Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller

Take a client's request from his iPod or USB memory flash drive, plug it in, and play it right away without having to reboot the unit. With two USB ports (and support for up to 4 devices when using a USB hub), the HDC unit allows users to connect and recognize multiple storage devices to access a variety of separate music databases simultaneously. No need to abandon the CD collection, the Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller is able to play audio CDs with any compatible USB CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. Play back user-created CD-Rs or DVD-Rs loaded with MP3 or WAV music files using a compatible USB CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.



Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller Features:
-Full CBR and VBR MP3 Compatibility
-The HDC500 can play all your MP3's; CBR or VBR at any bitrate up to 320kbps.
-Support for various hard drive & flash-based music players such as Apple iPod* and External CD/DVD Rom Drives

The Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller uses a database management system that allows the user to search through a massive library of music within seconds, by artist, title, genre, album or even by string.  The cataloging system gives you several browsing options, including Search by Artist, Song, Title, Album, BPM and Genre.

This system allows users to search the same way they would using an iPod or similar portable music player. Users can search by a certain word or phrase to find tracks on their storage device, even if they're unsure of the name. When the user inputs a keyword, it will search all Artists, Titles, Albums, and Genres, and show all matches to that keyword. For instance, searching for the word 'LOVE' might bring up (3) artists. It might also find (60) titles, (10) albums and (1) genre. The user can then select the artists, titles, albums, or genres from that list.

Easily make Playlists and sort songs based on Artist, Genre, etc., via your computer for use on your HDC500 unit with new Database Software. Also when using an iPod the iPod playlist will become available in the search field.  The Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller has a 4 line 80-charcter LCD display for playback information, parameter adjustments & Waveform display. 

The brightly illuminated LCD main playback screen displays info on any track in the catalog, showing everything from the essentials such as artist, track title, pitch, time elapsed/remaining to detailed information including file format (MP3 or WAV), genre, and track length and Waveform Display.As well as having a high speed USB connection in the back, the HDC500 includes one right in the front of the machine for easy access when the unit is rack mounted. Both USB connections allow you to connect any kind of media as well as an optional USB keyboard.

Quickly find that hot new track in a massive library of music with just a few taps of a USB-compatible keyboard. Also control all the basic functions of the HDC500 via the keyboard like Play, Pause and Navigation.  The Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller's multifunction Jog Wheel let you change modes on the fly, in the default mode the wheel acts as a pitch controller and in Jog Mode the wheel allows you to use it for fast forwarding and rewinding, as well when in any of the other modes of the HDC500 like Search, Edit and/or CUEING the Jog wheel can be used as a navigation tool.

The scratch effect mode on the Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller lets you manipulate your Mp3 files like you would Vinyl. With the touch of a button the HDC500 allows you to use its super sensitive Jog wheel like you would a record and emulate scratching.

The Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller allows you to create seamless loops during playback. Once the Seamless Loop feature is engaged The HDC500 can loop any part of a track, loop features include IN, OUT and RELOOP.  All the settings of the HDC500 can be adjusted and saved and will be recalled every time you use that particular media device. As well, the HDC's internal software can be upgraded simply by downloading new software from the Cortex website.

When either side of the HDC500 has a song loaded into it by pressing the INFO button for that corresponding side the HDC500's display will show you the ID3 tag information for that particular song.  Just as in most CD players the Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller lets you choose between playing one song at a time (Single Mode) and continuing on to the next song on the playlist (Continuous Mode).  Once you have created a playlist with the Cortex software or even if you just have a group of songs on a media storage device in no particular order, Shuffle Mode will randomly play all the music on that particular device and automatically fade from one song to another unattended.

The Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller will let you see time displayed in two modes, time remaining represents how much time is left on a track/song or Time Elapsed which will display how far into a track you are.  Accuracy is the most important feature in any digital player, and the HDC500 has frame accurate searching which translates to pin-point accurate searching, cueing and of course playback.

Pitch adjust on the Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller comes via three ways the (1) The Pitch fader which glides up and down to adjust pitch smoothly or (2) The Pitch bend button which Allows you to bend the pitch up or down in bursts for mix fine tuning or, (3) the jog wheel which works sort of like a record player by gently nudging the pitch faster or slower, all of these ways can be set to three different percentages of pitch 8%, 16% and 24% giving you a wide range Pitch adjustment.

Every Cortex HDC unit features exclusive protection from accidental shutdown while playing, securing your precious digital files from sudden corruption and preserving your performance. To turn the unit off, simply press and hold the power button for more than 2 seconds.  The normal DJ environment is not a gentle one. Knowing this, Cortex made sure that the Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller was built from the finest steel and ABS plastics providing you with a solid feeling machine that will handle any application you can put it through, while still maintaining the slimmest profile in its class. The Buttons the faders and especially the jog wheels are all of the finest quality with a Tough Rugged design.

As well as English, the HDC500 allows you to choose three other languages for it's display with more to come. Currently there is support for German, Spanish and French.

Cortex HDC500 Digital Music Controller Specifications:
-Type of Unit  Streaming Digital Audio Controller
-Format Compatibility  MP3, WAV, CD-Audio
-MP3 Format  8 kbps ~ 320 kbps, CBR/VBR, 44.1 kHz
-WAV Format  44.1 kHz, 16 bit stereo
-Instant Start  <0.1 second
-Pitch Ranges  4, 8, 16, 24%
-Pitch Increment  0.05%
-Power  6V DC 3000mA
-Power Consumption  12 Watts
-Operating Environment Temp  +5º C to +35º C (+41º F - +95º F)
-Operating Environment Humidity  5-85%
-Adapter  AC 100~240V, 50/60Hz
-Connector Type  USB Types A&B
-USB Protocol Support  1.0, 1.1 (Full Speed) and 2.0 (Hi-Speed)
-Number of Ports  2
-Maximum Number of Connected Devices (via USB hub, sold separately)  4 (plus keyboard)
-File System Support  FAT32, NTFS, HFS+, CDFS, UDFS
-Included Accessories  Power supply & operating instructions
-Dimensions  19" x 10.5" x 2.5"  (482 x 267 x 64 mm)

*Due to Apple limitations, the iPod iTouch, iPhone & Mac formatted Classics are not compatible with Cortex products.