s4 vs dx (PRICE DROP)
s4 vs dx (PRICE DROP) Posted on: 03.01.2012 by Jolyn Sandifer first time posting here..currently use a numark ns7fx.. so i am used to ITCH, never used traktor before i (impulsively) bought the s4 recently with 15% off i see that the xone dx now goes for $469 !?!? it went for 1200 at the time i bought the ns7fx.. is it a bad idea to swap the s4 for the dx? or is it worth learning how to use the s4? considering this because i am more used to itch and itch 2.0 seems pretty solid ultimately, i want to do 4 deck mixing (with cdjs and no dvs, which is my next step) i play almost exclusively house/electro/trance | |
| Basil Forshee 07.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RockingClub
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| Caitlyn Scarantino 05.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RockingClub
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| Caitlyn Scarantino 05.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RockingClub
Where you play, in my experience most venues arent make space for laptop djs, especially small venues. I have found in NYC, a lot bars and lounges, dont have the space or dont make space for a laptop and accessories. They assume djs will make do and/or bring what they need. Which personally, I wouldn't mind, but not every single time. Heck, I believe its funny, I have better gear than most of the places I have spun. You're lucky if you have enough room to mount an Uberstand (IMO is the best stand, since it requires very little room and folds up easily). There's been many times I had to remove items from the booth or rearrange the booth, so I can play. Which isnt always fun, especially when playing with others DJs. Who you play with: A lot DJs are fearful of unplugging and plugging things during a live set. If you're playing with multiple DJs, it can be tricky to setup your laptop and/or controller if you're playing in between DJs. Also I noticed Djs who only play CD, dont play with laptop DJs (this isnt always true, but it is something Im noticing in my city) |
| Sylvia Greener 05.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RMX
Nevertheless I personally love Traktor more as it contains much more functionality even if it passes on the waveform-on-waveform-design. |
| Verlene Geevarghese 04.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RMX
If this is the truth, then save yourself 300+ bucks and buy the DX. |
| Jolyn Sandifer 04.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by deejaysoul
Originally Posted by RockingClub
I am just looking for a good bedroom/mobile rig that is an upgrade from my hercules rmx, but not as big as my numark ns7, while i save up for a full cdj-exclusive setup. I may or may not add a dvs. Where I am at, I see a lot of SSL for DVS and no traktor. i wonder why that is if traktor is said to be better.. |
| Caitlyn Scarantino 04.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RMX
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| Jolyn Sandifer 03.01.2012 | first time posting here.. currently use a numark ns7fx.. so i am used to ITCH, never used traktor before i (impulsively) bought the s4 recently with 15% off i see that the xone dx now goes for $469 !?!? it went for 1200 at the time i bought the ns7fx.. is it a bad idea to swap the s4 for the dx? or is it worth learning how to use the s4? considering this because i am more used to itch and itch 2.0 seems pretty solid ultimately, i want to do 4 deck mixing (with cdjs and no dvs, which is my next step) i play almost exclusively house/electro/trance |
| Audrey Pinda 07.01.2012 | Up here in New England, I've seen a variety of setups being used for main rigs at parties. I've seen NS7's setup, DJ Booth's with only controllers, your standard CDJ2000's and 1200's.... it pretty much runs the gambit. The only thing I've really seen that got my attention was that some evening s will have "open spots" for people to jump in on with just CD's, no laptop setup. Keeps the setup minimal really. But what it comes down to is you can rock any party, with any piece of gear /software. It really depends on the evening s you are going to if people are going to be pricks about it is all. I believe the DX is a beautiful piece of gear . That being said, I have no need of scratching, and I prefer Serato products over NI products. If I were to buy a controller today, that is what I would probably pick up. Can't beat it for the price IMO. But, there's something to be said for the timecode aspect of the S4. I believe bringing one into a setup and getting the scratch upgrade is a fantastic idea. I still can't get past wanting to spin on vinyl somehow, and that keeps the best of both worlds. I can imagine it would be a beast to setup in a small booth though >.< |
| Basil Forshee 07.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RockingClub
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| Juliette Vensel 07.01.2012 | DX is now a discontinued model from A&H. I am not sure about support for it. I had been reading some horror stories of late (its the internet, where isn't there one, right?!) about some of the shipped models and the lack of support/service. While these could be isolated instances, the fact these are dirt cheap now has me wondering why. I am curious if A&H are getting out of the controller market altogether or have plans to make a newer, improved model. Perhaps their time is being spent in pushing the D4, which seems like the ultimate controller to me personally with A&H build quality, amazing filters, LFO, soundcard quality and virtually two X1's along side it. Shame it breaks my bank to consider one. I would love to see A&H offer an improved version of the DX that is more along the lines of what Vestax has done with the VCI-400, making it ready and able for any software. To create a controller that is stand alone mixer as well would be nice with booth monitors to boot. |
| Caitlyn Scarantino 05.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RockingClub
|
| Caitlyn Scarantino 05.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RockingClub
Where you play, in my experience most venues arent make space for laptop djs, especially small venues. I have found in NYC, a lot bars and lounges, dont have the space or dont make space for a laptop and accessories. They assume djs will make do and/or bring what they need. Which personally, I wouldn't mind, but not every single time. Heck, I believe its funny, I have better gear than most of the places I have spun. You're lucky if you have enough room to mount an Uberstand (IMO is the best stand, since it requires very little room and folds up easily). There's been many times I had to remove items from the booth or rearrange the booth, so I can play. Which isnt always fun, especially when playing with others DJs. Who you play with: A lot DJs are fearful of unplugging and plugging things during a live set. If you're playing with multiple DJs, it can be tricky to setup your laptop and/or controller if you're playing in between DJs. Also I noticed Djs who only play CD, dont play with laptop DJs (this isnt always true, but it is something Im noticing in my city) |
