Showing posts with label dj control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dj control. Show all posts

Numark NS7 DJ Turntable Controller with Serato ITCH Software Review

Numark NS7 DJ Turntable Controller with Serato ITCH Software
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Coming from a turntable and vinyl background, I was and still am excited about this product. I purchased it and have been very content. The unit is about 35lbs. and VERY solid. I have to get use to scratching on it compared to turntables. The platter should have been made 9" but I'm taking it in stride. All crossfaders have a quality feel, no static and the scratch curves feel as good or better than my Rane TTM57sl.
My only complaint is that Numark did not future-proof this unit with effect buttons. I find the software (Serato iTch) and mixing is (CURRENTLY) a little more boring than Serato Scratchlive and my 57 mixer. Serato is supposedly working on effects and making iTch's software closer in features to Scratchlive.
I purchased the Numark case with the unit and REALLY love doing mobile gigs now. No more individual TT cases and mixer cases. No more RCA and ground wires and at least 15 minutes less setup time. I'm saving close to 70 lbs. in travel weight too. One bit of advice is to be wary of using PCs with this unit. I have a Unibody Macbook Pro 2.66Ghz but struggled making a Core2-Duo 2.2Ghz 4GB ram PC work "glitch-free" with the NS7 and iTch. It had quirky behavior while tracks were playing, random stops and various audio dropouts. Many PCs will (by default) have IRQ sharing which can hose up USB connectivity (the main source of NS7 communication to your laptop) if there are conflicts.
In troubleshooting, I had to insure bluetooth, anti-virus, firewalls, NIC cards, screen savers, wireless Network cards, on-board video and all sorts of services were disabled on the PC (a TOTAL administrative nightmare!) and still ended up having to run the latency at 5ms or greater for decent performance. My mic had major echo delay with this setting so enough was enough.
I purchased the MBPro and have not had a SINGLE glitch since. My latency is at 1ms AND I can run apps in the background while DJ'ing without problems. I highly recommend the NS7 (with adequately powered MAC) for any mobile DJ.

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Designed in collaboration with Serato, the Numark NS7 DJ Turntable Controller combines an all-metal chassis with adjustable torque, motorized, aluminum-turntable platters, vinyl, and a professional audio interface to deliver a complete performance solution that will satisfy even the most hardcore turntablist.
It offers a full complement of premium faders, knobs, buttons and the new Strip Search virtual-needle-drop control, which integrates seamlessly with the included Serato ITCH software. The NS7 delivers hands-on control of every aspect of Serato ITCH and sends data to the software more than ten times faster than standard MIDI resolution. And because it was designed for ITCH, NS7 setup time is the bare minimum--no tweaking, no mapping; just plug and perform.
The NS7's dual decks flank the mixer section. Its recognizable, professional appearance is supported by clean design in matte and glossy black. The entire unit is housed in a heavy-gauge, industrial-strength metal casing that is ready for the torture of travel.
Key Features
High-resolution controller built for Serato ITCH and compatible with Scratch LIVE libraries
Direct-drive, motorized turntable platters with classic and modern feel settings
Includes Serato ITCH DJ software, fully pre-mapped
Audiophile-grade audio circuitry with mic and line inputs, system and cue outs
Extensive loop, cue, and track-access controls
Strip Search (patent pending) virtual-needle-drop control
Controls most MIDI applications without requiring a mouse or keyboard
Rugged, all-metal construction
High quality, replaceable, customizable CP-PRO crossfader and D-TYPE line faders
Support for Whitelabel.net files in ITCH
Mix using either 33 RPM or 45 RPM speeds

