What do you think about Gemini MDJ-1000?

[Reticuli]

I have that same problem when connecting to VDJ have to sit there messing with asio utility. They're holding off for some reason I might call them they may say why.

Sure would be embarrassing to be messing with that during a quick set up in a live situation. Heck, I had difficulty just getting sound to come out of the units that were actually controlling that deck. Last night took me like an hour to work it out.

I don't see why player number designated on the unit settings (as opposed to being set to Auto) isn't predicating player identification in VDJ, and why the ASIO utility has these mystery string of characters on each unit. I'm going to have write them down on a piece of tape on them, as they are not the same as the serials and not even visible in the OS or unit settings anywhere. They appear unique and repeatable, however, to each unit and the only other way to know which is which is to have the ASIO screen open and individually switch each unit to MIDI to see which new one pops up.

I'd prefer they just give the option of downloading the firmware directly. The USB flash drive update method was less hassle. The release notes for the updater show problems like this in the past, and it certainly wasn't any faster than just using a flash drive considering you 1) had to hook the computer up to the units, and 2) you could only have one unit set to MIDI at a time. Now you have to add to that list the necessity of updating the updater utility as is apparently required with 6.3 and deal with the updater utility's possible quirks like the old internet problem message.

[the_bastet]

It sounds like these things are a complete headache.

[Reticuli]

Had a go the last two days with v6.3 firmware. Got it direct from Eric.

By the way, I assume the Virtual DJ HID controller and sound card ability is just as good as it was before, but I haven't tested that on this firmware yet. Once you get them configured and assigned, actual HID performance has been mostly rock solid. My concerns are with them as players.

The following are the recommendations I compiled based on my own efforts for those who already own the units, not me making excuses in order to compel purchases of them at this juncture or "justify a purchase", ok?

-Use the default zoom on the waveform. Zooming out seems to increase issues right now.
-Don't use the track search also called next track button, rather use the browser to select tracks with the encoder knob, otherwise drive reading may completely reset, especially on larger flash drives.
-Be cognizant of the split screen info and top of browser track number often being wrong. Right now folder is track one. Referencing the top #/#, load one number ahead of the one you want.
-Be careful with the hot cues and baby them... don't expect live perfection both in setting the hot cue and triggering them.
-And be patient with the browser screen. Still slow. Still the damn split screen. Still hangs up sometimes. Moving to a new folder in particular can be an issue, so care is warranted when doing so after mixing a while.

(EDIT 3/17/2017:

Found another bug that might be the root of some issues with cue, hot cues, and loops.

https://youtu.be/3sC_AQ6ot2s

Solution for the time being appears to be to set cue, hot cues, and loops when track is actually playing and your hand is on platter. Not reliable operation if track is paused.)

There is also no Passive Mode added yet to the options, but keeping fingers crossed. In spite of the above, while following these guidelines I was able to get about a rough 3hr set in doing just the most simple functions with quantize & gridding off, and BPM set to manual. I still wouldn't want to use them live outside these tests at a venue and they're frustrating even to practice with just on Facebook, but this is slight, real progress.

And I literally have a headache right now... have all day. Didn't go away during the mixing session, as you can see on the video. Probably a coincidence, but an unfortunate irony. Lightning going off nearby didn't help.

[DjBlend]

Had a go the last two days with v6.3 firmware. Got it direct from Eric.

By the way, I assume the Virtual DJ HID controller and sound card ability is just as good as it was before, but I haven't tested that on this firmware yet. Once you get them configured and assigned, actual HID performance has been mostly rock solid. My concerns are with them as players.

The following are the recommendations I compiled based on my own efforts for those who already own the units, not me making excuses in order to compel purchases of them at this juncture or "justify a purchase", ok?

