DJ with Turntables or Controllers for gigs?

[swiffy]

Wanted to get back into Dee Jaying a bit. Just wondering which route is best to go nowadays. Controllers or turntables? I got rid of my two technic 1200s and serato last year. I've gotten buy without. At a pawn shop, they have one in good condition for $230. But that would take away from my APC money. I have one on order. It's supposed to be here this week. Suggestions?

[hacktheplanet]

Personal preference man. As long as you practice and got skills, do what you want. Each has its merits.
I prefer the Serato thing for DJing, and the controller thing for Live sets.

[the_antagonist]

iv not long sold my 1210's and am about to sell my cdjs in favor of apc40. im not looking back. just did a set off my laptop and it ruled!

[Zeddy]

Definitely go control surface. So much more flexibility. You won't look back. Rather than an APC 40 though, you may be interested in the Vestax VCM 600 which is regarded by many as probably a better strictly DJing surface

[the_antagonist]

i may agree. my dj set only uses 4 channels. and the mixer does that. apc40 will come in hand when i intigrate midi into my dj set. and when i have enough material to warant a live act.

[dredd i knight]

if you scratch you gonna need decks or the stanton control surface. if not, go digital. for me the perfect match would be a combination of the 2, but i gotta say the apc looks so good, i'd get it and see how it goes from there if i were you.

[dj_huck]

i do both and enjoy them both at different times. there is just something fun about serrato and decks that i kinda miss when i use the apc 40

[nuxnamon]

i do both and enjoy them both at different times. there is just something fun about serrato and decks that i kinda miss when i use the apc 40

plus ladies think turntables are sexier.. hence you become more sexy.. when your manually adjusting the speed during beatmatching and twisting the spindle, girls fantasize those to be nipples.. uh.. yeah, i think the medicine just kicked in.. nite nite..

[Schuft]

hi, regarding the apc one main thing i miss is the possibility of proper and userfriendly EQing. as the vcm-600 was mentioned i thought i take a picture of my setup i'm really getting happy with i think.
the one main thing i miss with my vcm/monome setup are endless encoders with lcd status ring. therefor i tink i'll get the novation nocturne.
i also thought of maybe getting a lemur but while playing with my friends lemur i recognized in first place i need some real controllers to touch, real potis, faders, buttons and what not. (if someone writes a good software maybe i'm getting a big screen all-in-one pc with Win7 multitouch instead. we'll see what max4live and the future will bring.)

i came a long way from playing and performing with vinyl so i don't want to miss the feel and possibilities with vinyl as well. in live performances i mostly use vinyl to 'stream scratch' in some samples in sync to the beat. makes fun and feels old school mixed up with modern possibilties.

here's a picture of my (still evolving) live set:

[Ed J]

Jeezus monomes. You gonna get one of the old 40s to complement that setup? =D

the one main thing i miss with my vcm/monome setup are endless encoders with lcd status ring.

BCR2000 is the way forward on that one, I have mine mapped to the EQs on the first 4 channels that I use for clips, and the second set of knobs set to various other fx, with the top buttons being on/off switches, it's actually really useful, better than trying to control all the parameters with the APC cus it's locked to the device so launching a clip and removing the bassline on a different track at the same time is possible =]

[Schuft]

Jeezus monomes. You gonna get one of the old 40s to complement that setup? =D

i once wanted to buy a 40h kit but i wasn't fast enouhg ordering

BCR2000 is the way forward on that one, I have mine mapped to the EQs on the first 4 channels that I use for clips, and the second set of knobs set to various other fx, with the top buttons being on/off switches

yeah, i do it in similar ways, fitted to my individual needs. in addition i use bome's midi translator to fully customize functinality like i want it to operate, e.g. call/display different pages on the monome by (channel) specific button presses on the monome or when pressing a button to activate an effect to have a gate mode instead of Live's default toggle mode for device's on/off button.

it's actually really useful, better than trying to control all the parameters with the APC cus it's locked to the device so launching a clip and removing the bassline on a different track at the same time is possible

i think you mean is 'not' possible with apc but is with bcr!?
yes, absolutely. not alone in respect of eqing it is essential to have dedicated control elements that don't lose their focus but will be hands on immediately, everytime.
But of course it all depends on your way to perform. i'm not saying one is better. you have to know exactly what you want to be able to do and what fit's best to your style of performing.
as i started as a vinyl dj and still do djing tracks and all kinds of track snippets i want to have eqing per channel e.g.

cheers

[Ed J]

i once wanted to buy a 40h kit but i wasn't fast enouhg ordering

gutted! I wanna pick up a 128 when I have some cash to burn

pressing a button to activate an effect to have a gate mode instead of Live's default toggle mode for device's on/off button.

I did this manually in my BCR, just set the buttons onto momentary and it worked like a dream

i think you mean is 'not' possible with apc but is with bcr!?

Quite possibly, I'm pretty hung-over so my sentance structuring's a little off today
Yeah, it's all down to preference, but I think most people would agree that dedicated hardware EQ controls are a must-have !

[Schuft]

I did this manually in my BCR, just set the buttons onto momentary and it worked like a dream

it's cool to have some kind of configuration software for a controller vcm-600 leaves you alone in this respect and just sends out and receives midi note and cc data in a predefined way. but it's simple and consistent thereby easy to add (midi) program logic with e.g. bome's or the upcoming max4live

[Hidden Driveways]

Wanted to get back into Dee Jaying a bit. Just wondering which route is best to go nowadays. Controllers or turntables? I got rid of my two technic 1200s and serato last year. I've gotten buy without. At a pawn shop, they have one in good condition for $230. But that would take away from my APC money. I have one on order. It's supposed to be here this week. Suggestions?

Get your turntables back, sell the CDJs. Get the APC too.

[Ed J]

it's cool to have some kind of configuration software for a controller

yeah, what's good about the BCR is that every single control on it is editable through it's internal interface, so you can set up the knobs to be incremental / whatever you fancy and do tonnes of random stuff with the midi messages

Not bad for £100 !