Between Serato announcing plans to discontinue Scratch Live, Ableton previewing its Live 9.1 update, The Black Dog starting its own music-tech company, Applescal launching a remix contest, and new products from Novation, Pioneer, and Korg, it was easy to get lost in the avalanche of gear-related news that surfaced over the past five days. Fortunately, we’re here to help music-tech junkies dig their way out, gathering up the most important tidbits in our latest This Week in Music Tech round-up.

Serato announced that it will no longer issue updates to Scratch Live, and will instead move existing users to Serato DJ, which will now support DVS (the technology which allows turntables and CDJs to control the program). For existing SSL users, the upgrade will be free, and two new mixers—the Rane Sixty-Four and Pioneer DJM-900SRT—will be available starting next month, complete with the capability of utilizing DVS to control Serato DJ. Serato’s CEO, Sam Gribben, explains the details in the video above.

In addition to the DJM-9000SRT mixer mentioned above, Pioneer also unveiled the upcoming DDJ-SP1, a new add-on controller for Serato DJs. The unit includes six sample-trigger pads, assignable controls for Serato’s built-in FX, and more, all of which the walkthrough video above demonstrates.

Novation introduced three new compact MIDI controllers—the Launchkey Mini, Launchpad Mini, and Launch Control—this week. The introductory overview video for the Launchkey Mini is included above, while those for the other two forthcoming units can be watched below.

The Create Digital Music blog attended a preview session for Ableton Live‘s forthcoming 9.1 update and shared details of the upgrades expected to come with the new version of the program—including dual-monitor support, improvements to sample-rate conversion, and new sequencing abilities for the Push controller. CDM’s full article can be read here.

Earlier this week, longstanding British electronic outfit The Black Dog announced the opening of its own music-tech company, Machinewerks, and launched a coinciding Kickstarter campaign to help fund the development of its first product, the CS X51 USB/MIDI controller.

While the promo video above makes Korg‘s new KR Mini portable rhythm machine out to be rather lifeless, surely someone is capable of finding a cooler way to use a handheld rhythm generator that runs on batteries. The KR Mini is set to hit stores in November for a street price of $79.99.

Dutch producer Applescal and his Atomnation imprint have launched a new remix contest, offering the winner the prize of a single unit of his or her choice from Korg’s Volca Series of mini-synths and an official release on a planned remix EP. Submissions are due by October 8, and the winner will be announced on October 17. The full details of the contest, as well as the various stems and MIDI files needed to enter, can be found here.

Lastly, XLR8R recently took the next generation of Apple‘s flagship audio program, Logic Pro X, on a test drive, deeming the new version of the software the “smartest one yet.” Our full review can be read here.