Ever since the announcement of the S4 I’ve wondered if I could build a reasonable copy of the beast so I could use it when (if) the software is made available. Obviously this is a major task and not one to be undertaken without a lot of thought. I’m still nowhere near the starting stage yet, but here is what I’ve got so far.
I’ve had a go at doing some mods before and I’ve had a fair bit of success with them, but I’ve never been happy enough to keep them. I’m hoping this is the one that I can hold on to at home for some time to come.
It will have a wooden base and an acrylic plastic top. Included inside the unit will be two EKS XP10’s, 1 Leo Bodnar controller, 1 X Session Pro and some PS one joypad controllers. I will also put in a powered usb hub. I already have these in my possession and everything has been bought from Ebay a lot cheaper than the retail price, some second hand, some new.
In the first draft photo above, the red buttons are led lit and latching. They will be hard wired so I don’t have to worry about mapping midi outs. The white buttons are arcade buttons. The silver knobs are encoders. The black/grey knobs are … well knobs. The blue buttons are a smaller type of button that I have sourced from Ebay.
Obviously I can’t include everything the S4 has, but I’m hoping I can have the same basic functionality. The drawing is not to scale, just a rough guide and I don’t expect the layout to stay exactly the same either. I’m hoping to complete this before the end of the year as I’m really busy with other commitments at the moment, but if I make any more progress I will post it on here.
The idea was to keep the layout as close to the S4 as possible as it’s been designed to work with the new software. Also, if I ever decide to buy one then it will feel intuitive. There are a few more buttons on my design too.
very nice Archies - you’re certainly getting some mile’age out of those XP10’s!!
have you thought about adding LED VU meters like the S4 has? A pair would cost around £20 to buy and the software is free (check my sig for all the tools you need)
Man, I can’t wait to get back from Thailand (lol) so I can get cracking on my controller.
I’d just buy the S4 if I was you. You’re undertaking a massive task and it’s just a complete ball-ache. I wouldn’t do it unless you’re creating something that doesn’t already exist.
The S4 is really well built, you’re not going to get jogwheels as good as them. It’s got a soundcard, is all totally ready to rock with tracktor etc..
I’ve been building my own controllers and the S4 has made me weep as apart from DJing out, it’s made my home setup obselete and I’m selling everything to buy one and just have that, my home made controllers and a set of studio speakers.
true, but it’s cheaper to build your own controller if the controller you want doesn’t exist! I’m assuming Archies is going to build an S4 clone that is tailored exactly to his design/spec. Also, he’s already got a lot of the important components from previous diy controller projects so no added costs. Infact, I’d argue that it wouldn’t be >that< difficult to build an S4 clone for less than the S4’s RRP. Particularly as you can pick up EKS XP10’s for £60 odd quid from ebuyer which straight away gives you a pair of decent’ish jog wheels and 2 soundcards.
But yeah, it’s not for everyone - I personally enjoy building DIY stuff as much as I enjoy DJ’ing. For me, building a controller is half the fun
edit - nice blog btw; I’ve seen it before on the midibox forums I think? good to see you posting on here
Thanks for the warning Monsta, I totally agree with the sentiment of your post. The thing is I have all these parts lying around from previous projects and they’re not getting used, so it seems a waste just to leave them gathering dust. As I said I’m in no hurry to complete this - the end of the year will be just fine - and I too enjoy playing around with the hardware just as much as I do DJing.
This will be used only at home - I haven’t played out anywhere for some years - and I see this as a bit of an expensive hobby for me. I will put down a parts list as I go and let people know how much I paid for everything.
Your project looks much more advanced than anything I’ve done, I like it a lot.
Thanks guys! Yeah it’s been a long time coming, just starting to pick it up again, but I have to do some serious routing. The PCBs are all built up though and my homemade stuff is all ready.
OK here’s a list of the parts I have lying around or already rigged up in one of my previous controllers. I’ve put a brief description of what each has to offer. All costs include delivery, I’ve put in a link where I can.
2 x Eks xp 10’s - Touch sensitive jog wheel, pitch control and 22 buttons. (Ebay under £90 for both)
1 x Leo Bodnar BU0836X game controller - 8 analogue pots, 16 encoders (or 32 buttons) and a hi hat switch. (£50 from BU0836X)
2 x PS one controllers with usb attachment - joypad - usb attachment 8 analogues and 20 buttons - £12
1 x X Session pro - Ebay bargain at £35. Will carry out the main mixer functions, plus the buttons will load the tracks
10 x 10k linear potentiometers with soft touch knobs once again from Ebay Ebay approx £10
10 x rotary encoders from Virtual Village £10
1 x Final Scratch - Scratch Amp for sound card.
30 x arcade buttons from Gremlin Solutions £65
8 x L.E.D buttons £15 Ebay
I make that £293 worth of materials I already own. I’ve excluded the price of the sound card which I’ve had forever and couldn’t put a price near it. When I bought the X Session Pro it came with a shitty usb sound card with it, so I could use that if need be.
Just another little update. I’ve been thinking about this a lot and there are several problems that I have to fix before I go any further.
Slotting holes in acrylic or metal is a major pain in the ass. The solution I have come up with is to buy a second hand mixer from Ebay with the kind of layout I want. I will then bastardise it and make it fit for my purposes. cheap mixer. I like the look of this simple mixer because it has a lot of knobs on it for each channel and it has a master output too. A cross fader is also handy and it’s approximate size is what I need. Even if I only use the faceplate from it, it will be worth the cost.
The frame was also something that was bothering me. The whole unit was going to be enormous, so I think I will have to make the controller higher than first thought, so I can fit all the pcb’s in. I think the unit will now be around the height of a normal Pioneer mixer. This means I will be able to cross the boards over inside the unit without touching because they will be at separate heights.
Jog wheels and arcade buttons were also giving me headaches because I bought 5mm acrylic. This means housing all the pots, encoders and jog wheels were going to be difficult. The only way I can see round this is to make some of the sections in 3mm acrylic and others in 5mm. I might buy a router and lay separate acrylic sheets in to the wooden frame.
The layout has changed enormously form the original drawing (as I said it would) and I still don’t know if I am going to make it in one full unit or 3 separate ones. I have an idea for connecting individual decks up with a D-Sub cable. That would be 24 wires and a zero volt line. I could use that cable for encoders and pots.
Yup, but it means I would have to buy some. I’ve also looked at the Denon ones too.
Most of the parts I need I have lying around doing nothing (EKS, X Session, Faders, Pots, encoders). All stuff from previous builds. In reality building this will cot me about £100 -£150.
Definitely get yourself a router. They cut acrylic like it’s butter and finish is excellent.
I bought a 3mm router bit the other week for cutting out slots for faders.
If you make a few jigs it makes repeat cuts so much easier
I have a jig for faders and a 4 x 4 jig for arcade buttons. Takes me about 3 minutes to cut 16 holes for arcade buttons that are perfect every time.
Thanks man. I noticed a few on sale for £40. I will probably go and buy one now. Screwfix and Homebase had basic ones, I assume the majority of the work is done by a decent cutter?