| Sylvia Greener 05.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RMX
Nevertheless I personally love Traktor more as it contains much more functionality even if it passes on the waveform-on-waveform-design. |
| Verlene Geevarghese 04.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RMX
If this is the truth, then save yourself 300+ bucks and buy the DX. |
| Jolyn Sandifer 04.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by deejaysoul
Originally Posted by RockingClub
I am just looking for a good bedroom/mobile rig that is an upgrade from my hercules rmx, but not as big as my numark ns7, while i save up for a full cdj-exclusive setup. I may or may not add a dvs. Where I am at, I see a lot of SSL for DVS and no traktor. i wonder why that is if traktor is said to be better.. |
| Sylvia Greener 04.01.2012 | @deejaysoul I totally agree. On the long run, CDJs won't be able to win the fight against controllers imho. You can already observe how CDJ manufacturers add more and more not-CDJ-typical features to their products for still being able to sell it (for example USB-Hubs or Generic MIDI-functionality to control software). When it comes down to creative possibilities CDJs and classic mixer do not stand the slightest chance against a Software+Controller Setup! So the question is: Why to burn CDs from your downloaded MP3s when it is easier and even more creative to work directly with the MP3s on your PC? |
| Caitlyn Scarantino 04.01.2012 |
Originally Posted by RMX
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| Verlene Geevarghese 04.01.2012 | The DX feels better except for the jogs. If you don't scratch then it doesn't mean squat. The DX feels like any other high end Allen and Heath product, and if you've ever had a chance to play with with a xone mixer (:92, :62) that is a fantastic compliment. The S4 is far better suited for traktor, but that doesn't mean the DX doesn't do traktor well. There just aren't native controls for the sampler decks. Itch 2.0 is pretty nice. It's not as polished as traktor, and is certainly more spartan, but that's not a bad thing. You don't always need all of that stuff . If you are looking for DVS control in the future, then the S4 is the no brainier of the two. Although people are pining for Itch controllers to have DVS capability, it doesn't seem like it will happen soon. |
| Jolyn Sandifer 04.01.2012 | thanks for the feedback! also good to hear from an owner of both. i already have the S4 and am just deciding whether or not to keep it after seeing the xone DX's major price drop and also considering i want to buy a full cdj set up in the near future. i do believe that traktor has a lot more potential for creativity than does itch, however, I am not sold on the whole "controllerist" style of DJing.. I am from chicago and everyone here either uses SSL or cdjs with no dvs i have never seen someone play out with traktor at a club or bar. ****So i guess i want something portable that best emulates mixing on a 4 channel mixer with cdjs. |
| Caitlyn Scarantino 04.01.2012 | I just recently bought the DX, after hawking it for a month at GC. But I'm also a S4 owner since last February. I almost want to say hands down that the S4 has the best overall controls when it comes to Traktor, especially when its paired up with a X1 for added controls to the sample decks. The only issue I have and this can be apply to any gear, is carrying the the darn thing. I have a huge bag that it travels in when I gig, so it is a bit of a pain. Other than it does the job and does it well. As for the DX, the size is just right I can fit in to a large backpack, which is way smaller than my S4 Bag. But the only two complaints I have about the DX is the jog wheels, though I dont scratch I like the option on the S4 to manipulate song as needed without pushing a "jog/scratch" button. And the other complaint has be the knobs on the front, they stick out like a sore thumb and I wished they pushed in for traveling and when not in use. The things I liked about the DX, was how solid it feels, not saying the S4 isn't solid but it the DX lets you know its there. The long faders are a huge plus and makes me feel like I'm on a true 4 channel mixer. The XLR outputs are nice to have especially when I'm plugging in my monitors at home instead running an outboard mixer. The LEDs are bright and also invokes the feeling of being on a standard mixer. Overall both are nice and dont have cramp control surface as I have seen on other controllers. So if the jogwheel isn't a big deal, the DX is a good choice if you want to save some money, but this does come down to personal preference. The DX has the option of running Traktor too. PS, I also play House, you can catch my mixes I have done with the S4 at http://deejaysoul.com |
| Sylvia Greener 04.01.2012 | I personally love my S4 with Traktor. The only two things to complain about are some heavy cpu loads if you work on an average PC system and if the latency settings are not yet set up properly and, the second thing, the Pitchfaders which do not work as smoothly as I would wish. As long as they are not yet beaten-up by long use, they tend to "jump" about 1-2mm in the beginning of every pitch adjustment. But this is nothing one could not get used to is no problem for you if you do all your pitchbending with your CDJs. Although I did not use Serato so far, I find the bridge (for Ableton) a very impressive feature and I would love to see something similar in Traktor. But at the moment Traktor-users just can use Sample Decks or sync up with Ableton manually. So the result: Traktor is a very cool piece of software, with all the effects, with the sample decks, the loop recorder, up to 8 cue points and a strong user community. For me it was quite easy to change from Virtual DJ to Traktor Pro 2 - everything is quite userfriendly. The question is just if these features what you need, if you do not want to get a controllerist and just stick to the CDJs and maybe DVS. The S4 is a wonderful piece of gear (during the half year of using it I have fallen in love) and covers all important features of Traktor without endless usage of Shift-Buttons. Maybe just try the Traktor Demo and then decide. Unfortunately I can not tell anything about the Xone DX, just know that Allen&Heath is known for their well-built gear. Hope this helped (P.S.: I use it for mainly playing Harddance, Progressive-House and House-Electro-Stuff) |
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