AlphaTheta – Pioneer DJ’s owners and now a brand onto themselves – are taking on low-latency wireless audio. Today they’re introducing the WAVE-EIGHT, a portable wireless DJ speaker that aims to make setting up a party without running cables that much easier.
The easiest way to explain the WAVE-EIGHT to DJs who already are familiar with other current offerings: think of it like a Soundboks, but with an included wireless transmitter box. It’s battery powered (up to 8 hours), it has ultra-low-latency wireless audio input (with a transmitter), it can daisy-chain to other WAVE-EIGHTs/SonicLink devices, it can toggle into different sound modes.
Oh, and did we mention it has wheels and a handle?
SonicLink, the wireless technology that AlphaTheta is touting in this new PA speaker, is a propietary 2.4ghz signal – so there’s probably not going to be any chance of it getting merged with SKAA – but we can dream, right?
The WAVE-EIGHT offers various connectivity options, including XLR/TRS combo jacks and a USB Type-C port. But the main way it connects to other DJ gear is by using the transmitter – “Simply remove the included transmitter from its storage compartment on the WAVE-EIGHT and connect it to any DJ gear to instantly create a wireless connection between decks and the speaker.”
The WAVE-EIGHT also is switchable between different sound mode – so you could set one up as a subwoofer, or use a different one as a mono speaker in a room by itself, or set up a pair of speakers in stereo.
It’s coming later this month – January, 2024, and will be priced at $899. Yes, that includes the transmitter. Yes, AlphaTheta has heavily promoted this as being a good choice alongside the battery-powered, just-announced OMNIS-DUO – but the reality is it’ll work with any devices. See, here’s a setup they sent photos of with a full CDJ setup. It’s almost oddly comforting to see brand new press images with the Pioneer DJ logo still in them…
We’re excited to see how it sounds and test the SonicLink reliability, but do you think that this could be the beginning of an era of cableless DJing?
There’s a bunch of new gear coming out and stories to explore this week.
See more NAMM 2024 coverage of DJ products here