Hybrid Setup
Hybrid Setup Posted on: 19.07.2013 by Sebrina Pechette What up djs? Im a new at the DJTT community
s but an active reader of the site. I used to dj back in the day with vinyl and turntables but drifted away to guitar playing and regular bands. Lately I have been producing in the computer a lot and getting reacquainted with this whole new era of digital djing, Im feeling very passionate about it Now its time to get the proper hardware and so far Ive had crushes with all kinds of controllers such as the DDJSX, the numark NS7, the VCI400 and the regular djm800 plus cdjs setup, etc. Ive come to realize that I want a setup that allows me to go full digital (traktor and whatnot), be able to use it with ableton but still remain familiar with a standard club setup and "normal" beatmatching djing. Id call it a "hybrid" setup...For this, I definitely need to get a mixer, but one that has an integrated audio interface, 4channels, midi control and hopefully be a wellrounded dj mixer as well. My research has led me to the following products: Allen and Heath Xone 4D, Pioneer DJM850, Korg zero4 and the Ecler EVO5 mixer. I would eventually add a behringer bcr2000 midi controller and maybe an X1 mk2. Portability is not too much of a concern and money is not either, but the value-quality proportion sure is! What do you believe? Am I missing any obvious option? Do you have any experience with the mixers mentioned above? Thanks for the feedback! | |
| Alphonso Deitchman 24.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by Bruiser Smith
|
| Kimberlee Giap 23.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by djproben
The DN-X1600 is a great mixer as well, and is built a lot more robustly with bigger, rubberized knobs (rather than the thin plastic ones of the Korg). If you find yourself really cranking on knobs, then this would be a setup which appeals to you. I would say that it's nice to have pretty much the entire mixer MIDI-mappable, including the MIDI knob section which some people really like. It just ended up not fitting the bill for me, and I switched to a Denon DN-MC6000 as I wanted something that had a sound card, was well built, and had a bunch of knobs already. All this being said, I really liked having both of these mixers. I've taken them both everywhere with me, including Burning Man, and have never had any issue with either. I can't speak for the Ecler, but a lot of folks like both the Evo 4 as well as 5, so they may be also be good fits - I just don't have any experience with either. Hopefully this helps! |
| Isa Erik 22.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by SlvrDragon50
|
| Isa Erik 21.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by makar1
|
| Antonetta Wikel 22.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by SlvrDragon50
|
| Federico Vilas 21.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by KRU2000
|
| Sebrina Pechette 24.07.2013 | Yea I did, and Im yet to really get into it but damn that ecler mixer is sweet... |
| Hipolito Scionti 24.07.2013 | OP got a DJM900 nexus btw... so problem solved |
| Alphonso Deitchman 24.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by Bruiser Smith
|
| Kimberlee Giap 23.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by djproben
The DN-X1600 is a great mixer as well, and is built a lot more robustly with bigger, rubberized knobs (rather than the thin plastic ones of the Korg). If you find yourself really cranking on knobs, then this would be a setup which appeals to you. I would say that it's nice to have pretty much the entire mixer MIDI-mappable, including the MIDI knob section which some people really like. It just ended up not fitting the bill for me, and I switched to a Denon DN-MC6000 as I wanted something that had a sound card, was well built, and had a bunch of knobs already. All this being said, I really liked having both of these mixers. I've taken them both everywhere with me, including Burning Man, and have never had any issue with either. I can't speak for the Ecler, but a lot of folks like both the Evo 4 as well as 5, so they may be also be good fits - I just don't have any experience with either. Hopefully this helps! |
| Alphonso Deitchman 22.07.2013 | Wow, very nice deal. The CDJs should cover the cost of any MIDI controllers you might replace them with. |
