Local DJ, Onkabetse Manthe, popurlaly known as DJ Onks, has been working tirelessly over the past few months to refine his invention; the ‘Audio Selector’. The ‘Audio Selector’ is a mini-mixer with wired headphones which he started working on in 2010 after realising that the mixer used by DJ’s then was not user friendly. He is back with an upgraded version and has told Time Out that the unit is built from 120 mm by 70 mm black coated metal box specifically designed to fit the unique needs of android users.
“Any portable music source compatible to android such as cell phones can be inserted at the top of the unit. Using any DJ software from the android market, the mini-mixer will allow users to show their track mixing skills. The mixer works as a central route system, sending audio signals of two different tracks to two different channels and mixing the outputs to produce a final mono output mix. At the same time, it functions as a mixer within a mixer so that the user can pre listen to the next track on the headphones and prepare transition,” he said.
He explained that his invention has changed the DJ’s job for the better as it is lighter in weight making it easier to carry around and is also a standalone mixer that can be connected to an amplifier via a wireless transmitter making it easy for music to be transferred to any other DJ system. “This is a relatively new clever concept to mix music from anywhere as well as making mobile phones a serious performance tool for anyone who is looking for a dynamic performance either on stage or out of stage. The unit does not need to be plugged in a main power supply. The main unit has a built in rechargeable battery and the wired headphones has a battery compartment for storing 2 x AAA batteries in case the main unit runs out of power,” he added.
Even though he has currently manufactures one mini-mixer, DJ Onks has plans of making more to sell as soon as he gets an investor. He mentioned that the production cost for one mini mixer is about P6 000.