What controller should I buy?

jtsuited · 13-10-2009 5:58pm

Zascar wrote: »

This is what really appeals to me most I think - the DJ designed layout, and the simplicity of just one unit (with a souncard).

the vci100 has no soundcard.

Zascar · 13-10-2009 6:01pm

jtsuited wrote: »

the vci100 has no soundcard.

I know that mate, sorry let me rephraze:

"This is what really appeals to me most I think - the DJ designed layout, and the simplicity of just one unit (and a seperate souncard).

jtsuited · 13-10-2009 6:32pm

Zascar wrote: »

I know that mate, sorry let me rephraze:

"This is what really appeals to me most I think - the DJ designed layout, and the simplicity of just one unit (and a seperate souncard).

well if you have a separate soundcard, then you can go into 2 channels on a mixer, which would therefore make obsolete pretty much everything on the controller.
only thing you'd need to control are traktor's inbuilt fx, which the vci doesn't have specialist controls for anyway.

Quiggers · 13-10-2009 11:04pm

I'm using traktor 3 with a behringer bcr2000, an edirol ua25ex soundcard
and whatever mixer is to hand, i'm not a fan of the pioneer mixer.
I run two mono outs into the mixer and use it for cueing in the cans.

the bcr2000 gives me28 buttons and 32 rotaries so even when
i've mapped everything i still have 9 knobs spare and
12 buttons. Its good for traktor once you label it up.
i find it even better for ableton live which is the direction i'm moving more in.

Zascar · 13-10-2009 11:24pm

jtsuited wrote: »

well if you have a separate soundcard, then you can go into 2 channels on a mixer, which would therefore make obsolete pretty much everything on the controller.

Ahh come on, its a little more than just faders and eq's!

You can click a button and use the platter and faders to control the effects too

jtsuited · 13-10-2009 11:31pm

can't tell if you are joking or not.

5 faders, 14 knobs, two jogwheels (which i presume are just endless rotaries), and a load of buttons.

then it's just got stuff written on it.
that's it. that's all there is to it.
At 500 euro, it'd wanna have drugs inside it.

jtsuited · 13-10-2009 11:36pm

oh and btw, that controller layout there is complicating things to a ridiculous degree. i'm telling you it's a complete waste of money. seriously.

not to get into this too much, but i can't think of any serious dj that uses one of these types of controllers. not one (but i'm open to correction on that).

Zascar · 14-10-2009 12:38am

lol no drugs inside unfortunately

So if it were your money jeff, what gear would you buy? What is the best possible setup for Traktor pro?

jtsuited · 14-10-2009 1:16am

UC 33e - 170 euro or thereabouts. just because it has a load of decent knobs and faders and you get a load of plastic overlays so you can write down your custom layouts. would suffice for mixing at home and recording sets (when recording sets it's best to stay in the box).

Native instruments Audio 2 Dj - 99 euro. 2 stereo outs (4 mono outs) so you can rock up to the club and use the house mixer for everything. I can guarantee you the knobs and faders on any midi controller aren't going to be up to the quality of a djm800.
bring the uc33e along to control the traktor's effects.
for home use (ie without a mixer) you can use one of the stereo outs for cueing.

Benefits of this setup: Works perfectly at home, and will work phenomenally well in dj booths where space is often a factor. Also you're always going to be adjusting levels on the house mixer so why not centralise all your twiddling.

With this setup, all you're essentially doing is replacing 1210's/cdj's with your laptop. It means you won't be looking at the screen when mixing. If you're mixing internally when playing in a club, you'll be constantly looking at the screen to check faders and knobs and levels etc.

total cost : 270 euro.

if money was no obstacle, i'd still choose this exact setup (maybe replacing the uc33e with faderfoxes ,although the uc33 is the only controller you can actually see when in a dark dj booth.

Zascar · 14-10-2009 10:00am

Well when you put it like that!!!

How can I refuse?

Ok mate I'm going to go with you on this one, I have been offered a UC33 for cheap - so I'll grab it while its there and order an Audio 2 DJ as well. I'll see how it goes for me and report back soon!

