DJ Tech CDJ-101

Home :: Reviews of DJ equipment :: DJ Tech CDJ-101Reply
DJ Tech CDJ-101
Posted on: 11.07.2012 by Maricela Hannay
I am very interested in the above product and about to place an order with a view to using it with Virtual DJ 7.

Please could someone advise whether it is possible to control more than one deck from the same controller, i.e. by using the 'Deck Switch' button (Tab key by default in VDJ7), would the jog wheel/pitch control then control the other deck....??

I know some of the other products on the market like the Denon DNSC-2000 do exactly this, eliminating the need for multiple controllers.

Many thanks in advance.
Jonathan Chiuchiolo
13.07.2012		I couldn't leave well enough alone as it is too good of an idea to not do... And I'm a crack baby lol

this one has the crossfader implemented. to access it you need to hold the encoder button down for 5 seconds then release. To tell you that you are in crossfader mode the led will blink at a rate of once every half a second. The tricky bit is the way the deck focus changes and I'm not sure it's the best way to do it but it will select the decks as shown below.


I also changed the pitch led to be on when the jog is in jog mode or scratch mode, it will blink 3 times a second if in filter mode or off in effects mode.

pitch slider
var '$crossfader' ? crossfader & param_equal 0% ? deck right select : param_equal 100% ? deck left select : param_greater 50% ? deck right select : deck left select : param_smaller 25% ? set '$pitch_shift' 0 & vinyl_mode 1 : param_smaller 50% ? set '$pitch_shift' 1 & vinyl_mode 0 : param_smaller 75% ? set '$pitch_shift' 2 & vinyl_mode 0 : set '$pitch_shift' 3 & vinyl_mode 0

pitch led
var '$crossfader' ? blink : var '$pitch_shift' 0 ? on : var '$pitch_shift' 1 ? on : var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? blink 333ms : off

encoder button
holding 5000ms ? toggle '$crossfader' : var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? holding ? browser_window "songs" ? browser_window "folders" : browser_window "songs" : browser_window "songs" ? load : browser_window "folders" ? browser_folder : nothing : loop
Jonathan Chiuchiolo
13.07.2012
Originally Posted by zestoi
it's addictive
It's like crack once you realize what you can do, and how easy it is to achieve.
Chasidy Heckenbach
12.07.2012
Originally Posted by synthet1c
It's a shame this thing doesn't have a couple more leds, then I could have done the shifting with the encoder, but with such little feedback it's not really ideal so has to stay on the pitch slider, I wonder why they didn't include 2 pitch bend buttons, then this would be useful for more than simple transport, but that's about all I could squeeze out of it .
i guess no real need for pitch bend buttons when you've got the jog wheel there. not that i'd complain about having two extra buttons... what it does tho the cdj-101 does very well. i believe it's the "toy like" look of them that didn't do themselves any favours plus the regular price of the units was over the top at about 100quid i believe a piece.

Actually on second thought the pitch fader could be a good crossfader that selects the active deck depending on which side it's on...
that would work well... the vtt-101 would be even better for that tho presume you lose the hi-res midi message and also the encoder.

If you want to try it pete just use find and rename to get rid of "deck default" to have it work on multiple decks.
cheers i may well boot to windows sometime again and download the vdj pro demo.

Originally Posted by jezzc100
WOW!! You guys must be some kind of computer programming overlords or something...(!!) Look forward to having a little test out this evening.... Cheers again...
the real power of midi controllers is being able to map them to exactly how *you* want them to work and why i never really understand people wanting to use other people's mappings. it's addictive
Maricela Hannay
13.07.2012
Originally Posted by synthet1c
It's a shame this thing doesn't have a couple more leds, then I could have done the shifting with the encoder, but with such little feedback it's not really ideal so has to stay on the pitch slider, I wonder why they didn't include 2 pitch bend buttons, then this would be useful for more than simple transport, but that's about all I could squeeze out of it .

