Gemini G4V vs. Reloop Beatmix 4 (first controller)

Beatmix 4:
– better build quality
– better pads
– better software support
– better faders
– better crossfader
– better EQ
– back I/O
– better output
– full Serato in the box

Not sure why you think big faders are better. Most DJ’s just slam them open or shut anyway. And if you want to do a one-handed fade-over, smaller is better even. As long as the resolution is high, you can still do minute changes if need be, but the time to make a full fader change is shorter (less distance to cover). My iDJ Pro doesn’t even have channel faders (just rotary knobs) and my MC6000 doesn’t have those long faders either. So, fader length should be way down your priority list, imho.

Secondly, if Terry answers a question (he knows Reloop well as well as most every other controller in existence), saying “slow down” isn’t the best response :D.

Some of your concerns are valid, assuming you don’t take the answers given at face value of course.

For DJ’s that only play at home and in venues with a house PA, not having XLR/balanced outputs need not be a major issue. Not having a booth would be a dealbreaker for me, but it still would not make me choose the Gemini.

My personal opinion is that you first map your workflow, then choose the software that fits you best (love Cross too btw), then set your budget and finally pick a controller.

At the end of the day it’s your choice. You are the one using it and it has to fit your style.

Greetinx.

You are upgrading from a (sub-)entry level controller, yet clearly not ready to move on to the big leagues. As Terry says, the willingness (and ability) to spend the larger amounts of money to move to the higher end gear often comes after making some money playing out (the first year or two you will find you are investing a lot back into your dj-ing as you start playing out).

You ask specifically for a 4-channel one. Be sure you actually need a 4-channel controller or if a 4-deck 2-channel wouldn’t work.

Under the 500 AUD mark, you will be hard-pressed to find something that fits both your substantial wishlist and your budget quite frankly. What you buy now should be good enough to get you playing out (I think we can safely agree that the Ion doesn’t qualify).

I would very seriously consider looking at some young, used gear. You can get better features and quality for less money. And knowing it will only be til you made enough playing out, when you can go and fetch that brand new DDJ-SX 🙂

Not an easy choice here unfortunately. The Beatmix 4 should tick most your boxes, but you don’t seem to be convinced it will get you where you are going.

Since you said Cross is by far your favorite software, I’d stick with what I know. The only reason to start looking for something else, imho, is if your workflow changes to the point where the software is no longer capable of supporting that workflow. If you go through your DJ life looking at every new software release to see if it perhaps offers a functionality your current software doesn’t, you will be very nervous and very unhappy.

I started out on Traktor. After almost 2 years I decided it didn’t work well enough for me. By then I knew what I DID need/want in software and from there moved on to Cross (since it supported my controller, which Serato at the time didn’t). For me VDJ was never an option. And now I am Cross and not too worried about what the others are doing, feature-wise. I look at it from an interest point of view, being moderator and all here, but not to see if I have to switch. As long as Cross supports my workflow, I’ll stick with it.

Hope that helps some with the decision=making process.

Greetinx.

Well first of all: The 4Trak is a really good controller. Well built and awesome features. I really liked it and it is one of the few non native instruments controllers that actually works well with Traktor also.
However I looked at the pictures in your link and I have to say this one looks VERY used. I am in a little doubt if the unit will hold up long since there seems loads of sand and other things in the unit already. And if you can see it in those crappy pictures it might be really bad….

for what its worth, I own the G2V which is essentially the same as the g4v but limited to 2 decks.

it is my first controller and I’m new to djing.

the unit needed a firmware update out of the box, the updater available on the website didn’t work and the support was non existent.

once they updated their updater and I had updated the firmware of the G2V it worked as intended.

It is designed for VDJ and while mapping is available for traktor, the mappings for either traktor OR vdj are for specific versions of the softwares, and if you don’t have the specific version they may not work.

also the traktor mapping is more or less incomplete and imho flawed, as some buttons/knobs on the g2v no longer do anything at all if using traktor, and the ones that do work are mapped to functions that don’t always relate to the original functions of the buttons/knobs when using the g2v with vdj.

it comes with vdjle out the box, which is pretty useless and therefore you would need to upgrade to vdjpro for a price or find an alternative software and hope theres an available mapping, or make your own.

jog wheels are fine, buttons and knobs are fine, avail. functions are great if you use the unit with vdjpro. pitch faders are dissapointing as I’ll explain in a minute, and I wish the crossfader was smoother. rather than smooth transitions it jumps along with noticable gaps. this could also be a lack of skill on my part tho.

as for the pitch faders I made the stupid mistake of thinking that longthrow pitch faders meant more accurate pitch shifting, but it turns out that despite the longer fader ranges, the pitch faders are NOT high resolution, which I have a feeling will be pain in the ass in the future and will cause me to sell the unit and buy something else.

in conclusion, the G2V was a pain in the ass to set up, will probably be a pain in the ass in the future if I want to use the pitch faders to fine-tune… and I love it anyway. I really do love my G2V, but again, its my first controller, which i’m using to take my first adventure into the world of live djing, so everything is new and fun and exciting to me anyway. If my skills developed beyond what I could do with the unit I would upgrade.

One final thought, if you are forced to work harder and refine your skills further because of creppy equipment, when the time comes for you to use top shelf equipment, *sometimes* you end up having an advantage from having that handicap removed; like running with weights at one speed, then removing the weights and suddenly running a whole lot faster.

hope that helps,
Peace.

P.S) I am also in australia and I had the G2V posted to me from an interstate shop, bought it online at one of these 2 stores, I don’t remember which, https://www.storedj.com.au/ or http://www.djcity.com.au/

I have bought lots of equipment from both of these stores and have had good experiences with both. Just be sure to phone them up and double check that what you want to buy is in stock in their physical shops before you place the order online.