Even though it's been a few months, it's good to see the questions are the same. ;) I say that with love, before I give advice.
You have two separate posts with two very different objectives, so let's start with the first one.
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Using just a controller, a Hercules Steel which I love, I would like to know if it is possible to beat match without using anything external...no TT or CJs. I can easily use sync, which I have been doing, but coming from a very musical background, I would like to beatmatch.
Yes, you can easily do this. As said above, you need to use your ears, as that is what the technique is all about. You can visualize the beats but that has nothing to do with the quality of the mix.
Start by mixing songs that are similar tempos. Don't use the sync button, and nudge the tracks back and forth so they fit. I would assign the "scratch" function or whatever on the jog wheel to pitch bend, personally, as the pitch fader is relatively useless imho, once you get above a 6% pitch bend.
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It appears if I have scratch "off" I can speed up or slow down a track by minor adjustments if I use the jog wheels...is this considered beatmatching even though I can see how much the beats are off above the wave form?
That is a technique used to assist in beatmatching. Beatmatching, overall, is pretty self explanatory. it is the method used by DJs to match the beats of two songs. bending the pitch is a way to do that.
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My next question relates to the last. I find that if I bring in a song that is a lot faster or slower than the last, and sync it, it will sometimes get a little distorted. If the songs are not so far apart in BPM this will not happen. So when transitioning, what is the average standard deviation of the two tracks you are playing? +-1, +-5 ect...And if the songs are very
far apart, how do you transition?
There are a few questions in here. First, the distortion you're hearing is highly likely to be tied to your soundcard getting overwhelmed by the pitch increase. When you increase the tempo of a song, you're also increasing the actual pitch of the song. Software has a key lock, and if the RAM of your computer, the quality of your sound card, or a few other factors aren't up to snuff it will start distorting. When I was regularly spinning on CDs I'd notice a SLIGHT difference once I hit around 3.5%, so below that and you should be golden.
Also, keep in mind that not all transitions need to be beatmatched, so you aren't stuck at that one point. There are many mixing techniques (which have been spoken about on the forums ad nauseum) that you can use to change tempos.
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My next question is this: I have no problem with controllerism...but I would like to maybe get some used CDJs to practice on for when I land a gig. Can I use my controller with two CDJs? Would the controller in essence turn into a mixer and I would then just use the looping and such on the CDJ or would I still be able to use my controller for FX, Loop ect...?
Yes, you can do this, as was discussed, and the Audio4, as said, would be best.
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Wouldn't this render the pitch faders on the CJD useless then? If I spent some big moneys on CDJs, I would hope to use them to their full potential.
This is perfectly fine. Use the CDJ pitch fader and map your Hercules to do whatever you want it to do. :)
Good luck