Actually on second thought the pitch fader could be a good crossfader that selects the active deck depending on which side it's on...

If you want to try it pete just use find and rename to get rid of "deck default" to have it work on multiple decks.

WOW!! You guys must be some kind of computer programming overlords or something...(!!) Look forward to having a little test out this evening.... Cheers again...
Carletta Riemer
31.10.2012		I have no idea if there's a way to see what vdj is sending and receiving, in realtime or as a dump. It receives just fine, just doesn't seem to be sending or the CDJ doesn't understand it. No issues with a Versadeck, hercules dj console, or idj3 (which is busted, now). I suspect the CDJ is being seen partially as HID, because while deselecting MIDI under mapping causes it to stop working, the MIDI # assignment knob has no effect in VDJ.

That was it: the MIDI # assignment knob. Good grief.
Chasidy Heckenbach
31.10.2012		any way of dumping out what actual midi is being sent by vdj? i've never had any issues with led's on the cdj-101 but also don't use vdj.
Carletta Riemer
31.10.2012		I tried the mapping in the GIF. Same issue. For those that can get their LEDs working, does my old mapping for them actually work?

<map value="LED_PLAY" action="loaded ? play ? on : cue ? off : on blink" />
<map value="LED_CUE" action="loaded ? play ? cue_stop : cue ? on : on blink" />
Carletta Riemer
31.10.2012		I've never been able to get the led rings to light up or blink in VDJ. No problems in any other DVS, just VDJ. My scripts don't seem to work for it. So I use them in Torq 2 and Traktor.
Jonathan Chiuchiolo
13.07.2012		I couldn't leave well enough alone as it is too good of an idea to not do... And I'm a crack baby lol

this one has the crossfader implemented. to access it you need to hold the encoder button down for 5 seconds then release. To tell you that you are in crossfader mode the led will blink at a rate of once every half a second. The tricky bit is the way the deck focus changes and I'm not sure it's the best way to do it but it will select the decks as shown below.


I also changed the pitch led to be on when the jog is in jog mode or scratch mode, it will blink 3 times a second if in filter mode or off in effects mode.

pitch slider
var '$crossfader' ? crossfader & param_equal 0% ? deck right select : param_equal 100% ? deck left select : param_greater 50% ? deck right select : deck left select : param_smaller 25% ? set '$pitch_shift' 0 & vinyl_mode 1 : param_smaller 50% ? set '$pitch_shift' 1 & vinyl_mode 0 : param_smaller 75% ? set '$pitch_shift' 2 & vinyl_mode 0 : set '$pitch_shift' 3 & vinyl_mode 0

pitch led
var '$crossfader' ? blink : var '$pitch_shift' 0 ? on : var '$pitch_shift' 1 ? on : var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? blink 333ms : off

encoder button
holding 5000ms ? toggle '$crossfader' : var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? holding ? browser_window "songs" ? browser_window "folders" : browser_window "songs" : browser_window "songs" ? load : browser_window "folders" ? browser_folder : nothing : loop
Chasidy Heckenbach
13.07.2012		very cool gif
Jonathan Chiuchiolo
13.07.2012		just hit the bottom left button to revert back to the factory mapper, but you may want to backup the one you changed as that gets deleted.
Maricela Hannay
13.07.2012		You and your GIFs...!! LOL

Cool, that's simple enough... thanks. What about making a backup / reverting to default settings??
Jonathan Chiuchiolo
13.07.2012		no per individual control "button, knob, slider, encoder, led", in notepad++ it's 4095 characters... but the names for shifts/modifiers/variables is stored in the registry which has a storage limit of 1000 characters for the whole program not dependent on the controller and skins have the same limit of 1000 characters for pannels, I guess it's the same for plugins but I have no idea to be honest as I know nothing about it to test.

since I'm addicted to gifs, here is another one to show where to paste the mapping

Maricela Hannay
13.07.2012		Synthetic, hello again...

