vci 300 Owners

[f0tif0]

Quick question for those of you who mod their controllers.
Recently if you know we have seen a new updated version of vci 300 A came out with some additional adds on to it.
I was wondering if anyone knows would I be able to mod my VCI 300 FIRST GENERATION AND TURN IT INTO VCI 300 A SOMEHOW?

[djdumbbi]

As a long time VCI-300 user, I don't even quite understand what you're trying to ask? Firmware mods? = NONE, crossfader mods? = I've done it, Making a VCI-100 to a 300 you're asking? Impossible! VCI300 first and 2nd generation? = WTH? Any such thing? I would say you're thinking the VFX effects controller for the VCI right? well, that makes the controller to be 'like' a 2nd generation, just an add-on.

[mmauve]

There is such a thing actually, its called the VCI-300A, and some of the changes include the following:

* Small 1/8" and big 1/4" headphone socket
* Master headphone volume boost when using an external power supply
* New adjust knobs for the platter sensitivity
* New optional Vestax digital crossfader
* "New analog THRU output circuitry for MIC/AUX input"

To address my views on it:

All these things really don't add up to much with the exception of the headphone volume boost when an external power supply is plugged in. As to how to attain that, I would imagine that's a combination of electronics know-how and firmware programming. The other thing they added was a MIC/AUX input which sort of routes the signal externally from Serato and relieves the lag issue which the current VCI-300 suffers from when people hook in microphones.

All these things are touch ups, but nothing I think that's worth butchering apart a $1000 piece of equipment to get. Might be better off selling your unit when the new one comes out, since I imagine Vestax will make it the same price as the current one.

[Dr.Beat]

I figured out that the sensitivity of the jog wheel is really slow in pitch mode. Is that also fixed in the 300A version?

btw - what makes the 300 more powerful than the 100? I also felt that the sound quality was a little less than CDJs, would this be better using a VCI 100 and an audiofire interface?

[mmauve]

Hard to say since the VCI-300A is not officially released as of yet, so there could be plenty of room for improvement still. The issue you mentioned also sounds like it can be addressed via firmware upgrade if they (Vestax) were to go out of their way to correct this.

What makes the 300 more accurate in control than the 100 is the fact that it supports high resolution MIDI, aka 14-bit messanging to the interface (Itch). This means double the amount of information is sent every pulse, and it effects it in ways such as pitch resolution (0.02% like on a CDJ for example), and the jog wheels detect hand movement and pressure in a 0.0222 degree area, as opposed to standard MIDI which I believe is 2.8 degrees (360 degrees divided by 128 MIDI steps). This translates to tighter handling.

Technically Traktor supports this, but on a very shoddy level, and their jog wheel support for high resolution MIDI is so poor that nobody really makes proper use of it.

Also, the reason why the sound quality isn't that great is probably due to the sound card which is built into the VCI-300. It only supports a standard 16/44 output whereas a CDJ is 24/96. A VCI-100 requires you to provide your own sound card to perform standard DJ functions, and more often than not when you buy a sound card, it's gonna be pretty good sound quality given that's it's only function (and it's not a poorly made one). I believe that the VCI-300 has a MAYA 44 sound card, which is pretty mediocre to be honest.

[Dr.Beat]

I believe that the VCI-300 has a MAYA 44 sound card, which is pretty mediocre to be honest.

Hmmm, this sounds logical. I really like the potential and the concideral advantages of midi controllers but in case of less jogwheel and soundcard performance I´m bound to say that using a timecode based system is the more authentic way of using a digital system. I also dislike that I have to buy, use and carry two pieces of gear if I want to use fx on the vci 300.

Apart from that I really like the concept of the VCI´s but the idea needs to be pushed a little until it gets really useful and "real".

[mmauve]

Yeah theres alot of things about the VCI-300 which I liked, and didn't like. Namely the fact that a seperate $200 dongle is needed just to use effects, which isn't really cool considering the damn thing costs almost $1000 to begin with lol.

So at that point, you just spent $1200 or so on a system which has some slight control issues on jog wheel pitch bending, a so-so 16/44 sound card which can't be upgraded, and no individual outputs for each deck (in case you wanted to hook each deck into another mixer and use something else rather than the on-board one).

