What do you think about Gemini MDJ-1000? - Page 18
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  1. #171
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    More on 6.5:

    Slip mode should probably not cause Auto Cue to cease to function. Right now, it will continue playing into the next track if slip is on.

    Start and Stop time knobs should probably have an on-screen value, like the filter knob currently does.

    Not particularly satisfied with how looping works right now. It bares no resemblance to any other brand's loop buttons function that I can tell. I think it should either mimic Pioneer or Hanpin's method. Pioneer's is the most obvious choice.

    The start glitch where it begins slightly after the actual cue can be easily replicated by setting the main cue zero point, going back to it by hitting cue and stopping, hitting Loop In, and then hitting play. This will also show that the Loop In sets incorrectly to this same spot. It's still necessary to hit play first, using the hand on the platter in vinyl mode, and then hit the Loop In to reliably set it.

    Still some nasty high-frequency ticks on start over SPDIF into some digital inputs.

  2. #172
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    A couple of my buttons do double presses pretty easily when I do a single press. You can also see this mechanical or tact switch physical defect by pressing in and slightly wiggling the button. So I have to hit them hard and very briefly. Most disturbingly, the back button on one of the units doesn't work particularly well for the hold back function that returns to the HUD. Instead, it will often act as if I've just hit it multiple times very fast and back-out of all the menus in the directory tree. Very annoying. So from now on I'll just have to use alternative means of getting around in the browser, like scrolling to the top rear folder spot to go back or letting the browser just time-out on its own when I want to return to the HUD. There's a reverse button that's doing this and also at least one of the key lock buttons, but those don't commonly require any holding action for certain functions. It's just a little annoying that I will press them and it will untoggle back quickly.
    Last edited by Reticuli; 11-08-2017 at 12:16 PM.

  3. #173
    Tech Guru deevey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reticuli View Post

    You have a better than 50/50 chance I think now of only a slightly frustrating hour or two of simple mix DJing out of the units with some scratching thrown in if you're into that, assuming you follow certain limitations like not fast forwarding VBR tracks, not using the Next Track button, and being patient with the browser and response. Longer length use will probably be enough time to become grating and increased likelihood of exposure to embarrassing glitches.
    So after a bundle of firmware updates they are now almost capable of a simple 2 hour mix if you take it really really easy on them, never skip to the next song and don't use one of their supported formats.

    So regardless of the what the display does or does not do, the hardware still does not do what its supposed to

    Dude you seriously have the patience of a statue. They should start paying you (actually all their customers of the MDJ) as a beta tester.

    Question: Do all the same glitches happen if you ONLY use WAV or CBR files ?

  4. #174
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    Quote Originally Posted by deevey View Post

    Question: Do all the same glitches happen if you ONLY use WAV or CBR files ?
    Only glitch that happens exclusively with VBR MP3s is the fast forward (actually called Search) button glitch where it actually does jump to the next track. Using the actual next track button (actually says Track Search) sometimes causes the unit (and all linked to it eventually) to reboot or reset the drive reading, but that's independent of whether it's VBR or not. So this second glitch and all the others, minus the VBR fast forward "Search" glitch, all happen with WAV and CBR files, too.

    Quote Originally Posted by deevey View Post
    So after a bundle of firmware updates they are now almost capable of a simple 2 hour mix if you take it really really easy on them, never skip to the next song and don't use one of their supported formats.
    Mostly, yeah. However, their pitch resolution at 8% and lower is very good now, though 16% needs its "toggle" increments (if you wiggle in the same spot) be increased to 0.05 increments, and their pitch bend is much better than the Pioneers with that stupid jog bend dead zone. You can also adjust the sensitivity of it, though not the maximum bend possible. So you can adjust how fast you have to rotate to get up to the max. That setting is actually sort of flip flopped, but it might be a multiplier or divider value. 5 takes the highest rate to get to max jog pitch bend, while 1 takes very little rotation rate to get to max. At 3 to 5, even tiny rotations do tiny pitch bends and aren't ignored like the Pioneers.

    Which format can't you use, VBR? You can use it, just don't use the fast forward button. By the way, the fast forward button function is kind of funky, anyway. There's no sound change until you let go of the button, like a slow kind of needle drop. It could actually use a more progressive aspect so that the longer you hold it, the faster it goes. Its max forward scan is not as fast as I'd like, not to mention the weirdness of you not hearing anything until you release it. But again, this function isn't something you even want to use now on odd bitrate MP3 tracks that are probably VBR. If you simply use the platter in vinyl mode to scan through the track, it's even slower but never going to skip to the next track if it happens to be VBR. So it's probably best just to ignore those four buttons with the arrows and just use the rotary browser rheostat encoder and the jog wheel.
    Last edited by Reticuli; 09-27-2017 at 02:28 PM.

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  6. #176
    Tech Guru deevey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reticuli View Post
    Using the actual next track button (actually says Track Search) sometimes causes the unit (and all linked to it eventually) to reboot or reset the drive reading, but that's independent of whether it's VBR or not. So this second glitch and all the others, minus the VBR fast forward "Search" glitch, all happen with WAV and CBR files, too.
    Quote Originally Posted by Reticuli View Post

    However, their pitch resolution at 8% and lower is very good now


    Seriously dude - my coffee went everywhere.

