The Vestax VCI-100 made quite a splash in the digital DJ market, selling a significant number of units and raising the bar for DJ MIDI controllers. The most significant difference between the VCI-100 and its larger cousin, the VCI-300, is more conceptual than physical. The VCI-100 is a multipurpose MIDI controller designed to interface with a broad range of DJ software by offering a generic palette of controls that could suit many purposes. The VCI-300 adopts an entirely different approach. It has been designed specifically to control one piece of software, the Itch program from one of the leaders in the DVS world: Serato. The goal, as explained to me several months back, was to eliminate the disconnect between hardware and software design so that all the important controls in the software are found in a logical place on the physical mixer. The end result would be a cleaner marriage between the virtual and analog world and a much easier setup for the user. Anyone can plug in a VCI-300 and have it work right out of the box with the supplied Itch software — no MIDI mapping or tedious software setup required.
HD PERFORMANCE
There are a few specific things that are unique to the VCI-300 that will make a difference in your performance. The jog wheels and pitch faders, for instance, are sending out 14- and 7-bit MIDI, which is much higher resolution than the standard 5-bit found on most MIDI devices. The length of the faders has also been bumped up to a more respectable 60 mm, which provides ±6 percent of smooth gliding tempo adjustment. Tension adjustment and a larger diameter lend a more professional feel to the jog wheels while maintaining the smooth action that made the VCI-100 popular.
If you hope to use the VCI-300 as a standard MIDI controller, you might need to get creative with your mapping, especially for effects-heavy programs like M-Audio Torq and Native Instruments Traktor. The VCI-100 includes 48 assignable buttons and 19 knobs, including layers, while the VCI-300 offers 40 buttons and 11 knobs. That’s completely sufficient for the requirements of Itch, which does not have any built-in effects or advanced transport controls. While fewer controls may not sound like an upgrade, the additional space does give the unit some much-needed breathing room.
The only disappointment in terms of physical controls are the main transport buttons, which, while getting a much-needed bump in size, feel a tad bit squishy. The knobs are the same rubberized type found on the rare VCI-100 black edition; they have a nice, smooth feel and clear markings. The remainder of the buttons are the stiffer variety found on all VCI-100s, which work well and are easily found in dark clubs thanks to bright LEDs. The cue-point triggers are the only buttons that might have benefited from a performance upgrade. They work well for re-triggering but are a bit stiff for frenzied rhythmic playback or controllerism.
ITCHY AND SCRATCHY
Thanks to the handy presence of a dedicated hardware controller, Serato had the luxury and intelligent forethought to completely strip down its new software to the bare essentials. A favorite quote from the Nobel Prize-winning economist Herbert Simon: “(Information) consumes the attention of its recipients, hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” Itch follows in that minimalist line by only providing information onscreen that is essential to the mix, including file browsing, waveform overviews and critical song information. Everything else, including loop and cue status, is clearly indicated by the brightly colored buttons dedicated to those functions on the VCI-300.
Itch also introduced a new concept in digital DJing, which after a few hours of use completely won me over. Serato placed two ultralong waveform overviews along the bottom of the screen where the eye naturally falls while playing. The trademark phase-comparison display from Serato Scratch is present, but Itch now also displays the full waveform overviews in an extra-large full-color format, making it supereasy to see exactly what is happening with your songs. My only fear is that this may continue to reinforce the trend of DJs mixing by sight rather than by ear. To be honest though, I even found myself cheating, using the extra long waveform display to keep mixes in time without headphones.
You may ask, “Can I buy just Itch and run it with another MIDI controller?” The VCI-300 is to Itch as the Scratch Amp was to Serato Scratch — required for full operation. You can run Itch without a VCI-300 connected, but you’re limited to song-collection management; all DJ functions are disabled. While other controllers will officially support Itch in the future, the VCI-300 is the first one on the market.
Now for the question I get most, “Can you really scratch with it?” Yes, the VCI-300 takes a big leap forward in this department. The combination of the high-resolution performance and a lot of fine tuning in the software mean that the VCI-300 and Itch provide better scratch performance than any out-of-the-box MIDI controller I have tested so far. I wouldn’t expect the VCI-300 to replace your turntables, but for a 10 lb. device, it’s pretty darn impressive. Slowly back-cueing tonal phrases while transforming sometimes creates a noticeable digital warble, but the accuracy and timing is spot on with zero sticker slip.
