. With that in mind, you want to view the listings with an eye on the condition several items. Here is the brief list of those which I consider to be most important in your purchase:

• Screen
• Keyboard
• Battery
• Battery Charger / Power Adaptor
• Operating System / Software
• Hard Drive Size
• Memory Size

 Screen

This is probably the most important item to consider (and the most overlooked). For two main reasons:

1. You're going to be looking at the screen every time you use the laptop.
2. When it breaks, it's the most expensive part to replace.

You may see listings that have "screen burn-in," bad areas of the screen, bad lighting, etc.... These computers should sell for deep discounts. So, if you want something cheap, they're not bad to consider.

If you do purchase a laptop with screen damage, make sure that you know what the problem is, and see if it works with your needs.

So check out the screen, especially looking for damage. And, if the damage is not acceptable to your needs, then look elsewhere.

 Keyboard

This is almost as important as the screen. It is not as expensive to replace, but it is still a pain. A missing key or two may be acceptable to you (especially if it's the "` / ~" that you don't use often). But if the problem is with sticking or tough to press keys, you're probably not going to be satisfied with the machine until you have paid an expensive service fee.

Also, try to get an idea if it's a format you like. Some formats are different. Laptops may eliminate or double-up keys to fit in the limited space. If the computer is fairly recent, you might visit a local computer store to get a feel for the particular keyboard. You might be surprised at how much you either love or hate the keyboard.

 Battery

This is the item that goes out most often, and is likely to be weaker on used laptops. Even new computers have limited warranties on battery life. So a battery that won't hold a charge (or last only a brief time) is not a showstopper. In some cases, you just want a "portable" computer that you'll be running from the power cord anyway (such as on a trip).

Unless the battery has a guarantee or warranty (not likely), you should probably check out the cost of a replacement battery.

 Battery Charger / Power Adaptor

This is actually more important than the battery itself. If you have a fully charged battery, sooner or later (a few hours use maximum), you will need to recharge. If you do not have a working battery charger, you have an expensive doorstop.

Of note, there are "universal" adaptors out there. I have never seen one that works for all laptops. And I have seen some laptops for which none of these work for. So make sure that the "universal" adaptor specifically lists the laptop in question before making a decision based on it.

 Operating System / Software

You will need an operating system (such as Windows) to run your computer. And you will need software (such as a word processor or spreadsheet) to make any use of it. All of the computers at Record Head come with the following software pre-installed on the laptop.

·         Microsoft Security Essentials(Anti-Virus software)

·         Open Office (Word processing, spreadsheets etc.)

·         IMGburn (Disk burning software)

·         VLC Media Player(Video/Music Player)

Our computers come with basic set of software that you need to use your computer and none of the bloatware that typically comes on a brand new PC.

Hard Drive Size

Nowadays you should be able to pick up a new hard drive for most laptop systems. But you have to make sure that it works with the laptop in question. And you have to remember that laptop hard drives cost several times more than those that go in desktop computers.

Your best bet is to buy a machine that has a big enough hard drive to begin with.

As an alternative, you might consider picking up an external hard drive, if all you need to do is store the work from your laptop. Not only should it be less expensive than a laptop drive, but it can also interface with your desktop machine.

Memory Size

You can generally upgrade memory easier than upgrading the hard drive. However, even if you wanted to buy a lot of memory, you are limited by how much memory the computer can hold. Try to find this out in advance.

Again, it is nice to have the computer up to your specifications before you buy it. But - if the deal is good enough and the expandability is high enough, you might look for a deal on a low-memory machine.

For memory, my personal preference is to buy it new, on sale and at a local dealer. That way, if it doesn't work (and it doesn't always) I can quickly have it replaced. However, you can also get deals on new and used memory on eBay. Just remember to factor in shipping costs when you plan your purchase.

There are, of course, many other considerations.

• Do you like the brand?
• Is it the right design?
• And does it just feel right?

The items I have listed in detail are more along the practical line. They deal with the basic reliability of the machine. They should help you decide if a particular used laptop computer is worth buying and upgrading (if necessary).

But, ultimately, you have to decide if it's the machine you want and the machine you can afford.