I hope you are prepared to be my full time tech support rep for this Jeff! LOL
:pac:

gsparx · 14-10-2009 10:28am

I'm assuming coming from the Xponent Zascar has a preference for the jog wheels to manipulate and match the digital files?
Otherwise, what, it's computer sync or shifting with buttons?
That is if you don't go with the timecoded vinyl/ cd's.

jtsuited · 14-10-2009 10:38am

Zascar wrote: »

Well when you put it like that!!! How can I refuse?

Ok mate I'm going to go with you on this one, I have been offered a UC33 for cheap - so I'll grab it while its there and order an Audio 2 DJ as well. I'll see how it goes for me and report back soon!

I hope you are prepared to be my full time tech support rep for this Jeff! LOL
:pac:

worse comes to worse you decide to get the vci100 after all. in which case you're probably not gonna make a loss selling the uc33e. so nothing lost by trying this way.

Zascar · 14-10-2009 10:56am

Yeah exactly, I'm not going to loose much and at least I'll see what its like with a normal midi controller etc - if its too weird for me I'll consider getting the Vestax.

Gsparax yeah I'm so used to using job wheels etc. Xponent/Torq's auto beatmatch was pretty crap it always needed manual adjustment - but I hear Traktor is very good hence no need to job wheels. Plus I generally like to beatmatch myself - its very easy to get ultra lazy if you don't. If you are playing a gig and have to mix in from a previous DJ I'd imagine its pretty hard to do without standard buttons and job wheels - but i guess it depends on how its set up. Last thing I'd want is to trainwreck on my first mix! hahahaha

VinylJunkie · 14-10-2009 11:09am

Assign two sliders on the evo to control the pitch controls, I used to have my keyboards modulation wheel controlling each pitch slider.

Zascar · 14-10-2009 11:10am

Yep assumed that. And then assign the buttons for play/pause and cue?

VinylJunkie · 14-10-2009 11:17am

Yeah then pots for low/mid/high + eq's

Zascar · 14-10-2009 11:34am

If I do decide to go get the Vestax in the end, I'm assuming I could I keep the uc33 and use it as a separate controller just for effects? That would be sweet!

VinylJunkie · 14-10-2009 11:39am

Yes you could, or you could sell it onto me for 50e

Zascar · 14-10-2009 1:09pm

I'm finding it hard to get the Native Instruments Audio 2 DJ.

Either they are out of stock or want to charge £40 for delivery. Plus there is a postal strike in the UK. Is there anywhere in Ireland that might have one of these?

VinylJunkie · 14-10-2009 1:10pm

X Music?

jtsuited · 14-10-2009 1:22pm

Why not get direct from them?

Zascar · 14-10-2009 2:34pm

Cheers Jeff - I called them and they were very helpful, they have in stock and will send straight away

jtsuited · 14-10-2009 3:00pm

Zascar wrote: »

Cheers Jeff - I called them and they were very helpful, they have in stock and will send straight away

no problem man. if you're ever getting anything, go to source first. you'll always get it cheaper and they actually make a lot more of a profit so tend to be very courteous.

Zascar · 14-10-2009 3:01pm

Cool, good to know!!

Zascar · 15-10-2009 9:32am

Got my uc33 last night - thanks Fieldog!

I'm borrowing a sound card until my Audio 2 DJ arrives, should be here early next week.

So, does anyone have a tsi for Traktor pro for the uc33?

VinylJunkie · 15-10-2009 10:24am

Just get stuck in and map i yourself, not that difficult. Or keep an eye on this thread http://www.native-instruments.com/forum/showthread.php?t=95899

VinylJunkie · 15-10-2009 10:26am

From Tracktor Forums
I know its not a tsi file but not hard to map this will give you an idea of how other people map it.

i use the uc33e for traktor pro.