Thanks very much for that... I would really like to have a go at pasting the script you kindly created yesterday into VDJ toevening as well... Please can you advise exactly where I need to go in settings? Obviously the mappings tab, but then where do I need to go / what do I need to do...?? (Apologies for my ignorance).

Also, is there a way to reverting back to default settings afterwards, or do I need to make a backup etc...??
Chasidy Heckenbach
13.07.2012		1000 characters in a whole mapper is the limit? not sure why they'd make that limit these days - but it's still quite a lot
Jonathan Chiuchiolo
13.07.2012		just open config --> options --> jog sensitivity [scratch - cue - bend]

Or you can scale the action of the jog/slider by adding "param_multiply 50%" that will half the action of whatever it is mapped to eg.

if a jog is mapped to "param_multiply 50% & touchwheel" then it will take two revolutions to move the playhead the same distance. Or if you wish to make it much more sensitive you could increase the multiplication over 100% for example 200% will double the action of the jog making it so half a revolution will move the playhead a full revolution in distance.

It works the same for all CC messages "encoder/slider/knob" but with absolute messages "sliders/knobs" you can get fancy and map in super knobs to use different parts of the knob/slider for different things like controlling multiple effects... The beauty is there is no limits to how far you can push it as there is no limit on modifiers* and no special firmware required to send multiple midi messages as it's all done in a single script.

*the limit's actually 1000 characters per script, which I've only ever hit once or twice
Chasidy Heckenbach
13.07.2012		i'm sure synthet1c will chime in with that info there must be options within vdj to change the global sensitivity of something like that? if not then you may just have to tweak the mapper. i've never used pio cdj's, all my dj'ing till using controllers had been on turntables. i'd like to have the chance to use some cdj's sometime tho... i actually really like the jogs on the cdj101 tho anyway, they move freely and are just about big enough. i like using the outer edge more than the top too for pitch bending etc.
Maricela Hannay
13.07.2012		Well after some faffing I got the CDJ-101 working pretty well with VDJ7... It seems that I didn't need to alter the mapping at all, as it looked to be natively set up to control both decks when the Deck focus button is pressed (which is sweet!!)

I found the unit takes a bit of getting used to - the jogwheel/platter feels nothing like a Pioneer CDJ which is what I've used for years.... But I'm sure I can adapt!

I was wondering is there a way to change the sensitivity of the jog wheel at all, i.e. the pitch bend function. I know there is an adjustment switch on the back of the unit which adjusts how sensitive the platter is, presumably for scratching. But the actual jog function I found to be too sensitive and ideally wanted to dial it back a few notches. Is this possible?

The same with the pitch fader, move it just a touch and the BPM flies of the scale..!! (That's an exaggeration - but I found it difficult to be precise).

Any tips on how I can alter the VDJ script? Many thanks
Jonathan Chiuchiolo
13.07.2012
Originally Posted by zestoi
it's addictive
It's like crack once you realize what you can do, and how easy it is to achieve.
Chasidy Heckenbach
12.07.2012
Originally Posted by synthet1c
It's a shame this thing doesn't have a couple more leds, then I could have done the shifting with the encoder, but with such little feedback it's not really ideal so has to stay on the pitch slider, I wonder why they didn't include 2 pitch bend buttons, then this would be useful for more than simple transport, but that's about all I could squeeze out of it .
i guess no real need for pitch bend buttons when you've got the jog wheel there. not that i'd complain about having two extra buttons... what it does tho the cdj-101 does very well. i believe it's the "toy like" look of them that didn't do themselves any favours plus the regular price of the units was over the top at about 100quid i believe a piece.

Actually on second thought the pitch fader could be a good crossfader that selects the active deck depending on which side it's on...
that would work well... the vtt-101 would be even better for that tho presume you lose the hi-res midi message and also the encoder.

If you want to try it pete just use find and rename to get rid of "deck default" to have it work on multiple decks.
cheers i may well boot to windows sometime again and download the vdj pro demo.

