Firstly let me just intriduce myself! My name is Tom Hammer. I’m a DJ from London town. A little while back i sold my all of my vinyl equipment in the look to change to cd decks. then i realized, i have a very savvy tech background. Why don’t i try going digital?
I am very intro my electro music and i do a little production work on the side.
I currently work for Apple so obv i use their computers. Would do through choice also.
I am looking at getting into the Digital DJing world. I kind of need to start fresh!
So i was wondering if you guys could give me any advice.
I know i want the ability to switch between TraktorPro and Ableton if i wish to. I have recently come to the decision that i do not care for the jog wheel. I am quite happy to work with beat grids. I have done endless amounts of research. I have found these two.
My budget is around £700 including headphones.
Allen and Heath D2.
This looks brilliant! What i need to know with this one is, can i plug this straight into my mac, program it via midi and start using ableton straight away? Can i have JUST this and plug speakers directly into it? (I have optical speakers) Is the effectively going to give me 4 tracks on ableton. Kind of like 4 decks?
Has anyone had any experience with this kit? know of any problems?
The other i found was the Vestax VCM600
This looks excellent! But it is very based around Ableton. The layout is almost identical! Will this hinder me later on if i decide to go with Traktor? Also any idea when it actually gets released?
I have looked at the VCI 300. But i feel i do not want to be tied to one program. I see ITCH as Scratch Live’s younger brother. A kind of slimmed down version. I feel i would outgrow that program very quickly. Then im stuck with a 600 quid controller.
If you are looking for a controller that is good for both Ableton and Traktor I think the A&H is on the mark but I’m scheptical about the 2D because it’s sending A/D, D/A, and Midi through one(1) USB bus. that’s a lot of data through one little cable! I recommend the 1D, an external mixer, and an Audio 8 or similar 8+ channel independent soundcard. If you mix internally, the VCI-100 is good for Traktor but not so much for Ableton. The VCM-600 is good for Ableton but not Traktor.
The negative about the A&H controllers is the form factor. they are designed to sit as tall and as deep as a mixer or turntable. great if you are using one or both, but terrible if your using a controller solo.
The Vcm 600 would be my ideal choice for a controller between the two you are looking at (xone 2d and vcm 600).
HOWEVER, the xone 2d is a sound card as well as a midi controller, while the vcm 600 is only a midi controller. The vcm 600 is tied to ableton live, but there’s no reason that it would not work well with traktor. Traktor, at most, uses 4 decks, so you would have 2 extra channels of midi controls to assign as you wish, plus since you do not care for jog wheels, the vcm600 gives you everything you would need for both programs and even more buttons to assign for traktor. The VCM 600 has 160 PARAMETERS, while the 2d has about 60 or 70, i believe. so you’re better off with the vcm 600.
why u said that the vcm 600 is not good for traktor ??
u can midi map everthing and have 4 channels mixer in traktor also you have eneough buttons and knobs to even control traktor pro with out any problem…the only problem on the xone 2d is going to be the midi mapping…is confusing lol
Well the VCM-600 is nice and all, but I still need to see it wind up in the shops.
All webshops do at the moment is taking pre-orders. While it undergoes interface overhaul after overhaul and keeps on facing distribution delays due to this.
Regarding the Allen & Heath x: one2d. It is brilliant. The bigger brother of the 1d, but a soundcard, crossfader and extra controls added to it.
Combine that with a solid construction and I think you can’t go wrong.
For the price of that Zone gear you could buy a soundcard and a slew of midi controllers that are much more suited towards digital mixing.
If you want try a bit of Ableton and a Bit of Traktor i would say go for a Novation SL-25 keyboard because it will give you a ton of faders, pots and buttons to play with for a fairly reasonable price.
You say your are pretty decent and computers and that you have prior experience working with audio programs. You should check out the routing articles we have availible about how to get audio from Trakor into Ableton.
It might not be your ideal choice, because of your mixing styles, but it could be that it is an awesome tool for Hammer?
This once again is a typical case of what is the user’s own preference. Does he want to go for cue/beat jugling or does he want to mix Hawtin style, or maybe a crossover?
Oh god, Nathaly, don’t be nice to him. Please, for all of us. Next thing you know he’s gonna be talking about how he knows something, and then we all lose
Hammer, welcome to the site. I, personally, think the Xone mixers are a LOT of money for what you get if you’re going to be djing exclusively digitally. If you were to mix in with hardware turntables/ cd decks then they’d be a great idea. This is personal opinion, of course.
I agree with Bento. You can get a more versatile controller and a solid soundcard for the USD$700 of the Xone:2D… and I think it would leave you with more room to grow than having the Xone. Not that either is better, but I am a fan of not getting locked into one style of mixing, which I think the Xone is more likely to do to someone than remapping a keyboard and drum controller.
I agree there are loads of controllers to opt for, but still, the power of a controller lies within the DJ and his vision. (And next to that I just went along his own options. )
This vision will lead to a mapping best suited for him.
In the end all devices must be mapped.
Oh, I know what you mean, Tekki. I just think that there is a comfort and familiarity with set ups like the VCI-100 and the Xones that reflects the classic form of DJing. I think it restricts our mapping capability to a specific form of mixing. That’s all
Granted, I’m just as guilty of it. There is a point where forcing yourself to think in a different way might force us to create in a different way.
sounds to me like you need a couple of controllers if you are going to be running both programs. you may want to consider this as it may give you not only more but better options.
It partly has to do with their vision, but if you only got very few buttons, a small handfull of knobs and some faders there is only so creative your going to be able to be with it - i cant stress this enough the layout of a device plays a massive part in the work flow of how you deal with your music. The most limiting factor in mixing digitally is allways the interfaces that are provided to us.
He needs something with a lot of different controls, especially if he wants to try both Ableton and Traktor and even more so if he wants to use both at the same time - zone mixers are soooo not suited to this at all. Zone mixes much more suited to spinning on some CDJ’s or Vinyl and perhaps feeding the channels though your system for some extra effects.
These Xone interfaces are old and outdated(same goes with the Korg Zero), interfaces all generally doing is replicating the same old interfaces of the past but giving you some midi functionality for a extremely large price tag.
You end up paying for a load of analogue components that if are pushing the digital limits you would never use. These components add large ammounts of weight and space that could be used to pack even more midi controllers.
Wow! Guys your responses have been absolutely fantastic!
Just a few things to clear up, i most definately won’t be using both Ableton and Traktor at the ‘same’ time. But i could totally use them independantly.
I also want the ability to be able to turn up to aclub, plug in their mixer if i want too, plug in there cd or vinyl decks if i want to. This is what made the D2 so appealing.
Quite suprised at the amount of anti: D2 i’ve been reading from here. I know its a bit pricey but it, well, just seems to reek of quality.
I need something that is going to last also. of course!
But yeah i’m still open to offers! I do love the look of the VCM600 but i feel i could be waiting a very long time for release.
I’ve still got about the same kind of cash to spend.
I’m looking for really like an all in one, sound card, midi controller you know. Something i can plug in, map and get going! I want to be able to grow from it as i progresss also but dont wanna start right at the bottom you know?
Sorry if it seems so demanding guys! You’ve been a great help so far!
lol
is a awesome all in one hybrid mixer