Sumir

Hauzer, post: 13566, member: 1346 wrote: Hey Sumir, I wouldn’t start with the midi-controller but with the software. For me the only two professional programs are Serato and Traktor. Serato is mainly used in North America and some parts of the UK, Traktor has became the standard for the rest of Europe. Serato is almost always used for timecode vinyl/cd. Traktor has two products, Traktor Scratch, it’s the big competitor of Serato and Traktor Pro, totally aimed on midi controllers.

I prefer and use Traktor because it works better for me (more options and really good digital technology), I don’t use timecode but only midi controllers. The controllers that I’ve purchased are meant for Traktor and therefore work well with the software. So I recommend you to first find somebody or a store that uses/sells the different software types. Try them out, make a decision from there in terms of software and go from there in your search of good midi controllers. After testing software you will also know how you want to dj from now on (timecode or totally midi).

At this picture you see a timecode setup: http://herr-z-berger.de/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/ts_setup_05.jpg. You can see two decks, a mixer, a soundcard and a laptop. How does timecode work? With the software and the soundcard you get two vinyls that haven’t got any music on it, only a really simple tone in one rhythm. Via rca the turntabel is wired to your soundcard. The soundcard reads the tempo of the vinyl, so if you move de pitch or perform a scratch, your soundcard wil read that and will give that information to your laptop/software. In the software a track is played, the software pitches the track when it gets a signal from the soundcard that the vinyl is being pitched. It works exactly the same with cd’s. Hope this makes it a bit more clear.

If you don’t want to buy turntables/cd-players and not even a mixer, then you can choose for a complete midi setup. A midi controller on it self works exactly the same as for instance a keyboard on your computer. Every knob sends it’s own information and in a so called midi-map you can add function to every knob. Example: when you press the letter ‘w’ on your keyboard in word the letter ‘w’ will turn up. The nice thing of midi is that we can change that for everything we want, so now we can press the letter ‘w’ on the keyboard and the letter ‘f’ or digit ‘4’ appears on the screen. This is exactly what is happening with midi controllers, they can only send an d receive digital commands.

Thats why you always need a soundcard with it to be able to dj. Some midi controllers has got one build in to the controllers, some don’t. So thats the first thing to watch. After that you can check the amount of knobs, faders etc on it. Some controllers are specifically made for a certain type of software, but keep in mind that you can change the meaning of every button! Do you want to use FX? Make sure there are enough rotarys on the controller. Do you want to use a lot of cue points/samples/loops, make sure there are enough buttons on it. Do you want to scratch? Make sure the controller has got jogwheels on it. Do you want a highly precise pitchcontrol? Make sure there are faders on it and preferably faders that are meant to be used as pitch (move more stiff then a normal volume fader).

So a lot of questions to ask yourself before deciding on software and controller!

in the last several hrs (now 4 am here), I’ve dug around a lot more, at serato, rane, and traktor’s website. I downloaded the demo version of Traktor, & free to download Serato Live. Spent a few hrs on youtube, watching various demos of the softwares, their controllers, DJ mag tech awards for them and so on. So I’ll be either go with Traktor or Serato Itch , which seems to be Serato’s midi/internal based software package. And stick with Serato Live for using with my old system via time code. Saw a whole video on youtube of how it works. That shows what you mention below in the next paragraph. I did play around with the traktor software , and [U]as I mentioned a couple posts back in this thread . I’m looking for precision pitch control functionality in a midi control, for when I’m not using the time-coded system in a set.[/U] . What I noticed straight away with traktor , is the lack of precision with the pitch adj. I have my old gear from my vinyl days, to set up with the Serato Live Scratch unit, so the serato will be my first purchase. So the essential issue I’m facing now, and would like help with, is finding a midi controller for use without the timecoded vinyl, which has precise , and as close to vinyl deck pitch control. FX I would not use much. As I said before , the midi controllers I was looking at did not have pitch sliders, or have a high percentage gap. And according to what I read, a controller requires a minimum 14 bit . Hope this is all clear, bit tired ;). Anyone out there from my era ? hehe I appreciate the input and time , but judging by the answer given here, it seems you have less experience using vinyl systems. I could be wrong. Anyone coming from a vinyl spinning background, knows what I mean with precision control pitch adj , as is found on the staple technic 1200’s. preciate your time though man 🙂 tyty

[INDENT]The message below I sent via pm to venoak, hope it’s ok that I paste it here , to get varied responses and input from members:[/INDENT]
[INDENT]Hey, thanks for your response . I looked into the unit that you mentioned the Denon DJ DN-MC6000 . Downloaded the users guide, after not being able to find pitch adjustment sliders on the picture of it. So it seems beat matching is done via a sync button? I would rather give away my vinyl collection then use that LOL. So I was looking around the net for controllers that do have pitch adjustment sliders, as on a technics 1200, Didn’t have much luck , I was hoping you could point me in the right direction. Oh , and for clarification, I’m not looking to lug my vinyl to sets as much as back in the day, perhaps on a some occasions though. I am trying to convert it all to digital, and then after it’s stored on my hd etc. Use the software & controller for sets. Thanks for your time man – Sumir[/INDENT]