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Should I move to standalone?

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  • November 16, 2016 at 8:11 am #2465431
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Stand-alone: moving backwards imho. Seriously, your Ergo can already do more than a set of Nexus’ players, let alone if you upgrade to one of the high-end controllers you mentioned.

    Hybrid: Not a big fan of hybrid (i.e. using CDJ-like devices to control DJ software). The gear was not designed for that purpose. You would be better off with a purpose-built controller.

    Brands: Clearly very personal, but even with improved quality over the years and the occasional pretty good piece of gear, I would not stick Behringer in any upscale setup.

    Controllers: Again very personal, but the RZX (as well as the ZX) are not something I’d aspire to as they offer too little value for money. They cost twice as much as the next model in line but the extra features don’t really make it worth it for me. Getting the RX or SX2 (more on that later) makes more sense. The Denon MCX8000 is one amazing controller, especially if you are a mobile DJ. There is very little I don’t like about it (we all know the cue light issue). NS7-III is a very nice controller, but motorized platters are an acquired taste, so be sure that is what you really want before getting one of those. It’s also just 2-channel so misses that criterium. The S8 is the ultimate Traktor controller currently, but the workflow (no jogwheels, stems central) is so different from the others that I wonder how they end up in the same comparison.

    Software: If you have done substantial work to your collection in your DJ software, I would not be very tempted to change software unless I had to. If you stick with Traktor, NI gear is pretty much the only way to go. If you go to the R-series of Pioneer you’d be locking yourself in to the RekordBox platform, while the S-series which are pretty identical do support Serato for example (or VDJ, Cross, DJay Pro, etx.)

    Find a few of the recent posts on picking a controller and go through the steps (workflow, software, budget, shortlist, hands-on, choice). This should help you find the controller that is best suited for your next step in your DJ-ing career.

    November 16, 2016 at 8:58 am #2465461
    Terry_42
    Keymaster

    I have to agree with Vintage, going the standalone way with the equipment you describe is a huge step backwards even from an Ergo, as the Ergo is a little underrated in my book. Mostly because it is such a “lightshow” controller it often gets the “toy” treatment, when in reality it is a really good and capable controller.

    As for the controllers you mentioned: I agree there is not much value paying the price (and weight) of the RZX or ZX and I personally would not want one. I can see me play on one, if a club already has one installed, but prolly still prefer my controller.
    I currently use the Denon MCX8000 and love it. I use it with Serato exclusively and only have a USB stick in case of laptop crash (which never happened yet).
    I have played with the NS7-III, but as Vintage said: Rotating platters sound cool, but if you, unlike me, have never DJed with vinyl, it takes A LOT of getting used to and honestly I can do the same scratch moves on the MCX … to me it is more of an expensive gimmick. Maybe if you are going for scratch champoinships it might give you some edge on very very advanced stuff.
    The RX and SX2 are both capable controllers, in your list I would see them slightly behind the MCX, just because there is more plastic in the build and the XLRs are not case mounted. So in theory the MCX should take even more beating without breaking down. If I had to choose between those, then I would go for the SX2 as I still prefer Serato and the SX2 leaves you with more choices (you can still use Rekordbox).

    The S8: Excellent controller, however if you list it in that selection I assume you are not familiar in how it works as a whole and hence would NOT recommend it. The S8 is very very specialized and if you do not really want that it leaves you little options to do something else.

    November 16, 2016 at 4:27 pm #2465511
    Juan Ignacio Molina
    Participant

    Put everything together and sleeping on it some time, I came to the conclusion that the fight would be between controllers. MCX8000 vs RZ or SZ (don’t really care about software, but probably would choose best of them). Except for weight and money is the RZX a good controller? I don’t think I’m gonna really use VDJ but screens are probably what I’m looking for, because I want to be less dependent on the laptop (worth clarify that my Macbook Pro has the requirements for running the RZX).

    November 17, 2016 at 9:51 am #2465971
    Terry_42
    Keymaster

    I think the RZX is way overpriced and it has less features than the MCX8000.
    It seems to me you fall a little into the Pioneer marketing pit here.

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