New to DJing – advice required

I own a mixtrack pro 2 and have used it live, both in a local bar and at parties at people’s homes. I must admit that this is also my first controller although I have played around with mixers connected via timecode etc.

The pro 2 certainly doesn’t feel like a toy and is pretty well built. The volume of the soundcard is a bit on the low side, but nothing serious. Probably because it uses usb power only. I solely connect it to amps anyway. It has no vu meters (something I mapped myself crudely in Traktor) or gain and filter knobs, which is something I miss. The pads are awesome in versatility and usability and the jogwheels are touch sensitive and work excellent.

The main issue  I have with the pro 2 is the supplied software. I cannot see how this thing was created for serato at all. For instance, the sample decks on both sides control the same four loops out of the six slots. It just makes no sense whatsoever. And you can forget about mapping it yourself, it’s locked. I don’t understand serato’s appeal, apart from the beatgrid and video features, which cross dj does as well for less money. Oh and cross is absolutely mappable.

The Gemini and the Hercules both seem a bit small to me, with buttons very close to each other. The Hercules also seems too expensive for what you get in functionality to me. At that price point I’d rather go for a mixtrack pro 2 or a reloop mixage mk2.

Honestly those 3 are some of the worst choices for beginners. They are limited software wise, they have some features that make them good marketing wise, but do not cater to other workflows.

As a newbie you do not know your workflow yet and you should get a most basic controller you can get away with.

The usual suspects are Mixtrack pro I and II, Pioneer DDJ-SB, Denon MC2000

Well I am coming from 20+ years of DJing and I know that my workflow is still evolving. Now looking back when I began going digital from CDJs and record decks, I had loads of trouble with controllers limiting me in doing things the way I want to.

Now there are 2 large paradigms out there for controllers:

1 is the controller that specifically caters to one workflow and one software package (even though it might support others)

2 is the controller that is hugely build to do everything as open as possible but comes with a steeper learning curve.

Now there are 2 extreme examples for this, the most closed controllers are the NI controller who cater to Traktor specifically and the most open one being the Vestax VCI-400 which is overwhelming even for some Pros.

Now in my opinion what a newbie needs is even different, because you do not know your workflow yet. Now why the controllers on your list make the list is, because they are solid and cheap. But in my opinion they are limited in the options of how to work with them and how to interact making it possible to develop what is commonly known as “the basics” for DJing. The controllers I mentioned surely sometimes have less features than those you listed, but are very open to a basic workflow plus giving you the freedom to accomplish the basics in different ways. So you can develop your own style and workflows.

This in the end IMHO makes you more creative as a DJ, when you have more freedom.

Now the controllers you mentioned are by far not bad controllers and they will work if the workflow they offer is for you, but from your writing I think you are not yet there to make that decision and I recommend not to limit your decision making.

But by all means if you like them, buy one, they will work and let you DJ as a newbie.

I aggree with Terry. Mixtrack pro I and II, Pioneer DDJ-SB and Denon MC2000 are all great choices, that won’t let you down

Regarding the software. VDJ works with everything you can imagine, but it is by far the most expensive one for the pro version. So unless you get a controller with VDJ LE, I would probably go with Serato. You get a LE version in the box, and the upgrade to a full version is not to expensive. Traktor seems to be closing in on themselves lately, packing hardware and software together, so unless you fall in love with one of Traktor specific controllers, I wouldn’t choose Traktor

Good luck
Klaus Mogensen