Perfect Feel The NS7 has two seven-inch, motorized, high-torque aluminum turntable platters, and the turntable controls feature modern and classic settings that alter the feel to model the feel you prefer. Seven-inch, legit vinyl records with 45 RPM adapters sit on real slipmats--no simulation.
Solid, rugged, rubberized buttons and knobs compliment a high precision, replaceable CP-PRO crossfader and D-TYPE line faders for an unquestionably high-quality feel. The CP-PRO digital-VCA crossfader has a solid feel that is smooth and rigid. Like the crossfader, the D-TYPE digital-VCA line faders are replaceable. The crossfader offers contour adjust and reverse adjustment, enabling you to customize its operation.
System Simplicity Forget the mouse and the keyboard. The NS7 renders ITCH software perfectly simple to operate, with its click knob and large, backlit buttons navigating though your music library. You'll spend less time looking at the screen and more time enjoying performing thanks to the visual feedback you get from NS7's more-than 100 LEDs and more-than 100 hands-on controls.
A single USB cable between NS7 and your Mac or PC is all you need to send audio and data back and forth. The NS7 has onboard audio outputs so it's the only piece of gear you need to connect to the PA system or powered speakers. It outputs 24-bit, 44.1 kHz digital audio to the sound system on XLRs and RCAs. The front panel contains mic input, RCA line input, and both 1/4" and 1/8" headphone outputs with volume control.
The NS7 comes with an integrated laptop stand that supplies safe, secure mounting for your laptop. You can use an ultra-small space because NS7 elevates your laptop off the table.
Precision Control The NS7 sends control information over USB at more than ten times the standard MIDI rate. This innovative communication technique yields extremely high-precision, low-latency control.
There's nothing like dropping the needle on a record for quickly locating a point in the track, and with Strip Search--the unique virtual-needle-drop touch strip--you can locate a point instantly within the track using the on-screen waveform
Five hot-cue-assign buttons on each deck digitally mark your cues on the track. These marker points are recallable in ITCH and Scratch LIVE, and you can load Scratch LIVE cue points in ITCH.
Each deck offers an extensive Serato-style loop section, and you can choose between manual and auto-loop functions and an automatic BPM analyzer further assists loop makers. Creating automatic smart loops of any measure length is a breeze, and you can mutilate and modify to heart's content with a variety of controls such as Doubling, Halving, Shift, and manual controls.
Audio Quality The NS7 contains a host of professional audio connectors and a multichannel, 24-bit USB digital-audio interface. The high-definition post-mix analog audio output features a minimized circuit path with containing only one audiophile-grade bipolar capacitor. This optimized design maximizes phase coherence, ensuring that audio is tight and punchy.
Serato ITCH Software IF you use Scratch LIVE, you'll become quickly familiar with Serato ITCH. Because ITCH doesn't require a timecode interface, your system can be as simple as, say, NS7 and your computer. Since ITCH makes timecode a thing of the past, you won't need to worry about needles skipping or vinyl wearing out. You can load your Scratch LIVE crates, loops, presets, and cue points seamlessly in ITCH. The NS7 also works with most other MIDI DJ software and supports iTunes.
ITCH handles audio processing and mixing including channel fading, EQ, crossfading and track trim are processed for outstanding control and management of your tracks, ease of recording your set, clip-proof gain management, and BPM calculation using the power of your computer's processor.
The History function in ITCH keeps a comprehensive record of every track played and exports sessions from your history to 'txt', 'csv', or 'm3u'. ITCH also has a Loop Roll function that provides a looping effect where the playhead jumps back to normal time when you release the loop. Built-in key support ensures that ITCH reads key tags from MP3 files and displays them in the 'key' column in your library.

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Denon BU4500 Dual Drive DJ CD Player Review

Denon BU4500 Dual Drive DJ CD Player
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(More customer reviews)
it made my denon hc4500 perfom better than using them natively. i could skipp to the beginning of tracks rather than having to go and look up at my laptop and click the track back button its helping making my djing experience better than ever b4 well atleast when i use my mobile rack.

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DENON DN-HC4500 DJ Mixer USB Controller Review

DENON DN-HC4500 DJ Mixer USB Controller
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Although the controls, buttons and display make for a "busy" looking layout, it performs to perfection! Easily configurable to PCDJ-Red Mobile (my software of choice at the present) and VERY responsive! For me, this was an upgrade from the PCDJ DAC-3 and I'm glad I made the switch as I have restored confidence in my mixing/transitions: when I press PLAY, it plays!! Worth every penny.

