Post NAMM thoughts

[MaxOne]

I posted this on the home page but i'm posting it again cause it needs to be said.

There is still nothing that has pretty much everything!!!

The american audio controller is ok but not the nuts.

How hard can it be seriously???

1. VCI 100 with 4 x arcade / large and responsive style buttons
2. 2 FX banks with the ability to control all 4 fx
3. 4 faders
4. Scratch sensitive platters.
5. Good quality built in soundcard
6. Ability to run audio through it.

Basically a cross between the VCI-100 SE, The VCI-300, and the Xone DX.

Call it the VCI-1000 or something

I swear that would be game over.

[BentoSan]

This is a really interesting point, and actually seems worthy of much more discussion and investigation (perhaps a DJTT article on it?).

I wonder if it is a real issue though?
Is there any evidence to suggest that this causes problems?

Allen and Heath's reputation is really built on sound quality so I would be surprised if they would compromise that with the Xone DX...

Actually yes, we interviewed Florian Bomes who is one of the holy gods of midi - He makes Bomes Midi Translator which is arguably the best commercial midi utility on the market. Personally i take anything he says about midi as gospel as hes far more experienced with the intricacies of midi than anyone on this forum - http://www.djtechtools.com/2008/09/2...ntroller-late/

Sharing midi and sound over the same cable is a no no if you want the best performance, you will increase the jitter in the midi messages which is a performers worst enemy. You can deal with latency but no amount of practice can prepare for midi jitter.

[Paco Loco]

Max One: Agreed. It is pretty surprising that no-one has nailed this yet. People have wanted exactly what you just described for a few years now - plenty of time for the manufacturers to have responded to the demand.

[Paco Loco]

Wow - that is an interesting read BentoSan, thanks for the link. I should have known that DJTT would be one step ahead on this one and had a look in the archives!

I noticed that the DX has a 5-pin midi out on the back... I wonder if you can configure it to send just the audio via USB and the midi messages through the dedicated midi output?
If so that would seem to be a better setup, based on what I just read.

[andrewnhong]

Sharing midi and sound over the same cable is a no no if you want the best performance, you will increase the jitter in the midi messages which is a performers worst enemy. You can deal with latency but no amount of practice can prepare for midi jitter.

Thanks for the input BentoSan. I myself was looking for an all in one solution (controller + soundcard), but after discussion with other DJTT heads (JesC & Mike O), this seems to be the general consensus: Keep your MIDI and sound separated.

I did get a chance to play with the Xone DX while at NAMM and I'm also interested to see how the unit will perform in a club environment. I have a friend who has the 4D and have never had a problem with the unit, so hopefully the Xone DX is of the same build quality. One thing I didn't like about the Xone DX was that some of the buttons did feel somewhat plasticky. Also, the Cue and Play/Pause buttons are actually metal, so it feels a little weird against your fingers when you tap them. Prob something you just need to get used to, but it kind of threw me off.

I also took a look at the American Audio controller I spent a little time messing around with it. It feels like a pretty solid controller. The jog wheels on it are solid, as well as all the faders. Buttons are very responsive and the rotary knobs (for eqs, gain, etc...) all have rubber around them (similar to the VCI-100). Again, my concern would the integrated sound card with the controller, but I suppose we'll find out about that in the near future.

[Nephew]

Unless I've missed, I didn't see anything out there as far controllers for Ableton Live PA set ups.

Was holding back on buying the VCM 600 until I saw what NAMM had to offer but it looks like I'm picking it up now.