DJ Gear questions

[bigheadmikelove]

may i ask how much you plan to budget btw? and are you leaning more toward the controller or timecode route?
the ubiquitious "i'll spend your money" type post

As far as the timecode or Controller route, I thought that if I went with something like the Xone 3d I could do both? And is there a software issue that I should look out for? As far as the budget, probably about 7k (US) or so, but I want to get what I want so it could be higher...besides the wife got a camaro, so why cant I spend my ass off on something I want

Also where can I get older high quality (256kbps and up) mp3s of drum and bass and breakbeat stuff legally?

[BradCee]

and on the controller or timecode route, can't I use some of those big controllers for the mixer for the time code?

you can go that way. if you get a controller and the scratch software (timecode and audio interface included), you can run the decks with timecode, set that to internal mixing mode in traktor - this means that all the mixing controls in traktor stay active - and use a controller to handle the mixer side of things, controlling traktors internal controls.

obviously one of the 4 channel controllers is best way to go for this, but it doesn't have to have it's own soundcard built in as the software would be supplied with this (as long as not bought as download). the advantage that a controller would also bring is; if it has jog wheels you could set these up to control the other 2 decks in traktor, so 2 on tts/cdjs and 2 on the controller.

depending on how mad you want to go with mapping, i'd suggest keeping the controller set for a and b, and route tt/cdj into decks c and d. if not you have to go through the entire mapping and change all the a's to c's and b's to d's.

don't run this myself (just pure midi) but if i was to add tc then i would use this method, best of all worlds and don't have to shell out on a mixer when the controller has mixer controls.

the best controllers for this would be the s4 on denon dnmc6000, but they aren't out yet, the american audio vms4 (think that's right) is out at the moment, but didn't get a fantastic review, and the xone dx comes with itch and would require either hunting out a tsi file (contains the midi map and tells traktor what to do), or mapping it yourself. i'd imagine there's quite a few out there for it though.

however, with that budget you could easily go down djm2000/xone 3d route if you wanted, but if you ever wanted to play out you would have to consider how dependent on the mixer your set up is and if that exact one would be available, which why i recommend the controller as mixer option.

if it was me
Traktor Scratch Pro
Pair of CDJ 1000 mk3 or Technics
Xone DX
Mac

[bigheadmikelove]

Thanks for the help again brad, but I just watched the midifighter mix on the front page (the one where Ean is using 2 midi fighters that starts with the rage against the machine song) and man that really made me itch for a couple of those, with that in mind things might get quite a bit easier on the equipment side of things, so real quick

A) what is the mixer that ean is using, and is there a 4 channel equivalent

B) what would be some nice 2 and 4 channel mixers/controllers that work well with traktor

C) could I still go timecode and controllers with the 2 midifighter setup

D) is it possible to go full on with it and get 4 midifighters (one for each deck in traktor pro) all while running the whole thing with 1 4 channel controller, I imagine that could be some true madness (or I could get overly enamored with all of the buttons and make stuff that sounds like total shit, but I think the things are slicker than whale shit)

Again thanks to everyone that has taken the time to help me out

[BradCee]

C) could I still go timecode and controllers with the 2 midifighter setup

D) is it possible to go full on with it and get 4 midifighters (one for each deck in traktor pro) all while running the whole thing with 1 4 channel controller, I imagine that could be some true madness (or I could get overly enamored with all of the buttons and make stuff that sounds like total shit, but I think the things are slicker than whale shit)

answer to c;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we3WGZZDZEU
(admittedly it's with serato, but will work with traktor)

answer to d;
yes and that sounds f00king awesome!!

[V-Hoff]

Are you going to mix internally or externally? did you know it yet?

This question can be better answered if you think about this other one:

Do you want to take your EQ, volume faders, crossfader, gain, filter controls to the club or you don't mind to use their mixer?

If you use internal mixing, you will need to trake all your setup to the club, if you use external mixing you can skip some buttons and knobs but you will need a soundcard with 4 stereo outs..

This way you can have a cheap 4 channel mixer, like the Behringer DDM4000, leaved at home for training and use the club's mixer for performing

[V-Hoff]

This would be my dream setup:

US$ 1.200,00 + macbook pro 13''
US$ 399,00 + audio interface with 4 stereo outs
US$ 500,00 + Stanton SCS.3 System midi controller with Traktor LE
US$ XXX,xx + Traktor Pro upgrade (I don't know how much it is)
US$ 400,00 + 2x Midi Fighter (with buttons and case)
US$ 500,00 + starting iPAD (here you can get only the stantons or the iPAD too)
-------------------------------------------------------
US$ 3.000,00 - Full gig setup
US$ 450,00 - DDM4000 4 channels home mixer
US$ 800,00 - Mid-range studio monitors
-------------------------------------------------------
US$ 4.250,00 - Full gig+home controllerist setup

but it's just a matter of choice

[timgkelly]

dude, I\m telling ya, get turntables.

using controllers is totally NOT fun unless you are really good at it. I have a couple. They are good if you just want to listen to some tunes to see how they go together when you're on the toilet or something. But I come from the same background as you and decks are the way to go...

I used to play a lot of breaks (more jazzy, housey stuff now) with deep mixing. Deep mixing on controllers is not nearly as fun as with tables, trust me.

Jeez, these days I'm a bit vinyl advocate. I'm starting to buy vinyl again because having a computer near me makes things suck... and I know its just because I don't know how to use my controllers to make it fun, but still...

turntables all the way.