It’s all Serato so far at NAMM 2014, and it’s all about flagship controllers, with Reloop dropping the TM8, a model to sit in the range above the company’s Terminal Mix 2 and Terminal Mix 4 controllers for Serato.
The four-channel model has the all-important (right now, anyway) RGB performance pads that have yet to feature on a Reloop controller until now, and while it ships with Serato DJ Intro, there’s a voucher to upgrade to Serato DJ in the box (presumably for when Serato releases the next version of the software that will deliver compatibility with this device – it’s already compatible with Serato 1.6 beta).
The 16 velocity-sensitive RGB drum pads are for triggering hot cues, loops, samples and a slicer, and there’s also a “dual mode” so two performance modes can be controlled in the performance pad section.
While the controller falls short of offering standalone mixer capability like the also just-announced Pioneer DDJ-SZ, having only a single aux in, it will no doubt ship with a far lower price tag than that device – although at the time of writing we have no confirmation of that.
Presumably it will be shipping imminently hence the hastily added voucher to grab Serato DJ in February, so for those of you lucky enough to have general availability of Reloop products in your territory, watch your usual stores for availability. Price is €579, and you can see a rather scant YouTube video here.
Do you like the look of this? Is it a more sensible high-end choice than the Pioneer, or is it worth paying the extra for the features of that model? Are you glad to see a Reloop controller finally with RGB pads? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Phil Morse
