App Review: Deej for iPhone by InQBarna

Today we will be reviewing one of the most popular DJ apps currently on the market, Deej. Deej is a standard two-deck DJ application aimed at DJing with your mobile device. Deej is a standalone app, which does not have a PC or OSX counterpart. Many software developers first start developing their software for a desktop or laptop, and then port their software to be used on a mobile device.

Deej has some interesting partnerships, including the popular app Mixcloud, which lets users record and upload their sets in a matter of moments. This is a nifty feature for those who are trying to get their mixes online in a hurry. Deej also features a partnership with Soundcloud, which lets you do the same. Users can also DJ songs from their iCloud once they are downloaded to your mobile device.

Setup

Getting Deej up and running is very simple. The download is relatively small, weighing in at just under 40MB. Being an international company, InQBarna added a number of languages to appeal to their worldwide audience, including English, Chinese, French, German, Simplified Chinese, Spanish & Traditional Chinese.

One thing I really liked about this app is the tutorial screen setup on the opening page. This pops up the first time you open the app and can be very helpful for those who don’t know their way around DJ gear. The layout is very standard, featuring two decks, a mixer and visualizations of the songs loaded. This is just a matter of preference, but I think the mixer layout wasn’t thought out very well. The crossfader is positioned at the top of the mixer, and the EQ knobs are found at the bottom. If any of you have tried using a knob on a touch surface, you will know that this feature could drive you crazy. The sliders on touch screens are a much easier solution.

Music Library

You can access the music library by pressing the “eject” button found on the top of each deck. You can select music already on your phone and sort by playlist, artist or song name. The ‘beats’ tab lets you look at songs by BPM, once they have been analyzed. The ‘discover’ tab lets you search for music on iTunes and then download it to your phone with one tap.

While this library layout wasn’t the worst I have ever seen, they definitely left a lot of room for improvement. In other apps, I have found the ability to sort each field has been very valuable in my search for the right song. In the art of DJing, being able to find the right song quickly can be all the difference in determining if you have a good or a bad set.

Mixing

As I stated earlier in the article, the layout of the mixer is a little backwards for my tastes. The functions you will be using the most need to be closest to your body. With Deej, the crossfade, play and cue functions are at the top of the screen, putting them further away from you than necessary.

The EQ and gain functions are found at the bottom of the screen and are controlled by knobs. I prefer these to be sliders, just like the Traktor or djay2 (read our review) apps. Being able to access these settings quickly and without error is very important to the success of a DJ set.

Deej’s effects menu (left), and loop menu (right).

You can access the different effects by pressing the small FX button found at the bottom of the interface. I found that pressing this button correctly was difficult and would probably pose a problem for me during a performance. Once you bring up the FX tab, you have access to six different FX, which are controlled by an X/Y pad. Each effect can be turned on and locked with the lock button. This allows you to turn on an effect and then perform other functions without needing to leave your finger on the screen.

You can also access different loop functionality by pressing the loops button found in the FX tab. In this section you will be able to perform both basic and slip type loops and hold your loop with the lock button.

Additional Features

If you are new to mixing, the ability to do a split cue in your headphones is invaluable for beat matching. This lets you cue your song in one ear, while you play the other ear out to the audience. This is very helpful if you are using the Traktor DJ Cable, which allows you to send your output to the audience while cuing your newest song in the headphones.

Deej is a very straightforward DJ app without a lot of the extra functionality found in other DJ apps. And for the hefty price tag of $5.99, there isn’t much reason to look at this app in comparison to others such as Traktor or djay2.

You can check out Deej’s product page for more information and purchase it on iTunes.