Originally Posted by jezzc100
WOW!! You guys must be some kind of computer programming overlords or something...(!!) Look forward to having a little test out this evening.... Cheers again...
the real power of midi controllers is being able to map them to exactly how *you* want them to work and why i never really understand people wanting to use other people's mappings. it's addictive
Maricela Hannay
13.07.2012
Originally Posted by synthet1c
It's a shame this thing doesn't have a couple more leds, then I could have done the shifting with the encoder, but with such little feedback it's not really ideal so has to stay on the pitch slider, I wonder why they didn't include 2 pitch bend buttons, then this would be useful for more than simple transport, but that's about all I could squeeze out of it .

Actually on second thought the pitch fader could be a good crossfader that selects the active deck depending on which side it's on...

If you want to try it pete just use find and rename to get rid of "deck default" to have it work on multiple decks.

WOW!! You guys must be some kind of computer programming overlords or something...(!!) Look forward to having a little test out this evening.... Cheers again...
Jonathan Chiuchiolo
12.07.2012		It's a shame this thing doesn't have a couple more leds, then I could have done the shifting with the encoder, but with such little feedback it's not really ideal so has to stay on the pitch slider, I wonder why they didn't include 2 pitch bend buttons, then this would be useful for more than simple transport, but that's about all I could squeeze out of it .

Actually on second thought the pitch fader could be a good crossfader that selects the active deck depending on which side it's on...

If you want to try it pete just use find and rename to get rid of "deck default" to have it work on multiple decks.
Chasidy Heckenbach
12.07.2012
Originally Posted by synthet1c
zestoi's right, just change the mapping of all the controls to include "deck default" before whatever is there, it will make the controller operate only on the deck currently selected in "pfl" eg.
awesome info and that was bloody quick u have some rss alerts setup for posts containing vdj or your nick or something?

if you are just syncing I suggest you turn the pitch slider into a switch to change what the rest of the controls do so you can squeeze a little more use out of it.
cunning idea... i bought mine for the sole purpose of having manual control but i do like your idea to turn it into a more multi purpose controller...

I was bored so here is a mapping you can paste in.
very very cool.... i'll save that myself too to have another example of vdjscript. i actually have quite a collection now, mostly of snippets from you
Chasidy Heckenbach
12.07.2012		if it was me i'd download a free copy of mixxx and try out my mapping can't hurt even if you end up using vdj as mixxx is free anyway. tho vdj pro seems to support the cdj-101 out of the box http://www.virtualdj.com/wiki/Virtua...ntrollers.html or even just try using the free software (deckadance?) that comes with the cdj101. i didn't try it as i already own traktor and had switched to mixxx anyway.
Jonathan Chiuchiolo
12.07.2012		zestoi's right, just change the mapping of all the controls to include "deck default" before whatever is there, it will make the controller operate only on the deck currently selected in "pfl" eg.

deck default touchwheel
deck default touchwheel_touch
deck default play_pause
deck default cue_stop
etc...

if you are just syncing I suggest you turn the pitch slider into a switch to change what the rest of the controls do so you can squeeze a little more use out of it.

pitch slider
param_smaller 25% ? set '$pitch_shift' 0 & vinyl_mode 1 : param_smaller 50% ? set '$pitch_shift' 1 & vinyl_mode 0 : param_smaller 75% ? set '$pitch_shift' 2 & vinyl_mode 0 : set '$pitch_shift' 3 & vinyl_mode 0

now you have 4 different shifts depending on the location of the pitch fader, you can of coarse have more if you choose you just need to add to the code...

