Review: M-Audio X-Session Pro peripheral

The X-Session Pro is a clone of a DJ's mixing desk, which comes with software allowing users to play the bedroom DJ. You load in your MP3 music files and can then mix them to create one seamless sound, or play around with their tempos and add other effects.

Unlike the Ejay DJ Mixstation software the X-Session device makes the process of mixing tracks together a lot easier – while both rely on software to load files and set tempos, the X-Session kit includes physical buttons for starting and stopping tracks, faders for changing the pitch and volume, and dials for various other controls. It's not compatible with the Ejay software, but the M-Audio Torq LE software with which it's supplied does an excellent job in the same vein. Should you wish to get more involved, the kit is also compatible with other professional DJ tools such as the Traktor software.

Torq LE is very easy to use – more so than DJ Mixstation, in our opinion, with large, colourful buttons and a simple design. It makes it simple to synchronise tracks so that, with a button, you can play two tracks together without anyone noticing the join. If you want to practice that technique, called beat-matching, yourself, the software also provides that facility, and the presence of the physical buttons on the X-Session mean there's no hunting for the mouse or keyboard at inopportune moments.

The device itself, while having a very plastic feel, is actually quite solidly built, and it's compact enough and light enough to be easy to carry around. It draws its power from the computer's USB port, meaning there are few extra cables to carry, and so it's suitable for anyone playing music at an event, and just carrying a notebook.

While computer DJing remains a niche pursuit, the X-Session is an exceptionally easy way to get involved in it. Not only is it suitable for both amateur tinkerers and jobbing travelling DJs, it would also make a good present for older kids who are just getting into the art of mixing music.

Vista compatible: Yes