Beginner’s Question: What controller should i choose?
Hello,
my Name is Sebastian, I’m 23 years old and from Germany. So my english is not the best, hope you understand most of my text
On New Year’s Eve I got the chance to perform first time ever on some Traktor 1 Scratch with Technics 1210 MK2 and I liked it a lot. I’ve never stood on the decks, just playing around with mouse and keyboard of my laptop before.
But there was a friend of mine who is playing at some nightclubs and he liked what I did So i will have the chance to play as a warmup in a club soon. Practising is very hard at the moment, because I have to go to the flat of my friend.
This is why i wanna buy some controller for practising at home. It should not be expensive, dont know where djing is going to (getting serious or staying fun). So Kontrol S4 and everything around is too expensive
I got Tracktor 2 LE already from a friend who’s bought the PRO Version.
I have different options:
VCI-100 black 280 bucks
VCI-100 MK2 silver 310 bucks
VMS4.1 340 bucks
Mixtrack Pro 200 bucks
S2 480 bucks
What would you recommend? I dont wanna play with it at clubs and have some active speakers at home, so do i need an extern soundcard for the vci-100? Is the MK2 worth the 30 bucks?
at first: welcome to the forums. you made the right decision joining us
second: what would be your budged?
also: i own a vci 100 for quite a while now and i´m a happy panda with this one. but consider that you have to get a sound card, cause the vci has no built in. ihmo, even though a lot of guys on here would disagree but the s2 would be the best option. has built in sound card, is easy to master and perfectly mapped for traktor. you´ll comfortable with it from the first minute!
My budget is as small as possible for some good stuff, but I do not want to spend more then 450, maybe 500 bucks.
The VCI 100 MK2 has a build-in soundcard, so this would be nice…but I lose the nice metallic case of the vci 100. Don’t think it matters playing just at home.
I would suggest the vci-100 mk1 black, and get an external sound card. I never trusted the idea of an integrated sound card in a controller, and I stand by my vci-100 on it’s own merit as well.
I agree with you there. I would have to recommend the S2. I’ve been using it from when it came out, and it has been perfect for me. I got it just to play around with at home but I eventually started to branch out and play gigs with it. Even though you said you don’t wanna play at clubs, if you ever decide to the S2 will easily handle that.
- VCI-100 - VCI-100 MK2
Haven’t touched either one of these but I know people who have them and I haven’t really heard anything negative. Vestax is pretty good company and make even cheaper controllers.
- VMS4.1
AHHH! AMERICAN AUDIO STAY AWAY!
Granted the VMS4.1 is the tune up for the mess ups of the 4 and is a great controller when it does work, American Audio is not something you just want to start off with. Not very reliable hardware and kind of hard to set up.
- Mixtrack Pro
Numark is a great company when it comes to making solid, stable controllers. They put just what you need though. You don’t get all the cool niffty buttons and pads you would on say the VCI or the S2.
- S2
If you’re going to be working with traktor then this might be your best shot. Being from Native Instruments, it’s response to the program is pretty much unbeatable. This is what you want when you literally want to have traktor in your hands.
You’ve got a good list man, in truth the best way to find out is much like any other instrument: Go mess with one and see which feels right.
In terms of a TRUE BEGINNER CONTROLLER though, I have to say the Mixtrack. I’ve had a iDJ3 for a year and it’s pretty much doing everything I want it to, but then again I’m not a traktor guy.
So i will have the chance to play as a warmup in a club soon. Practising is very hard at the moment, because I have to go to the flat of my friend.