Which is the BEST CONTROLLER OF ALL?

I admit it took me a couple of sessions to get used to the touch strip. I might be wrong, but i think to logic behind the touch strip is to reduce the size of the controller. That smaller touch strip also does more than a jog wheel (Needle drop, pinching for eg). Maybe does a little too much for its own good, i get confused sometimes. You have to be open to changes using the Twitch though, my usual work flow is different now

DarylC, post: 11681, member: 663 wrote: Thats a little harsh. One man’s meat is another man’s poison I suppose. My dj friends used to give me flak when I mention a controller i’m looking to buy. They all about funk and soul, and how djing used to and should be done. Serious about their craft and music. I respect the craft and culture of djing and i don’t even call myself a dj. But this is my stand about digital djing with controllers.

I always liken the djing trade with painting. Traditional brushes, paint and canvas vs digital photoshop painting. They both have its pros and cons and different skill sets are required for the desired medium. But the end of the day, they are both mediums to get the artwork/idea across. Of course, one should always know and respect the intricacy involved with traditional methods since it inspired digital mediums. Similar to Djing and digital djs.

Now to answer your question, how can anyone dj on this thing? Well, i just love music. Sharing that love and having fun is the top priority on my list, over technicalities. I didn’t grow up in the vinyl era, instead i ‘crate dug’ cds during my weekends. CDJs seem like the way to go, but if i wanted that decks+mixer route, i’d rather do turns (which i have, that i line in to my Twitch for some added variety). Aren’t CDJs just like controllers, mimicking turntables?

So as not to be hijackin this thread (apologies Mr. Toxic), I’ll state why I like Twitch. It doesn’t try to recreate the experience of traditional djing, instead, it takes the pros of digital djing and focuses on that. About autosync, I always avoid autosync, not to proof a point, but i think it makes the mixes sound robotic. Sometimes the drifitng of beats adds a human touch to the mix.

The day i bought my Twitch home, my curious brother walked over to check it out. I explained the different modes for the ‘performance pads to him, and invited him to have a go on the empty deck. With minimal djing experience, he picked it up within minutes, and we jammed for hours. I mixed the beats, while he played with the slicer and autoloops on the other deck. Most fun i had with a controller ever. I know my bro enjoyed it too cause after that, he drops in more often to mess around with Twitch. To me, that experience alone explains my definition of fun.

On the contrary to your statement, i think controllers have made djing more fun by opening up more musical possibilities and making it accessible to a wider audience. Made it easier to share your love of music

Long time reader on this forum, but I had to join if not only to say thank you for a fantastic post, I could not have put it better myself.

Hee Won Jung, post: 11732, member: 948 wrote: Obviously you are set in your ways of old school DJ’ing. With controllers and autosync you are able to do SO much more with a controller than just playing your tracks out and scratching here and there. Personally coming from CDJs i still like the Jog wheels but thats my personal preference, but now have made use of them to control effects.

the statement you make of “No fun left in DJ’ing, pushing autosync and no jogs”, just shows the lack of knowledge on what you can do on a controller. Looping, Cue Point juggling, Beat jumping, effects, Live remixing are just a few of the added benifits of using a controller vs a traditional system.

But each to their own. I dont knock your shit so dont knock mine is my mentality.

FYI I own a MC6000, wich last I looked was a controller? I also has done some shows/demos with it so I do know what I can do and not do with a controller. I still find it to be more fun DJing with my other set 2xS3700 & X1700.
That is my opinion for now and I also find it fun playing around with the MC6000, but for me it is a toy!
If you additional to that take away the joggs I would find it very dull and like taking away an arm for me as a DJ.

All the things you stated Looping, Cue point juggling, Beat jumping, efx, live remixing + more I can do very well with
my S3700/X1700 (CD and USB) as well! I can also do tracklists and all that with USB!

I do think it is you who lacks the knowlage here, there is not much you can do with controllers that I can not do with my CDJ setup really! I have all the knowlage you can get of all the products I own, I have carefully read the manuals of all my gear and Traktor manual and the Traktor Bible. So you should not jump into conclutions and say that I lack knowlage
that is not a nice way to get your voice heard IMO. I have been a DJ since 1980 so I do think I have a whole lot of knowlage. I also have a very big interest of the technical side of DJ’ing and has a basic knowlage of most gear out there.
I also raed many sites dayly to get the knowlage about what people has for issuyes with their gear and so on.
Also I have an education in electrical low voltage!

in my opinion, the best for me is what i have. There aint no best controller i think. But, I think I want a VCI-400 (i hope they fix the kinks)…….

DJ Hessler, post: 11668, member: 537 wrote:
-Please explain? How do you scratch with that stripthing?
-I am proberbly too old for this game and should sell my stuff and do something else?
-Nowdays there is no fun left in DJ’ing, pushing autosync and no joggs, bah!

– I dont scratch. As 99.999% of techno DJs don’t – even when they were playing vinyls. In fact, besides Carl Cox who sometimes does the “vinyl reversing” thing, I havent listened to any other DJ of this genre using scratching.

-No you are definitely not. If you have fun that is and you get the crowd going when you play, thats all it matters (to me anyway). It seems to be, the real problem starts when YOU think you are getting older and perhaps that explains your rush sometimes to “bash” anything new – take this as a friendly note, and not as comment to bash you, sincerely. Relax and enjoy man, noone is forcing you to get new digital stuff if your stuff is working for you and noone is bashing you for being “old” , so you dont have to bash the new. 😉

-I can assure you I get plenty of fun, without joggs and with pre-synced tracks (using Ableton Live). You can take my word for it – or not. 😉