Midi Controller Buying advice?

hey guys,

Just wondering if any one may be able to advise me on what midi controller I can buy (if any).

I am in the Uk and looking to move to a fully digital setup. Unfortunatley I am a pretty poor guy so I was hoping to only spend a maximum of £350.

My friend uses a Samsung atom based NC10 netbook with serato scratch and it works amazingly! The problem is I do not own turntables and learnt to mix on CD decks, so I really wanted to get a nice portable controller.

I will also be hoping to run my controller through a netbook too. Mine is an atom based EEepc with a 160gb Hard drive.

To be honest I do not really need many advanced features, in fact I don't even need a built in mixer. I just need it to be portable and reliable with high Quality sound. i do not scratch eithr. I'm not sure If I even have enough to spend to make it worth my while. I have looked at a few things already like the EKS-XP10's and the Numark omni control, but these both appear to have a few issues, although the sound output seems good.

Anyway...any help or advice anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.

NOVATION NOCTURN PLUG-IN CONTROLLER is good if you use a dj program like traktor or virtual dj its not to much and works great! I have a friend who mapped it to traktor dj and he seems to like it! Here is a link to the controller http://djdeals.com/novationNOCTURN.htm and some more links; http://djdeals.com/maudioXSESSIONPRO.htm http://djdeals.com/behringerBCD2000.htm all those controllers are pretty good if u just wanna get a quick mix started!

Fizz Styles

I think the ideal beginner controller is the X-Session Pro. It has a basic two-channel mixer layout and sells for about $100.

Thanks for the help guys. I've been mixing for a bout 5/6 years so I am not a beginner but I have never had a compuer based digital setup before. I do not want to buy really cheap gear though as I have had bad experiences before with cd decks in particular. Something at the top end of my budget would be ideal £300/£350.

While on the topic, does anyone know anything about this?

My friend has been asking me about it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by obsidiance

While on the topic, does anyone know anything about this?

My friend has been asking me about it.

---

Wow, I don't know anything about that thing, but I know a bit about a few midi controllers (like most people here - you seriously chose the perfect community to ask).

This is DJ Tech Tools, so most people here are happy VCi-100 users, and to be honest the VCi 100 is one of the best Midi controllers available it is a little beyond your price range, but in my honest opinion (and I say this with as much non bias I can master) the Hercules DJ Console RMX is just as good but at a cheaper price...I'd say you should buy the Hercule RMX.

Now if you seriously don't care about scratching, don't want anything to do with jog wheels and just want a controller for your software that does the business, I've heard great things about Faderfox controllers...check them out.

Hi,

A friend of mine picked up the Hercules RMX for around £250 i think.

----------------------------------------------

Some of the plus points for this are:

It has a built in soundcard, so you do not have to spend any extra on an external one. It has phono and TRS out's and a headphone out to monitor your mix.

I'm pretty sure it can be used as a mixer for CDJ's, but the computer and music software have to be running, as it has two Phono ins.

Jog wheels are useful for scrolling between tracks.

It has a very solid construction.

---------------------------------------------

Some negatives:

The X-Fader feels 'cheap', it's not terrible, could just be a bit better. However at this price it is probably good!

Whilst it is LED lit, on some of the buttons they do not indicate the status of that button.

It is designed to integrate with Virtual DJ, but this isn't really an issue as all the controls can be remapped in any MIDI configurable software.

Conclusion:

It's very good for the price! Portable, sturdy, configurable.


Cheers,


Rj

X

Thanks again for the responses. I think the hercules looks decent but I heard the interal sound card was not particularly good. I also notice that EKS are doing an offer where the XP10 is only 99 euro! Any one had any experiences with the EKS XP10?

I have read that they have high quality internal sound cards and similar queuing to CDJ 1000's.

XP10 99 euros only? :eek:

(I will keep my mouth shut about opting for a BCR2000 this time).

Before buying a controller, please bare in mind what kind of controller DJ you would like to be, do you want to be an autosynch DJ, or and oldskool beatmatcher.

