I had a chance to stop by Sam Ash today. They actually had all three of these controllers where I could play with them, not the software... just the hardware. Since I'm in the market for one of these three, I was ecstatic. Here's what I decided:

Xponent: Cheap plastic, you could just feel it. I hated the idea of the jog dials being above all of my controls too. The main plus was the sound card that's built in. Beyond that, the clerk said they've had several dropped and returned immediately. Seriously poor quality. Sorry Rod & Co. It's not for me.

Total Control: Jog dials are small, but NICELY weighted. I wasn't expecting that. It feels like it's built like a tank despite being plastic. The kill switches for each eq band was very nice. The layout was just perfect. This is what I'll be getting when I break down and get it.

VCI-100: Nice large jog dials, but despite being able to adjust them, I didn't like the way they handled as opposed to Total Control's. It also lacked the EQ kills, but it sort of made up for that with a 4 band eq. The balance knobs, master volume, headphone mix knob were extremely small, and even if there is a "mod" to fix this, I shouldn't have to mod my gear to get it to work like I'd like it to. It was solidly built and the channel volume sliders did have a better feel to them. The bottom line is that it's twice the price of the Total Control, but yet I don't see the additional $250 in value in this controller.

So, I've made my decision today. It's the Total Control.

Interestingly, despite what a few of us have said, people are hitting sam ash and asking when they can get hold of their new S7 controller system. Why someone would want to carry something that big to a gig is beyond me. I can see it as a club install, but seriously... mobile work??? Come on.

dave, you and i need to find something we disagree on...

I hate Mexican food.

really? I love it.

and yeah, thanks for the input, our guitar center doesn't have any of them out on the floor but did get to play with the cdjs, maybe they'll get the 400s out soon.

Nice.

Really. I'm slowly starting to like some tex-mex, but not much and I'm never really in the mood for it.

GC will take whatever they have in stock out of a box if they think they can sell it to you. The problem for me was that they never had the VCI-100 or Total Control in stock. GC is nice, but they're ALWAYS busy. It's hard to get one-on-one attention there. Sam Ash, maybe it's the time of day I got to it, but I never have any problem getting that type of attention.

im still with vci 100 the pads are too small on the total controll and im yet to see anyone scratch properly with the it! had a go on it at plaza the year before last.

I dont think the xponent is as cheep as it looks! did you have good play on it?

Why dont u buy online?

BTW are not all digtial djs mobile now by the fact that we take our own mixing equipment?

Even sasha isnt gonna use a clubs own midi controller!

Of course it's not for scratching. It's not that type of tool. For progressive house though, it's perfect.


I do. I just like to try before I buy ;)

i never want to scratch. but i do like the xfader. ill be able to properly cut things in and out now.
i was the same way, i went to all the stores in the area and tried out the bcd3000 and the hercules before deciding on the numark. one of the big reasons i love it is that it is so small. makes transport easy. i just bought a laptop bag and ill get some foam next week for a nice shoulder case.

After 4 hours of use with the Xponent in one session, There were no glitches, and surprisingly enough, It doesn't get as hot as it did before when I first tried it out....I guess its something that has to be wore in like a new pair of pants....  :laugh:
If you lower the latency, its very easy to scratch with, and I will be getting a hold of Traktor 3 soon from a friend, so I'll be able to see what it can do with that.
Personally, I like to have everything usable at my fingertips, especially with big buttons, and extra knobs, that are midi assignable.

I don't remember all of your histories... but have some of you come from vinyl? I find the idea of a controller kindof hard to get used to. I can see the benefits, but I would much rather go with control records using time codes. I know Dave's kindof on a clean slate in some ways... but have any/all of you using controllers made the switch from vinyl?

dave is making the switch from ableton live to traktor. im coming straight from vinyl (ive never used cd decks)
after about 2 weeks of playing with the demo for traktor, i was hooked and dont miss vinyl at all. my problem is for some reason i cant get the swing of beatmatching. i can get it pretty darn close, but never perfect. so i spent so much time concentrating on beatmatching that i couldnt do things like really think about what to play next and such. my mixing was always rushed. i love the controller. its great.

