At the moment i currently have the m-audio audiophile firewire soundcard and faderfox dj2.
I’m finding the faderfrox a little limiting and just a tad too small, so i was thinking on upgrading to a larger controller.
My question: regarding the soundcard quality of the VCI-300 - is it any good?
…nowhere seems to go into depth on this.
Would I be better with my current soundcard and the VCI-100?
Another problem is my new laptop doesn’t have firewire, so i have a PCMCIA slot with firewire ports (this is a bit dodgy as the lead has slipped out on more than one occasion) - so this is what’s swaying me towards the VCI-300
There is a guy on this board who has recently posted that the internal sound card of the vci-300 isn’t up to much although the feel and responsiveness of the unit is better than the 100. So if your forking out the extra just for the sound card it doesn’t sound like its worth it.
I think the post is labelled My First day with my new VCI-300 or something.
I have a VCI-300, and I think the sound quality is quite excellent. I have been into music for over 20 years and think I have a good ear. My only complaints I have on the 300, which could be limiting for you are:
If you are not into a rush, maybe hang out for a VCI-400 later this year..if announced at Namm summer show or maybe a A&H Xone 2d?
yes, a VCI-100 with 14 bit midi would be smarter to keep..VCI-100 is a classic, just needs that 14 bit to be up to date. VCI-100SE and 14 bit firmware upgrade and a NI audio 8 , etc, would be better in my opinion.
for me:
pros:
*Love the feel of the volume faders (long)
smooth long no indent pitch faders
large jog wheels with adj torque
14 bit midi (pitch & jogs)
knobs (SE style) feel tight and pro
solid build, (but maybe a little heavy)
internal high quality sound card (delta-sigma modulation 24 bit stereo D/A-A/D converter) / loud & clear audio (no need for extra hook up, etc)
has mic in/aux in /1/4 and a rca stereo out.
uses only 1 usb cable for all
fader curve control (maybe on 100 too?)
super tight TT style sync and feel with Itch software.
nice use of ergonomics & well spaced knobs /faders..
cons:
*not enough knobs for proper fx control (I use a Korg Nano and solves it 100%)
only 1 pair of stereo outs & no extra booth out. (unless use a 1/4 inch headphone jack and cues out to external mixer)
for those who are into lots of cue / hot points for crabbing, etc., the cues (buttons) would be above the jog wheel, and could be annoying for some who like them below like on the 100..(some may feel the opposite).
designed for Itch and programming for other software can be complex.
I really don’t know..all I know is in a shop, I played with a VCI-100 and the pitch sliders felt kinda cheap ( for me) and the VCI-300 feel pro and smooth. I hate indents!
they’re only 7-bit midi - and you’re soooo right, you never hit exactly the key you need… that’s some big letdown of the 300 (they should’ve made everything 14-bit - be consequent on that)…
no booth out? if you’re recording your sessions internally in traktor (like me) then you can use the “master out 2” for booth… just buy a pair of 1/4 inch to rca for the “master out 1” and use the “master out 2”-rca’s for booth… works quite well!
to the question which one to buy:
i think both are very good quality pieces of gear - it totally depends on what you like and how you would like to use your controller. i got a nanoKontrol as well, but i don’t use it for FX at all, because i don’t manually beatmatch (instead let traktor sync my tracks) so i basically don’t need the pitch-fader and the jogs… so i use the for fx, it really feels nice to use a flanger flux with a jog!! as i let traktor determine the volume of my tracks i don’t even use the line-faders, so i use them for fx as well… and voila, you have 3 fx-controls on each deck!
just think about how you want to use the gear, that will hopefully lead you in the right direction!
Nope i can assure that isnt the case - id put money on the fact that the sensors that detect the position the knob is in are a much higher resolution than 7 bit midi. This is purely a firmware thing.
hmm, if they were higher than 7 bit, Traktor would not read them properly. I can try.
All knobs in Traktor Pro at this current version are 7bit, I tried to map a eq knob to say pitch and it is fine, but the jogs and pitch controls do not work without Mini.Trans as they are 14 bit.
I am talking about the internal sensors inside the unit - just because the internal sensors are able to read at a high resolution doesnt necissarily mean that the messages that the device outputs to the pc will be a high resolution.
A perfect example of this is the VCI-100, its internal sensors are well capable of detecting at a might higher resolution than a 7 bit midi message yet the device is only sending 7 bit midi - all thats needed to rectify this is a firmware upgrade on the VCI-100.
The messages basicly get downgraded by the internal CPU and turned into a low resolution 7 bit midi message - with the proper firmware it could convert the high resolution internal sensors into a much more usable 14 bit midi message.
