VCI-400 vs S4

VCI-400 vs S4
Posted on: 30.12.2011 by Aracely Ishizu
VCI-400 or a S4.

Have some one here on this community try both of them and can tell which one is best?

What i like on VCI-400 its the sound out ports. And the mic inport a very good also.



V.S
Penni Cartier
08.01.2012
I downloaded the mapping from the vestax site, plugged in the controller and it was good to go. It
Juliette Vensel
08.01.2012
Originally Posted by SoRNDM
So finally the first post for me. I
Penni Cartier
08.01.2012
So finally the first post for me. I
Penni Cartier
08.01.2012
I downloaded the mapping from the vestax site, plugged in the controller and it was good to go. It
Juliette Vensel
08.01.2012
Originally Posted by SoRNDM
So finally the first post for me. I
Penni Cartier
08.01.2012
So finally the first post for me. I
Penni Cartier
08.01.2012
I downloaded the mapping from the vestax site, plugged in the controller and it was good to go. It
Juliette Vensel
08.01.2012
Originally Posted by SoRNDM
So finally the first post for me. I
Penni Cartier
08.01.2012
So finally the first post for me. I
Juliette Vensel
07.01.2012
Originally Posted by Azu
Because VCI400, Jockey3 and DDJ-T1 i have at home
You are running TP2? How do you rate the Reloop overall? In comparison to the 400? I like the build quality of both but particularly the fact Reloop is a standalone mixer if need be.
Israel Sulka
01.01.2012
Originally Posted by matloh
how do you know that?
Because VCI400, Jockey3 and DDJ-T1 i have at home
Andra Demin
01.01.2012
Originally Posted by Azu
Reloop Jockey 3 has a higher quality and better than the jog wheel VCI400
how do you know that?
Melinda Wubben
30.12.2011
Originally Posted by Jack Bastard
I hate to be that guy but this has been discussed already, basically if you need scratch capability you need the S4, otherwise the VCI400 outclasses it in pretty much all areas.
Perhaps. But I haven't seen any thorough account of how good or bad the VCIs jogs are - have you tried it, or got a linky?

It's a fact that S4's jogs use HID and the VCI uses MIDI, but in principle there shouldn't be much of a difference because of the protocol - my understanding is that MIDI should have the bandwidth to send enough jog turn messages to be very accurate, given that the sample rate of the jog wheel is high enough, and given that the software's implementation of MIDI jog control doesn't suck. (7-bit vs. 14-bit etc. doesn't matter in the case of jogs, since they only send single-bit control messages about the rotation, not parameter ranges like faders or knobs.)

Case in point, the VCI-100 1.4 - with the added resolution of the firmware upgrade, the jogs are actually very accurate for a controller, but the trick is that the jog acceleration has to be turned off in Traktor mappings to get a true 1:1 feel. Set up like that, they are very good, much closer to CDJ standards. Unfortunately I've never got my hands on an S4 so I can't say how they compare, but obviously NI have all necessary settings right for the S4 out of the box, so there's no possibility of a bad mapping screwing up the jog feel.

If the VCI-400 has equal or better jog resolution compared to the VCI-100 1.4, I'd be much more worried about the resolution of the pitch faders - there are reports from people in the VCI-400 thread that they only seem to work at 7-bit resolution in Traktor, and that's not good at all.
Aracely Ishizu
30.12.2011
VCI-400 or a S4.

Have some one here on this community try both of them and can tell which one is best?

What i like on VCI-400 its the sound out ports. And the mic inport a very good also.



V.S
Penni Cartier
08.01.2012
I downloaded the mapping from the vestax site, plugged in the controller and it was good to go. It
Ngan Ernestine
08.01.2012
i played a short ~1h set on a vci-400 yesterday. i have an s4 at home.