  7. #177
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    Quote Originally Posted by deevey View Post


    Seriously dude - my coffee went everywhere.
    To be fair on the pitch resolution, though, it's now better at 4 and 8% on the Gemini MDJ than on the Hanpins and Pioneers, at least with the wiggle capability. Only the new Denon has finer increments (actually near the theoretical limits of 14bit in standalone mode). Combined with the jog bend performance, when the MDJ is not glitching up and you're avoiding doing things that have unpredictable results (like not using the arrow search/track buttons or not setting Cue, Hot Cues, or Loop In when the unit is paused, or avoiding using hold button functions on bad buttons), the mixing & blending-by-ear experience is way better than on Pioneer and maybe even the Hanpins. At least until it's not.

    The button issues are indeed ridiculous. So are the Cue and Loop In issues, and the occasional skips that seem to still occur. Or the browser when you're playing a track showing the track number in the upper right as one different. Or the laggy browser with split screen always on that I can't get rid of. Or the SPDIF high frequency ticks. On and on and on with them. I can't be certain about whether the sound cards actually are out or not since v6.4. I can even maybe put up with the Link being old Denon and not Pioneer or new Denon since unplugging an Ethernet cable on a unit to un-link it if I want more than two drives plugged into the system during Link is only slightly worse in theory to the Hanpin USB linking, even if in practice it's not as intuitive. The glitches seem insurmountable sometimes. And this is heading into the third year these have been out now.

    I can blame Gemini, but the people working on these now are not all the same people who developed the units in the first place. From a selection bias and population perspective regarding the models/brands in the market place: How did we not hear about all this in the USA prior to me buying a couple? How did advertising money and the quote unquote official reviewers fail the DJ community? Is there conflict of interest at work? Interestingly, I can't convince some other companies to send me units to review, not because they're afraid I'll tear them a new one, but because I'm not "official" enough. I'm not "press". In my experience, the DJ "press" is largely unreliable, though, and this is not the first time. Most of this stuff they put out are either puff pieces or so low detail as to be effectively the same thing.

  8. #178
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    CDJ2000nXS2 has 0.015% increments
    - Equipment - 2X Technics 1200, 2X Audio Technica ATLP1240, 2X XDJ700, 2X XDJ1000 MK2, Denon DNX-1100, Mixars DUO, DJM750 MK2, NI Audio 10, NI Aduio 4, Serato SL3, 4X Shure M44-7, 2X Ortofon Pro S, 2X Numark Groove Tool, Maschine MK3, Samson Carbon 49, Roland SE-02, Novation Launchcontrol, TouchOSC, Nocation Peak, Arturia MiniBrute, Korg Volca Kick, MicroKorg (Classic), NI Komplete Audio 6

  9. #179
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    Quote Originally Posted by the_bastet View Post
    CDJ2000nXS2 has 0.015% increments
    In standalone mode? New firmware update? At Vue Ultralounge it was the same as Pioneers have always been, which is very good: 0.02 at the lowest range and 0.05 at 16%. Less then stellar 0.5 increments on the NXS2 on Wide. Are they showing three decimals on screen or is this just in software on a computer over MIDI/HID? I know you previously told me they'd improved the MIDI/HID pitch increments. The MDJ-1000 now has standalone increments at 4 and 8% of between 0.03 and 0.01, depending on the wiggle spot. They're only 0.1 increments at 16% and 0.2 at 24%. The "new Denon" SC5000 is 0.02 increments on Wide/100% in standalone, which is how all the Hanpins and full 14bit faders with sufficient A/D conversion are in Virtual DJ if you hack the skin to see. I presume the Pioneers in MIDI/HID are similar to that now on software.

  10. #180
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    Quote Originally Posted by Reticuli View Post
    In standalone mode? New firmware update? At Vue Ultralounge it was the same as Pioneers have always been, which is very good: 0.02 at the lowest range and 0.05 at 16%. Less then stellar 0.5 increments on the NXS2 on Wide. Are they showing three decimals on screen or is this just in software on a computer over MIDI/HID? I know you previously told me they'd improved the MIDI/HID pitch increments. The MDJ-1000 now has standalone increments at 4 and 8% of between 0.03 and 0.01, depending on the wiggle spot. They're only 0.1 increments at 16% and 0.2 at 24%. The "new Denon" SC5000 is 0.02 increments on Wide/100% in standalone, which is how all the Hanpins and full 14bit faders with sufficient A/D conversion are in Virtual DJ if you hack the skin to see. I presume the Pioneers in MIDI/HID are similar to that now on software.
    .015 at 6% (display fluctuates between .01 and .02 increments) in standalone mode. Make sure Adam has updated his firmware.
    - Equipment - 2X Technics 1200, 2X Audio Technica ATLP1240, 2X XDJ700, 2X XDJ1000 MK2, Denon DNX-1100, Mixars DUO, DJM750 MK2, NI Audio 10, NI Aduio 4, Serato SL3, 4X Shure M44-7, 2X Ortofon Pro S, 2X Numark Groove Tool, Maschine MK3, Samson Carbon 49, Roland SE-02, Novation Launchcontrol, TouchOSC, Nocation Peak, Arturia MiniBrute, Korg Volca Kick, MicroKorg (Classic), NI Komplete Audio 6

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