August is off to a running start with new DJ products, and Allen & Heath have entered in their own new controller into the mix, the Xone:K1 ccontroller. From the looks of it, it is almost identical to the Xone:K2 (read our review here) that launched back in 2012 – but with one major difference – no integrated sound card.
Aside from that, everything else about the controller seems very much the same as the K2:
- 6 endless rotary controls with push switches
- 12 analog pots
- 4 line faders
- 30 backlit performance switches with three-colour illumination
- powered over USB, can daisy-chain with X:LINK ethernet ports
Editor’s Update 8/11: Latching Layers (the ability to set different layers that are frozen or unfrozen on the controller) have apparently been removed on the K1. This is according to the below video of a Xone product specialist comparing the two controllers:
ADDING AND REMOVING FEATURES
This is the the second product that we’ve seen Allen & Heath launch that takes an already existing product and makes a new version with an incredibly minor feature change – the first being the Xone:23C, which added a USB soundcard to the not-even-released Xone:23 two-channel mixer. We’re wondering how much of this type of product versioning is driven by feedback from potential customers, and how much is a result of excess stock/parts that need to get moved.
BUT HOW MUCH LESS WILL IT COST?
The major reason to remove the soundcard from a controller like the Xone:K2 would be to make the controller more affordable – we’ve heard that the K2 will carry a price of around MSRP $260 – which will likely mean a much lower street price.
Learn more about the Xone:K1 on Allen & Heath’s product page here.
