Ive used technics in the past, and currently use Denon dns-1000s. Im planning (eventually ) on moving to a Traktor/controller set up. Having looked at different options I will probably end up going with 2 Kontrol X1’s.
It just got me thinking about design of controllers.
I understand that a lot of people are coming (like me) from a vinyl/cd set up, and therefore like the feel of two wheels, and many people will use them for cueing/scratching etc. But in many ways I get the feeling that Traktor (or other software) essentially can make the wheels obsolete ( if the dj so chooses ).
Just want to get everyones thoughts.
(Also off topic, could i get away with no mixer between the X1’s? ie just use laptop fader?)
Personally, I would be uncomfortable without jog wheels, and I have never DJed CDJs or vinyl (OK I have, but a long, long time ago). It is just so natural to beatmatch with jogs. I don’t like to use sync, and I use the jogs to time the beats after a drop. And that is both in Itch and Traktor. Fine tuning would be awkward for me any other way.
That said, Ean is apparently working some gigs with two Midi Fighters ONLY. He uses tempo bend up and down buttons (check out the mapping in the Midi Fighter section of the forum). So it is possible, but we work with what is comfortable for us.
I personally use the jog wheels for the pitch bend at this has a much more tactile feel for me and it also helps with the set up of the grids, dropping cue points much more accurately not mention the odd scratch.
Obviously you can DJ without them but I think you are ultimately losing the ability to do a few things.
Ive got used to jogs with the VCI cus i come from a vinyl background but, when i first started with digital i just used a Faderfox DX2.
I assigned 2 encoders to seek forward/backward in a track (scratching isnt possible) and i was happy with that for a long time.
I guess if you dont scratch and you use Load Markers on all your tracks its pretty easy to DJ without Jog wheels.
All depends on the Genre your playing. If your a minimal kinda guy i guess jog wheels are redundant for DJing but lets not forget that a lot of VCI users use the jogs for FX and browsing and such like.
I dont use the jogs for anything other that scrubbing and scratching. Im to forgetful to have them do anything else. Id end up scratching when i wanna browse and vice versa.
Ive got 2 X1s and you can pretty much do everything on Traktor with 2.
Not sure id be comfortable without a good mixer. Its like my testicles. Even though they dont seem to do much, Im sure it would feel very strange without them :eek:
Back on subject: jog wheels are just personal preference. But being a vinyl guy (the OP, I mean), you would have to go through a learning curve without them for tempo bending.
They are not really needed for Traktor, I think for midi controllers they are a total waste of space, you could fit much more control on the VCI with out them.
I think small jogs especially are a waste of time they are not nice to use so why have them at all? DVS is allways going to be king for ‘manual’ sync.
I agree about the real estate they take up, but the wee jogs on the DX are just as easy to tempo bend with as the jogs on the VCI-100.
It is likely the more experienced you are at beat matching and cue dropping that the jog becomes redundant. But for noobs, they can really help you fine tune you mix to get it right.
For those who don’t use jogs, do you use sync? If not how do you align beats ?(obvious noob question!)
I posed this same question a while back. I started spinning years ago on vinyl and later moved on to a VCI-100. It feels natural to scrub thru a track with jogs, however to X1’s and Xone 42 caught my interest. I tried it out and while it was great for effects and 4 deck set up I was lost and not happy at all without jogs. Also not having pitch faders sucked. If you are playing songs that are mostly all in the same BPM range and have set up cue points to easily jump to certain points in a song it works great. If you want anything close to traditional DJing you need jogs.
all about the modifiers for that, i have it set like this;
‘Crate’ button
Browser view toggle
mod 2 = 2, mod 5 = 2 (both with condition of m2 and m5 = 0)
Load buttons
Load into deck ‘x’
Browser view toggle
mod 2 = 0, mod 5 = 0 (both with condition of m2 and m5 = 2) crate button also has this assigned, but with out load function
Jog wheels
Left - browse favorite
Right - does up and down
Both with condition of m2 and m5 = 2
by having it this way the jogs are only in browse until i have loaded a track, or pressed crate again to return to main screen. as generally i’m not mixing while browsing this works really well and keeps it all contained. also i’ve used the ‘toggle’ method for mods (link) but spread it across 2 buttons in each load action. the mod conditions are because i have built an intricate web of mods in my tsi, you can do all this with 1 mod, obviously.
Reviewing my opening comments I may have come across a bit too definitive, obviously this is a matter of opinion. There will all ways be a market for jog wheel based controllers, however I don’t see them as necessary, especially in the evolution of DJing.
personally i can live without jogs.. a while back i used to use a pair of denon somethings, i think dns-3000’s or maybe 3500’s? (cant remember it was a while ago!) but i never used the jogs for adjustment. always just the tempo bend and pitch fader to sync without a problem. kinda missed them actually when i changed to cdj-1000s
did that a few times with how it used to be set, had the ‘crate’ button on the little knobs at top right, would have to remember to flick it back again, so set up an led to show they were still in browse. then thought ‘mod toggle’
initial problem then was as i then set that knob for activating the a/b transport buttons for cues. and i was used to flicking the knob (giggle) after loading i’d end up cue jumping on a or b instead of playing the track.
So, hijacking my own thread slightly, is there any other controllers similar to the X1 that I could be looking at? Anything that could be used with Reason would be useful, so any suggestions?