A word of warning, however, these nice high-resolution jog wheels are currently supported by very few programs out there. You won’t be able to use those specific controls with other digital DJ programs that can’t read high-resolution MIDI. Fortunately, work-arounds exist, such as a translator from DJ Tech Tools (www.djtechtools.com) called Mini-Translator that converts the VCI-300’s high-res data into high-res pitch-bend data that most DJ programs can read.
IN-HOUSE MANAGEMENT
If you’re familiar with Serato Scratch, then Itch’s browsing and song-management system will also be familiar and user friendly. Existing Scratch libraries are compatible with Itch, so you’ll have full access to all pre-existing cue points and loops. Those who don’t own Scratch and are using some of the other more feature-rich programs out there may feel limited by the lack of effects and flexibility in MIDI assignments. Then again, removing the fluff forces you to get down to business and focus on playing good music, which some people argue is the most important task of a DJ. All the basics are covered in Itch, including Auto Looping, cue-point storage, loop storage, key lock, optional automatic tempo matching and censor/reverse. The quality of how these are implemented varies between each feature, but all of them work as intended and are simple to use.
Auto Tempo Sync is a hotly debated feature that some use religiously and others avoid like the plague. The quality of the sync relies on Itch’s internal beat analysis or on the user manually entering the correct bpm of a song. Itch won’t keep your rhythms lined up, but it will match the tempos of two songs so you don’t have to adjust the pitch fader by hand. While the tempo analysis is good, it’s hardly spot on 100 percent of the time. For those who just need to get it in the ballpark, auto sync will be quite helpful, but for DJs who need every mix to be perfect, tempo sync may not be enough. As opposed to some other programs that offer flexible sync modes, in Itch you must completely disable it to make more precise pitch-fader adjustments.
Auto Loop’s success also relies on how accurate the determined bpm is for each track. Most of the time Itch drops correct loops automatically, but you are really playing Russian roulette with your set; there’s a chance Auto Loop will accidentally kill a blend. The more fail-proof method would be to prepare loops in advance and store them within the song when they are perfect, but most of us DJs rarely have time for that; we’re too busy looking for new songs.
Itch offers really stellar key locking. Serato also makes one of the industry’s best key-lock programs, Pitch ‘n Time. While they can’t just slap Pitch ‘n Time into Itch, there is certainly a quality trickle-down effect here. Even at pitch changes to a maximum of ±50 percent, the kick drum and bass stay tight and solid, keeping your tempos locked and the crowds moving. This especially shines while pitch bending, where you can make really dramatic adjustments to the jog wheels and the crowd will never even hear a thing. In Itch, it was possible to keep the entire intro of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” in time over a beat with flawless tempo adjustments. Pitch bending that all-too-well-known guitar solo normally sounds terrible, and it’s usually a major chore to keep their coked-up drummer in time with key lock engaged.
BUMP IT!
The VCI-300 comes with a built-in soundcard that serves most basic needs. It proudly sports a microphone input on the front and headphone output with independent volume controls. Two master outputs (RCA and ¼-inch) on the rear join an analog input that is a handy way to plug in a CD player or an iPod for emergency backup. If Itch crashes, the auxiliary input can be routed directly to the master outputs, so you can keep playing music even if a computer reboot is required. One catch is that you must choose to send either the auxiliary input or the PC output to the master output, so you won’t be able to mix in an external source along with two songs from Itch. The entire unit is powered by USB or via an optional power supply if you need to keep music flowing while the computer is turned off.
The USB soundcard seems to be reliable, with low latency and clean outputs. While I didn’t get the chance to try it in a club environment yet, the VCI-300 was bumping my apartment loud enough to bring adequate complaints from the neighbors.
TAKE IT HOME
Many hoped the VCI-300, would be a bigger leap forward in features, technology and design over the VCI-100. While the VCI-300’s improvements are subtle, many benefits come from the unique strength of combing the VCI-300 with the new Serato Itch software, rather than from just the controller itself. There are two types of DJs I imagine would be most happy with the VCI-300/Itch package: DJs who already use Serato Scratch and newcomers to the digital DJ department.
