Kontrol S2 vs. Denon MC3000 vs. AA VMS4.1
Kontrol S2 vs. Denon MC3000 vs. AA VMS4.1 Posted on: 25.11.2012 by Catrina Mogle Hey guys, new to the community
here and wondering if any of you can help me outI'm looking around for a controller upgrade and the 3 that it's pretty much come down to for me is the: -Traktor Kontrol S2 -Denon DJ MC3000 -American Audio VMS4.1 But beyond that I'm stuck, I keep leaning towards one.. then back to another.. and so on Some things about me.. I currently have a shitty Pyle-Pro controller, it was basically the cheapest thing I could find on the internet lol. I'm looking to step up to a more professional controller for parties, small clubs, and bar gigs. I just recently purchased Traktor Pro 2 so I've got the software, and assume all 3 are equally priced. Which controller would you suggest? What are some pros/cons etc? Thanks in advance! | |
| Arielle Posso 11.02.2014 |
Originally Posted by djtsmooth
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| Many Farnsley 25.01.2014 |
Originally Posted by DigitalQw3rty
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| Arielle Posso 23.01.2014 | I don't know if you've picked something up already but you could give the Terminal Mix 2 a try if you don't mind tweaking the traktor mapping. It's built very well and has larger jog wheels and everything works as it should. |
| Deangelo Boender 30.11.2012 |
Originally Posted by DirtyNerd
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| Leota Dolney 01.12.2012 |
Originally Posted by Culture_Shock
In fairness, I don't use it much as my main setup, but when I have used it...it has been stellar for me. The couple of minor things that I don't like about the MC3000 are a) its hard finding replacement knobs for the orientation of the DENON D-shaft (e.g., chroma caps don't point the correct way) and b) there is no center detente for the FX knobs like in the X1 making the new macro FX slightly trickier to use as the 0 position is now at the center 12 o'clock rather than all the way left like in regular FX. |
| Catrina Mogle 10.12.2012 | thats awesome, really good deal why is the traktor version so cheap? |
| Angelo Butrim 10.12.2012 | Uniquesquared.com It's where I bought my second Numark Total Control from. Can't believe I went through two of those, but having a weekly gig can take it's toll (esp on those crappy jogs and buttons). Haven't had to deal with returns, but they have good deals once when stuff is on special. I saw the mail in case rebate on American Audio's Facebook page. They have a link to their site and I double checked to make sure Unique Squared is an "authorized dealer" |
| Catrina Mogle 09.12.2012 | where did you buy it from? |
| Angelo Butrim 09.12.2012 | I just ordered the vms 4.1 The built in mixer sealed the deal for me and they have a free flight case after rebate. I hope I don't have any issues though... Total was $288 usd for the Traktor one (with the free flip case!) I really like the layout of the s2, but would have to of got a used one to stay within my budget. |
| Catrina Mogle 09.12.2012 | Out of these 3 I decided on the s2 after hearing from these guys and researching on my own. I liked the integration and features better in the end. But I kept researching and found the Numark 4trak at just a little more cost and fell in love with it so I am currently waiting to get that. |
| Angelo Butrim 09.12.2012 | Hey OP which one did you decide on? I narrowed my picks down to these 3, too. |
| Deangelo Boender 30.11.2012 |
Originally Posted by DirtyNerd
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| Leota Dolney 01.12.2012 |
Originally Posted by Culture_Shock
In fairness, I don't use it much as my main setup, but when I have used it...it has been stellar for me. The couple of minor things that I don't like about the MC3000 are a) its hard finding replacement knobs for the orientation of the DENON D-shaft (e.g., chroma caps don't point the correct way) and b) there is no center detente for the FX knobs like in the X1 making the new macro FX slightly trickier to use as the 0 position is now at the center 12 o'clock rather than all the way left like in regular FX. |
| Deangelo Boender 29.11.2012 | The Denon MC controllers are solid as a rock. If you really plan on gigging with your controller I would recommend the Denons survivability and dedicated filter and gain knobs over the Kontrol S2s integration. |
| Faustino Stringfellow 28.11.2012 | buy anything (including a cardboard box with picturtes on it) except the VMS. I've had two they were both very unstable, the jogs are the worst I've ever come across and their support is non existent. (they blame the user for everything). I have both a Denon MC6000 and an NI Kontrol S4, they are both superb machines, and their baby brothers are just as capable. I would say that the MC3000 has the edge in build quality, the S2 has more Trakor releated features. They both have some very small drawbacks, that I guess you won't even discover for a year or so. remember any feature you have seen on these controllers can be added to another one, loop roll, slicer etc. it's all down to mapping. |
