Controller Poll

View Poll Results: What would be your set-up? (my sig +

Voters
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  • (2) Kontrol x1's

    11 50.00%
  • Maschine

    6 27.27%
  • Other (post option)

    5 22.73%
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Thread: Controller Poll

  1. #1
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    Default Controller Poll

    recently I've been wanting to add more control into my set-up for 4 deck control.. i've also been wanting to get into producing..

    so i thought between the NI Kontrol X1 and NI Maschine
    now i know the maschine can do 4 decks and more but if i start producing but dont really like it theres no point for maschine i might as well gotten 2 x1's

    so what would you buy if price wasnt on your mind?
    Macbook Pro 13" | XONE 92 | Traktor Scratch Pro 2 | Audio 8 | (2) NI Kontrol X1 | Technics SL-1210 MK2 | Juno 106 | Adam A7x | BOSS DD7 | Soundbite XL Looper | +more

    soundcloud.com/kevinsantos @kevinsantosdj

  2. #2
    DJTT Dominator JesC's Avatar
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    1 kontrol x1 is enough for ur setup
    Controllerist: Think different | SoundCloud | MixCloud | Twitter |

  3. #3
    Tech Guru sj03w4t's Avatar
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    Nah not for the 4 deck..


    (isnt this the nth topic you started on this subject?)

  4. #4
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    yea but it lead on to my question not being resolved lol well im thinking 1 maschine or x1 is good when using my cdjs

    but if i dont use cdjs i would need either a maschine or 2 x1's
    Macbook Pro 13" | XONE 92 | Traktor Scratch Pro 2 | Audio 8 | (2) NI Kontrol X1 | Technics SL-1210 MK2 | Juno 106 | Adam A7x | BOSS DD7 | Soundbite XL Looper | +more

    soundcloud.com/kevinsantos @kevinsantosdj

  5. #5
    Tech Guru mostapha's Avatar
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    Depends on what you want to use the Maschine for in your production environment…

    I'd keep them separate if it were me and get 2 x1s and start producing just in the box…every DAW has really good midi authoring stuff on a "piano roll" (think player piano) or a staff…and you can just draw in them. You can also use a qwerty keyboard as a 1-octave keyboard in a lot of them.

    If you can actually play drums or keyboard, it might be limiting, but I don't see it as a huge problem if you'e starting.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by mostapha View Post
    Depends on what you want to use the Maschine for in your production environment…

    I'd keep them separate if it were me and get 2 x1s and start producing just in the box…every DAW has really good midi authoring stuff on a "piano roll" (think player piano) or a staff…and you can just draw in them. You can also use a qwerty keyboard as a 1-octave keyboard in a lot of them.

    If you can actually play drums or keyboard, it might be limiting, but I don't see it as a huge problem if you'e starting.
    thank you so much i think this post really helped put my head in the right place.... i used to used fl studio but im on mac is there any program extremely similar or something you recommend ( several would be good )
    Macbook Pro 13" | XONE 92 | Traktor Scratch Pro 2 | Audio 8 | (2) NI Kontrol X1 | Technics SL-1210 MK2 | Juno 106 | Adam A7x | BOSS DD7 | Soundbite XL Looper | +more

    soundcloud.com/kevinsantos @kevinsantosdj

  7. #7
    DJTT Moderator bloke Karlos Santos's Avatar
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    I agree with Mostapha

    As an owner of 2 X1s and a Maschine id say get 2 X1s.

    1 X1 and a Maschine would be confusing for 4 deck mixing.

    Maschine is awesome but it is not a controller for Traktor in the true sense.
    Yes it can control Traktor and do it very well but its a compromise.

    2 X1s give you ultra-totall control over 4 decks in Traktor but more importantly it is intuitive control that just works without any thinking about it. Thats the whole point of the X1, ergonomic instant control where you want it in an intuitive way. And for the best feel when mixing with 4 decks 2 X1s are essential..!

    You know how the VCI 100 has fx on one side and loop browse on the other... silly, it isnt how it should be in my opinion (and i love my VCI). 2 X1s solve all that. Used with an external mixer you have complete control without getting confused by a ton of ridiculous modifiers cus all your buttons do 3 things (i hate modifiers)...

    Id get the X1s and concentrate on the DJing but also get a DAW and a cheap midi keyboard and get into production the novice way and then if you like its and crucially are any good at it then decide on a Maschine.
    Not all DJs make good composers. In fact most suck BIG TIME. Its not easy and Maschine for me is not a novices way to enter production because it only teaches you about that software and it very specific. Better off in my opinion getting a DAW and learning basic production techniques.

    Just my 2 euros.

    btw - this is the millionth thread youve posted on the X1/Maschine. I think your getting obsessed

  8. #8
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    I use a number of Korg Nanokontrols and Akai LPD8's.

