Internal vs External mixing
I know that there have been other threads/articles on this debate but since the s4 came out(the 1st 4-channel controller), I would like to see what would you vote internal or external and a small justification.
external all the way, well for me anyway. i prefer to use a proper mixer with a proper eq etc…
If you plan on playing out then external :
Better EQs and faders (generally)
Better sound quality
Portability.
Half of the functions mapped to a VCI-100 or an S4 aren’t going to be used in the real world by 90pct of the people that buy them and get the opportunity to use them in a club environment IMO.
external+100000
just a much better warmer sound from the eqs
External. There is no controller that feels as good to use as even some mid-level mixers. Plus, there may be less stuff to have to find places for if you’re using 1 or 2 X1s or something as opposed to something that’s bigger than a CDJ.
IDK…I just never really considered just an all-in-one.
On what functions you are refering to?
Based on my personal experience, I agree with this. Although, I haven’t gotten my fingers on the S4 yet. Wonder if its haptics are on par with my external mixer of choice.
But when thinking exclusively about sound quality, I prefer internal mixing. This is a very subjective thing, though. Basically, you gotta try it for yourself. I can understand why some people like the phat sound of, say, Rane mixers. The heavy bass works well in a club. But I just don’t find it sounds as clean and crisp as Traktor’s internal mixer.
Is it possible for someone wo has the s4 to share with us his internal mixing experience?
I mix internally myself and rather enjoy it. When ever I play out I never have to worry about what kind of gear they have as long as I have an open channel on the mixer to plug into.
And while I don’t think there is much sound quality lost as people make it seem, I have noticed when using the EQs it’s bit harsh when you have EQ at 7 o’clock (kill) and then trying to bring it in gently, it’s just a bit jarring for that one moment, but you find ways around it.
I prefer external just because midi controllers tend to feel cheap and horrible to use in comparison to a mixer of similar price. Cheap plasticy knobs that don’t click in the middle- urgh.
Mathematically, you’re right, based on everything I’ve seen.
While it’s possible to clip your sound card (in fact, it’s really easy), it’s basically not possible to clip traktor’s mixer, no matter what stupid settings you use. And you don’t lose anything to cheap or worn-out circuitry or cheap components, 'cuz it’s just math.
I still maintain that I don’t like the sound of the Classic EQ (rolloff is too quick at the top and it boosts too much), the controller I’m using doesn’t have knobs for the xone EQ (I suppose I could map both of the mid controls to one knob…I’ll have to try that), and the Nuo one sounds off to me. I don’t hate it, but I don’t like it…so I’m stuck using the p600 EQ for the time being, despite the fact that it sounds only a bit less off than the others and is still too sharp close to 0dB and still boosts too much.
I can’t wait until I can afford my Empath, so I can get back to mixing with a real mixer. I didn’t miss having a real mixer so much with Ableton Live (because it’s EQs are great and the VCM feels almost as nice to use as a lot of real mixers), but I really miss it with Traktor…there’s not a mixer-like controller with the right set of controls for my taste. The VCI feels decent, but I’d ignore most of it…just like I ignored most of my VCM-600 using Traktor.
I guess the core of it is that I haven’t found a good 2 or 4-channel mixer-only controller for Traktor that feels solid and isn’t ridiculously overkill for what I want, whereas there are a LOT of actual mixers that sound great (if you understand anything about leveling), some of which have the same type of digital processing that make it virtually impossible to clip anything but the final D-A converter. Even going 100% analog, a lot of them have a lot of extra headroom, making that less of a benefit to digital…and they all are laid out better than all but the best controllers, which include a lot of crap I wouldn’t use.
That’s why I like external mixing for Traktor.
Because that was a long and rambling post, here’s a picture of a kitten hugging a teddy bear:
Yay! Cute! Always good.
I mix internally mainly because of the afore mentioned ease of set-up. No worries about what gear is at the event, as long as there is an open channel. That being said, I much prefer the sound of a good external mixer and it’s eq’s. I really don’t like Traktor’s eq sound (any of 'em), but since I mix more than two sources and my sound card is only 4 channel, I stick to the internal setup. I think getting an Audio 8 and making a mapping for 4 channel external mixing may be in my future, but I’d only use it when set-up would be chill (no “you’ve got 1 minute left on the vinyl, go for it” type scenarios).
I really don’t like hauling mixers to gigs either…
So your main problem with external mixing is the trouble caused to connect all 4 channels from the sound card to the mixer?
the perfect thing for this is the denon mc 6000
it is a real mixer like the x1600 (same components)allowing you to use it with external mixing.
awesome
it sounds great, feels great.
thats why i bought it and not the SSsss 4
I agree that the denon is a hell of a controller/mixer. Although IMO it seems to have not many buttons to map.
I’ve never understood how you connect a controller to a club system. Is it just RCA to an open input on the club mixer with EQs all set at twelve o’clock and volume all the way up?
That’s how it’s done round my way.
Idk about that, 8 cues, full fx control for traktor. Looks shit hot to me.
Agree but how easy will it be to control sample decks with it?
The same way you connect any other audio source to a club system…