“It’s a synthesizer, a sampler, and a sequencer,” DJ Sara Simms told the National Monitor, referring to the XW-PDI model of Casio’s new Trackformer series. Alliteration aside, it is seemingly a quote about a very specific model from a line of products by a single company, yet it actually stands as a perfect description of a trend at the 2015 CES: versatility. Even Ms. Simms is in sync with the rhythm of CES, displaying her versatility with a collaborative multimedia project that ties together a concept album and a graphic novel both titled “The Future Prophecy.”

At CES Unveiled, held on the first day of the week long Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, one exhibitor told the National Monitor that they had tried to put every possible piece of technology into their version of the smartwatch. This was a good indication of what was to come.

DJ Sara Simms was displaying and demoing the aforementioned red XW-PDI as well as the other member of the Trackformer series, the XW-DJI, which she described as a highly advanced DJ tool that allows the user to scratch and mix songs by importing them directly from iTunes and Spotify into the machine. On Tuesday, when reps from Casio spoke to the National Monitor they could not disclose the prices for the two Trackformer models but on Wednesday, the reps announced the XW-DJI and the XW-PDI will retail at $299 and $399, respectively. Like many of the products displayed at CES, both models will be available in the coming months but have no exact release date.

Ms. Simms is an established Canadian DJ and producer who like many at CES is at the cutting edge of her industry. While the Canadian DJ mixed and scratched, programmed and sequenced, building and creating songs right on stage in real time, she left many in the press asking if it would be so easy for them, or the consumer.

As she explained it, the two devices are powered by four AA batteries so they are perfect for the DJ on the go, but both have USB-ports so they can be charged through a PC. They can also be tied into Algoriddim’s djay app which, according to the entry in the Google Play store, is made for the “professional DJ or a beginner who just loves to play with music,” and purports to offer an “intuitive yet powerful DJ experience.” The app gives cues and signals to the user to, for example, scratch the 7-inch deck (which is circular and represents the old vinyl format, certainly a wink to purists) at certain points in a song on the XW-DJI. Casio seems to have allowed the Algoriddim app tie-in exactly for those who would inquire about the inevitable learning curve.

Casio has been a trusted maker of keyboards for years. In fact, many of the 100 sounds pre-programmed into the XW-PDI model are classic sounds from those Casio keyboards. However, Casio is just recently trying its hand at such versatile, modern and arguably populist equipment. The Trackformer series falls into a price range not often seen in machines with such a range of functions (a machine much like the XW-PDI–the Akai MPC1000–is selling used for almost $600 on Amazon). It also creates the types of music, electronica and hip-hop, usually associated with the younger generation. In fact, the Trackformer series is essentially an all-in-one song-building station, allowing the user to create fully-formed songs and even entire DJ sets in one sitting.

As DJ Sara Simms further explained to National Monitor, bassslines, melodies, loops, and rhythms can all be created and then combined on the Trackformer. With a crossfader included on both models, the user can then fade in between their songs and the songs on their Spotify and iTunes playlists. On top of the 100 sounds already in the XW-PDI, the user can import 36 of their own samples. The Trackformer can also be used in conjunction with the user’s Android device. A learning curve is inevitable with any musical instrument, but with the XW-PDI and the XW-DJI, Casio is trying to make that curve as gradual as possible. Like many products at CES, it packs a remarkably broad range of functions into a small machine.

So, if you have the talent of DJ Sara Simms there is certainly a chance that Casio’s new Trackformer series can pave the way to a career in the music business. But a little versatility would not hurt, either.