-Use the default zoom on the waveform. Zooming out seems to increase issues right now.
-Don't use the track search also called next track button, rather use the browser to select tracks with the encoder knob, otherwise drive reading may completely reset, especially on larger flash drives.
-Be cognizant of the split screen info and top of browser track number often being wrong. Right now folder is track one. Referencing the top #/#, load one number ahead of the one you want.
-Be careful with the hot cues and baby them... don't expect live perfection both in setting the hot cue and triggering them.
-And be patient with the browser screen. Still slow. Still the damn split screen. Still hangs up sometimes. Moving to a new folder in particular can be an issue, so care is warranted when doing so after mixing a while.

There is also no Passive Mode added yet to the options, but keeping fingers crossed. In spite of the above, while following these guidelines I was able to get about a rough 3hr set in doing just the most simple functions with quantize & gridding off, and BPM set to manual. I still wouldn't want to use them live outside these tests at a venue and they're frustrating even to practice with just on Facebook, but this is slight, real progress.

And I literally have a headache right now... have all day. Didn't go away during the mixing session, as you can see on the video. Probably a coincidence, but an unfortunate irony. Lightning going off nearby didn't help.

I haven't contacted Eric yet. So this is not the main update and we are still waiting. Is the final firmware wil come out by the time the new units will be on the market ?

[Reticuli]

I haven't contacted Eric yet. So this is not the main update and we are still waiting. Is the final firmware wil come out by the time the new units will be on the market ?

They frequently update the firmware. 6.2 was updated multiple times while still keeping the 6.2 public designation. If you've got these, there's no reason not to get the newest firmware available and check frequently. 6.3 was anticipated to be a substantial upgrade, and it's been only a modest, though welcome, one. With my efforts in the past and most recently, I expect 6.4 to be substantial... I mean "expect" as in fix these particular issues and put in a Passive/No-Analysis Mode kind of "EXPECT"... like stop dinking around with trying to perfect quantized loops and slip scratch. Great. Slip scratch is basically perfect now. Great for slip scratch. The MDJ literally auto-loads ID3 tags right now as you browse cut-in-half filenames in split screen! I'd like to be able to scroll through whole folder or filenames promptly, load the ones I actually select, and DJ them in the most simple manner first. Walk before you can run.

I think it's odd now them spending ANY efforts on new media players, even if they are scaled-down versions of the same MDJ-1000 hardware (smaller jogs, no CD mechanism, various features bracketed out). It strikes me as a follower mentality putting out a bunch more models to cover these various ranges from Pioneer, and that's just looking at it from an offering standpoint, not even getting into the wisdom of doing so with the firmware's current state. More opportunities for customer disappointment? If the MDJ-1000 is already in-the wild, then there's nothing they can do about that, but why exacerbate this? Rock bottom? No where to go but up? For all I know, though, there could be hardware problems and this might be useful for ironing those out, i.e, take out certain hardware across a range of derivative products and see which ones are more reliable.

I'm trying to blue team, red team this in my head while also being a glass-half-full kind of guy. It's hard to divine others' motives or strategy objectively, but I think my biases are already out there as a paying customer. At the same time, being the only person in the world who was writing useful, thorough, constructive reviews and making lengthy videos of the MDJ, I'm continually harassed by people, particularly on YouTube, berating me either for being too harsh on Gemini or buying Gemini in the first place. What irks me even more, though, is anyone questioning my honesty or hard work. And where the hell was the DJ equipment press for over the last year plus? Multiple outlets all uniformly drop the ball? They were perfectly willing to put out pre-release press plugs, but suspiciously silent after the fact. Fifth estate my ass.

[JeanSB]

I've created an account just to post this, because I'm tired of seeing Gemini highlighting and promoting their so "amazing" products, telling all of us how amazing and super their product are, Gemini's posting this fake information on their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/GeminiSoundHQ and after logging on Facebook today I've saw this:


So I've posted this in response to their stupid post:
"some of our rigorous quality tests", LOL. are you kidding me? Look at how bad the MDJ-1000's are, don't tell us you've tested them before putting on the market, just tell us the truth: you have really bad engineers and the SDJ-4000 is born to follow the same lines as all of your modern products: the path to the junk."

