Discotrick needs a new trick! Equipment Questions
Hey DJTT guys!
I’ve decided to move away from Torq 1.5 and get down to using Traktor Pro. With that move, I’ve decided to buy new gear and sell my old gear (Xponent) and hopefully have enough to get a completely new set up which will be more travel friendly. So I was wondering if you guys have any suggestions for a setup that is easy to carry around (I travel to and from Asia every 6 months) and yet won’t bust the bank. Let’s try to keep the cost under $600 for everything (controllers + soundcard). Just so you guys know what I’m working with, I have my 15" Macbook Pro (Non-Unibody) with 2 USB ports/2 Firewire ports and a Seagate Goflex Pro w/ FW 800 or USB 2.0.
Let the brainstorming begin! 
Thanks for the help!
EDIT: Extra points if it’s future proof! I want something that will last me a while and still stay current.
VCI-100 and Audio 2. If you’re patient you can find a used set and get an X1 or midi fighter as well.
Go to the Buy and Sell forum and pickup a used VCI-100SE with the overlay and either 1.4 firmware, or buy the firmware update cable from the DJ Tech Tools store, and get a Audio 2 sound card. Should be able to stay in your price range easy.
Thanks guys. I definitely thought of going the VCI-100SE + Audio 2 DJ route too. I was wondering though, Photojojo you mentioned getting an X1 or midi fighter, but what would those be more useful for? I know the MIDI fighter would be good for controllerist/cue point juggling, but what other uses were you thinking of? As for the X1 I’m not too sure how it would fit into my set up because from what I understand, it basically just acts as an extra controller for a deck which I could probably do with a VCI anyway? Or am I missing something?
Both MF and X1 would give you better easier acces to controls that you could do with the VCI without having to press the shift button and try to remember what combination of what does what. The MF can do so much more with mapped FX and such than just cue point juggling. You could have one effect mapped to four buttons with each button increasing or decreasing the amount. That one button press with one finger does the job of what would take two hands on the VCI.
The X1 is pretty much in the same boat. It would be a little redundant with it’s native mapping, but it’s completely mappable with three pages of super knob and super button goodness. Plus the endless encoders are real nice for scrolling through lists.
I’ll have to admit I don’t know jacksh*t about MIDI mapping. Would that hinder me if I got a MIDI fighter? Do you happen to have a link to a tut on how to map on traktor somewhere in your magical bag of links? 
By the way does anybody know whether the firmware upgrades only work on Windows? Because if I’m not wrong, if you want to upgrade your firmware you have to use a windows program. What if I want to use the VCI-100SE with a macbook pro running traktor pro? Would I have to use windows on bootcamp, install the firmware update then switch back to OSX? or will i have to completely switch operating systems and use traktor pro in windows?
Upgrade in bootcamp, then never boot into windows again. Unless of course for some strange reason you want to.
I’ve been debating over the whole Windows vs OSX for DJing thing. I know OSX is more stable, but if I do go with it, I’m stuck with iTunes for sorting out my music library. Or maybe I could just use windows to sort out my library (since it’s on an hdd that is compatible with osx and windows) and do other non dj related stuff. What do you use?
How do you organize your music now? I use iTunes and love it.
I’d also like to throw in the idea of the Stanton SCS3 System. Not knocking the VCI-100SE by any means (I think it’s an awesome piece of kit) but it’s another option for you.
One of my buddies just switched from a Torq and turntable setup over to Traktor and the Stanton SCS3 System, and loves it. He travels a lot, and wanted a really mobile setup that he could throw in a backpack and go, and it delivers on that account.
It’s also bright and shiny, which gets a lot of attention. I know the VCI-100SE is as well, so it’s somewhat of a moot point, but it’ll come down to what you’ll be most comfortable with. He really like the SCS system because it has no knobs or anything to break, and he really likes the touch controls.
But it’s basically in the same price bracket, if not a little less if you get it used. Something to chew over.
I’d also recommend the Audio 2 DJ for your soundcard.
EDIT: I also use iTunes for my music sorting and couldn’t be happier with it. I’m also a nut about making all my actual filenames correct though, and I do everything manually. (Which takes forever). But in the end, I find iTunes is the easiest method of taking care of everything.
Thanks for the reply, BigC. I was also considering the SCS 3 System but I dont know if the mixer would work for me. I don’t know if the touch sensitive pads would be a good replacement for a knob. Can those be hooked up to a mixer instead? I was thinking 2 dascratch controllers + a Denon Dn-x120+ Audio 2 DJ would work and still be under my price range. Has anybody tried the mixer + 2 Midi fighter deckalized setup?
the 2 midifighter + mixer is actually my set up now and i use the deckalized mapping. I do like it, and it has a lot of options, but i feel a little limited on effects (but you could always change the mapping for different effects).
But its good, i havnt tried to much beat juggling, but the arcade buttons are still nice even though i dont. but i dunno what else to say but i was happy with it haha
Thanks George. My only worry with getting the 2 MF + Mixer setup is that if something goes wrong with the MF I won’t know how to fix it. Any suggestions on what mixer to get? If I get that type of setup I’d also need to get a soundcard. I’m wondering if I can keep the costs under USD$600 though… Any other suggestions?
Well i first bout it all as 2 midi fighters, an X Session Pro, and audio 2. i got the x session for like $60 though, and i liked it and it got the job done, but i wanted to upgrade to an analog mixer almost as soon as i got it 
but you can get some good used 2 channel mixers on like ebay for pretty cheap. They just posted an article all about 2 channel mixers here! i would check that out.
But the midi fighters really are not that complicated, like if you have the deckalized mapping, Ean really tells you everything you need to do in the video. I mean i have not had any problems with them so far so, but i havnt taken them out of my room too haha.
But i would look on ebay for mixers if you were to get one. Like i got my Numark Pro SM-3 for $75, and its a three channel mixer.
Nice. What kind of music do you spin?
Like electro, house, nu disco, and i guess some other stuff 
but stuff mostly around like a 120 or 130 bpm. Im still trying to figure out what kind of music i like to mix the most though
Ahh ok. I was wondering if you did stuff that required more of a controllerist touch to it. That’s one of the reasons why I’m holding back on getting MFs because I feel like I might miss using a jogwheel somehow.