DJ PiDeck: Raspberry Pi turntable

Become the ultimate DJ with PiDeck. This cooler-than-cool project puts a Raspberry Pi inside a classic vinyl mixing desk.

With a PiDeck setup, you plug a USB stick containing audio files into the system. The Raspberry Pi plays digital tracks that you mix and scratch on a real-life turntable. This offers the best of both worlds: digital music and analogue mixing skills.

“Our first community video shows that the Raspberry Pi 3 is capable of real-time performance which easily matches a laptop-based system,” says Daniel James the Director of 64 Studio Ltd.

Using a PiDeck digital Raspberry Pi DJ system

"That's all it does, the DJ skills are up to you," says Daniel . "Pull out the USB stick and the next DJ can take over. We wanted to make a system which was simple, accessible and fun. It's the Joy of Decks"

• PiDesk build and software available on GitHub

"PiDeck is an open source project retro-fitting the Raspberry Pi onto any DJ turntable," explains Daniel. This is "eliminating the need for each DJ to carry their own laptop."

"Music files are loaded from USB sticks so that DJs can hand over between sets without any cable plugging or unplugging," says Daniel. "The hardware cost for DIY is around US $182 per turntable, and there is no soldering or modification to the turntable required."

That's a lot cheaper than a digital vinyl system, which typically involves a laptop and new digital decks. Systems that cost thousands of pounds.

"Digital vinyl systems are useful," says Daniel, "because they save you carrying heavy boxes of rare and valuable vinyl from place to place."

However, laptop-based systems are complex, locked and incompatible with each other. Digital systems need a lot of cables to be switched between DJ sets. Laptops are also hard to share between DJs, which makes turntablism less accessible for the people who are just starting out. "We're going to fix that," says Daniel.