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M-Audio Torq Xponent Advanced DJ Performance/Production System Review

M-Audio Torq Xponent Advanced DJ Performance/Production System
Average Reviews:

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So after scouring the internet for reviews of the xponent, and having used its cousin the Torq Mixlab and getting down the basics of CPU based DJing, I am proud to say that I couldn't be happier with the Xponent. I got it a few weeks ago, have a Macbook that runs great with it, and have so far had no problems whatsoever. The software is fast and loads my itunes library (over 16k songs) in about 30 seconds. One of the best features of the Torq software is how it figures out (or you can override) the beat of each song and SAVES it. This means that when you're spinning, you can sort by BPM and see the 20 songs that are close in BPM that you have used before. This makes song selection a pleasure!
All the switches and knobs are very responsive, and as a person who basically started DJing (beatmatching, mixing, cueing) a month ago, I feel right at home here. The loop features are easy to use and drop in, and the sampler is very powerful and easy to use. I just spun a big house party with this thing a week ago and it went great! The effects are fun, and using the mouse pad like a Chaos Pad allows for some cool remixing on the fly. I find that scratching is easy to do and there are various settings to determine how sensitive the wheels are.
All in all, this is a great product for a novice or someone who likes to pick music and wants to get into real mixing. If you're the person always holding the iPod at the party but want more control, this is definitely a great place to start (and as far as I'm concerned, finish). As for all the haters of digital DJing, I don't really care, its much easier than bringing vinyl and remembering BPMs and you can plug in someone at the party's ipod and use their music in real time. I find that the Xponent is extremely versatile, perfect for a beginner or seasoned DJ alike, and it and its grandchildren will be leading us into the future of DJing. Hope this helps, there is a lack of people talking about the Xponent and its a truly great device that has allowed me to finally do something I've wanted to do for years, but I've never had the resources to get set up with vinyl and dj lessons.
Cheers!
-DP


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The professional-grade Torq Xponent system seamlessly integrates high-performance DJ software with a fully functional hands-on controller, representing a new era in digital DJ performance and production. The Xponent hardware combines the features of a two-channel DJ mixer with CDJ-style tactile controls, letting you cue, mix and manipulate digital files without touching the host computer. In addition to the essentials, M-Audio Torq 1.5 software delivers a variety of real-time creative tools to take your sets beyond the ordinary--and the Xponent hardware control surface puts all that power right at your fingertips. This integrated solution opens the door to new techniques that are simply impossible with traditional DJ setups.