I was bored so here is a mapping you can paste in.
pitch slider
param_smaller 25% ? set '$pitch_shift' 0 & vinyl_mode 1 : param_smaller 50% ? set '$pitch_shift' 1 & vinyl_mode 0 : param_smaller 75% ? set '$pitch_shift' 2 & vinyl_mode 0 : set '$pitch_shift' 3 & vinyl_mode 0

jogwheel
var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? var '$flange' ? param_greater 0% ? effect 'qb_filter' slider 3 +0.006 & effect 'flanjet' slider 1 +0.001 : effect 'qb_filter' slider 3 -0.005 & effect 'flanjet' slider 1 -0.001 : var '$ramp' ? param_greater 0% ? effect 'qb_filter' slider 3 +0.006 & effect 'ramp_delay' slider 1 +0.007 : effect 'qb_filter' slider 3 -0.005 & effect 'ramp_delay' slider 1 -0.007 : param_greater 0% ? effect 'qb_filter' slider 3 +0.006 : effect 'qb_filter' slider 3 -0.005 : var '$pitch_shift' 3 ? effect slider 1 : touchwheel

jog touch
var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? var '$flange' ? down ? effect 'qb_filter' slider 2 75% & effect 'qb_filter' active on & effect 'flanjet' active on & effect 'flanjet' slider 2 30% & effect 'flanjet' slider 1 50% & effect 'qb_filter' slider 3 50% : var '$ramp' ? down ? effect 'qb_filter' slider 2 75% & effect 'qb_filter' active on & effect 'ramp_delay' active on & effect 'ramp_delay' slider 1 0% & effect 'qb_filter' slider 3 50% : down ? effect 'qb_filter' slider 2 75% & effect 'qb_filter' active on & effect 'qb_filter' slider 3 50% : var '$pitch_shift' 3 ? down ? effect active on : effect active off : touchwheel_touch

play
var '$pitch_shift' 0 ? effect 'brakestart' active : var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? toggle '$ramp' & set '$flange' 0 : play_pause & sync

play led
var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? var '$ramp' ? blink 400ms : off : play ? on : blink

cue
var '$pitch_shift' 0 ? effect 'cut' active while_pressed : var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? toggle '$flange' & set '$ramp' 0 : play_pause & sync

cue led
var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? var '$flange' ? blink 400ms : off : play ? off : on

encoder
var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? param_greater 0% ? browser_scroll +1 : browser_scroll -1 : var '$pitch_shift' 3 ? effect slider 2 : param_greater 0% ? loop_select +1 : loop_select -1

encoder button with the encoder, when you are in browse mode you can hold for half a second then release the button to switch between the songs and folders, pressing the button quickly when the focus is on the songs will load the deck, or if the focus is on folders it will expand or collapse the folder.
var '$pitch_shift' 2 ? holding ? browser_window "songs" ? browser_window "folders" : browser_window "songs" : browser_window "songs" ? load : browser_window "folders" ? browser_folder : nothing : loop

DJTECH101-synthetic.gif

this will only work on windows and you need to download and install the free vst qb filter, and vdj native effects "flanjet", "ramp delay", "cut" & "brakestart" from the vdj community .
http://studio-qb.com/qb-filter/

It's untested so hopefully there are no mistakes! enjoy
Maricela Hannay
12.07.2012		Well it's completely and utterly new to me....!! Any ideas on where I should look to begin after plugging the boy into the USB when I get home..?!
Chasidy Heckenbach
12.07.2012
Originally Posted by jezzc100
That's ingenius.... Thanks for the idea Zestoi... I will certainly have a play toevening to see what I can come up with, but no doubt I will be on here again seeking further guidance!

Cheers
cheers synthet1c is the chap you want re: scripting in vdj. it sort of makes sense to me but i don't have vdj so can't be all that much use. i do quite like my mixxx mapping. experimented with quite a few different ideas before coming up with it. gives me nice manual control over the decks without needing to worry before hand about beat grids or anything like that. i have the djm-101 that i also got for 20quid. it's not the best, but does the job in a very small package...
Maricela Hannay
12.07.2012
Originally Posted by zestoi
i can help with the midi on it (i have 4 cdj-101's ) but i don't use vdj. i did create a mapping for mixxx the other month that uses the push button encoder as a "shift" so when it's held down you get extra features on the play and pause buttons, jog wheel and also different function when turning the encoder when pushed down compared to not - u could do the same kind of thing in vdjscript.

here's a description of my mixxx mapping taken from here http://mixxx.org/community s/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3693



i managed to get quite a lot of functionality out of it considering the number of buttons... changing how controls function when the deck is playing compared to not playing also helps - plus makes sense to anyway.

mixxx is free if you wanted to try that mapping. i'm not sure whether it works with the latest 1.10.1 or only the 1.11 beta, tho i don't *believe* i used any 1.11 specific mapping tricks.

