DJ Mania

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on December 22, 2009

DJ Mania provides a simple set of tools for recreating the world of the turntable expert. By breaking this elaborate artform down into a few simple functions, it makes the club scene accessible to all, but it's missing a few key ingredients of the actual experience.

DJ Mania's interface took a little work to understand, even thought it's a fairly simple layout. Without a Help file or instructions we were left to explore, but luckily it only took a few minutes to fully grasp the program. The basic function of this program was its ability to recreate the sound of two records spinning at once, which is accomplished by loading up two separate sides with MP3s. By playing both at once, they blended into a single tune. You can adjust the crossfade, volume, and speed of each song, too. DJ Mania is fun to use but a little disappointing because it doesn't allow you to scratch the records, which is a major component of DJing. Another frustration was the apparent inability to record your creations. The program does offer one neat feature that lets you insert sound effects and samples into your mix, which provides some color and unpredictability to the sound. Overall, this is a nice introduction to the turntablist's art, but it's a poor substitute for the real thing.

DJ Mania is freeware. It comes as a compressed file. While it provides a glimpse of DJing, this program lacked some key components. We recommend it with reservations.