New DIY Project

[makar1]

@mdcdesign

Never thought I’d hear someone who owns a pair of CDJs saying that haha

You may want to read more carefully…

[Polygon]

@mdcdesign

Tbh, that actually sounds like quite a badass little project haha If you’d mounted the screen FLAT on the top, would’ve been perfect for DJing! A battery-less non-touchscreen tablet before (affordable) tablets were even on the market

I need to remember to account for the thicknesses of EVERYTHING when doing dimensions, otherwise the whole thing’s going to end up in tears haha

Heh i didn’t have money for a touchscreen at the time, so i just figured i’d do a production rig, i actually managed to put in quite some stuff, a korg nanopad, a 25key+faders+knobs modded usb keyboard, and a laptop typing keyboard, all along with a custom made 2.1 setup inside, 2way monitors running on the side of the screen et all. Looked fugly tho xD

[Polygon]

@makar1

You may want to read more carefully…

13" Macbook Pro i7/8gb/750gb :: Traktor S4 + F1 + Pro 2 :: Allen & Heath DB4 :: Allen & Heath K2 :: Midi Fighter Classic :: Midi Fighter Pro (BM) :: Midi Fighter 3D :: Pioneer RMX1000 :: DJM800 :: 2 xCDJ1000mk3 :: Beats Pro + Beats Studio

[mdcdesign]

@tekki

Just curious, has this started because you’re really missing these functionalities with your Zomo controller, or was this just a thing that seemed like fun?

Tbh, it’s a combination of the two haha. The Zomo’s fantastic when I’m doing a basic set somewhere that I KNOW has got a mixer I’m a) comfortable using (DJM-600+ or a clone thereof, rather than an A&H or one of those nasty powered mixers that look more at home in a recording studio than a DJ booth) and is in good condition.

If I’m doing something more intricate, I’ll usually wind up taking my Contours though, because the Zomo only has 3 cuepoints on the first layer, and it’s difficult to juggle both decks without using the shift-locked page which deactivates the effects buttons, etc. The Contours give me 4 dedicated cuepoint pads easily switchable between 1-4 and 5-8 with a single buttonpress, without affecting the effects section. Plus, they’re much nicer targets to hit finger-drumming style, with a much “springier” action on them, similar to a Maschine or MPC. The Zomo’s are more comparable to the cue buttons on a DJM-600, firm and clicky, and about the same size.

So basically, I wanted something in between the two. The familiarity and overall FEEL of the Contours, but in a more compact package. Originally I just thought about making some cut-down contours, but figured if I was going to reduce them to an 8"x8" square anyway, I might as well just stick a 2ch mixer section between the two and have it rack-sized. That way, I’ve got EVERYTHING I need for a gig in a package WAY smaller (and lighter) than my Terminal Mix 4, with the same feel as the Contours

If I do manage to get this thing up and running, it’ll probably become my go-to controller for most gigs, although the rest of my gear won’t just sit on a shelf gathering dust; there’s a time and a place to use ALL of my gear, even my shitty little DJ-Tech CDJ101s

@Polygon

13" Macbook Pro i7/8gb/750gb :: Traktor S4 + F1 + Pro 2 :: Allen & Heath DB4 :: Allen & Heath K2 :: Midi Fighter Classic :: Midi Fighter Pro (BM) :: Midi Fighter 3D :: Pioneer RMX1000 :: DJM800 :: 2 xCDJ1000mk3 :: Beats Pro + Beats Studio

Ah, I think I know what makar1 was referring to… the guy that I quoted (The Mighty FV) had quoted dripstep in his post, whose sig is a quote from The Mighty FV, which is what he might’ve meant originally. I didn’t notice that the first time around, so just assumed he was talking about my sig haha.

EDIT: Just a quick addendum for anyone who’s interested; when I cracked open my Contour CE and IE last night to check out the internals, I had a look at the audio interface board of the IE. It’s absolutely crazy. Doesn’t use a single, dedicated USB DAC chip or even an array of them, it uses a pair of microprocessors, one by ATMEGA and I can’t remember the brand of the other one, possibly a TI chip, which drive an array of op amps, resistor ladders, and about a dozen other smaller 6-pin ICs the purpose of which I can’t for the life of me remember now. But it’s insane. It even uses a separate USB interface IC just purely for connectivity, rather than using an Arduino-style unit with on-die support.

Don’t get me wrong, the audio interface isn’t cobbled together out of a load of disparate parts with the goal of doing it as cheaply as possible; everything’s laid out perfectly and logically, with each channel grouped separately and individually grounded. It’s just a ridiculously complex way of doing things, which I won’t be replicating - mostly because we’d be on holographic interfaces by the time I finished haha.

Still, it explains why the latency from the Contour’s audio interface is so damn good (<5ms).

[Polygon]

@mdcdesign

Ah, I think I know what makar1 was referring to… the guy that I quoted (The Mighty FV) had quoted dripstep in his post, whose sig is a quote from The Mighty FV, which is what he might’ve meant originally. I didn’t notice that the first time around, so just assumed he was talking about my sig haha.

sigception

[mdcdesign]

@Polygon

sigception

Ahaha exactly !

[tekki]

@mdcdesign

Tbh, it’s a combination of the two haha. The Zomo’s fantastic when I’m doing a basic set somewhere that I KNOW has got a mixer I’m a) comfortable using (DJM-600+ or a clone thereof, rather than an A&H or one of those nasty powered mixers that look more at home in a recording studio than a DJ booth) and is in good condition.

If I’m doing something more intricate, I’ll usually wind up taking my Contours though, because the Zomo only has 3 cuepoints on the first layer, and it’s difficult to juggle both decks without using the shift-locked page which deactivates the effects buttons, etc. The Contours give me 4 dedicated cuepoint pads easily switchable between 1-4 and 5-8 with a single buttonpress, without affecting the effects section. Plus, they’re much nicer targets to hit finger-drumming style, with a much “springier” action on them, similar to a Maschine or MPC. The Zomo’s are more comparable to the cue buttons on a DJM-600, firm and clicky, and about the same size.

So basically, I wanted something in between the two. The familiarity and overall FEEL of the Contours, but in a more compact package. Originally I just thought about making some cut-down contours, but figured if I was going to reduce them to an 8"x8" square anyway, I might as well just stick a 2ch mixer section between the two and have it rack-sized. That way, I’ve got EVERYTHING I need for a gig in a package WAY smaller (and lighter) than my Terminal Mix 4, with the same feel as the Contours

If I do manage to get this thing up and running, it’ll probably become my go-to controller for most gigs, although the rest of my gear won’t just sit on a shelf gathering dust; there’s a time and a place to use ALL of my gear, even my shitty little DJ-Tech CDJ101s

[..]

Nice one! Looks like a solid fun project, good luck! Will try to follow up on this thread every know and then!

[Elvebakk]

I like the layout of the controller. The only thing that strikes me is the short channel faders. Have you considered Rotary channel faders? Personally I would preferred that instead of to short linear faders.

Overall it looks very nice!

[mdcdesign]

@Elvebakk

I like the layout of the controller. The only thing that strikes me is the short channel faders. Have you considered Rotary channel faders? Personally I would preferred that instead of to short linear faders.

Overall it looks very nice!

Now that’s not a bad idea at all… Will have to see how much space I’ve got available when I get around to doing the CAD work; I wouldn’t settle for anything less than 60mm faders, although if there isn’t room rotaries might be a good option