For the existing Scratch user who wants a low-cost, light way to play smaller gigs and mobile engagements, the VCI-300 will be very handy. If you’re an old-school vinyl guy or a new DJ looking to test the waters of the digital DJ scene, the plug-and-play simplicity of this package will mean more fun and less hassle. Those looking for a MIDI controller that can be used with other software might find the exclusive Itch support a turnoff. All in all, I’m hard pressed to find many complaints, as Vestax achieved what it set out to do: create a reliable, all-in-one digital DJ solution that is well-built and straightforward to use.
Pros: All-in-one design means easy setup and reliable performance. Excellent hardware and software interaction. High-resolution jog-wheels provide precise scratching and pitch bending.
Cons: No software effects or control re-mapping in Itch. Incomplete support of other software.
This article was written for Remix Magazine. Check a backlog of my reviews and articles here.
Is it posible re-mapping this device with other software like traktor o ableton live? If is yes, could you re-map the device for using efets of that software??
Thnx.
Good machine! i like it.
Thanks for the review Ean. I’ve just started getting into the world of djing and controllerism and am looking for a controller that will run well with my laptop. The VCI-100 worked flawlessly with the 900 Mhz processor on my Eee PC. The VCI-300’s minimum system requirements seem too high for my laptop. Do you have any idea what the minimum system requirements are for the Otus?
Cool review, thanks Ean!
Andrew,
Normally you should look at the system req’s for the software you’re using. Ok the vci-300 is a 14bit in stead of 7bit machine, it won’t make a real performance difference towards your PC. It’s probably the serato itch bumping up the requirements..
Also I’ve heard there are some problems with mapping a 14bit device, such as the vci-300, onto most software. Serato Itch is made to receive 14bit midi messages, whereas for example traktor is not. Not sure about ableton.
From what I read elsewhere the price is $899, according to the review thats low cost?? I would have thought a price point of around 500 or 600 would be more realistic? Virtual Dj and a decent controller with sound comes in at less than $800 and it has similar features as well as does video.
899.99 is not bad. If you were to get Rane TT57 w/1200’s & needles that well over 2500 USD and that w/o a laptop. For that price you can get a Macbook or PC + VCI-300 and have money left over for headphones.
I have heard about the 5-bit midi from someone else, but I have no idea what is meant by it.
All controllers that I have seen so far use 1 midi message, which gives room for 7 bits for their knobs and sliders, which gives you 128 steps.
To get 14 bits there are 2 ways. The midi ‘pitch bend’ message gives room for 14-bits, and this message is used for the pitch sliders on the Denon controllers for example.
The second way is to actually send 2 midi messages, with the first being a ‘coarse’ value, and the second a ‘fine’ value.
As far as I know, this is the method used by the VCI-300.
This means that for software that doesn’t support this, you should still be able to assign a command to the ‘coarse’ message, and just ignore the ‘fine’ message.
The jog wheels are indeed more difficult, where most controllers send a delta value, the VCI-300 sends the absolute position, which is why it needs 14-bits to get a good accuracy.
You are correct Adion,
the vci-300 is sending 2 messages:
coarse (which is way to coarse to be usefull)
fine (which does not relate to 0-127)
Neither of these by itself can be used but with the help of midi translators they can be combined into a new message that does work with other software. That is what we have done with mini.Translator.
The word cheating just frustrates me when it’s connected to this issue. What was the competition in which you cheated? Who was it against? Who you cheated by looking the waveforms? And what harm did you do to them with that cheating? I can’t see any reasonable answers to these questions. Only in situation if you say that you can hear the difference but you can’t, then you are cheating. But if you say: ‘Nah, I don’t listen that stuff, i can look it from the waveforms’ then I don’t see what’s there to cheat?
I’m not trying to flame it’s just that I hate to see that word used in this context and I was surprised that ean used it. I think the whole culture in DJTT is to prove people otherwise, not to think auto-sync as cheating and these kind of comments are bad for that. If we ourselves use that word, how can we convince other people that it’s not that?
The review was made for the remix magazine, so to different audience, but it wouldn’t have been hard to rephrase that sentence and give different meaning to the whole thing.