| Danae Dumler 22.07.2013 | In my opinion - The Ecler Evo 5 is far and away the best mixer on your list. The hardware is remarkable; it's very well made, sounds amazing, and has lots of options, and is totally Traktor certified so you can plug in four turntables if you want. Or four CD players or any combination of pretty much anything, it's all MIDI compatible so you can reassign knobs at your leisure, and has a cool interface (once you get used to it) for switching from one setup to another easily. The drawback is there are some weird things in the firmware that could be fixed, and the on board effects are what they are--there probably won't ever be a firmware update. And using them is a little wonky; you can't run two different effects on two different channels at the same time the way you can with other mixers (so you can fade out of one song on say a reverb while filtering the next song in for example). But if you're using Traktor you have multiple effects available to you there anyway. The Korg Zero 4 you mention is a fantastic mixer with a lot of very cool features - including on board effects that can be controlled via the extra EQ knobs, giving you great mixing options (like running the filters the way you can in the DB4's EQ section), but people have had problems with the sound card. Both the Zero4 and the Evo5 have firewire rather than USB, so it sometimes takes a bit to get things working right on the computer end, depending on your hardware. I thought there was something wrong with my Evo5 for a while before I figured out it was a messed up firewire port that was causing the trouble. I've heard of problems with Zero4 owners using Macs, but they also seem to get them sorted after some googling. The Denon mixer mentioned DNX1600 is also really good and a better bargain than the Evo. I did own the next mixer up, a DNX-1700, for a couple months and it was terrific - really great sound, very solid hardware, and wonderful features. The on-board effects are not nearly as nice as those in the Evo (or in the Allen and Heath mixers) but better and less heavy handed than Pioneer in my opinion. Like the Evo, the Denon won't be updated either so what you get is what you get. The 1700 has some other nice features like color coded lights to let you know what's going on. |
| Hipolito Scionti 22.07.2013 | Kerpow! |
| Sebrina Pechette 22.07.2013 | Thank you all for your input. Most times, the community s are the only way to validate information in reviews, walkthroughs, etc. I had a bit of luck this past two weeks in my search and got a great deal on pioneer gear. I bought the DJM900nx with a couple of cdjs 1000mk3 from a kid for 1500dollars, apparently he bought the gear to learn and never got around it...my guess is he needed crack money! Anyways, I guess Ill play with this for a couple of weeks and try to get my hands on one of them denons in person and see if the switch is worth it. Ill keep you posted. |
| Hipolito Scionti 22.07.2013 | DJM850 for sure. Pro / will find in a lot of clubs... if not then a DJM900 or 800 will be there. Add CDJs in the future if you want X1 mkII - You can beat match manually but if you're using traktor it looks v intuitive. I got the X1mkI and that with my DJM900 is my favourite controller way of mixing. (turntables stil being my favourite) Launchpad / Maschine mkII Traktor - Remix decks for live Ableton to produce (i personally use Logic) |
| Isa Erik 22.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by SlvrDragon50
|
| Vikki Jeannoel 22.07.2013 | As far as mixers go I would get a DJM 900 if I were you. |
| Gaynell Rydberg 21.07.2013 | I believe they've fixed it though on the newer models. Not too many complaints witht he MC3000. |
| Isa Erik 21.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by makar1
|
| Alphonso Deitchman 22.07.2013 | I would guess that they are complaining about the feel rather than faults. |
| Antonetta Wikel 22.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by SlvrDragon50
|
| Gaynell Rydberg 21.07.2013 | Forgot about the SC2000, it's a great little controller. The play/cue buttons aren't the greatest, but you got everything you need with the pitch fader and nice big jog wheel. |
| Federico Vilas 21.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by KRU2000
|
| Isa Erik 21.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by SirReal
|
| Augustine Mitzen 21.07.2013 | do you want both DJM-850 and the EVO5? may i ask why? |
| Nancey Inderlied 21.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by KRU2000
|
| Doreen Schurle 21.07.2013 | Contour 4 Deck v1.0.zip Here you go Sir Whinealot |
