Terry_42
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Terry_42
KeymasterThe problem is -> No I do not want to show you designs that you can alter a bit and hence make a near copy.
What I expect when buying a Shirt… or whatever Appearal is 2 Things:
1. It has to be innovative and original
2. I am willing to pay more if the shirt is good quality and good fabricPoint 1 can vary from unusual basic colors, designs that you would not expect and do NOT include the 200 sadest DJ quotes (Jukebox, Save my life,…) I give you the point that most Shops are generic in that way and this is why only fanboys and no real DJ shops there. Possibly even more revenue for you, but you asked in the wrong forum for this 😛
If you can come up with a new and innovative design and have a spot where I can put my DJ name on even better. But it is the design that has to be innovative and new. Think outside the box and not the usual turntables, headphones etc. crap.Point 2 is simple. I earn money with DJing so I am willing to pay more for gear that helps me. Now I dont know where people live, but DJing can be intense, you can have a venue that is really hot from the usual climate controlled cold environments etc. I work for my money, aka I do a lot of things behind the booth that can (but must not) make me sweaty. Now if you have good basic materials this will help me and be more comfy during a long night.
Also go with the trend of the music genre, some genres love fluffy and oversized clothing, not basic fit shirts. Some like slim fits, some like glittering materials or strange basic coloring. Do NOT use the usual generic American Appeal, Fruit of the Loom,… whatever shirts… be innovative and new.KeymasterIf you are going towards Itch I would recommend the VCI-380, if you plan to use VDJ or Traktor you might want to go for the Terminal Mix 2.
I have the Terminal Mix 4 at the moment and it works like a charm (I use VDJ Pro with it) the jog wheels are totally fantastic and the built quality is excellent. i also used it with Traktor, however I dislike the Traktor workflow.KeymasterWell at home my DJ Desk is “selfmade” from IKEA parts that I modified to fit my solution and so the monitors etc. find enough space, are in the correct height etc.
For mobile DJing I use separate stands. For the controller + laptop I use a flightcase that is on top of a keyboard stand, monitors on monitor stands and lights + PA on speaker stands with connecting light truss. Around the DJ equipment goes a booth with LED curtain that is selfmade from pipes (see several youtube videos how to do that) and generic LED curtain from hongkong for “very cheap you know”.
This holds the cost down, is very portable and easy to assemble in under 30min by a single person (faster if I have help). However nowadays I mostly work together with a rental service, they put in a DJ booth, lights and sound… so I just show up with my flightcase, connect and play. Most mobile gigs (weddings and company events) they are OK with the extra money if it looks good and the sound is cool.KeymasterAnd do not use PA speakers to monitor your mixing… or you will blow your brains out… and you will not be able to mix as good.
There is a reason why monitors are monitors and PAs are PAs.KeymasterI am sorry and have to agree. Most designs are generic or taken from free (or some not free) clipart’s and the text on the text only shirts is not even an innovative font… You can easily make any of those shirts yourself for 10 bucks or less.
KeymasterSteelo this is history and the original poster asked for a reason to buy it NOW.
And sorry, but I have played on the S4 A LOT and on CDJ 2ks and the S4 is not even close to the casing of the Pioneers metal reinforced thing.
I would be happy if NI brought a good update to the S4 and S2, that would actually win over DJs because of quality, of controller features, road worthiness and sound quality rather than locking the user in a “must buy for all Traktor features to work” spiral.KeymasterNo problem. Like I said if Traktor is your cup of tea and you are sold on it, then the S4 will give you all its features. But even though the jogs are the only jogs that traktor is really tight with (apparently the 4Trak has similar tightness) do not expect to get a single scratch routine off, as I found the jogs to be a horrible design.
If you want to get really highend and use traktor, you might checkout the 4Trak by Numark. I heard it has really tight jogs with Traktor and all features, except Remix Decks. If it is the same quality as the NS6 I used, this unit is the endgame! But then it is also a lot more expensive than the S4 again (but prolly worth it).
