Old boy needs help with new stuff. KP3 or Traktor route???

[NiloJones]

Hello,

So I have a conundrum and after 16 hours of googling i am more confused than before!

I have been djing for years for fun as a hobby (and out back in the day enough to pay for my vinyl ) I also produce for fun, again I have been doing that for ages.

I have:
2 x 1210's
Numark DM2000x that really needs replacing due to pops and clicks when i change headphone channels.
Cubase 4
Reason 4
M audio oxygen 8 controller
Novation K Station
Spirit portfolio 6 channel mixer
Edirol UA 25
rack compressor

Having recently just got back into DJing, I want to get into it more! But i love producing and could not live without it.

What i really like the look of is the Kaospad3 and figure I can use it for both DJing to create some nice blends between various genres of music (I have mellowed with age) and as an fx unit when producing. I was looking to use it to create some loops on the fly, echo that out and bring some other stuff in when mixing (sort of thing) - 120 bpm just doesn't go nice with Alice Russel, for instance. I could grab some old film vocals and use those to really get creative in terms of transitions. It would also lend itself to producing and remixing my own songs on the fly to add some more interesting mixes - some hands on creativity as opposed to drawing automation curves and serve as an fx unit.

But I am really torn between the above and going down the Traktor scratch route. I don't have bucks to spend - around £850 max

Would you:
1) kaos pad and mixer with fx sends. Like the A+H xone 22 although i am unsure what a Soft-switched, FET-controlled external effects loop and if that will work on independent channels. mixer + KP3 = £500 to £800

2) Mixer with built in effects = around £800

3) mixer and NI skratch. I think going this route i will lose the hands on creativity but still have the opportunity to remix my own tracks within the Traktor software. This could be the NI kontrol z2 (£650) or a denonx1600 and scratch software (£850)

Ultimately i want to rig it all up and play live to myself in my house with some know twiddling, pad crunching fun. Maybe one day do that out and about - the dream lives on. The technology is a little bewildering - i really am beginning to feel old!

Or is there a better way? If you got this far thanks very much, good day to u sir/ madame. What would you do?

[funke]

DVS is the most fun, but also a pain and time consuming to set up when playing out. My setup of two turntables, mixer, and two controllers is over 5ft. wide! A Traktor certified mixer with midi would cut down on space and setup time. An all in one controller is the most convenient. You could always later add a kp3 and have Traktor pre fader fx and kp3 post fader fx.

[NiloJones]

DVS is the most fun, but also a pain and time consuming to set up when playing out.

Thanks for the reply and after another 4 hours I still don't know which route to take. I have been looking closely at the Denon dx1600. But keep jumping back to the pioneer djm t1 because it comes with tracktor, and pretty much does what the kontrol z2 does. I think dvs will be the route now. But how? I wish I had more disposable income.