x

Sound Quality in Controllers?

Home 2023 › Forums › Digital DJ Gear › Sound Quality in Controllers?

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • July 16, 2012 at 7:03 pm #1007886
    Terry_42
    Keymaster

    Take a look at the many controller test on this site and you will always also get something about sound quality of the unit.
    From most modern controllers you can expect a good soundquality with flat response (if you do not touch the EQ).
    Of course the low end controllers sometimes sound more compressed, due to less good audio processors in them, but even budget controllers like the Reloop digital jockeys, N4, etc. have decent sound cards.

    July 16, 2012 at 8:53 pm #1007893
    David C Ellsworth
    Participant

    That’s my point, it would be helpful to see some sort of a rating comparison for the included audio interfaces in controllers. I can only find comments like “sounds great”, and “it’s adequate”, just anecdotal comments that vary quite a bit. Do I just have to spend a bundle to get the best? Is it as simple as that? I think I spent around $500 for the MOTU 8Pre when it came out years ago.

    July 17, 2012 at 6:12 am #23808
    Terry_42
    Keymaster

    Well basically you should look at the controller specs. If they still use old 16-bit DAs then the sound will be more compressed, but not generally bad.
    Now controllers I have heard myself I give you a hitlist aka top = best:
    NS7
    Terminal Mix 4
    NS6
    VCI 400
    VCI 300
    Digital Jockey 3
    DDJ-S1
    ——- all above I consider excellent sound quality
    N4
    Typhoon
    Mixage IE
    Mixtrack Pro
    ——- above here I still consider very good and playable in a club
    S4
    S2
    iMic
    A2
    RMX
    Twitch
    ———– above here are good and I played an S4 for quite some times, but I would not consider them buying at this time from a sound perspective.

    now this is personal opinion and my own hearing involved… others might tell you different. if a controller is not listetet I either did not hear it yet, or did not have it long enough hooked up to my reference monitors to make a valid statement.

    July 17, 2012 at 1:27 pm #1007930
    David C Ellsworth
    Participant

    So again, the “measurement” here is not a simple thing like 24 bit (resolution) or 192khz, it’s just you heard them and they’re either excellent, very good, not consider buying…. There must be a better way to evaluate these things with measurable, comparable stats. This is what Sweetwater has for my 8Pre (24bit/96khz): bit.ly/NRUkSO

    July 17, 2012 at 1:31 pm #1007931
    David C Ellsworth
    Participant

    Numark lists the NS6 as 24 bit at the bottom of the specs web page. But is it also 96khz?

    July 17, 2012 at 3:53 pm #1007960
    Terry_42
    Keymaster

    I do not know from the top of my head sorry.

    Referring to your question: There is a test method that High-End Audio Magazine uses to test D/A soundcards in receivers or dedicated D/A equipment called “Reference Response Diagram”, that would make the controllers more objectively comparable. But I do not think anyone has done such testing yet on controllers… at least no to my knowledge.

    July 24, 2012 at 4:10 pm #1008523
    Phil Morse
    Keymaster

    The weakest link will determine the sound quality, and frankly the modern sound cards in any controllers past about $300 will never be the weakest link in the average sound chain, in my opinion. I never mull over technical figures when judging sound quality – I just power up a great sounding tune, hit the volume and, 9 times out of 10, there’s no issue whatsoever.

    July 25, 2012 at 1:08 pm #1008621
    Steelo
    Participant

    The specs alone will never really help too much as they are all almost spec’d the same. I’d be interested to see the reference response diagram results for various cards but I can’t see anything like that happening as almost all interfaces would be considered acceptable. With the volume and other factors in clubs you will find the sound quality isn’t quite as noticeable unless its a top notch system cause when its loud it colours the sound a lot. You will notice if its absolutely terrible though. A good set of studio monitors would give a more accurate test.

    July 25, 2012 at 3:36 pm #1008630
    Hee Won Jung
    Participant

    To be completely Honest, SQ isnt the highest thing you should be looking towards when picking out your controller. All the Soundcards are acceptable for use in a club setting, but never in a studio setting. Club settings usually have sound systems that arnt about true sound…they are about going loud without distorting the sound. The more important factors when it comes to Sound Quality is the type of Audio File you are using…128kpbs, 320kbps, flac or wav files. As Phil stated, any controller you are buying that is in the “professional” catagory will have soundcards that are more than good enough to use to play in gigs.

  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • The forum ‘Digital DJ Gear’ is closed to new topics and replies.