That's ingenius.... Thanks for the idea Zestoi... I will certainly have a play toevening to see what I can come up with, but no doubt I will be on here again seeking further guidance!

Cheers
Chasidy Heckenbach
12.07.2012
Originally Posted by jezzc100
Are you able to offer any assistance with this at all?? I guess I just need to go into the midi menu in Settings (if there is such a screen) and have play around....
i can help with the midi on it (i have 4 cdj-101's ) but i don't use vdj. i did create a mapping for mixxx the other month that uses the push button encoder as a "shift" so when it's held down you get extra features on the play and pause buttons, jog wheel and also different function when turning the encoder when pushed down compared to not - u could do the same kind of thing in vdjscript.

here's a description of my mixxx mapping taken from here http://mixxx.org/community s/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3693

// pitch slider works as you'd expect
// holding down the push button works as a "shift" to activate secondary functions
// needs the cdj101 to be on midi channel 1 for deck1 and 2 for deck2
//
// track playing:
//
// * surface of jog wheel: scratch
// * edge of jog wheel: tempo bend
// * shift + edge of jog wheel: fine tempo bend
//
// track not playing:
//
// * click push button: load a track
// * surface of jog wheel: scratch thru track
// * shift + surface of jog wheel: scan through track quickly
// * edge of jog wheel: jog though track slowly
// * shift + cue: move beatgrid
//
// track playing or not:
//
// * rotate push button: navigate tracks
// * shift + rotate push button: switch between playlists
// * cue button: default cue behaviour
// * play: toggle play
// * shift + play: sync
i managed to get quite a lot of functionality out of it considering the number of buttons... changing how controls function when the deck is playing compared to not playing also helps - plus makes sense to anyway.

mixxx is free if you wanted to try that mapping. i'm not sure whether it works with the latest 1.10.1 or only the 1.11 beta, tho i don't *believe* i used any 1.11 specific mapping tricks.
Maricela Hannay
12.07.2012
Originally Posted by zestoi
there's no free controls on the cdj-101 to do that. you have the play+pause buttons, one push button encoder and the pitch fader. you *could* change midi channels on the fly as it lights up to show you it's changed but it's a *tiny* pot on the side of the unit and probably not what u want to be doing live anyway. if you can change the deck focus using the tab key in vdj and can map the controller to act on the active deck then that should work i guess. if you look around you should be able to find them very cheap tho and so could buy a couple. i only paid 20gbp each for mine.
Thanks for that Zestoi.. It's as I thought... The deck should be waiting for me when I get home so I can have a play around with the middi mapping toevening ...

Are you able to offer any assistance with this at all?? I guess I just need to go into the midi menu in Settings (if there is such a screen) and have play around....

Thanks in advance.
Chasidy Heckenbach
12.07.2012		there's no free controls on the cdj-101 to do that. you have the play+pause buttons, one push button encoder and the pitch fader. you *could* change midi channels on the fly as it lights up to show you it's changed but it's a *tiny* pot on the side of the unit and probably not what u want to be doing live anyway. if you can change the deck focus using the tab key in vdj and can map the controller to act on the active deck then that should work i guess. if you look around you should be able to find them very cheap tho and so could buy a couple. i only paid 20gbp each for mine.

<< Back to Reviews of DJ equipment Reply

Copyright 2012-2023
DJRANKINGS.ORG n.g.o.
Chuo-ku, Osaka, Japan

Created by Ajaxel CMS

Terms & Privacy