| Antonetta Wikel 21.07.2013 | 2 x DNSC2000's plus external mixer. Done. |
| Gaynell Rydberg 21.07.2013 | You never sent it to me mdc lol. The mapping I'm using has it though, but it still doesn't compare to the fader. Very difficult to move between tempos quickly. Maybe I just don't wanna adjust to a new method and I'm being lazy lol. |
| Doreen Schurle 21.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by SlvrDragon50
|
| Jonathan Chiuchiolo 20.07.2013 | ^ that's the reason I stopped using my contour and never bought a second one, I just don't feel connected if I'm not beatmatching |
| Gaynell Rydberg 20.07.2013 | I both love and hate the fact that I can't beatmatch anymore on my Reloop contour. Beatmatching with a knob for tempo adjustments is just too weird for me. Gotta use sync That said, sync is an awesome tool. I'm using a cheap X1500 mixer and Reloop contour for my mixing. By starting off with a mixer and soundcard/controller setup, you give yourself the option to always expand to TTs or CDJs later on down the road. Digital DJing is just much cheaper, and it really is quite good compared to CDJs/TT. I'm not gonna say it's better or worse, but it's a good option. |
| Jonathan Chiuchiolo 20.07.2013 | I'd go for a xone 92 and 2 K2's and your good to go.. I personally prefer the 4 band eq of the 92, and the 1D midi controllers on the sides of the 4D are really not that great, all the buttons have a diameter of about 7mm and are really springy, the jog are absolutely terrible, aside from them not having touch sensitivity, their midi is sporadic sending values all over the show making them useless for anything but browser scrolling. With this setup you don't really need a soundcard as you can use the two K2's for four channels, but if you want to be like your boy liebing you would have to invest in an RME Fireface for a soundcard. Another option if you wanted to use traktors or abletons internal mixer and save some money is the xone DX, which has no internal mixer, but does have the same soundcard and components from the 4D and 2D, just in a smaller package. |
| Doreen Schurle 20.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by KRU2000
|
| Sebrina Pechette 20.07.2013 | well, the research has been done; my main inclination are the allen and heath products but just thought those subjective opinions might give me a better perspective on the matter. Would it be a bad idea to get the korg zero 4? I have one available at a comfortable price in my town but it has been discontinued and I cant find out the reason why |
| Latoria Kavulich 20.07.2013 |
Originally Posted by SlayForMoney
|
| Latoria Kavulich 19.07.2013 | 10 people will give you 10 different subjective suggestions. My suggestion: Do some research, read and watch reviews before investing in anything. A decent midi capable mixer is a great start. |
| Sebrina Pechette 19.07.2013 | haha I have no idea why you guys are saying this aint gonna end well, is this controversial? Didnt mean to stir things up haha! Personally, I want to drift away from the controllers because I feel "pro" gear
as a much more solid investment. I guess something like the Traktor S4 could do the trick regarding the djing but -as I read somewhere in the community
earlier- I cant really get myself to accept all that plastic and tiny jogwheels as a pro tool. I also wouldn't want to end up with an obsolete piece of gear in a couple of years as controller technology seems to be moving at a very fast pace. I noticed none of the replies included the use of ableton but I wouldnt wanna start an endless debate! Anyways, thanks a lot mdcdesign and SlayforMoney for the suggestions, I hadnt considered Denon and that zomo unit looks pretty cool, definitely looks more reliable than most of the other controllers Ive checked. reference: that "How I play" interview featuring Chris Liebing was really inspiring regarding the gear. I don |
| Doreen Schurle 19.07.2013 | Aaaaaand it begins. |
| Alphonso Deitchman 19.07.2013 | It's not exactly a "hybrid" setup if your sound card has no inputs, you can only mix through a computer, and you cannot beatmatch. The DN-X1600 looks good for the price but several people here seem to have problems with its sound card. A DJM 850 is a good buy if you can get a decent discount off the RRP. The DDJ-SX can serve as a 4 channel standalone mixer too while giving you the whole standard setup so it might be worth a look. |
<< Back to General DiscussionReply