diy dj controller stacking devices

**Da Bogin Ewok** · 08-02-2013, 11:24 AM

hey everyone i had a device planned out before involving 4 game controller but dropped it when it became overly complicated and minimalistic. since then i gained a korg padkontrol uc33-e control and still have my hercules 4-mx. ifind theres not enough room on my table for all the devices and the layout of the combined three is confusing and complicated when trying to coordinate them all. so my plan was to sell my hercules 4-mx and control uc-33e to fund a livid brain v2. has anyone worked with these? is it complicated to map to vdj or simple? can devices be stacked on it? as id like to have my korg padkontrol built into my mixer that id like to build with the v2. my original idea was to take my novation remote since its keys broke and stick it with the korg and uc 33-e together into one box so that i could make my own layout with tons and tons of buttons sliders and knobs. i decided to give up on this idea as delosdering boards is hard on the boards and components being removed as well as stacking these three devices would be hard on my laptop and the program i use (vdj). i have a feeling that this devices stacked together would crash constantly and wouldnt be worthy of any gigs. any tips or tricks are welcome from different components ( sliders, knobs, buttons, touch strips) pricing and ideas to different boards (livid or others) and how you think these boards will be for mapping and other things as well as any other ideas that come about. my hope was to eventually get a 4 channel sound card to run multiple decks and to be able to control these decks with my 4 channel midi mixer with all areas of the program covered by my mixer externally such as deck eqs controlling the programs pages through buttons that could scroll through effects as well as managing every aspect of an effect through the sliders and buttons so that theres completely no need to touch my laptop. all opinions and ideas are welcome thanks for your time ladies and gentlemen. ps my old novation remote might become its own little side project, i might combine it with an electric guitar for use with my laptop for crazy sound control of my guitar.

**Stewe** · 08-02-2013, 05:19 PM

Hey mate,

Livid Brain would be my weapon of choice too. It comes with editor software which is pretty easy to configure so your controller should work without any hard coding - just stick all controls into the board and rock on. It also supports RGB lights.

As for other components you can also check out their store for everything you need. They are all high quality ones.

**Da Bogin Ewok** · 08-02-2013, 09:13 PM

hey stewe its been a while eh? do they have the possibility of adding midi ports? im assuming they do. also cheap components? do you got a site for that or anything? have you actually built your own devices off livid brains and if you have any tips or tricks?

**Stewe** · 08-03-2013, 07:16 AM

Yep those have MIDI in/out ports. Here is the link to their site so you can check out the components - some of would say they ain't cheap but they are totally worth it:

http://shop.lividinstruments.com/builder-diy/

I haven't made anything using their stuff (jet) but as I own CNTRL:R and BASE controllers and those are made using same components I can tell they are very nice build quality and got awesome feel to them. Check out their youtube channel for all DIY tutorials to make sure how easy is to use and configure Livid brain.

**Da Bogin Ewok** · 08-04-2013, 10:16 AM

Hey stewe I checked out both those controllers and they look awesome. Did you ever find that you wished you could change the layout or that they were more mixer like?

**Stewe** · 08-04-2013, 04:03 PM

Maybe to add some more knobs to CNTRL:R but that would affect portability.

As for your current controllers you should be able to connect them using installed powered hub and take each layout section of your controller that's supported with single unit and map them to different mapping devices. Shouldn't see any conflicts if in/out ports are set correctly to each mapping.

**Da Bogin Ewok** · 08-04-2013, 11:36 PM

ya but since neither of my laptops are really that strong i5 processor at best with ram problems atm it would seems that stacking the three devices would be more time comsuming and dangerous for the boards as well as having three devices being read by vdj while trying to use effects with the program would probably make it crash constantly plus ill most likely need to buy new knobs and buttons as taking them off the boards doesnt prove easy.