Rock-Solid Professional DJ Hardware The Torq Xponent hardware/software system delivers everything a professional DJ needs to perform with a computer. Xponent is both an advanced MIDI control surface for Torq software and a four-output USB audio interface that includes two stereo RCA outputs and a standard 1/4-inch headphone output for cueing. Every control on Xponent boasts the same rock-solid construction and rugged feel as traditional DJ hardware. So if you're ready to make the leap to the world of software-based DJing, you'll feel right at home with Xponent.
Get Inside the Mix Torq 1.5 DJ software makes it easy to go beyond basic beat matching and crossfading between tracks. With a 16-cell, tempo-synced sampler, easy looping capabilities and multiple cue points, you can chop up a song--on the fly--and reorder, remix and extend any section you want, all while staying perfectly in time. The QuickScratch feature lets you instantly scratch with any two loaded samples. Tempo Anchors remove tempo variations from your tracks--or cause other songs to adopt the tempo changes--making mash-ups and live remixes a breeze. Tempo Master synchronizes all tracks, samples and effects within Torq, while MIDI clock transmits tempo information to outboard hardware and other computers so you can collaborate with friends. And if you also want to produce, Torq is ReWire-compatible with Pro Tools M-Powered software and other popular applications.
Advanced Effects Processing Torq 1.5 gives you 10 essential effects right out of the box for dynamic manipulation of your tracks. Imagine the possibilities of stacking multiple distortion, filter, repeat, chorus or bit-reduction effects while mixing between songs. You can turn any track into your own original creation--and even record it on the spot with the integrated performance recorder. Torq also allows you to create recallable snapshots of your favorite EQ, effect and mixer settings, and even supports the vast world of third-party VST effects plug-ins.
Dynamic Control Over Torq 1.5 Software The best DJ tools allow you to get your hands on your music--from cueing to beat matching to scratching. M-Audio designed the Xponent control surface with full-size, DJ CD-player-style controls so you can get into the music and engage the crowd during each moment of your set. Xponent features 64 assignable backlit buttons (including Play, Cue, Seek, Loop, Key and Sync controls), two volume sliders, eight assignable knobs for effect control and two 100mm pitch sliders. The built-in touchpad/assignable X/Y controller allows you to control your mouse or the effects in Torq, so you never have to take your hands off the unit in the middle of a performance.
Made to Work Together Torq 1.5 DJ software for Mac and PC automatically configures itself to work with Xponent--every hardware control is pre-mapped to its corresponding function in Torq. It's easy to get up and running with Xponent because all of the hardware controls are located exactly where you'd expect them to be. The transition into digital DJing couldn't be simpler.
Plays Well with Others In addition to VST compatibility, Torq 1.5 software can interface with any ReWire-compatible host application. You can easily route the output of Torq to a program like Pro Tools M-Powered and explore even more performance, production and sound design possibilities. When ReWired to a host application, the tempo of Torq automatically locks to the current session tempo, so you never have to worry about syncing playback between Torq and your preferred DAW. In addition, the Xponent control surface can be MIDI-mapped to other digital audio workstation software including Ableton Live.
What's in the Box Xponent USB DJ Controller and Audio Interface, Torq CD-ROM (Torq Software, Xponent Drivers, and Documentation), USB Cable, 12VDC 1000mA Power Supply, Quick Start Guide

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Hercules DJ Console RMX Review

Hercules DJ Console RMX
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I have decided to write two different reviews for this product. One of them will be for the beginner, and the other will be for the advanced user of products such as these. Beginner's Review:
The Hercules RMX the best entry to mid-level midi controller on the market for those looking to get into the world of mixing. While pricier than other controllers, the RMX has the most and best amount of software options to choose from. The Hercules may be somewhat difficult for beginners to set-up right out of the box, but once you do, playing is a breeze. The RMX comes with Virtual DJ software specifically mapped for the product, so you automatically can start to enjoy mixing your music library. Not only that, you are also given a carry-on bag, and lengthy instruction manual on the basics of scratching and mixing. You'll be on your way to hosting parties in no time. Tech Review:
The Hercules RMX is a multi-faceted midi controller used to control software dj programs such as Virtual DJ, Traktor, or for use in live mixes like Ableton live. It comes with a metal casing, and is a dedicated soundcard, having four input / output plugs. The RMX doesn't come with any type of additional connectors besides the usb cable, so you will have to provide your own stereo jacks.
The controller can be set up for any type of gig. You can run your vinyl turntables or CD players through it, and have multiple outputs, so you can mix at a venue while broadcasting live on radio or internet stream. The buttons can be configured to have little to no lag between interfaces, and the jog wheels can be used to do various DJ scratching. Do NOT expect to scratch like a pro on the jog wheels, they are no substitute for actual vinyl.
The most important thing about the RMX are the drivers, and thankfully Hercules has updated them for windows 7 and Mac compatibility. Many midi controllers on the market selling still are only Vista capable, so be wary of other products like this. They also have a huge support forum, and an excellent customer service record. Expect that if you're having problems, you can google the issue and find the answer.
The RMX comes with Virtual DJ Basic. The software is subpar, and you're probably better off using programs like Traktor or Abelton, which give you more freedom with effects and midi mapping. Those products cost money, so expect to shell out another 400 dollars for a good version of the software.

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