    One Nano for each deck, one LPD8 for each FX unit and one more Nano for my "Master" control.

    Cheap, effective and you have plenty of control over every thing you can imagine without having to compromise.

    Total investment, 400 bucks.

  9. #9
    Tech Guru mostapha's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Santos10 View Post
    thank you so much i think this post really helped put my head in the right place.... i used to used fl studio but im on mac is there any program extremely similar or something you recommend ( several would be good )
    Short Version:

    cheapest: Garage Band

    next cheapest: Logic Express or Studio; possibly Reason

    crossover: Ableton Live if you might also use it for DJing or if your main goal is bootleg remixes of songs with tempos that need to be fixed before you can DJ with them.

    My Ideal: Pro Tools LE on a partition running whatever version of OS X you have to run with another partition for the current version of OS X and the rest of what you do.

    Longer Version:

    Garageband to start…really. It's about the only thing that's about as cheap as FL (if you have to buy it or upgrade…it comes with iLife, which I think still comes with new Macs), and it can use VST and AU plugins. So, if its workflow works, you can get professional results with it.

    If that's too basic, Logic Studio is an amazing value considering the plugins it comes with. For example, when Space Designer came out, I had friends who were actually good, working producers who were expecting to pay $$$$ just for that reverb plugin…and it came with the next update of Logic Pro. Now it comes with Logic Studio. If you just want the DAW, Logic Express is cheap and good…it just doesn't come with as much stuff…I'm not sure if it has a track limit or anything like that.

    (side note: the reason they expected to pay that much was that it can do things most people don't care about…it can play a chirp and record it…as long as you give it enough information, it can take the room almost completely out of a recording and then make it sound like it was recorded anywhere…like a string quartet recorded at the bottom of the grand canyon, for example. it doesn't matter for the vast majority of people, but it's a good example.)

    My favorite production environment to work in (by far) was Pro Tools LE, which you can get into for $250 with an mbox 2 micro if you're doing everything in the box, but Digi/Avid is really slow to update their software to run on recent OS X updates (as in, I wouldn't expect it to work with 10.6.3 yet…10.6.2 might be pushing it…it would piss me off but not surprise me terribly if it didn't run on 10.6.0 yet). Due to that problem and some issues with some of my hardware around 10.4.8 (my macbook wouldn't boot any version of OS X that PT LE would run on for like 6 months), I ended up selling my Mbox 2 a while ago. Also, your plugins need to be RTAS, which cuts out a lot of the free ones. And you have to use one of their interfaces (Mboxes, 003, etc.), which means you're spending a lot of money to get the kind of preamp quality you can get for a lot less money on the audio interface with any other system. What it comes with for producing in the box is impressive, though, and I really liked the workflow.

    It was just something about the workflow and the interface that just made sense to me…every time I try to undertake even a small production project in Ableton Live (other than bootleg remixes of songs where I need to fix the tempo), it annoys me. But, Pro Tools just made sense…your experience might be totally different. When I worked at GC, we wasted time–when we should have been selling–helping people just to install it.

    My current favorite is Ableton Live, but that's because I also use it for DJing. Its effects are fairly low-end for studio-level stuff, but its instruments (in Live Studio) are really good…I just don't think it's a great value unless you just like its interface/workflow, especially compared to Logic Express and Studio.

    I think Digital Performer just sucks, but there are people who swear by it. I'm sure that's true for a LOT of the DAWs out there.

    If your end goal is to build a full-on studio, I think the best choices are Logic Express/Pro or Pro Tools, since learning to use them will be valuable when/if you eventually get to the point where you can justify the expense of the Pro Tools HD DSP cards and Digidesign/Avid or Apogee interfaces that use them…but that kind of stuff basically starts at 5-figures to have a full-on studio and isn't really necessary, especially if you're working almost entirely in the box.

    You might also want to look into Reason. Its interface is interesting, and it's really capable of a lot of interesting things if you can wrap your head around it. I thought it was hokey at first, since it's made to emulate a rack of hardware gear in software, and you have to do things like manually route cables. Its actual sequencer sucks compared to everything else I've mentioned, but there are people who really like it. When I've used it, its been re-wired into Live or Pro Tools, and it works well like that if you like its instruments better than whatever comes with your DAW.

    My advice would be to download trials of all of them and see which one makes the most sense to you. You can't really do that with Pro Tools, but there are a lot of good videos about it on Digi/Avid's website.

    sorry for the wall of text…here's a cute kitten.

  10. #10
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    Armyofme's usage of the maschine makes me want one. Nothing thus far has done the same for the x1, as of yet.


    I dunno, the maschine looks great.

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