Your preferred digital DJ system and why

E

elgato

I just dont know
hint said:
The system nobody has mentioned yet is Torq:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/TorqMixLab-main.html

I have no experience of it directly, but it's a cheaper alternative, with a few nifty features.

But personally, I'd recommend Serato since Rane have a good track record when it comes to support and they really understand the market. The likes of M Audio and Native Instruments have fingers in too many pies.
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does anyone have anything further on this? any direct experience?

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/TorqConectiv.html

the price difference is quite remarkable... seems too good to be true?

the software looks less straightforward than Serato, but is there anything else?

its worth saying that i would never take it to play out, it would be exclusively for home use
 
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E

elgato

I just dont know
does no-one have any experience of Torq / Connectiv then?

thinking seriously about it, the price is so good, and its rep is reasonable (esp. as i would never play out with it)
 
nomos

nomos

Administrator
i haven't tried them, but you've got me curious.

i can report that i'm very very happy with my x-session paired with live. i've used the combination to play out a few times now and it works without a hitch. my only complaint is that it takes away the hands-on element - so no rewinds and sometimes i'm standing there trying to look busy. at the same time, as i get more comfortable improvising with it, and doing more with smaller clips, i'll probably find ways to compensate. i've certainly been able to do more live in the mix than i had before, which i'm enjoying.

what i'd love to see is a system that allows for vinyl-like control over ableton.

then there's this: http://www.ableton.com/touch

top_on.png
 
E

elgato

I just dont know
nomos said:
i haven't tried them, but you've got me curious.

i can report that i'm very very happy with my x-session paired with live. i've used the combination to play out a few times now and it works without a hitch. my only complaint is that it takes away the hands-on element - so no rewinds and sometimes i'm standing there trying to look busy. at the same time, as i get more comfortable improvising with it, and doing more with smaller clips, i'll probably find ways to compensate. i've certainly been able to do more live in the mix than i had before, which i'm enjoying.

what i'd love to see is a system that allows for vinyl-like control over ableton.

then there's this: http://www.ableton.com/touch
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yeh that will be great if you get into chopping up loops and suchlike. that Touch would be next level though! but turning up for a gig with something like that i’d feel like a proper pre-madonna! you need a good show to justify the use of that!
 
hint

hint

party record with a siren
elgato said:
does no-one have any experience of Torq / Connectiv then?

thinking seriously about it, the price is so good, and its rep is reasonable (esp. as i would never play out with it)
Click to expand...

Internet gossip points to it crashing more frequently than Serato Scratch. But Internet gossip is what it is. Regardless, I think allowing the installation of 3rd party effects instantly opens up Torq to a whole new world of potential instability. As you say though, it's not such a big deal if you're just playing about with it at home.

Personally speaking I don't like pre-fade effects for DJing, so that particular feature of Torq is not for me anyway.
 
D

doom

Public Housing
If Akai brought out the button matrix / clip launcher part of that APC I would buy 2! Like a poor (dumb) mans monome!!!

Its bloody hideous tho! You would feel a right twonk pulling it out in a club.
 
Dusty

Dusty

Tone deaf
I have started playing around with Traktor in the privacy of my own front room - thought I may as well make use of the vast amount of music I have accumulated over the years. I have never DJ'ed before, having been content to watch friends on the decks and just nod my head along to the music.

So I have utterly no talent at all, but what surprised me was just how stupidly easy Traktor is to use, and how anyone with half a day to kill can do it. I can understand why 'proper' DJs get so touchy about the artform when someone can come along, add a beatgrid to a track so that it never goes out of sync, and off you go - four decks is pretty nifty as well, allows you to have loops running on top of the traditional 2-deck set up - I'm guessing Ableton takes this to another level?

Might invest money in a licensed copy of the software and a midi controller. More fun than the xbox360.
 
Alfons

Alfons

Way of the future
hey nomos, since we seem to be in the same boat (ableton & x-session), did you ever find a solution to the eq thing (0 db not being at 12 o'clock)? I googled around a bit and tried to find some good 3 band eq vst's but didn't really find a way to make it work.
 
nomos

nomos

Administrator
^^ unfortunately no. what i've done is set it so that fully to the right is 0db. that way i can whack it over without worrying about going too far, while cranking it fully left is like hitting a kill switch. not ideal, for sure, but if i need extra bass or treble i can add it from the audio mixer.

it would be nice if you could select different curves for the EQ controls the way you can with the crossfader. i'm used to my dj mixer which is 0db at centre, +12 fully right and -32 fully left.
 
Alfons

Alfons

Way of the future
nomos said:
^^ unfortunately no. what i've done is set it so that fully to the right is 0db. that way i can whack it over without worrying about going too far, while cranking it fully left is like hitting a kill switch. not ideal, for sure, but if i need extra bass or treble i can add it from the audio mixer.

it would be nice if you could select different curves for the EQ controls the way you can with the crossfader. i'm used to my dj mixer which is 0db at centre, +12 fully right and -32 fully left.
Click to expand...

thats basically the same way that Ive been doing it. In my googling I noticed that a lot of people had noticed the issue, maybe they'll fix it in Live 8...
 
straight

straight

wings cru
if you have a look around online there are a few people who have made free 3 band dj eq vsts to get round this
 
nomos

nomos

Administrator
hey thanks for that! looks very nice from the ample documentation. i'll give it a go.
 
