Reply to Midifidler's Pro-Control Development Thread

I have started this thread to document my progress in designing and building a system of custom controllers I intend to build.

These controllers are intended purely for use with Traktor Pro and hence will have quite specific control structures & groupings.

Ever since I started using Traktor Pro I have felt limited by the size & 2 deck design of the VCI.

When I looked at what companies have on offer there was nothing that met all my requirements.

The Xone 4D comes close, but costs close to 5K in the stores here and I have no need for all the analogue features it offers.

The Stanton SC system also garnered my interest but the transport controls are still based on the traditional platter paradigm, which IMHO is now a waste of space.


Hence I have decided to build my own controller which will,

1) Have a layout dedicated to controlling Traktor Pro how I want to use it, and also make the most of the midi features PRO offers.

2) Have a layout which is not cramped and provides plenty of space to work with

3) Have a build quality equal to what you get with any high quality mixer like a RANE or the NUO range


When I started to believe about how I would layout the control groupings I quickly realised that a single enclosure was not an option

Given the number of controls and the requirement for a spacious layout this system is going to cover a fair amount of bench space.

So to start things of here is the concept for the first part of the system, this will contain the mixing & global controls and has the following features.

4 Channels strips, each with

- a 60 mm fader
- 20 LED VU strip
- 6 backlit indented pots
- 5 backlit push buttons for Kills etc
- A cross fader assign toggle switch
- 3 x Back lit routing buttons to select Effects A, Effects B, and headphone monitor for each channel
(Im still tossing up exchanging two pots on each channel for encoders with led feedback)

A 50 mm cross fader with curve adjustment

A library browser control section
- I need to believe more about how I want to implement this but I have started of with a scroll wheel with click, and the track load buttons around this.

- A few spare backlit buttons for future proofing

Standard monitor controls using two backlit pots

A master BPM readout

And finally I intend to incorporate a USB hub into this controller. This way the other parts of the system can all plug into the mixer freeing up USB ports on my laptop, and providing the perfect mounting point for those super handy USB Gooseneck lamps

I will design this using the best possible Hub controller chip to guarantee reliable performance, and low latency.

Due to the high current required by back lighting all the pots etc I will design it to be mains powered (which it has to be to provide enough power to devices connected to its hub) but it will have a switch on the back which disables the LEDs for the pots and enable it to be powered of the laptop.

I have attached a screen capture of my concept sketch, I used software intended for designing PCBs so the colour’s are pretty funky. The box is 10" x 12" x 2"

Once I have finalised the layout and interface requirements I will model all individual components in 3D and complete the mechanical element of the design in Solid works.

Thoughts, suggestions, criticism …. Go!

PS My philosophy for this element of the system is that the Mixing and Global controls have the least requirement for flexibility, the old system of faders and a row of EQ controls still holds in the digital world, and once you have a solid method for browsing tracks your sorted.

So for those who will lament the lack of spare interface elements with ambigous layout (cough Bento cough) this first part of the system is not about getting wildly creative but about creating a controller for the bread & butter part of mixing that also provides a solid hub for the assortment of gear which makes every digital setup unique.

Concept_sketch.jpg