i strongly prefer the jogs on the s4. other than that, the vci-400 is really nice. perhaps another minor gripe with the vci-400 would be that the buttons on the bottom of the unit (i.e., play, cue, ...) have a different feel that the buttons in the performance section.
Juliette Vensel
08.01.2012
Originally Posted by SoRNDM
So finally the first post for me. I
Penni Cartier
08.01.2012
So finally the first post for me. I
Juliette Vensel
07.01.2012
Originally Posted by Azu
Because VCI400, Jockey3 and DDJ-T1 i have at home
You are running TP2? How do you rate the Reloop overall? In comparison to the 400? I like the build quality of both but particularly the fact Reloop is a standalone mixer if need be.
Andra Demin
01.01.2012
there is no info about jog wheel resolution of vci400 (only that it's high resolution hehe...
reloop jockey 3 master edition has 4096 positions per turn on wheel - which is a high res standard right now i guess.
so you tested it with same latency on both controlers?
i used it in my tests as a solo controler with other sound card to make tests acurate. with latency <3ms vci-400 was very acurate = tested with traktor s4 and i could not tell the difference = how can you tell? don't be offended - i'm just trying to get as much fair info on the subject as i can - i used tractor pro 2.1.2 on 64bit windos7 ultimate with partition for tractor only.
Israel Sulka
01.01.2012
Originally Posted by matloh
how do you know that?
Because VCI400, Jockey3 and DDJ-T1 i have at home
Andra Demin
01.01.2012
Originally Posted by Azu
Reloop Jockey 3 has a higher quality and better than the jog wheel VCI400
how do you know that?
Israel Sulka
31.12.2011
Reloop Jockey 3 has a higher quality and better than the jog wheel VCI400
Aracely Ishizu
31.12.2011
I'm not a scratch dj. I play house, techno and dubstep. I have no store in my area that sells them. So i can not try both. I have a vci-100 and 2x CDJ-900 and DJM-700. I will sell everything and buy either a s4 or VCI-400

31.12.2011
The jogs on the 400 are perfectly responsive for most purposes. You probably wouldn't win a DMC competition with them but you wouldn't on the S4 either. If you scratch what the hell are doing with a controller?

Janyce Henningson
30.12.2011
Will do mate, won't be here till 3rd Jan because of holidays though
Melinda Wubben
30.12.2011
Nicky, please report back on the jogs and pitch faders when you get it. My angle to this is more that I'm looking for the perfect CDJ replacement, so not for much scratching, but great jog response is always worth having.
Janyce Henningson
30.12.2011
Where's the VCi 400 post gone? Can't find it...

I had an S4 the day they came out - hated it and sold it pretty quick, but lots of people on here love them.

I've just ordered a 400 and can't wait for it to turn up - it looks perfect - if you read the Digital Dj Tips review, Phil reckons they're the best jogs around - whether they map great to traktor is another thing but for what I need they'll be fine.

I had a VCI 100 with 1.4 firmware and they were good and I had a VCI 300 and in Itch they were amazing - ok in Traktor as well.

But if you want to scratch get some turntables
Melinda Wubben
30.12.2011
Originally Posted by Jack Bastard
I hate to be that guy but this has been discussed already, basically if you need scratch capability you need the S4, otherwise the VCI400 outclasses it in pretty much all areas.
Perhaps. But I haven't seen any thorough account of how good or bad the VCIs jogs are - have you tried it, or got a linky?

It's a fact that S4's jogs use HID and the VCI uses MIDI, but in principle there shouldn't be much of a difference because of the protocol - my understanding is that MIDI should have the bandwidth to send enough jog turn messages to be very accurate, given that the sample rate of the jog wheel is high enough, and given that the software's implementation of MIDI jog control doesn't suck. (7-bit vs. 14-bit etc. doesn't matter in the case of jogs, since they only send single-bit control messages about the rotation, not parameter ranges like faders or knobs.)

Case in point, the VCI-100 1.4 - with the added resolution of the firmware upgrade, the jogs are actually very accurate for a controller, but the trick is that the jog acceleration has to be turned off in Traktor mappings to get a true 1:1 feel. Set up like that, they are very good, much closer to CDJ standards. Unfortunately I've never got my hands on an S4 so I can't say how they compare, but obviously NI have all necessary settings right for the S4 out of the box, so there's no possibility of a bad mapping screwing up the jog feel.

If the VCI-400 has equal or better jog resolution compared to the VCI-100 1.4, I'd be much more worried about the resolution of the pitch faders - there are reports from people in the VCI-400 thread that they only seem to work at 7-bit resolution in Traktor, and that's not good at all.

30.12.2011
I hate to be that guy but this has been discussed already, basically if you need scratch capability you need the S4, otherwise the VCI400 outclasses it in pretty much all areas.

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