Hickdaddy
Hi Folks, As the title suggests im looking for some guidance on my first controller purchase. I'm on somewhat on a budget, as I have to keep the wife happy ;)
Some background first. I used to DJ weddings, teen dances, etc. back in the 90's... Loved doing it. Back then as you know it was all CD's and vinyl. Plus even cassette tapes were used from time to time. The odd time when I built up the courage I'd scratch. It wouldn't be all that good, but it was enough to pass muster. Hell i even had granny up on the dance floor grooving to an instrumental of Snoop Dogg's "Pump Pump" at a redneck wedding in 94'....lol
Now at most im a closet DJ, Don't do anything publicly, just a few uploads on audiomack that i've made with VDJ on a computer. Scratching and mixing soley with keyboard and mouse. Certainly have been fun doing it. But with the equipment now I am at a loss of knowledge.
I've narrowed down my search to 3 possibilities:
Numark Mixtrack 3
Denon DJ MC4000
Hercules DJ Universal DJ
I know that what works for one person may not work for others.for various reasons. What I want to know is of those three options what would be the pluses and drawbacks to each? Just looking for some advise from people that have experience using a controller.
Any thing else come to mind that I should keep an eye out for?
Eventually will want to upgrade to vinyl.... that will come in due time.
Thanks in advance.
Some background first. I used to DJ weddings, teen dances, etc. back in the 90's... Loved doing it. Back then as you know it was all CD's and vinyl. Plus even cassette tapes were used from time to time. The odd time when I built up the courage I'd scratch. It wouldn't be all that good, but it was enough to pass muster. Hell i even had granny up on the dance floor grooving to an instrumental of Snoop Dogg's "Pump Pump" at a redneck wedding in 94'....lol
Now at most im a closet DJ, Don't do anything publicly, just a few uploads on audiomack that i've made with VDJ on a computer. Scratching and mixing soley with keyboard and mouse. Certainly have been fun doing it. But with the equipment now I am at a loss of knowledge.
I've narrowed down my search to 3 possibilities:
Numark Mixtrack 3
Denon DJ MC4000
Hercules DJ Universal DJ
I know that what works for one person may not work for others.for various reasons. What I want to know is of those three options what would be the pluses and drawbacks to each? Just looking for some advise from people that have experience using a controller.
Any thing else come to mind that I should keep an eye out for?
Eventually will want to upgrade to vinyl.... that will come in due time.
Thanks in advance.
geposted Tue 13 Feb 18 @ 11:58 am
klausmogensen
I would rate the 3 like this:
1. Denon DJ MC4000
2. Numark Mixtrack 3
3. Hercules DJ Universal DJ
The MC4000 is almost a pro controller IMO. I have had the previous MC3000 for a long time, and still use it. Those Denon controllers are build like tanks - only the old MC2000 was plastic. The play/cue buttons tend to wear down on Denon controllers, and then need replacement. And of course it really only have 4 pads on each side. The other 4 are just the regular play/cue/sync buttons places as pads
The Numark Mixtrack 3 ( I assume you mean PRO, ie with a sound card) is more of an entry level controller, and plastic'y. But it does have some nice features like the touchstrip
In general I find Hercules controllers to be below par. I've owned a few of them in the beginning of going digital, and I found that just about anything else is an upgrade
1. Denon DJ MC4000
2. Numark Mixtrack 3
3. Hercules DJ Universal DJ
The MC4000 is almost a pro controller IMO. I have had the previous MC3000 for a long time, and still use it. Those Denon controllers are build like tanks - only the old MC2000 was plastic. The play/cue buttons tend to wear down on Denon controllers, and then need replacement. And of course it really only have 4 pads on each side. The other 4 are just the regular play/cue/sync buttons places as pads
The Numark Mixtrack 3 ( I assume you mean PRO, ie with a sound card) is more of an entry level controller, and plastic'y. But it does have some nice features like the touchstrip
In general I find Hercules controllers to be below par. I've owned a few of them in the beginning of going digital, and I found that just about anything else is an upgrade
geposted Tue 13 Feb 18 @ 12:24 pm
Hickdaddy
thanks for the suggestion!
One other question I have... Currently in my software only setup I have 4 and 6 decks configured. However with me leaning toward the dennon. I have a question as it's only a 2 deck solution.....
Is there a way I could set up the VDJ software (while its connected to the controller) that I could set up hot keys (like fghj) on the keyboard to map it to decks 1,2,3,4 in the software. Then assign software decks 1,3 to #1 on the controller. Then software decks 2,4 to #2 on the controller.
this way I could toggle and have more options for mixing...
Hopefully the question makes sense.
One other question I have... Currently in my software only setup I have 4 and 6 decks configured. However with me leaning toward the dennon. I have a question as it's only a 2 deck solution.....
Is there a way I could set up the VDJ software (while its connected to the controller) that I could set up hot keys (like fghj) on the keyboard to map it to decks 1,2,3,4 in the software. Then assign software decks 1,3 to #1 on the controller. Then software decks 2,4 to #2 on the controller.
this way I could toggle and have more options for mixing...
Hopefully the question makes sense.
geposted Wed 14 Feb 18 @ 9:18 am
klausmogensen
Hickdaddy wrote :
thanks for the suggestion!
One other question I have... Currently in my software only setup I have 4 and 6 decks configured. However with me leaning toward the dennon. I have a question as it's only a 2 deck solution.....
Is there a way I could set up the VDJ software (while its connected to the controller) that I could set up hot keys (like fghj) on the keyboard to map it to decks 1,2,3,4 in the software. Then assign software decks 1,3 to #1 on the controller. Then software decks 2,4 to #2 on the controller.
this way I could toggle and have more options for mixing...
Hopefully the question makes sense.
One other question I have... Currently in my software only setup I have 4 and 6 decks configured. However with me leaning toward the dennon. I have a question as it's only a 2 deck solution.....
Is there a way I could set up the VDJ software (while its connected to the controller) that I could set up hot keys (like fghj) on the keyboard to map it to decks 1,2,3,4 in the software. Then assign software decks 1,3 to #1 on the controller. Then software decks 2,4 to #2 on the controller.
this way I could toggle and have more options for mixing...
Hopefully the question makes sense.
It's easy enough to toggle deck 1 and 3 and toggle deck 2 and 4 using these 2 scripts on 2 keyboard keys:
deck 1 leftdeck ? deck 3 leftdeck : deck 1 leftdeck
deck 2 rightdeck ? deck 4 rightdeck : deck 2 rightdeck
... but I'm not sure if all controls will follow along - it kind of depneds on how they are mapped.
I don't have a MC4000, so I can't really test it - but maybe someone else can chip in?
geposted Wed 14 Feb 18 @ 12:20 pm
Hickdaddy
Can that sort of thing be set up with other models of controllers and have the matching controls carry forward with it?
geposted Wed 14 Feb 18 @ 3:14 pm