Just in the design stages at the moment but I’m pretty excited by this controller concept… think it’s pretty unique and is a good compromise between a performance ‘midi-fighter-esque’ controller and a more traditional CDJ/mixer combo. See what you think:
The screen is a 7" USB screen by Samsung (model U70) and is the most expensive part (about £70). Haven’t decided on a brain yet, but it’ll probably be U-HID. The buttons on the left hand side of the screen come from a USB Numpad and are used to manipulate an Autohotkey script which controls what is displayed on the USB screen (via CloneThing, a tool that re-arranges Traktor GUI elements; see sig).
The platter comes from a Pioneer CDJ1000 (found a shop online that does them as spare parts) with a ‘vinyl-cdr’ attached to the top. The guts come from an EKS XP10.
The VU meter can be switched to show channel volume (pre/post) and master volume (again, see sig for how this works).
I’ve borrowed quite a few features from the S4 as it’s obvious that this is the way that Traktor is headed. I particularly like the Gain as an encoder feature… certainly solves the auto-gain problem.
The thing I’m most proud of is the FX section above the screen (and the looping encoders under the screen). The encoders are designed to be ‘lined up’ with what’s displayed on the screen. This means that I don’t have to use hardly any LED’s as you’ll get a real-time update from each control. The best thing however, is that, with two of these controllers, I’ll be able to hide the laptop somewhere and won’t need to look at it all during a set. :eek:
Oh and by the way, it looks expensive, but my estimate per unit is well under £300 in parts. Having 2 of these things, for under £600 or choosing the new S4… hmmm, well I know which one I’d rather have…!
I’m really interested in this! From what I gather, no touch sensitive jog wheel? Why is that? Also I’m not sure the mixer section should be a part of a deck controller..but i can totally see having two of these and being set. I love the idea of using traktor without having to have the laptop out..this could really help restore the audience/dj interaction.
Very ambitious and can’t wait to see where this goes if anything maybe some of the big companies will see this and try to integrate some of it into there own offerings. I find that when you start adding large LCD displays the price of the gear sky rockets which is a shame but I think it’s less about the actual price of LCDs and more about only the top of the line gear have large LCD displays.
You solved the auto-gain issue with those gain encoders but what about the pitch fader?
When you hit sync you will have the same problem as with using gain knobs instead of encoders. Soft takeover helps but it’s a pain, and for pitch fader you can’t have value jumps, it will ruin your mix.
Have you thinked about using a long touchstrip for pitch faders? You could pitch fader your track by rolling down your finger some times. Search some videos of SCS.3d pitch fader and you will understand what I’m suggesting.
Another option will be using a motorized fader, but I think that is more expensive then a touch strip and maybe one more mechanic thing to break.
And what about encoders for FX parameters? Are you using them, right?
Another suggestion
Can you fit Deck C waveform on the screen when Deck A is active? there is enough space for that? Would be nice to see both waveforms…
If Deck A is active your screen, you can show all controlls from Deck A and only the waveform from Deck C, if Deck C is active, it would be the inverse…
IMO a controller like that needs less arcade buttons and more tact switches with custom caps on them. It would look much better and they have a better feel to them.
yeah, no touch sensitive jog wheel planned at the moment. I’m using an EKS XP10 for most of the guts of my controller, and the XP10 does have touch sensitive jogs, but it might be difficult to implement in my design as I’m significantly increasing the size of the wheels… we’ll see.
and yeah, CDJ’s usually don’t have a mixer section but I’ve designed mine so that it can be used in pairs, either on their own or either side of a normal DJ mixer. Best of both worlds I think (it also saves me having to design and make a THIRD diy controller!)
yep - CloneThing has hotkey support so it’s easy to change the section of Traktor that I’m cloning. The buttons to the left of the LCD screen are for changing the view… the middle button displays the library.
The EKS XP10’s were about £68 each I think? (ebuyer had them on sale). I’ll be doing a progress report when I’ve made some more progress! At the moment I’m just ordering all the parts. I hope to have 2 controllers made by Christmas.
good question… any suggestions? They need to have push buttons built in to them…
have you seen any cheap touchstrips for DIY projects like this one? I’m more of a fan of tactile controls to be honest. Not going down the motorised fader route but I’m wondering how controllers like the VCI-100 handle this (they have pitch faders too)
This is definitely possible using CloneThing… you can clone any section of Traktor, stretch it, shrink it, etc and hide/show using midi/keyboard shortcuts. Your suggestion is interesting - I’ll probably experiment with it once it’s all built…
The image I knocked together in photoshop is just a concept image… I was limited by what stock images I could find on google! Everything can and probably will change! I’m planning on black arcade buttons with red outer rings (to match Traktors colours).
I really like the encoders built into the Code by Livid Instruments. I contacted Jay at Livid about these encoders and he informed me that he had them specially made for the Code. He also said that he may offer them in the Livid store in the near future.
I bet if you contacted Livid they would sell you a few..