Seriously, those guys should just stop their business and start a car washing company, they are really bad at what they're doing.

[JeanSB]

And now they hide my comments... They don't like it, they don't like the truth.

[the_bastet]

Gemini is always too quick to put anything out and it destroys them. Their products look and feel like they have one dude handling design, engineering, development, and performability. THey need to take 2 years off from releasing anything and focus on one solid product.

[Reticuli]

Things that have improved I may not have previously mentioned:

Main cue can be set when hand is on the platter at any time now by just hitting the main cue button. No pausing required since about v6.2.

Hold down Back works. Browser time-out has also been lengthened.

Beat offset works. About since v6.2, I think. Hold shift and hit cue to change beat grid alignment. Not the sort of stuff I think Gemini should be focusing on right now, but the function does work now.

Slip mode is now excellent. Again, another cake frosting feature rather than a necessity, but it does work.

There is sort of a way to hide the BPMs… you can set it to manual, and it will default to a very wrong 130bpm at zero pitch setting.

Many of the graphics glitches – flickering, red blotches, etc – seem resolved. Been gone a while.

[DjBlend]

They frequently update the firmware. 6.2 was updated multiple times while still keeping the 6.2 public designation. If you've got these, there's no reason not to get the newest firmware available and check frequently. 6.3 was anticipated to be a substantial upgrade, and it's been only a modest, though welcome, one. With my efforts in the past and most recently, I expect 6.4 to be substantial... I mean "expect" as in fix these particular issues and put in a Passive/No-Analysis Mode kind of "EXPECT"... like stop dinking around with trying to perfect quantized loops and slip scratch. Great. Slip scratch is basically perfect now. Great for slip scratch. The MDJ literally auto-loads ID3 tags right now as you browse cut-in-half filenames in split screen! I'd like to be able to scroll through whole folder or filenames promptly, load the ones I actually select, and DJ them in the most simple manner first. Walk before you can run.

I think it's odd now them spending ANY efforts on new media players, even if they are scaled-down versions of the same MDJ-1000 hardware (smaller jogs, no CD mechanism, various features bracketed out). It strikes me as a follower mentality putting out a bunch more models to cover these various ranges from Pioneer, and that's just looking at it from an offering standpoint, not even getting into the wisdom of doing so with the firmware's current state. More opportunities for customer disappointment? If the MDJ-1000 is already in-the wild, then there's nothing they can do about that, but why exacerbate this? Rock bottom? No where to go but up? For all I know, though, there could be hardware problems and this might be useful for ironing those out, i.e, take out certain hardware across a range of derivative products and see which ones are more reliable.

I'm trying to blue team, red team this in my head while also being a glass-half-full kind of guy. It's hard to divine others' motives or strategy objectively, but I think my biases are already out there as a paying customer. At the same time, being the only person in the world who was writing useful, thorough, constructive reviews and making lengthy videos of the MDJ, I'm continually harassed by people, particularly on YouTube, berating me either for being too harsh on Gemini or buying Gemini in the first place. What irks me even more, though, is anyone questioning my honesty or hard work. And where the hell was the DJ equipment press for over the last year plus? Multiple outlets all uniformly drop the ball? They were perfectly willing to put out pre-release press plugs, but suspiciously silent after the fact. Fifth estate my ass.

That was well said. I feel your frustration, And maybe this is a part of a series of firmware updates to perfect the MDJs (not too many I hope). I also like these players and if they were working properly would worship them and the company that makes them, but now I'm on the fence. Not sure if they can perfect or even fix them to where I can use them like I want. My style of Djing I need the sync, and the Quantize for loops and rolls, and precise queuing so everything can stay on time, and if Gemini can't get that together, That's me a lot of Djs in the market that Gemini is gonna lose out on. So I'm hope Gemini can get it done in a timely matter so They can be a well respected company that put out deceit gear in the market.