New DJ, Buying the VC-100

Home :: Reviews of DJ equipment :: New DJ, Buying the VC-100Reply
New DJ, Buying the VC-100
Posted on: 11.10.2010 by Desmond Bucaro
EDIT: sorry about leaving out the I in the title, my bad

So I'm a relatively new DJ who took some classes this summer. The classes were taught in vinyl, as it was just an introductory class, however my hope is to do more electronic DJing, and after doing a lot of research I decided that the best controller for me to start with is the VCI-100.

While researching I stumbled across this website and saw that they have the special addition VCI-100's. I was just wondering if as a new DJ it is worth it for me to spend the additonal (~$350) to get vci-100 SE and Traktor Pro or if I should just get used VCI-100 save myself some money and update to 1.4 manually if I decide I want to / once its necessary (and while on the top of upgrading to 1.4, can you do it on a Mac? Because the link only showed windows versions).

Basically I am buying a VCI-100 (used or new havent decided yet) and I was wondering if it was worth the extra money for the SE.

Thanks
Desmond Bucaro
11.10.2010
Originally Posted by djproben
You actually can do the upgrade on a Mac but you need to be running Windows XP either through bootcamp or parallels or some other emulation software. It's an annoying pain but if the price difference is $350 (really?!), it's worth it -- only $20 and a couple hours aggravation. Check your prices though you might be looking at the arcade version? Doing that upgrade is considerably more involved.
Well I was just including the price of getting traktor pro, but I would probably end up getting that even if I didnt get SE so i guess its really only a ~200 dollar difference

So if I get a used VCI-100 I can upgrade it myself all the way up to 1.4 using bootcamp (which I have)? Are there still places where you can find the updates from 1.1-1.2 then 1.2-1.3 or can i go straight to 1.4?

Basically here is how things are shaping out in my head:
Used VCI-100 SE, 1.4 upgrade and traktor pro: ~500 + shipping
VCI-100 SE from store and upgrade to traktor pro: ~680 + shipping

But I would still need a soundcard if I ever wanted to DJ a party at my house, which is an additonal 100 dollars, so now im up to 600 and 780 respectively.

So here is my final question, is the S4 a viable option. I know that seems like overkill for a beginner but it makes some sense because it will be at most a 300 dollar difference ( and probably only 180 cause I'm leaning towards buying the new one so I have the warranty), and that 180-300 dollar difference is an amount I have the means to cover, and will lead me to saving money in the long run if I ever decide I want to upgrade. The other downside to the S4 is I wouldn't get it for probably a month, which would be annoying for sure.
Tatum Ansaldo
11.10.2010
Originally Posted by wadadli24
can you do it on a Mac? Because the link only showed windows versions).

Basically I am buying a VCI-100 (used or new havent decided yet) and I was wondering if it was worth the extra money for the SE.

Thanks
You must have windows for the FW upgrade, preferably a PC running XP with a serial port.

I bought a VCI-100 and did the SE upgrade myself (FW + overlay), and I'd say that the difference between the original and updated firmware is significant. there are certain known problems with the original firmware that are fixed and 1.4 gave us HD jogs and pitch faders. Whichever route you go down (buying from DJTT or upgrading yourself) I highly recommend an SE over a standard unit.

You'll need Traktor Pro to take advantage of custom mappings for the VCI and features like hotcues and advanded effects.
Desmond Bucaro
11.10.2010		EDIT: sorry about leaving out the I in the title, my bad

So I'm a relatively new DJ who took some classes this summer. The classes were taught in vinyl, as it was just an introductory class, however my hope is to do more electronic DJing, and after doing a lot of research I decided that the best controller for me to start with is the VCI-100.

While researching I stumbled across this website and saw that they have the special addition VCI-100's. I was just wondering if as a new DJ it is worth it for me to spend the additonal (~$350) to get vci-100 SE and Traktor Pro or if I should just get used VCI-100 save myself some money and update to 1.4 manually if I decide I want to / once its necessary (and while on the top of upgrading to 1.4, can you do it on a Mac? Because the link only showed windows versions).

Basically I am buying a VCI-100 (used or new havent decided yet) and I was wondering if it was worth the extra money for the SE.

Thanks
Arturo Banerjee
31.12.2010		I'm totally in the same boat as you, if anyone's got any suggestions let me know!
Desmond Bucaro
11.10.2010
Originally Posted by djproben
You actually can do the upgrade on a Mac but you need to be running Windows XP either through bootcamp or parallels or some other emulation software. It's an annoying pain but if the price difference is $350 (really?!), it's worth it -- only $20 and a couple hours aggravation. Check your prices though you might be looking at the arcade version? Doing that upgrade is considerably more involved.
Well I was just including the price of getting traktor pro, but I would probably end up getting that even if I didnt get SE so i guess its really only a ~200 dollar difference

So if I get a used VCI-100 I can upgrade it myself all the way up to 1.4 using bootcamp (which I have)? Are there still places where you can find the updates from 1.1-1.2 then 1.2-1.3 or can i go straight to 1.4?

Basically here is how things are shaping out in my head:
Used VCI-100 SE, 1.4 upgrade and traktor pro: ~500 + shipping
VCI-100 SE from store and upgrade to traktor pro: ~680 + shipping

But I would still need a soundcard if I ever wanted to DJ a party at my house, which is an additonal 100 dollars, so now im up to 600 and 780 respectively.

So here is my final question, is the S4 a viable option. I know that seems like overkill for a beginner but it makes some sense because it will be at most a 300 dollar difference ( and probably only 180 cause I'm leaning towards buying the new one so I have the warranty), and that 180-300 dollar difference is an amount I have the means to cover, and will lead me to saving money in the long run if I ever decide I want to upgrade. The other downside to the S4 is I wouldn't get it for probably a month, which would be annoying for sure.
Danae Dumler
11.10.2010		You actually can do the upgrade on a Mac but you need to be running Windows XP either through bootcamp or parallels or some other emulation software. It's an annoying pain but if the price difference is $350 (really?!), it's worth it -- only $20 and a couple hours aggravation. Check your prices though you might be looking at the arcade version? Doing that upgrade is considerably more involved.
Tatum Ansaldo
11.10.2010
Originally Posted by wadadli24
can you do it on a Mac? Because the link only showed windows versions).

Basically I am buying a VCI-100 (used or new havent decided yet) and I was wondering if it was worth the extra money for the SE.

Thanks
You must have windows for the FW upgrade, preferably a PC running XP with a serial port.

I bought a VCI-100 and did the SE upgrade myself (FW + overlay), and I'd say that the difference between the original and updated firmware is significant. there are certain known problems with the original firmware that are fixed and 1.4 gave us HD jogs and pitch faders. Whichever route you go down (buying from DJTT or upgrading yourself) I highly recommend an SE over a standard unit.

You'll need Traktor Pro to take advantage of custom mappings for the VCI and features like hotcues and advanded effects.
Graham Frazier
11.10.2010		If you want to be able to do stuff like this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjjA0xPkXMs

Definitely.

<< 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