Help me kick out the jams

April 30, 2012 7:11 PM

Looking for a DJ controller that includes a soundcard for under $200. Ideally, it will be compatible with Traktor 2 and have bass/mid/treble controls.

I'm starting to DJ and in my infinite ignorance about these things, I bought two pieces of hardware (an external soundcard and a midi controller) that were both incompatible with what I wanted to do (Numark DJ2Go and Mixvibes U-Mix44) This time around, I'd like to buy the right type of equipment.

I want to DJ disco and techno using Traktor 2 (but sometimes Ableton too). I do not have an external soundcard, so I'd love to have one piece of equipment to fuss with rather than two. In my mind, this would be a small midi controller that can be mapped to Traktor which also includes a sound card (so that I can monitor/cue tracks through headphones). I'd like for the DJ controller to include a crossfader and bass/mid/treble controls. I don't want to spend more than $200. Ideas?

posted by quelindo to technology (5 answers total)

Oh I should also mention that I don't prefer the look of large jog wheels, but if that's how it has to be then I'll deal. I'm thinking of something more along the lines of a mixer.
posted by quelindo at 8:44 PM on April 30, 2012

Oh helloooo. I was in your position a about a year and a half ago. :D Can totally help you with this.

My advice to you is to get a Hercules RMX. I got mine for $230 used off of ebay, you can probably find one for $200 if you look hard. Its a tank and I've been using it for about a year and a half with traktor. It has a 2 channel in 2 channel out sound card built in, with phone/line switches. I've connected TTs and external audio. Its a really useful sound card. :) It also has small jog wheels since that's your thing as well. I've learned so much on this controller and still use it in conjunction with an APC40 for more control, something you don't have to worry about for several months until you get the basics down. :)

Random advice for DJing in general, after you get over the initial hump of downloading a random .tsi file and messing around with traktor and your RMX, delete that shit and map it out from scratch. Learning how to map is an essential skill with digital DJing and you can do things how you want. Mapping my RMX helped me map out an APC40 to use IG effect similar to that of a midi fighter (google my username and APC40 you will find a video).

I've asked several music production/DJ question on Mefi. If you get bored, go through my questions. Empath gives some amazing advice. :)

Good luck! DJing is hard work but fun as hell. :D
posted by NotSoSiniSter at 9:16 PM on April 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

FYI, a larger jog-wheel is going to perform better - it's much easier to make gentle adjustments, and learning to not over-adjust is a key skill in keeping a mix together.
posted by flaterik at 9:45 PM on April 30, 2012

In replay to flaterik, it depends what you're going to use the jogs for. I don't scratch with them, I use them for spin backs and scrubbing through a song.
posted by NotSoSiniSter at 5:10 AM on May 1, 2012

I also would not be scratching or using spinbacks, only using jogs for searching through the song.
posted by quelindo at 7:21 PM on May 1, 2012