| Catrina Mogle 27.11.2012 | I'm pretty sure all this is doing is making my decision more difficult lol. I've seen the twitch before but overlooked it because it was so.. different.. but now I gave it a better look because you mentioned it and wow, I love those 8 pads with the 4 different features, loop roll and slicer to be specific. They look awesome... I want the s2 and this lol |
| Maxie Miltz 27.11.2012 | Look at the Twitch! |
| Dick Korus 27.11.2012 | Yeah worst decision ever on my part selling it, product support and mapping updates on the s2 made it solid as it gets. But no problem! |
| Catrina Mogle 27.11.2012 | alright thanks, i'll have to play around with it for awhile first. I've never even used traktor before so I'll need to get a feel fore that as well. but the fact that you're saying you wish you still had the s2 is always a good sign lol |
| Dick Korus 27.11.2012 | But the shift plus gain knob would be your best bet, just whatever way fits your mix better would be your choice. |
| Dick Korus 27.11.2012 | Well I mean you only need the s2 really, it just depends how you mix, if your more filters I'd do the filter as the primary, I mean you can always do shift plus filter to get the volume up before you introduce the track anyways. But if you are more eq and less filter I'd just use the gain as the primary. But yeah I ran an s2 and an x1 and f1 for a while and loved it, wish I still had my s2. |
| Catrina Mogle 27.11.2012 | oh ya thats a good idea, i guess thats why a lot of people use that combo. i could probably deal with a sketchy filter for awhile until i can afford something else like that. or map it to a different knob? |
| Alyce Southey 26.11.2012 | ehhh not bad. obviously its a bit notchy with its travel cause of the encoder which kinda sounds odd sometimes. but if you do it all in a a sweep its okay. but i have an X1 so i have a filter on there which is regular knob. |
| Catrina Mogle 26.11.2012 |
Originally Posted by MoeHawk
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| Alyce Southey 26.11.2012 |
Originally Posted by Jay Nebra
in settings i have mine switch so that gain is filter, and shift+gain knob is gain up/down. |
| Catrina Mogle 26.11.2012 |
Originally Posted by dubyou
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| Catrina Mogle 26.11.2012 |
Originally Posted by zimfella
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| Hanna Ridenbaugh 26.11.2012 | VMS 4.1 has standalone mixer to, very handy for the future to add on stuff like cdj's/turntables. |
| Dick Korus 26.11.2012 | I loved the s2, hated that it lacked filter knobs though. But in beau brutes s2 mapping shift and gain are mapped to the same knob, with shift. Based on my use with it, if you use traktor, the s2 is layed out to fit perfectly with the software. Feel free to pm me with questions if you have any |
| Catrina Mogle 26.11.2012 | the tight integration with traktor is why I'm kind've leaning towards the s2 right now I feel like with all the support / mappings out there, there's a lot I could do with it Probably more possibilities with the denon due to number of buttons but I'd have to do some mappings by myself and I feel like I could screw that up pretty easily lol More opinions still welcome, everything helps my decision |
| Maile Dekerlegand 26.11.2012 | best build quality the denon best integration with Traktor (i.e. jog wheels that respond 1 to 1 with Traktor) the s2 I don't rate the AA, but i've never used one... |
| Catrina Mogle 26.11.2012 | appreciate the input, even though it gave me one more controller to consider instead of narrowing down my search lol, but I would've overlooked it if it wasn't for you. I'm just doing a lot of research and thought this time so I don't drop 400 or so dollars on a controller thats not right for me, first one was only about 100 so it wasn't a bank breaker |
| Xenia Gorin 26.11.2012 | It works pretty well actually, 2 track decks, 2 remix decks, nice use of the loop recorder and now we have post fader fx's internally.... Stanton should have a new mapping in a week or 2 so I'll be able to make more use with flux mode. It's a Well built controller, faders nice, not to cramped, lots of knobs and buttons. The thing that sold me was the fact that it had it's own section for loops, cue points and sampler. Look at most controller s even the high end ones, you almost always have to use a shift button between your hot cue buttons and sampler. So for example, I can now launch hot cues on deck 1 and start up a couple of remix decks at once with having to do some crazy macro mapping. Basically I have two times more buttons. I hardly find myself using the shift button anymore. And VDJ isn't a bad program, hell I can run all 4 decks and 8 samplers with the DJC4 when using VDJ. Plus the scripting is stupid powerful. And with VDJ I can plug my turntables straight into the DJC4 and run timecodes, whereas with Traktor I have to hook up my Audio 8. They both have their pros & cons but the Stanton unit is pretty solid in my opinion..... |
| Catrina Mogle 25.11.2012 | I have seen the stanton djc.4 but didn't give it much of a chance, i don't remember why exactly.. possibly because it is stated for virtual dj? How would it work with traktor? |
| Xenia Gorin 25.11.2012 | Have you looked at the Stanton DJC.4, I have one and its a beast. I believe its one of the most over looked controllers out there........ |
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