I haven't fully switched from vinyl, cause really I am mostly vinyl... until just recently in the course of like 5 months, I've been mp3 crazy! vinyl limits the creative ability of being on the fly remixing, yet its the easiest way to mix, and vinyl just sounds better! unfortunately, vinyl is hard to afford nowadays, unless you come across Masterpieces that you just can't live without, then I would buy them on vinyl. For now, I'm not going to limit my creativeness with just vinyl, anymore. Too much music out there now, and I'm going to be composing like crazy, once my comp gets upgraded.

To each his own, and that is true for DJ's as well. Vinyl will live forever, only in the hands of the ones who find those masterpieces, and take very well care of them. ;)

Yeah for sure. Cool to hear your thoughts.

yeah, Atlanta's GC is pretty busy when I've been there.  Plus gots more stuff as well.  One here in B'ham not as busy and I usually can get some help esp. if I'm spending some money, lol.  Course I might stay with my original plan and what you and doug mentioned once, just go with CDJs as controllers.  Then all I would have to do is put them in a coffin and all I would have to do is close it up and go.

vinyl is going to die out in the next 10 years, i can see it coming. the decline in vinyl over the last 3 years has been intense. i remember when i first started, CDs were just becoming popular. when i was in brighton, i didnt see 1 dj spinning vinyl, one club didnt even have turntables.

well, shame on them...  :P

Never. Those clubs will die out, I say!

....

Yes loads of clubs in brum have technics with more dust than the norm!
Im surprised its taken this long but 2008 is deffinately the year where more and more record labels are going to downloads.


Yep i did!
i made the switch in 2001  and bought my first controller in 2004.

However as much as i miss the feel of vinyl and have been looking for a controller that can scratch at least as good as a cdj 1000 (not there yet!). I also see a midi controller as a different beast to the decks. which is why im sticking with ableton for now!

Thanks.

djvicar I wanted to mention, I'll possibly be in Birmingham for a few hours in May, hanging out with some friends. What area are you in?

Birmingham uk?

im near aston! we should me up if yr coming to the uk!

Yeah, some goods friends from Canada will be visiting family in the UK, so we're planning a quick Ryanair hop. Just working out some details, but it looks like we'll be in Birmingham on Saturday May 10th, for 6 or 7 hours. Kinda rushed, I know.

cool ill send u message!

Just PM'd you. We arrived last night and will head out Sunday morning. :)

I think the total control would get my vote.. the wheels do feel real nice... taking less trips to the car to get the gear makes it easier to watch everything.

Have any of you had your laptop crap out on you ever while playing a gig?
I've had that happen a few times while playing keys but I haven't done enough live DJ sets for that to have a chance to happen to me.
I hear that its good to have a MP3 player as a backup.

I'm totally sold on my Remote SL now. Once I put in some cue point on each track, I'm fine. At minimum I need a beatgrid cue point and a load cue point. After that... I'm set.

So no TC for you, Dave?

I never thought about using a keyboard to control traktor...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeevazoXGMg&feature=related

Thats really cool.

im not surprised that dave is good with the SL. the key with controllers is using something your familar and comfortable with.

I like that vid.

RME are hardcore.

No. Not at all.

I'm using the Zero (keyless version) of the SL.  It's a simple set up, but it does what I want to do at this point in my life.

It looks like a great tool for house or trance DJs--or any other DJs whose physical contact with the record or jog wheel is limited to pitch bending.

and it is ;)

i spin house and love jobwheels.

well, so far besides that one goof I had a while back, the Xponent really stands up to alot of button mashing. It does exactly what I want it to do, plus, whenever I get my comp upgrade, I'll be able to run Traktor with it in no time.

It's a very versatile lil contraption, thus, It'll be easier for me to use it for blending in different genres as well.

I really wanna get back into music production, I mean, I have a few projects on hold right now, cause Im still working to get that upgrade. Let's hope I don't go completely deaf before I can finish working on them.