Hi,
Be for warned this post will be a little long!
So basicly, I’ve always want to try DJing and recently before christmas decided I would try it, and decided to buy the ION Audio Discover DJ midi controller. I tried it and liked it alot, for the first couple weeks. However, if you’ve ever seen the Discover DJ you’d know its a very limitted controller as well as the software, Mixvibes LE, its packaged with. So, bored with the program I decided to search for a new one and came across Virtual DJ, which is a pretty great program, but what I was looking for was a program which would allow me to sample and use effects and then stumbled upon Traktor Demo version which I’ve become very found of!
SO onto the question!
I’ve recently been searching for a new Midi Controller to play around with, I like to mix the Danceish genre and have a price range capped at about $400. I’d like a controller that’s packaged with Traktor LE hopefully but I could settle for VDJ as well. I’d also hopefully like the controller to have a built in Audio Interface & Touch Sensitive Jog Wheels. Also I’d like it to be brand new hopefully. If you have or have tried any of the controllers in the list below that I’m thinking about, could you please tell me, is the controller diverse (i.e lots of knobs faders buttons), rate the controller on a scale of 1-10, problems with the controller/support, etc. I dont plan to do gigs as I’m not that great but your help is much appreciated!
List of Controllers:
MixTrack Pro
Reloop Digital Jockey 2 Interface Edition
I-Mix Reload: MKII
Gemini Ctrl-Six
Well i’m familiar with the Vestax VCI-100 and the Reloop DJ2 IE. Because i had the same problem that you have. I was really doubting between the Vestax and the Reloop.
At the end i chose the Vestax because of the DTT support and the great build quality.
The only thing that i can say about the reloop that is bad, is that the build in soundcard is not that great and that the support is very low.
The modern reloop controllers are pretty solidly built, but don’t suit my style. Have you been to try any of these out at a shop? If there’s one you can get to, I really recommend it.
Apart from that I second photojojo’s suggestion, the VCI-100 (try and find an SE) and Audio 2 DJ soundcard is a great combo.
A word of warning. If you think you’ll be taking this very far, DON’T waste money buying mediocre gear that you then want to upgrade after 2 months (I’m sure you know what I mean having had the ion).
better to spend money once and get something of quality than have to upgrade and lose money on selling something second hand.
thanks for the advice everyone appreciated, I’m still deciding though!
And as for the post above me, I don’t know if i’ll be taking this very far its more of just a hobby to be honest, I dont think i’d ever be up to par to play house parties or anything
Don’t ever sell yourself short! You can do anything you want to do! (well, I suppose walking through a revolving door with a pair of skis over your shoulders would be fairly impossible)
I don’t think there is a better feeling than when you realize the power you (as the dj) have over the crowd you’re playing for…
I was in a similar position as you a couple of months ago and I ended up getting a Numark Mixtrack + Traktor Pro. And its a great controller at a great price. I didn’t want to drop a lot of $$$ only to find I wasn’t interested.
But after a couple of months of messing around, I found that I love Traktor so much I bought a S4.
Love my Hercules Steel/Audio 2 combo. I mapped the hell out of it. No touch sensitive jogs, but unless you get the VCI, I don’t see much point in having them. They serve a great purpose for that controller, others, not so much.
Get an X1, A2DJ, and a BCR2000, from B&H audio that’s $433 and customizable if your willing to do the mapping. If it was me I would get a launchpad from Novation and save $80 making it about $350, but that’s mostly because I’m not a fan of the X1’s tiny buttons.
Hey Guys Thanks for more great posts, you’re all helping me alot!
I actually just did a comparison chart really quick to help me out:
[ame=“Photo Storage”]MidiMixer.jpg picture by dobo1 - Photobucket[/ame]
Thoughts?
I’m thinking of going with the bstock vci 100 mkii or american audio vsm possiably!
I use a reloop digital jockey 2 master edition cost me about £350. Solid bit of kit alot sturdier than the interface or controller edition although slightly more expensive. It comes with tracktor le and the stock mappings have been fine for me also comes with mappings for traktor pro which i now use and if you wanted to map it yourself there are quite alot of options as the shift function enables atleast 2 functions for each button. Heard good things about the vci 100 which im sure many on this forum will be fans of although it doesnt have touch sensitive jogs like the reloop dj2. Reloop dj2 ME also comes with built in sound card which is decent aswell havent really tested it to capacity yet but so far so good.
Hi man i just bought a few weeks ago a Gemini ctrl six, it works very nice for me, u know it comes with virtual dj and it has so many buttons/functions than for example mixtrack pro or the Imix, i think maybe the reloop its a good choice too, the pros of numark mixtrack pro is the quality i think, gemini ctrl six dont look too much plastic but faders and knobs are not really the best, i think its a good buy for that price, hope this info helps u, and sorry 4 my bad english am from Mexico, if u want more info just ask
At the end i’ll just suggest you just try both of them and than decide. Because they are both great controllers the only things that may decide wich you need to choose are personal prefrences.
As i mentioned before i chose for the Vestax. They reason here for me was that i really liked the all metal build of the controller and that i liked that i could edit/customize it with help of the DTT forum
