NAMM 2014: Dubspot and Livid Instruments unveil mixer-style DS1 MIDI Mixer controller

The DS1 MIDI Mixer: it looks like a mixer, but it's MIDI.
The DS1 MIDI Mixer: it looks like a mixer, but it's MIDI.

NAMM 2014: Certain new controllers, you might argue, have a tendency to over-complicate things, but the new DS1 MIDI Mixer - a collaborative effort between electronic music school Dubspot and Livid Instruments - promises to keep it simple.

Sporting a mixer-style design and constructed from "the highest-quality parts and materials," the DS1 is designed for mixing, production and performance.

Built from light but heavy-duty aluminium, the controller has nine 60mm faders, 44 rotary knobs with single-colour backlighting, one push encoder, 25 RGB buttons and an expression pedal input. It offers class-compliant MIDI over USB.

There's no price or release date as yet, but Dubspot says that the aim is keep the cost to less than $500.

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.