If you want Traktor but are OK with “kinda good jogs” (do not get me wrong I still got of a scratch or 2) the Digital Jockey 3 by Reloop is a reasonably priced unit, but you have to add a few bucks for a full version of traktor. If I would still want to use Traktor, I would have bought it.
KeymasterWell the only things the S4 has going for it is features that NI intendedly has locked out to other manufacturers.
If the remix deck functions, DVS function, sample recorder and high-res jogwheels would not be simply locked down to the S4, the unit would not be considered by anyone in their right mind for this price point. I am sorry.
Even the digital jockey 3 has a better build quality, the VCI-400 would be much better at anything hands down and even the highend Hercules would give the S4 a run for its money. Even the VMS2 has a better sound quality than the S4.The ONLY reason for this unit existing at this price point is, that it unlocks features in a software… and for this is hugely overpriced. Of course if you are locked into traktor you might have to bite. I mean compare this to the VCI-380 that does also unlock Itch, but compare simply the built quality… The S4 has (if at all) the built quality of a Numark N4, put 80 bucks on top for the Traktor software and you would have a winner, again if the features would not be locked.
I am sorry if this sounds like a rant, but since I have gigged with an S4 for over 2 months I feel entitled to post my honest opinion on that unit.
KeymasterStill overpriced for a plastic shell.
KeymasterAs someone who has tried to become clean: It will only get worse. You cannot get rid of it. You are doomed.
KeymasterDownload the manual from Native Instruments. It is all in there….
KeymasterYou should ask for a base fee.
I would ask for at least 100-200 bucks just to show up. (Start negotiating with 300)
That should easily be covered by the money he gets at the door plus his share of that. Then the 10% are OK.KeymasterFirst of all: Get decent monitor speakers. How you do it atm you will never be satisfied.
Here are some recommendations:
Cheap: M-Audio AV 40s
A little more expensive but “real” monitors: KRK Rockit 5Now for the software:
If you want ease of use and not to spend a lot of money: Use Serato DJ Intro. It works good with the Ergo, however not all lights work. The integration is however very good and the jog wheels are as tight as the Ergo’s jogs can be. So you might even be able to get off a scratch.
If you want tweakability all the LEDs working and a full blown software you will have to upgrade to VDJ Pro which is a hefty price. However you get free updates for live, so in the long run it may pay off, especially since we have great hopes for version 8 that is around the corner. Plus you can use the Ergos extra button to mix video! It is the only software that can do that.
Traktor is quite a lot cheaper (I guess 80 Euros) and has all the features (except video mixing), however it won’t integrate as tightly with your controllers jog wheels and special featues. As synthetic said: Scratching is prolly out of the question and for the Ergo Traktor is the software I would least recommend.If you are just starting out you prolly will be fine with DJ Intro at first and may use that for a few months before you make a final decision.
KeymasterIt totally depends on the club PA. I have seen clubs where you simply unplug some device that is connected to their DJ Mixer via RCA and you plug your RCAs in and you are routed through their mixer.
This is not uncommon, however I do not particularly like it, as the DJ Mixer is another source of sound quality loss or failures during your set.
Some have multi-core PA boxes that you need to plug in via XLR or TRS either into the PA directly or into a PA mixer, stage box… whatever.
Over the years I have accumulated a large amount of cables, if I would carry them all to a gig the cable box would be triple the size of my controller plus Laptop flight cases…. So all I can say is: Ask beforehand or even better check out the location and what cables you will need and bring/buy exactly that cable(s). Try not to use crappy connectors if you can (like RCA to TRS) but try to do it in the cable wiring. For example one end has XLR that you plug into the PA and the other has a TRS that plugs into your controller or vice versa. Buy good cables and they will last. My TRS-TRS cables are at least 10 years old, but they are heavy duty stage cables and will prolly last another 10 and have excellent sound quality.KeymasterThere are some hacks out there for the remix decks, you might want to check at djtechtools.com
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