I am looking to get a cheap (up to $250) mixer that is similar to the Vestax Spin sold by Apple. I have never done any kind of DJ’ing before and really just want to mess around and have some fun with my music. I am using an HP Laptop running Windows 7.
I would like to be able to control two mp3 tracks and control the following from the mixer:
Scratching
Speed
Looping
Multiple Cue’s
Sound FX
Microphone
Headphone Previewing
Basically, I am looking for a setup that will provide the same functionality of as the Vestax Spin but on a PC. Please recommend a hardware/software combination from the following that will suit me best:
Hercules DJ Console MK2
Numark Stealth Control
Numark Total Control
ION Audio iCUE
Behringer BCD3000 B-Control DJ Mixer
Behringer BCD2000 B-Control Deejay
you could probably get the spin to work on a pc to be honest
However if you want to get into DJ’in in a dirt cheap way get yourself a cheap multi out sound card off ebay. A midi keyboard. Startin out I would recomend the oxygen 8. and a real 2 channel mixer. I know this isnt quite what your looking for but I think this would be a better setup as you will learn alot more and have a setup thatr you can build and expand on. If you look round ebay you should be able to pick all this up for around 100quid/dollars.
If a all in one type controller is rerly what you want I would recomend the Hercules rmx at this price point can pick one up for about 200. This gives you almost as many options as the vci 100. good build quality. Its not on par but almost there. DONT GO FOR THE NUMARK TOTAL CONTROL. It is a pile of poo just pick one up and u will see y
none of your mentioned preferred controllers are that good or have all those functions. they especially lack accurate response on cueing and accurate scratching. i cant really think of a cheap controller thats fits all your requirements. VC100 would be the closest thing i could think of thats not horribly expensive, (again the scratching on a vci100 is not very good..but..eh..whatever)
The rmx isnt that good for scratching but no midi controller is rerly. Nothing comes close to real vinyl the stanton scs decks are good but very expensive. Better response and feel for scratching than a cdj 1000 in my eyes
The stealth is a big improvement on previous numark controllers and i do think theme including a encoder in the middle is a smart move.
Cueing response with a good laptop should be 5ms or less so cue response should not be a issue
You say about features but you can give a controller any feature you want that is the beatuty of controllers rather than old mixer that you where stuck with wat u got. If you want to add fader start you can if you want four deck control you can
Thanks for all the answers. I am really only going to be doing this for fun and I just want something cheap to mess around with. If the Numark Stealth had headphone monitoring functionality I would go with that but instead I have narrowed it down to these two choices:
-Hercules DJ Console MK2
-Behringer BCD3000 B-Control DJ Mixer
Which of these is a better overall product (ease of use / features)? Are there any clear favorites as far as what software to use?
The hercules is better-ish… I know of a few mobile djs that use it without problems, and at least hercules had the common decency to put the eqs in a vertical arrangement instead of a horizontal one.
I say ish because they’re both, well cheap. But if all you want to do is mess around, it’ll be fine
TRAKTOR all the way. you will need at least 500 to get going with serato but rerly for that your looking more like 1 grand. Virtual dj is rubbish in my opionon. All the effects are rubbish. it does support video though. And its sound card routing is rubbish
The BCD is a bit plasticky but will pretty much do what you need it to do for a few months, after that you will be saving for the VCI and an audio 2, i’d put 20 bucks on it
I was so close to “just” getting a BCD3000 then started reading up about touch sensitivity and look around on the net for different products and came across the VCI-100 and then look around for DI’s and have settled on the Audio!
I have over $400 saved for my VCI-100 and will get my Audio 2 around tax time!
tbh if scratching isn’t an issue (which if you’re considering BCD3000 it can’t be) then I would go modular and get an Audio 2 DJ sound card and an x-session pro
Both pieces of kit will hold their value.
The audio 2 DJ is a proper soundcard, you will probably never have to replace, so is a solid investment.
The x session is obviously limiting but there is a lot you can do with it if you’re creative.
I’m with jester that you will be looking to upgrade to a VCi-100 or other in no time. So then you can just sell your x-session and keep your Audio 2 DJ.
The BCD3000 is wack tbh and you’ll have to then get a new soundcard and a new controller when you want to upgrade.
they are coming out with the Vestax Typhoon that is PC compatible with Traktor, and supposedly from what I hear. it and the Spin have great decks for scratching, similar to the VCI-300, I think the typhoon would fit your specifications the best, especially since it has a built in soundcard, so you wouldn’t have to get a $100 sound card on top of the VCI-100 or other controllers.
I shoudl note that the VCI-300 also has a built in sound card but it is around $900 so I think you’d probably prefer the $250 option of the vestax typhoon.
