Buying my first controller, deciding between a couple, need your opinion
I’m buying my first controller for use with Traktor, and I don’t have a huge budget. I’m headed to college next year and hope to get into the party scene. I did a lot of reading and searching, and I think I’ve narrowed it down to these: Numark TC (bonus for coming with a sound card), Reloop Digital Jockey IE2, Hercules RMX, or the VCI 100 (which is more expensive than I’d prefer but if it’s worth it, I’d go for it). Currently the Reloop is my favorite. What’s your opinion?
The VCI is worth it, but the Hercules gets pretty good reviews. DJ strormeagle on this site has a pretty good mapping for the Numark. Someone just posted complaining about the quality of the Reloop.
I’d recommend getting the Omni Control over the Total Control. The TC is smaller, the audio interface that comes with it is flimsy and feels cheap, and so does the controller. The Omni Control feels solid and responds just like the total does, but with more comfort and the built-in audio interface is pretty nice because you reduce the amount of hardware you use.
My only gripes with my omni is that I needed to do a lot of midi mapping in order to get the controller layout exactly how I wanted it (neither the Traktor LE or Pro layouts do the controller any justice in my opinion). It takes a while, but you can tweak it down to the T to how you want it.
Aside from that, it’s a great place to start. Having said that, I never have heard a bad thing about the VCI-series controllers, and Ean really backs this controller. So, I’d recommend going with the VCI-100 personally. Why? There’s nothing better for a controller DJ than owning a controller t
stay away from reloop
get the hercules steel instead of the rmx(same cotroller just with out the soundcard and cheaper) and get a audio 2 sound card
if you can afford it get the vci+audio2 sound card
I would go for the VCI if you’re not on a too tight budget. Eventually you will want to step up and get a more robust controller. The VCI’s metal case and buttons are just harder to ruin.
But if you’re a bedroom DJ robustness might not be that important for you
The Faderfox DX2 and DJ2 make a great ensemble. Their small size (and massive functionality) means you could just casually roll into a party without any hassle. The DX2 also leaves doors open for future use alongside an external mixer and timecoded decks.
If your still looking at the Hercules series, go with the Steel over the RMX and like they said, get an audio card such as the Audio 2 DJ. That’s what I’m running and I couldn’t be more pleased!
The firmware is really worth it. Iit does not change latency, but fixes a couple of small jiggles in the stock firmware and adds some features (super knob for filter, extra midi note at the bottom of the line faders, etc.). Plus the SE comes with the overlay installed!
Bingo, and the audio card is meh, the A2DJ is better in my opinion (direct comparison swapping DJs at a house party). My friend’s OC had less umph and lacked presence compare to my A2DJ, and I had LOTS of room left on the gain
Never worked with a Hercules product, but the users on the forum seem to like them. Come to think of it, I’ve never heard a complaint about them, just people move on from them (not in a bad way, just expand into more).
If you were to ask me between the Omni (friend has one) and a Hercules (never touched one), I would without hesitation recommend the Hercules, but only after asking why you wouldn’t want a VCI!
