If you’ve ever downloaded a DJ app on your phone or tablet and thought “it’s got everything, but I’ll need a load of extra gear to actually DJ with it”, read on – because a new “DJ cable” that’s just gone on sale aims to fix this problem in one go, turning such DJ apps into fully fledged systems you can perform on in public.
Firefly DJ Cable is designed to connect to your phone or tablet running DJ software, and let you then add a pair of headphones for pre-cueing, and a microphone for announcements etc (there’s even a small lapel-style condenser mic included). Next, you use one of its outputs to plug the whole lot into a powered PA speaker or similar, so your audience can hear your set.
Tech details of the Firefly DJ Cable
The cable itself is 14ft long, and with 1/4″ TS, RCA, XLR and 1/8″ TRS mono outputs to PA, you ought to be able to connect to anything. It will work with any DJ software for iPhone, iPad or Android that offers “mono split” or “DJ split’ output (basically, all of them), and comes with a small carry bag so you can keep it with you “just in case”.
Input-wise, it just requires your phone or tablet to have a TRRS 1/8″ headphones / microphone minijack socket – the standard type for phones/tablets. Of course, some newer devices, phones especially, have dropped the headphone socket, so users of such devices will in addition need a standard Lightning/USB-C to minijack adaptor.
Output-wise, while the Firefly DJ Cable is designed to plug into a single, mono speaker, a twin RCA adaptor is included so you can also plug into a stereo input on a mixer, for instance (note that the output will still be in mono, just split across both speakers – absolutely not an issue for DJing in public, by the way, as long as the speakers can boost the input signal so it’s loud enough, which should usually be possible).
Who’s it for?
Basically, any DJ with a phone app who wants the option to perform on it in public, with headphones pre-cueing and a microphone, and who doesn’t want to carry around extra interfaces, mixers etc.
That said, while this is intended for phone/tablet DJs wanting a professional workflow with just a DJ app and a phone/tablet, it would also work for any laptop DJ software that can be configured for the mono split option (most can, a notable exception being Serato, even in its laptop-only Serato Play mode).
So while most controller DJs wouldn’t ever need such a cable (their controllers have built-in audio interfaces, which this effectively is a “hack” to replace), one exception we can think of would be owners of the Pioneer DJ DDJ-200, who could definitely use the Firefly DJ Cable to replace the simple splitter cable supplied with that controller to add more connectivity options. (The DDJ-200 is unusual in that it has no built-in audio interface.)
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Getting one
This is a boutique product, and the passion project of a single DJ who saw the problem and set out to solve it. It is therefore not as cheap as standard mass-produced audio cables – but for DJs who may have been dreaming of a product like this for years (and probably hacking all kinds of cables together to achieve this), the good news is that someone’s actually made it!
It’s an ingenious idea, and we’re happy to support it – albeit we haven’t actually tried one yet (hopefully we’ll get one in to review soon). It is on sale on the here, as of now.
Phil Morse