Meanwhile, if you shop around, you can in fact get two SL-1200 mk2 for $250 each, a decent mixer for about $500, and Traktor Scratch Pro for $300. The total is in the ballpark of $1300, only $100 more than a VCI-300 w/ effects unit.

In my opinion, if Vestax renewed the VCI-300 is a premium sound card it deserves, a built in bank for effects selection, and more frequent firmware updates - they would wipe the floor of some of the stuff currently out there.

[Dr.Beat]

Yeah theres alot of things about the VCI-300 which I liked, and didn't like. Namely the fact that a seperate $200 dongle is needed just to use effects, which isn't really cool considering the damn thing costs almost $1000 to begin with lol.

So at that point, you just spent $1200 or so on a system which has some slight control issues on jog wheel pitch bending, a so-so 16/44 sound card which can't be upgraded, and no individual outputs for each deck (in case you wanted to hook each deck into another mixer and use something else rather than the on-board one).

Meanwhile, if you shop around, you can in fact get two SL-1200 mk2 for $250 each, a decent mixer for about $500, and Traktor Scratch Pro for $300. The total is in the ballpark of $1300, only $100 more than a VCI-300 w/ effects unit.

In my opinion, if Vestax renewed the VCI-300 is a premium sound card it deserves, a built in bank for effects selection, and more frequent firmware updates - they would wipe the floor of some of the stuff currently out there.

That´s exactly my opinion!

[Maxiboy]

Hard to say since the VCI-300A is not officially released as of yet, so there could be plenty of room for improvement still. The issue you mentioned also sounds like it can be addressed via firmware upgrade if they (Vestax) were to go out of their way to correct this.

What makes the 300 more accurate in control than the 100 is the fact that it supports high resolution MIDI, aka 14-bit messanging to the interface (Itch). This means double the amount of information is sent every pulse, and it effects it in ways such as pitch resolution (0.02% like on a CDJ for example), and the jog wheels detect hand movement and pressure in a 0.0222 degree area, as opposed to standard MIDI which I believe is 2.8 degrees (360 degrees divided by 128 MIDI steps). This translates to tighter handling.

Technically Traktor supports this, but on a very shoddy level, and their jog wheel support for high resolution MIDI is so poor that nobody really makes proper use of it.

Also, the reason why the sound quality isn't that great is probably due to the sound card which is built into the VCI-300. It only supports a standard 16/44 output whereas a CDJ is 24/96. A VCI-100 requires you to provide your own sound card to perform standard DJ functions, and more often than not when you buy a sound card, it's gonna be pretty good sound quality given that's it's only function (and it's not a poorly made one). I believe that the VCI-300 has a MAYA 44 sound card, which is pretty mediocre to be honest.

Hi , great info, can you tell me if there is a comparison chart of controller sound card specs? I have a X-Ponent and the sound quality is OK through my JBL Ion 515 speakers, but playing ITunes on my high spec HP laptop (entertainment series) sounds better at higher volumes, probably because the A/D converters and soundcard are better quality I want to stick a NI Audio 2DJ in my system, where do I place it in this setup: Laptop-XPonent-Extrernal Mixer-Speakers. I mix internally in Torq but use the mixer to input microphones and CD players etc. The mixer is not connected to my laptop via USB. Also thinking of ditching the XPonent for the VCI-100 after all the DJTech work on mappings and button upgrades. My friends use Tractor Pro, though they are using time code and turntables and scratch a lot. I dont scratch but like to use the platters for cueing drops and loops with the occasional scratch or spinback. What do you recommend ?

[Remote]

Also, the reason why the sound quality isn't that great is probably due to the sound card which is built into the VCI-300. It only supports a standard 16/44 output whereas a CDJ is 24/96. A VCI-100 requires you to provide your own sound card to perform standard DJ functions, and more often than not when you buy a sound card, it's gonna be pretty good sound quality given that's it's only function (and it's not a poorly made one). I believe that the VCI-300 has a MAYA 44 sound card, which is pretty mediocre to be honest.

This is wrong CDJ's may output at "24/96" but CDs are only 16/44 so you aren't getting better than that from a CDJ. Also the maya44 from what I've read is a perfectly fine sound card