Top 5Has said they use
Ableton
Live“This program is absolutely incredible.”
Said in DJ Fresh tells us what's on his hard drive! (Computer Music / MusicRadar), June 2011
Photo: DJ Fresh · CC BY-SA 3.0
Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by DJ Fresh. Every item links to its public source.
13 items · Last checked What DAW does DJ Fresh use?
DJ Fresh has named Ableton Live as his DAW, Sylenth1 and Omnisphere as go-to soft synths, Xfer Nerve for drum programming and a Traktor Kontrol S4 as his DJ workhorse. He has also praised MeldaProduction MDynamicEq and Sonnox Oxford TransMod, and started out sequencing from an Amiga and Atari ST.
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In stores now
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Top 5
Where to start with DJ Fresh's gear.
01
02
Top 5Has said they use
LennarDigital
Sylenth1“The most analogue-sounding synth plug-in I've found.”
Said in DJ Fresh tells us what's on his hard drive! (Computer Music / MusicRadar), June 2011
03
Top 5Has said they use
Spectrasonics
Omnisphere“It has some incredible synthesis features, and a really user-friendly layout”
Said in DJ Fresh tells us what's on his hard drive! (Computer Music / MusicRadar), June 2011
04
Top 5Has said they use
Xfer Records
Nerve“This is the go-to drum programming software for me... period.”
Said in DJ Fresh tells us what's on his hard drive! (Computer Music / MusicRadar), June 2011
05
Top 5Has said they use
Native Instruments
Traktor Kontrol S4“This is my DJ workhorse.”
Said in DJ Fresh tells us what's on his hard drive! (Computer Music / MusicRadar), June 2011
What studio gear DJ Fresh uses: a sourced gear guide
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
Studio
Has said they use
Ableton
Live“This program is absolutely incredible.”
Said in DJ Fresh tells us what's on his hard drive! (Computer Music / MusicRadar), June 2011
Has said they use
LennarDigital
Sylenth1“The most analogue-sounding synth plug-in I've found.”
Said in DJ Fresh tells us what's on his hard drive! (Computer Music / MusicRadar), June 2011
Also at
Has said they use
Spectrasonics
Omnisphere“It has some incredible synthesis features, and a really user-friendly layout”
Said in DJ Fresh tells us what's on his hard drive! (Computer Music / MusicRadar), June 2011
Has said they use
Xfer Records
Nerve“This is the go-to drum programming software for me... period.”
Said in DJ Fresh tells us what's on his hard drive! (Computer Music / MusicRadar), June 2011
Has said they use
Sonnox
Oxford TransMod“I used a bit of transient modulation with Oxford Transient Modulator to add some punch”
Said in DJ Fresh: how I made the drums for Louder (Computer Music / MusicRadar), September 2011
Has said they use
MeldaProduction
MDynamicEq“I love Dynamic EQ The power is insane.”
Said in DJ Fresh artist page (MeldaProduction), September 2020
DJ booth
Has said they use
Native Instruments
Traktor Kontrol S4“This is my DJ workhorse.”
Said in DJ Fresh tells us what's on his hard drive! (Computer Music / MusicRadar), June 2011
Sound design
Symbolic Sound
Kyma
Has said they use
Symbolic Sound
Kyma“There was a period where I was using things like Kyma, which is a sound-programming language”
Said in Fresh Pivot, with Dan Stein (Kubernetes Podcast from Google), October 2022
Has said they use
Cycling '74
Max“Or, like, MaxMSP, I would use.”
Said in Fresh Pivot, with Dan Stein (Kubernetes Podcast from Google), October 2022
Where it started
OctaMED
OctaMED
Has said they use
OctaMED
OctaMED“So OctaMED on the Amiga was a tracker, which is a really cool type of sequencing software.”
Said in Fresh Pivot, with Dan Stein (Kubernetes Podcast from Google), October 2022
No store page for this one.
Commodore
Amiga
Has said they use
Commodore
Amiga“So I was using this sampler and sequencing the sampler from an Amiga, initially.”
Said in Fresh Pivot, with Dan Stein (Kubernetes Podcast from Google), October 2022
No store page for this one.
Has said they use
Atari
Atari ST“Then I got an Atari ST, actually, because Ataris have slightly different software.”
Said in Fresh Pivot, with Dan Stein (Kubernetes Podcast from Google), October 2022
Find it on
What I wear
BOSS
Jacket and T-shirt
Seen wearing
Questions
About DJ Fresh's gear.
What DAW does DJ Fresh use?
DJ Fresh has said Ableton Live is his DAW, calling it absolutely incredible in a 2011 Computer Music feature. Back in the 90s he sequenced his sampler from a Commodore Amiga running the OctaMED tracker, then moved to an Atari ST and later a Mac.
What plugins does DJ Fresh use?
DJ Fresh has named Sylenth1 and Spectrasonics Omnisphere for synths, Xfer Nerve for drum programming, Sonnox Oxford TransMod for snare transients on Louder, and MeldaProduction MDynamicEq for pulling out kick and bass harmonics.
What synth does DJ Fresh use?
DJ Fresh has said Sylenth1 is the most analogue-sounding synth plugin he has found, and has praised Omnisphere for its modulation and envelope programming. He has also talked about sound design in Kyma and Max/MSP.
What DJ controller does DJ Fresh use?
DJ Fresh has called the Native Instruments Traktor Kontrol S4 his DJ workhorse, saying it has the flexibility of a studio sequencer with the live performance options a touring DJ needs (Computer Music, 2011).
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DF
DJ Fresh
About this guide · Last checked
DJ Fresh (Dan Stein) is the London drum and bass producer behind Bad Company, Breakbeat Kaos and the UK number ones Louder and Hot Right Now. This guide covers the DAW, plugins, synths and DJ controller he has named in interviews, plus the computers he started on.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. DJ Fresh didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
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