tried a VCI 300 for the first time

[dodge]

I tried out a VCI 300 for the first time last night. Was quite impressed with the jog wheel response. It's not the perfect bit of kit for my needs, could do with more buttons & knobs, fucking impossible to see what the buttons are in the dark, a few other niggles here & there, but on the whole not a bad bit of kit.

couple of questions;

-am I to assume the VCI 300 is better than the 100 for scratching?

-I was using it with itch, will I get the same jog wheel response with traktor?

Any help appreciated

Cheers

[haze324]

The jog wheels will not work as good with Traktor as they do with Itch. You can get them to work about as good as the 100's do with Traktor but no better. They are a bit larger so they are easier to handle, but with they won't feel anywhere near as good as they do with Itch. Not sure how well the new unofficial firmware for the 100 has improved the jog wheels.

Yeah the knobs are impossible to see in the dark. That redline disappears. Paint the stripe white or silver.

I agree to work well with Traktor you need more buttons and knobs. I think an X1 goes perfect with a 300. Flashflooder is working on a DJTT style mapping for the 300 that shouldbe out soon. These two together should be capable of rocking a sweet set up. Having a built in sound card (while not the greatest) makes things convenient.

[BradCee]

wasn't there a thread somewhere about how to map the jogs to get a similar feel in traktor?

[haze324]

Zac came up with an excellent mapping that makes the 300 jogs work as well as the 100’s do with Traktor ---- but still they don’t compare to how well they work with Itch. The latest unofficial firmware have the 100’s working great with traktor (from what I read on Zac’s post) but still not up to par with the 300 and Itch. For scratching I have not seen of any controller that works all that great with Traktor. I’m hoping the KS4 with HID support will be the answer.

[hallicious]

I agree to work well with Traktor you need more buttons and knobs. I think an X1 goes perfect with a 300. Flashflooder is working on a DJTT style mapping for the 300 that shouldbe out soon. These two together should be capable of rocking a sweet set up. Having a built in sound card (while not the greatest) makes things convenient.

Wait, so I'm not limited to the VFX-1 for an effects controller for my VCI-300?

What's this?

Just looked up the X1 and it looks like it provides a boatload of effects and cue points. Nice one. Will begin my search for VFX-1 vs. X1 information now.

[haze324]

Wait, so I'm not limited to the VFX-1 for an effects controller for my VCI-300?

What's this?

Just looked up the X1 and it looks like it provides a boatload of effects and cue points. Nice one. Will begin my search for VFX-1 vs. X1 information now.

If your gonna use the 300 with Itch...then yes, the only thing you can use is VFX-1. BUT, with Traktor you can use any other other midi controller and I think the X1 is the best fit. In my dream solution I see the 300 used with Traktor very much like the 100 with Fader FX, instant FX's and the basics (volume, jogs, pitch, etc), then use the X1 for hotcues, effects, super knobs, etc. For 200 bucks you get ALOT more out of it than the VFX-1. I own both.

But yeah, for Itch...thats all we got. Bummer.

[hallicious]

If your gonna use the 300 with Itch...then yes, the only thing you can use is VFX-1. BUT, with Traktor you can use any other other midi controller and I think the X1 is the best fit. In my dream solution I see the 300 used with Traktor very much like the 100 with Fader FX, instant FX's and the basics (volume, jogs, pitch, etc), then use the X1 for hotcues, effects, super knobs, etc. For 200 bucks you get ALOT more out of it than the VFX-1. I own both.

But yeah, for Itch...thats all we got. Bummer.

Sucks the X1 doesn't work in Itch. I must have read into it wrong on their product description.

Digging your dream scenario. However, I'm also thinking about a midi fighter as an effects controller, within Traktor, alongside the VCI-300... Thoughts?

[Bassline Brine]

I mean if you have the VCI-300 already, it sounds like a decent setup. But I really think that going with a VCI-300 you should be set on using ITCH. Get a VCI-100SE if you want to use Traktor, because it's just much more intuitive at this point.

Not knocking the proprietary 300/ITCH combo, but that's what it was designed for. Form follows function as they say, and you are never going to fit that square peg in the round hole with any lasting success.

[hallicious]

I mean if you have the VCI-300 already, it sounds like a decent setup. But I really think that going with a VCI-300 you should be set on using ITCH. Get a VCI-100SE if you want to use Traktor, because it's just much more intuitive at this point.

Not knocking the proprietary 300/ITCH combo, but that's what it was designed for. Form follows function as they say, and you are never going to fit that square peg in the round hole with any lasting success.

I hear you. I guess I'm all over the place because I have a controller with a bum right jog wheel that I might be able to fix with carbon conductive grease.

If that works then I'd be looking to add effects... But I also really want a midi fighter and that doesn't go with itch either... So I've got some figuring to do.

[haze324]

I mean if you have the VCI-300 already, it sounds like a decent setup. But I really think that going with a VCI-300 you should be set on using ITCH. Get a VCI-100SE if you want to use Traktor, because it's just much more intuitive at this point.

Not knocking the proprietary 300/ITCH combo, but that's what it was designed for. Form follows function as they say, and you are never going to fit that square peg in the round hole with any lasting success.

I agree, the 300 and Itch integration work great together. Honestly it's as close to two CDJ's and a 2 channel mixer as it gets. I don't think there is another controller out there that truly provides this. While it has it's limitations, there are plenty of great sets you can rock with 2 decks and a mixer.

My thing with the 300 and traktor is that if you have a macbook you only have 2 USB ports. With a VCI-100, that means you plug in the sound card and the controller anything else you need a usb hub. For pure purpose of just plugging in less and making the set up as mobile as possible the 300 already comes with a soundcard so if most of the 100 workflows could be mapped to the 300, that would leave the second USB port available for an X1 and with that you could control much more effect functions and Hotcues than you can with just the VCI-100. So my thoughts are if youare limited to two USB ports, you should be able to do more with a 300 and X1, than a 100 and Soundcard. Add benefit is you can also use Itch.

Hall: I had issues with my 100 and the jogwheel and the instructions posted on how to lube and clean them worked like a charm. I've seen a few posts on the serato forum that talk about the jogs getting stuck and seems like it's happened to a few. I'd also check their for answers, but i'd start with whats posted here. Also you can add a midi fighter to Itch, check out pilmats blog on the main page. It's very limited though. You can map any of the Keyboard Commands to midi. So you can have the midi fighter control hotcues and few other things. No effects though.