I use 3 decks (A, B and D)

the first 2 colloms for deck A
Fader 1 = filter on/off
filter 2 = vol deck A
Knobs column 1, under: Mixer filter
Knob column 1 mid: fx. b on/off AND vol. fx. b
Knob column 1 up: fx. a on/off AND vol fx. a

Knob column 2 under: eq bass deck A
Knob column 2 mid: eq mid deck A
Knob column 3 up: eq high deck A

The same I do with column 3 nd 4 for deck B
The same I do with column 5 and 6 for deck D

Column 7:
fader: Jump amound (on the selected deck)
knob column 7 under: fx 1 knob A
knob column 7 mid: fx 1 knob B
knob column 7 fx 2 knob c

Column 8: fader loop length (on the selected deck)
column 8 knob knobs for fx 2

buttons:
top 3 buttons for fx 1
mid 3 buttons for fx2 AND for headphpne on selected deck, pitchbend up and down for selected deck.
low 3 buttons: select deck A B and D

single low button: loop on/off

low 4 buttons:
left: jump left selected deck (and selected amound of jump lenth with fader 7)
right: jump right selected deck (and selected amound of jump lenth with fader 7)
middle 2 for changing from loopjump to beatjump.

I also use my keyboard with hotkeys. I can select all effects on it, can jump to cue points from selected decks and play on (and also auto sync) deck a, b and d.

I hope you understand this, it works fantastic.

One thing I want to change about my setup.
I want to use the filter 92 in stead of the mixer filter, so there willl be a change soon.

run_Forrest_run · 15-10-2009 12:18pm

jtsuited wrote: »

UC 33e - 170 euro or thereabouts. just because it has a load of decent knobs and faders and you get a load of plastic overlays so you can write down your custom layouts. would suffice for mixing at home and recording sets (when recording sets it's best to stay in the box).

Native instruments Audio 2 Dj - 99 euro. 2 stereo outs (4 mono outs) so you can rock up to the club and use the house mixer for everything. I can guarantee you the knobs and faders on any midi controller aren't going to be up to the quality of a djm800.
bring the uc33e along to control the traktor's effects.
for home use (ie without a mixer) you can use one of the stereo outs for cueing.

Benefits of this setup: Works perfectly at home, and will work phenomenally well in dj booths where space is often a factor. Also you're always going to be adjusting levels on the house mixer so why not centralise all your twiddling.

With this setup, all you're essentially doing is replacing 1210's/cdj's with your laptop. It means you won't be looking at the screen when mixing. If you're mixing internally when playing in a club, you'll be constantly looking at the screen to check faders and knobs and levels etc.

some good info on this thread folks, can I just hijack it a bit though and ask how the above setup works...sorry, I'm a tad thick about how all the devices interact!

I have a BCD3000 midi controller which is connecting to the laptop running Traktor (LE).

Now if I was to replace the BCD3000 with the above how would it work out?

Would the UC 33e replace the BCD3000 and would it connect to the Audio 2 Dj and then the Audio 2 Dj connect to the laptop? Is that it? Is the Audio 2 Dj just essentially a soundcard interface for the laptop and from that I'm assuming the UC 33e doesn't have built-in soundcards (unlike the BCD3000).

Thanks for you patience!

No worries, I've just looked it up myself...d'oh, how was I confused by this! Seems simple now!

acman · 15-10-2009 12:23pm

run_Forrest_run wrote: »

some good info on this thread folks, can I just hijack it a bit though and ask how the above setup works...sorry, I'm a tad thick about how all the devices interact!

I have a BCD3000 midi controller which is connecting to the laptop running Traktor (LE).

Now if I was to replace the BCD3000 with the above how would it work out?

Would the UC 33e replace the BCD3000 and would it connect to the Audio 2 Dj and then the Audio 2 Dj connect to the laptop? Is that it? Is the Audio 2 Dj just essentially a soundcard interface for the laptop and from that I'm assuming the UC 33e doesn't have built-in soundcards (unlike the BCD3000).

Thanks for you patience!

This image should pretty much explain the answer to your question:

VinylJunkie · 15-10-2009 12:29pm

The uc33 is just a simple midi controller to controlfunctions on the interface. It does not have a soundcard therefore you would not be able to cue a track in the headphones without a soundcard.

What controller should I buy?

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