Controller vs CDJ's?

[mostapha]

Theorically you can, but <list of objections>

IMHO, all of those are surmountable or a non-issue.

- Pitch fader is way too short to be precise

Nope. It's too short to be precise and have a wide range, but it can do one or the other just fine.

I got bored and mapped some random faders on my VCM-600 to pitch faders in Traktor the other night. The first transition was scary, and then it all came back.

As for accuracy…when I glanced at the screen after one of the transitions, I noticed the BPMs on the 2 decks were 125.04 and 125.05. So I made a habit of looking at the BPMs after each mix.

The farthest they were off from each other was like .06 BPM. And I was riding the pitch the whole time instead of using pitch bend buttons…it worked just fine, even if it felt like a toy compared to an m5g or CDJ-1000/2000 and kinda jumped when my dusty-ass fader let go. I should really squirt some fader lube in there or something.

I also had the decks set to have a +/- 3% pitch fader, I think. That helped. But for house tempos, that gives you like 3-4 BPM of wiggle room. It's a bit restrictive, but it works just fine in a pinch.

- Jogs are too small and too light

Who cares? Ride the pitch fader. I'm also not convinced it's true. Some records are lighter than others, and if you've ever spun on vinyl…you kinda just get used to it. At least they're consistent from song to song.

IMHO, it can't be different than switching b/t 2000s and 900s at different gigs. Those platters feel completely different to me, and it still takes like a second to get used to them.

- You will have Traktor right here, and a temptation to look at bpm

Meh. Don't use a stand that puts it right in front of your face and put up some posters or pictures or something in front of you (crowd pictures from a festival work well).

I sometimes forget that I have a computer connected for minutes at a time. I've actually gone for my X1's browse knobs and been confused that there wasn't a track display on the hardware before. But I also use a real mixer, so I don't have to rely on the screen for things like the (tiny and almost useless) master meter.

Switching to the Small deck view also helps. If I used an S4 or something else that had LEDs showing me the loop length I had selected, I'd probably just leave Traktor in browse mode all the time. IMHO, The UI doesn't add anything most of the time. At least it doesn't get in the way like SSL/Itch's gigantic waveforms and cue tape displays. And you've still got access to nice, big waveforms that are a dream compared to burned out target lights for when you want to see how much you've got 'till that next break.

And CDJs display accurate BPMs now too, so the point is moot anyway. Traktor gives you BPM to +/-.01 instead of +/-1. Big deal.

I've done it before, and I don't really do controllerist style mixng…but I'm very confident that I could show up somewhere with a Recordbox-prep'd USB stick and just spin, despite not owning a real pitch fader for about 2 years.

[dope]

Nope. It's too short to be precise and have a wide range, but it can do one or the other just fine.

That's right, but i played on my friends S4 and really didn't like the pitch fader. Plus how it's located on the controller itself etc, i don't feel comfortable with it.

Who cares? Ride the pitch fader. I'm also not convinced it's true. Some records are lighter than others, and if you've ever spun on vinyl…you kinda just get used to it. At least they're consistent from song to song.

I've never spun vinyl, i'm too young for that stuff
When i'm mixing, I really prefer pitch bend than riding the pitch fader. First because I'm not used to riding pitch fader.
Secondly cause i'm not super ultra good at beatmatching, and with bending with the jog i can quicly hear if i'm going the good way or the other : when it comes to a really small amout of delay between 2 kicks, and tracks are almost synced, or I pitched the too slow track on a too high pitch etc, i sometimes lose tracking of what's going on, and riding the pitch is maybe too slow to fix the mistake.
Thirdly because i'm spinning electro house and transitions are way shorter than in a tech/house/trance mix, so i don't bother with some 0.1 difference on the pitch, and if i beatmatched like a dick in a rush, i'll keep them synced with the jog until transition is done.

I know it's far from being the best way to do it, but well, when i have to kick the next track and my beatmatching isn't perfect, there's nothing else i can do

Meh. Don't use a stand that puts it right in front of your face and put up some posters or pictures or something in front of you (crowd pictures from a festival work well).

Some people have the strengh to do that, some will just say "fuck it" and look/press sync. When you are facing a problem, some will try to overcome while others will just give up and go the easy way.





And the reasons i listed these objections i that because i faced them personally. This is just my opinion. I can't stand the S4 jog, but some other will find it perfect. It comes to preference, and if I had to go a year back, I don't think i would like to learn to beatmatch on an S4.

I saw a friend give up on learning beatmatch mainly because of the third reason. And now he trusts Traktor's phase meter like god (and he didn't beatgrid his tracks)

[deevey]

When i'm mixing, I really prefer pitch bend than riding the pitch fader. First because I'm not used to riding pitch fader.

When you use pitch bend continually you will never lock the 2 tracks together, when you ride the fader your increments become smaller to a degree where the tracks are locked.

[dope]

When you use pitch bend continually you will never lock the 2 tracks together

Thank you captain obvious

I know about riding the pitch, and i'll train that, but i never used it.