And to keep my post atleast a bit more on the subject: Nice review, though vci-300 won’t be for me, atleast not yet. Itch seems to have some good functions which I have to give more thought and see if those could be done with Bome’s and Traktor. I like the Deck view in Traktor but I’d rather see the long wave forms in that one as well.
Hello Ean,
I was wondering, what’s the latest news, or rather how is the traktor mapping for the VCI-300 coming along?
Hello Ean,
About the pitch faders, are they really 7 bits? what is the minimum pitch increment?
With 7 bits you can get 0.1% in the +6% / -6% range, but 7 bits is standard among midi controllers. It would be great if pitch resolution is at least 0.05%, or better, 0.02% as in the cdj 1000, Thanks!
You could balance this review by offering suggestions on competing devices, such as the much overlooked Hercules RMX Console. It too is a two stereo channel soundcard, offers a similar amount of knobs and buttons, a rock solid build and is completely midi compatible (works great with traktor and ableton). Doesn’t have the high resolution jog wheels but with a price of around 450 dollars it is most definitely a contender. I look forward to seeing your complete review of this excellent, low cost alternative.
http://www.hercules.com/uk/DJ-Music/bdd/p/62/dj-console-rmx/
The new hercules is a good controller, and yes we should take a look at it soon.
in terms of the cheating reference
“The word cheating just frustrates me when it’s connected to this issue. What was the competition in which you cheated? Who was it against? Who you cheated by looking the waveforms? And what harm did you do to them with that cheating? “
The only person you cheat by mixing when watching a waveform is yourself. If music was a visible art form then I could understand monitoring it visually- but its not. So, when keeping songs in time, waveforms can help and are good for that purpose but they should never be the main tool used to keep tracks in time. That was the point of my comment but I appreciate your construstive feedback.
Great review, thanks!
I have to confess I am a Scratch convert so I’m interested to have a play on Itch and see how it compares.
does Itch have features that allow recording of a mix or broadcasting to a shoutcast server?
cheers
No it does not support broadcasting
I’m looking to buy a VCI300 but does anyone know whether ITCH has a similar midi recording function to Traktor’s Native mix recorder?
I am also still not clear on how easy or difficult it would be to re-map the VCI300 for, say, Traktor.
All input gratefully received.
Great review Ean!
I’m looking to use a midi controller in clubs since I’m a professional dj working 6 night of the week, I’m undecided between the vestax Vci-300 and the m-audio xponent, I know so far the xponent is not as well built as the vestax but torq software looks quite good in terms of creativity, thanks to the effects, VST effects support and the sampler are a big plus, itch do not offer any of that and the 1.5 upgrade of torq looks even better.
I would appreciate your help since I’m undecided with one to get
Thanks
Can you use the VCI 300 with a mixer, like a pioneer djm 800?
no you can not, there is no way to route the sound out 2 different ports.
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they are very similar systems but I would say if you want reliability go with itch as torq has had problems. If your after FX and such then torq has a lot more to offer.
So does it allow recording of the mix?
yes- it supports internal mixing
“The word cheating just frustrates me when it’s connected to this issue. What was the competition in which you cheated? Who was it against? Who did you cheat by looking at the waveforms? And what harm did you do to them with that cheating?”
I found this statement interesting too. I am a pilot and a drummer/Dj in So Cal. I had to learn how to fly on all the old analog equipment but everything in the commercial aviation world has been switching to digital glass which just like in the DJ world has its advantages as you gain alot more information both visually and aurally by connecting the two. Some old die hards wouldn’t be caught dead in a club without their Technic 1200’s while others are ok with all these new gadgets which certainly help any newbie to learn alot faster as again…more information is provided to you in a visual software environment. You may look silly to the veterans but if the music is good do your customers care what you use? No. Skills do matter of course as any newbie will never be able to emulate the skills of a seasoned veteran! There has to be a balance somewhere I guess. As a pilot I too have now found ways of taking new technology into old cockpits with thinks like hand held GPS, weather radar, and traffic warning systems that weren’t available even 5 years ago. I guess what I’m saying is that its certainly ok to be a skilled purist but in the end technology can often save your life …or gig! (So..don’t knock us new guys for liking the new stuff!)