T

Tactics

BBP!
ok

so the four all in one options are

the Vestax VCI-300 in use with Itch

http://www.vestax.com/v/products/players/img/vci300_top_L.jpg

the Xponent in use with Torq

http://www.m-audio.com/images/global/media_hqpics/xponent_top.jpg

the Numark Omni Control in use with Traktor

http://www.dv247.com/assets/products/58671_l.jpg

and something in use with Ableton

all have + and -

the VCI is repotedly rock solid but 'old school' in that it doesn't have much fx but who knows what may be added in the future. the forums think an fx box?

the Xponent in crammed with features but apparently some don't work well, there's been widespread product recalls and Torq crashes with high latency - another problem

the Omni Control...well I haven't heard anything bad about it really. the only problem I can see is the lack of loop points and fx features compared to the Xponent which sets the benchmark imo

Ableton is more like a sequencer so is more for live shows than DJ'ing though there they're gonna be the same thing soon anyway. shows and DJ'in that is

my advice is to wait it out and see what other things come out. maybe a revised Xponent or some fx options for Itch

if no-one can wait then it depends on what you want but for stabilities sake it would be between Omni Control and the VCI-300

does any of these support FLAC?
 
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echevarian

echevarian

babylon sister
Traktor supports FLAC, if I were you I'd go with the Numark controller in combination with Traktor.

My Vestax VCI 100 broke after a months use so I wouldn't go that route.

They've got really touchy USB sockets.
 
T

Tactics

BBP!
well

apparently the VCI-300 improves 200% (exaggeration but you get what I mean lol) in comparison to the 100 in all features and functions

and the Omnicontrol's jog wheels/platters are too small and apparently not touch sensitive..I'm not 100% sure of the problem with that but I think this totally discourages scratching

the fact that Traktor supports FLAC is a big plus for it over the others. it's important that the quality of the files is as high as possible

the main prob with this whole realm of digital Dj'ing is that these companies use these releases are beta testing so there are so many problems with the controllers and software. this is why I say it's probably better to wait a bit longer before so better more atble packages can come out

another question to add to this thread is: why do people prefer working with MacBooks over laptops for digital Dj'ing?
 
Dusty

Dusty

Tone deaf
Unless I have misunderstood you, you seem to be mixing up your software and hardware? The VCI is just a midi interface and can be used with any software, so the question of FLAC support depends entirely on what you decide to use it with - same for fx - you can map its buttons to whatever functions you like in the software. You could use the xponent with Traktor or Ableton if you don't like its bundled Torq software.

I've got a Vestax VCM and have gone to great pains to set it up with midipages so that it can flip between controlling decks A+B or C+D with a single button - I'll bind all of the fx in Traktor to a Korg NanoKontrol as soon as the black edition comes out.
 
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T

Tactics

BBP!
no

Dusty said:
Unless I have misunderstood you, you seem to be mixing up your software and hardware? The VCI is just a midi interface and can be used with any software, so the question of FLAC support depends entirely on what you decide to use it with - same for fx - you can map its buttons to whatever functions you like in the software. You could use the xponent with Traktor or Ableton if you don't like its bundled Torq software.

I've got a Vestax VCM and have gone to great pains to set it up with midipages so that it can flip between controlling decks A+B or C+D with a single button - I'll bind all of the fx in Traktor to a Korg NanoKontrol as soon as the black edition comes out.
Click to expand...

I know the difference between the hardware and the software but the VCI was built specifically for Itch…and it seems to show. All its buttons have a specific use so there’s no room for FX on its existing controls. well there obviously is as you have have done but that's long and tedious extra work imo (as you said 'great pains'). sometimes its better to buy things that are purpose built

I’m mainly mentioning all in one systems so to also buy another piece of equipment to control the fx is also more expensive

the problems with the Xponent still remain also: led's blowing out, jog wheels not working and other things. It’s reputation is one of not totally stable hardware so maybe it would be best to wait before the supply chain is better

I asked the question about FLAC cos the product pages for Itch, Traktor and Torq say they support other codecs but not FLAC

btw I’m not interested in buying one of these things for myself – I’m just trying to add something to this thread

apparently with these devices they don't have enough power to get really loud over club systems? how true is that for people here?
 
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Grievous Angel

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
nomos said:
my only complaint is that it takes away the hands-on element - so no rewinds and sometimes i'm standing there trying to look busy. ]
Click to expand...
I think the way to do rewinds is: record / source a bunch of rewinds. 4 or something. Have these at the top of your column in Live. When you want to take something back, hit the play button on the clip of the rewind. Voila: instant vinyl-like rewind!

How do you select tracks without a mouse though?
 
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