After years of messing around with different setups, I’ve decided that the complexity behind having multiple devices, keeping the mappings and drivers updated, and having to wire and unwire it all any time I need to move the equipment was more of a distraction from the creative process than a benefit. My setup has gradually evolved over time, starting with two 1200sl turntables and a Pioneer DJM mixer back in the 2000’s to where it is today. Every time I revise my setup, I sell off my old equipment to help fund the new stuff. It also keeps the office clean!
Anyways, here’s a before and after picture. The before setup was a VCI-100, APC20, and Audio 4 DJ sound card running off a Windows 7 laptop (Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM). Now, I wanted the computer to be as small and out of the way as possible, so I’ve picked up a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (i7, 8GB RAM, Windows 8.1) and grabbed an S8 thanks to the Black Friday sale.
The setup is much more minimal than a lot of people’s here, but for me, I feel like it gets me back to what I like about Djing, the fun of it. I can literally plug the USB cable up to my Surface, and start cranking out tunes.
One note: this isn’t going to be the final installation location for the S8 so the tiny Klipsch speakers aren’t what I’ll be using (I have a better system in the basement). I need to find a keyboard stand that will work with the S8 and hopefully have a place for the computer. I’m all ears if anyone has suggestions!
Me either. That’s why I proactively beat grid all my tracks. That way I don’t have to waste my time beat matching like I did for years on the 1200s and can instead focus on the value-added creative side of DJing.
I’m still a bit perplexed at all the people insisting that they WANT to beat match instead of using grids. Are we so afraid people won’t think we’re “working” as DJs that we have to touch a platter to look like we’re doing things? At work I don’t do math by hand instead of using Excel to prove to my boss that I’m actually calculating things. Why would we want to waste time manually beat matching when we can instead turn our focus to more track layering, effects, live remixing, and creating new mixes?
I couldn´t agree more, Davemex. Even though I learnt beatchmatching in the beginning, I never understood why it is so damm important to most of the DJs out there.
^^ all valid points and I personally have never had an issue with anyone who uses sync… but as always Dave, haters are gonna hate and it is generally due to their own insecurities.
On cdjs I always mixed by %'s then fine tuned anyway, can’t see much difference.
Sync is an amazing feature when you’re in no shape to beatmatch and get the itch to mix a bit, even for quick sampling. I could go on but I won’t.
Very true. The haters can hate all they want though, I DJ because I love music and I believe that the only thing that matters from a controller standpoint is that it minimizes the barrier between getting the mix from your head to the speakers. Anything that slows that down is a distraction.
As for the touch-strips, I found them surprisingly responsive when messing around without sync. My only complaint is that I wish they would have placed them in a vertical orientation instead of a horizontal one since that’s how many of us are use to manhandling our records. It’s a bit awkward to turn my hand sideways to nudge. Hell, I’d dare say you could almost scratch on them if they’d oriented them vertically.
Ohh well, I’m a house DJ and not a turntablist. If you’re a true turntablist, I’d argue that you’d want to hook your turntables up to this thing anyways to use the Scratch Pro integration (remember, it’s DESIGNED for that). Hell, if you wanted to scratch, you could probably buy a couple turntables, hook them up to this , and it would still be around the same price that Pioneer chargers for their all-in-one Serato controller that includes platters, and you could use real vinyl instead!
oh no, you’re a house dj?
ahaha just kiddin’
I play that stuff too when nobody is around.
Yea all in all I think I might find myself grabbing an S8 some where down the road.. Pretty content with the S2 right now. Didn’t enjoy the S4 at all.
CDJS and mixer have been collecting dust in the garage.
Can’t bring myself to sell cdjs or mixer either. Nice to have them for house parties // spare gear for gigs if ever required.
Haha maybe I should have said “electronic” instead of house to just specify that I’m not spinning hip-hop or club/pop. My collection is just heavier on house than it is DnB, dubstep, techno, etc. I actually ran through all genres when testing the S8 out to figure out how it behaved across the spectrum. Drum n Bass was by far the most fun on this machine thanks to flux mode + loops to create custom beat mashing. Hip-hop would be pretty fun too due to the ease of sample layering. You’d probably want those turntables though…
by the way I wasnt hating at all, each to their own. i love house music as much as the next person but i like to drop the odd indie classic amongst all sorts of other stuff, funk, oldskool, rare groove, even steve reich, basically all sorts of stuff that cant be beatgridded. if every tune your ever gonna play out can be beatgridded then this thing is amazing, for the rest of us maybe not so. anyway nice setup
That makes a lot of sense then. Like I said, it’s actually not as bad as you’d think using the touch strip. I still wish it was rotated 90 degrees but it can get the job done. It’s no replacement for having a platter though! If you like to drop those old school tracks, I’d keep the platters close
The S8 works as a scratch interface and comes with traktor scratch pro, so you just need to add turntables, buy control vinyl, and plug them in to have 12" motorized platters and pitch faders.
Considering that, having the controls on the unit would waste space and make it even bigger.
True. I honestly think that was a better route for them to take to let people pick their own platter device instead of half-assing a built in platter. If you care that much about scratching or manual beat matching, you’ve likely already got turntables or CDJs. That means it’s literally a $20 upgrade (the cost of the Scratch vinyls) to have a plug and play Scratch Pro setup.
That kind of setup would be huge and likely not appeal to full-on turntablists, but that’s not what it’s built for…it’s like 4 times the size of a good scratch mixer.
There are only 2 reasons I don’t own one. First, the control setup lends itself to 2 track decks + 2 remix decks, and I don’t know what I’d do with 2 remix decks. Second, it came out right about the time I had the money and inclination to try an old-fashioned rotary mixer. If either of those weren’t true (or if I weren’t enjoying my 2016 as much as I am), I would have returned/sold the mixer and bought one. It’s an absolutely brilliant device.
There’s also the fact that it seems like tempo control works the same way as the X1, which means you can probably make big tempo jumps by setting your software pitch fader appropriately and using sync + push&turn the deck encoder.
Well I finally found a stand for this beast! This stand: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RS9050 combined with an equipment shelf and an Odyssey laptop stand made for the perfect all-in-one setup. It now lives behind the couch in my basement theater so I can use the real speakers and not the tiny office ones. I’d highly recommend that mixer stand if anyone needs something for the S8.
It’s about 30" high. For me (I’m 6’3") the lowest buttons on the S8 are right at where my hands idle when standing. I wouldn’t want to go any lower though. Yeah the last step will be cable management. The real puzzler is how I’m going to get an RCA cable from the middle of the room to the equipment closet. I’m considering wireless options but worry about sound fidelity loss.
Personally, I’d worry about running an RCA that far. But, I live in a noisy area. 8 or 10 feet into an amplifier is about the longest I can get away with before the radio becomes audible.
How do you like the Microsoft Surface Pro 3. I’ve never even thought about using one and it’s about time to retire my ancient 2007 MacBook. It looks incredibly slick and compact!
