ultra compact usb controller (small jog wheels, a few buttons and a cross fader)
i usually have my audio2dj audio interface with me. frequently at ultimate frisbee tournaments i then end up DJing a bit. but DJing with the keyboard is a hassle and its just very error prone (just forgot to go into search mode and you end up fucking up everything if you rely on the keyboard to control your decks). also its just annoying to have to use the mouse to scroll through tracks. finally there is often not even a mixer with a cross fader.
so what i want is a simpler simple DJ controller that gives me 2 jog wheels a few buttons and a cross fader that is small and light enough that i don’t mind throwing it in my backpack.
the novation nocturn is a pretty good candidate… It’s small, light, strong and extremely versatile. The encoders can send a relative or absolute signal, because of this I have jogwheels mapped to the two outer encoders. as well as heaps of other stuff.
The Novation Nocturn and the Korg Nanokontrols would be my recommendations. You’re not going to really get any smaller without making it yourself and even then you’ll struggle.
Maybe you could use an iphone as a midi controller over an ad hoc wifi network with your laptop? That’d be the smallest by far- you carry nothing you wern’t carrying already
I have an idj, love it… you just need to transplant some larger knobs onto the eq and the volume sliders and it becomes quite usable. but the nocturn is quality construction and has some led feedback.
thx for those recommendations .. Icon Idj Dj looks useful, similar to the numark dj2go .. but the novation nocturne looks more like what i was thinking in terms of size. and yeah the endless encoders should do the trick for scrolling. price-wise they both seem to be more or less the same.
the icon idj literally has all the controls on that you’d need - and probably more besides. probably bigger and heavier than the dj2go by quite a bit. but it’s the controller i’ll use if travelling anywhere, just in case i need one
the novaton nocturn is a pretty sweet controller. often been tempted to get one myself. used to think that the odd placement of pots was… well… odd, but in reality it makes a lot of sense and gives you more space around them. the nocturn doesn’t send midi itself tho, one reason i’ve been put off. it has to use automap to convert it’s signals to midi, otherwise it’s just a hid controller.
i think synthet1c was going to map it’s hid natively in vdj tho? if i had one i’d create a native hid mapping for mixxx and midimasher. if you’re using traktor then you’re stuck using automap (or midimasher) to convert to midi tho.
just seen some on uk ebay for about 60quid, i’m sure that’s cheaper than i saw them before. i may have to get one. damn i hate this forum
suppose the scs3 system or just a couple of d’s would work to.
Perhaps a bit to “different” but i reckon it would do what you are looking for with fairly low weight and small size.
Looks promising with the new VDJ release to. Suppose darouter put most people of the first time around.
same here i guess - until i wrote my midimasher now i like to at least make that the only middleware i run. which works as it supports all my controllers. don’t even need the stanton dascratch app thing for my scs3d’s as midimasher does more than that anyway.
speaking of which… i’d forgotten about the scs.3d and i’ve got two of them. got them both for 40quid each i think almost brand new. they’re pretty awesome and one is plenty to control everything in a pinch.
there’s also a pretty advanced native mapping for the scs3 system for mixxx - no need for the stanton software and afaik has more functionality. has nice pretty spinning led’s ala cdj’s too
here’s a demo of the scs3 system with an old version of mixxx, the led feedback on the devices is awesome and makes using one for multiple decks quite usable too:
they are nice… the scs.3d’s seem to go quite cheap, i haven’t yet found an scs.3m at a decent price plus i’d rather use a normal mixer anyway, even my cheapo djm101. the scs.3m would make a great effects controller though…