Think of the way you would like to manipulate your tunes and what way would be ideal to you.
With this in mind, try to think how your controller would look like.
To be honest, if you're an autosync kinda DJ, I really do not know why you should opt for a double deck Jogwheel controller, like Hercules RMX/VCI-100 or -300/Reloop Digital Jockey/i-Mix Reloaded etc etc.

Maybe some interesting points here? ;)

Some very good points there. I am definitley an old skool beat matching type DJ. I have actually been dj'ing for about 5 years + and have used CD decks to hone my skills as I could not afford technics at the start and wasn't taking it to seriously. With the digital revolution though and now that I play out quite a lot, it seemed the right time to switch.

I also mix a whole heap of genres and a lot of old skool tunes whaich are not actually quantized. However as my music collection has grown it just seems crazy to keep carrying around so much equipment and burning the CD's I download.

I also think beat matching is a valuable skill and I wouldn't even feel I was mixing unless I was doing it manually.

I don't tend to use a whole load of effects and advanced features, just need something reliable with good sound, responsive queueing and a standard 'stutter' type queuing system. I don't want to buy any bottom end products though as I have had bad experiences before in the early days with very cheap equipment. I think £300/£350 seems like average for a decent Dj controller.

I think I'm leaning more and more to the EKS mainly for their price and portability. Just want to explore all options first really.

that is a great deal on the xp10s. for mixing, beatmatching, i would take 2 xp10s and a traditional mixer over the RMX and probably even over the vci-100. you could use the bison software that comes with the xp10s or really whatever software you like, traktor, deckadance, etc.

i have an xp-5 and i love the jogwheel and the extra long pitch fader, works great for beatmatching.

yeah I am starting to think the XP10's are the way to go. Although they are not the nicest looking they seem to have some great features and are so small and portable they seem like such a great compact solution. there is really nothing else like them available.

The only thing I thought was that the Numark omni control uses a 24bit sound card and the Xp10's only 16bit. Does this make a lot of difference?

i got my 2* XP10 on last Friday;)

i have been using xp10's for like 4-5 years i think, and they rock, as u pointed out, the best about them are that they r single units with exelent soundcards that r portable. abotut the 24bit vs 16 bit question, what songs do u have that r in 24 bit? if u dont there will be hardly any difference notable + the EKS drivers r exelent and stable as nothing else.

i was just looking over at the NI traktor forums, it's cool to see there are alot of the same people at both.

other1 is right about the 16 vs 24 bit, it would only matter if you had audio files that were in 24 bit.

when my xp-5 came via ups at first i thought they had sent me an empty box, it is so light.

Last night I was mixing/messing around with my xp-5, an external mixer and virtual dj, it was actually quite fun...and that is just with one. i found a great present for virtual dj for using a single xp-5, otherwise i don't really use virtual dj. i have been mixing internally with my vci-100 and i have to say, i think external is the way to go, but that is outside the scope of this thread.

I personally do not like the buttons on the XP10, other than that they are great since they have great soundcards.

I just bought a M-Audio Xponent, a soundcard and a massive controller with tons of buttons with a good layout for traktor (that i prefer over torq) for around 400 pounds. That is quite good in my opinion.
Only downsides so far is that the "kaos pad" on it has a slight delay and it looks like a toy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by minguzz

I personally do not like the buttons on the XP10, other than that they are great since they have great soundcards.

---

Thats the problem alot of the time with inbuilt soundcards, you rather get a crap device with a good soundcard or a good device with a crap soundcard. Cant win dont try, keep the two serparated.

Also worthy of mentioning is that sharing the audio and the midi on the same cable will jitter of the midi, that jitter is a performers worth enemy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by minguzz

I personally do not like the buttons on the XP10, other than that they are great since they have great soundcards.

---

im the other way areund about the buttons, imo they give gr8 feedback on pressing, so u know u have pressed them, each to there own :)

i recently purchased a vci-100 and i love it. Look around ebay or a local barter website like craigslist.org. I got my vci for $250 and its almost mint condition

Nice one kouki!

http://www.zshare.net/video/548255959e8a82b4/

MY 4 XP10, LUVS IT

get a vci-100 and a semi-decent sound card, update to an SE, get traktor pro and you'll be as happy as larry.