need some advice on gear.

[Noob]

alright i have $775 spending money so far.

the gear i have been thinking about is

- Traktor Kontrol S4 - $1000

- Numark Mixtrack DJ Controller - $134

- Native Instruments Maschine - $670

- Midi Fighter (Classic) - $200

note that i'm not planning to buy all of this but it's some of the stuff i like. you know how the Midi Fighter and the Maschine are both beatpads? i want to have one of them with a controller. so i can only buy a controller with a beatpad, i hope you get my drift.

so the cheap option is to get the Midi Fighter and the Numark Mixtrack Controller but i'm not sure if there good or not.

please leave advice for a noob, cheers.

[eggssell]

Umm first up maybe let us know what you want to do. Im assuming you like the midi fighter so you can use hot cues. I believe the S4 and all the other new controllers have plenty of these..

Maschine is an overkill for just hot cues. If you get it to produce and then use as pads on the side then its worth it but just for pads not worth it.

So yeah maybe start with what you looking to do, what type of music and people can guide you better.

[LabRat]

the machine is a sample trigger so to speak, so yeah, like a beat pad. depends on what you want to use it for. if its production i dont really see a need for it but as a live tool it looks good. same thing as the Kore Controller by NI. i have it and dont really use it much when im recording.

djing wise, if you're going to use tracktor and looking for a controller then get the controller made for it - automap is a great thing lol

check this out. pretty intense demo

[Noob]

well i would be using que points for beats (bass, kickdrums, synth sounds etc.) and the music i would be making/mixing is dubstep, hardcore, hardstlye, techno and electro. and is the Numark Mixtrack good?

@Spitfir yeah man i have seen this, i have it on my iPod lol

[eggssell]

See below

[eggssell]

??? I dont get yer comment spitfire. Craze is using the maschine and i wouldnt say it was made for traktor.

And the maschine was primarily created for producing. But yeah as it can send midis it can be used as a controller

[Noob]

...so should i get the Numark Mixtrack Controller?

[eggssell]

Hey noob i dont know much about the mixtrack sorry.

Also above you mention elements of tracks ie bass, kicks, synths etc. So sounds like you looking to perform live as opposed to mix tracks. Is that correct?

Then yes a maschine or one of those ableton controllers sound more like what you want to do.

Or are you wishing to just trigger samples during your mix?

then any midi pad (and they range from 25 bucks up) will do. But again if you going the controller route a lot of them have buttons built in. Or you can always use your laptops keyboard till you can affird a trigger

[Mitch]

hey mate i have a mixtrack pro (same thing as the mixtrack with built in sound card).

its a fairly basic controller but excellent value for the price, I find it works quite well. Whether you should buy it i guess depends on your budget and whether the functions it has is sufficient for your use. it obviously doesn't even compare to the s4 but they are two different controllers for two different budgets.

[Noob]

@eggssell yeah i think i'd like to do more live stuff. thanks for all the advice. i really want the Midi Fighter right now haha

@mitch_fudd thanks for the advice. the Numark Mixtrack is really cheap and i could afford it easily. it's $134 right?

[eggssell]

Fair enuff. I hope you understood what i meant by perform live. I mean we all dj live, i mean performing songs live like someone playing an instrument. Except your instrument plays a shyte loads of sounds. Ill post up vid examples later

[Noob]

yeah bro i know what it means.

[LabRat]

??? I dont get yer comment spitfire. Craze is using the maschine and i wouldnt say it was made for traktor.

And the maschine was primarily created for producing. But yeah as it can send midis it can be used as a controller

just using it as an example for triggering samples live. i know it wasnt made for traktor directly but its just to show that i feel its better as a live tool rather then production... just my opinion lol

[hoddi]

Saw you wrote in the beginners section u like pioneer, putting another option on the table the ddj-s/t1. I have an s1 and think it is great. Depending on where you want to take the dj'ing it is also a great step into industry standards if you want to go into clubs or something. (and do take what I say with a pinch of salt, only starting too and there are a lot wiser people on the topic of dj'ing around here). Hope this maybe helps even if i added an extra issue if not then I got no clue

[Mitch]

mixtrack is $269 at storedj - https://www.storedj.com.au/products/NUM-MIXTRACK

if you get the mixtrack, you will also need a soundcard that can route two different outputs (one to your headphones to cue, another to the master output that everyone hears). I can't recommend any specific one, have a look around and/or ask, im sure someone on here can recommend a few different ones.

another option is to buy the mixtrack pro (what i did), which is identical to the mixtrack with a built in soundcard, which is $409 at storedj - https://www.storedj.com.au/products/NUM-MIXTRACKPRO

[Noob]

@hoddi that DDJ-T1 looks so good. it pretty much has evrything i want. the mixer on that looks damn good . the DDJ-S1 looks a bit complicated for me though. really liking the DDJ-T1.

@mitch_fudd would it be cheaper to buy the Mixtrack and then the soundcard or just the Mixtrack Pro?

[SolDios]

If your going to get the mixtrack, get the mix track pro, otherwise you have to get an I/O and it works out to the same price

[CapFive]

Herc RMX

i would recommend this, has its own soundcard, solid built machine and PLENTY of buttons

[Mitch]

im not up with the soundcard prices, im estimating it would work out to a similar price though. two soundcards i've heard good things about (however never owned myself) are:

Numark DJ I/O - $159 - https://www.storedj.com.au/products/NUM-DJIO

NI Audio 2 - $159 - https://www.storedj.com.au/products/NI-TA2

so 269 + 159 = $428 . So this setup would be about $20 dearer than the mixtrack pro.

Two things to consider though:

mixtrack has following benefits:

- built in soundcard has the advantage that you can keep the soundcard if you want to upgrade the mixtrack (although note most higher end controllers have built in soundcards anyway). Not sure how much of an advantage this is.

- mixtrack comes with traktor instead of VDJ, much better program imo

mixtrack pro has the benefit of built in soundcard so its one less thing you have to set up/pack up and plug into your computer. However comes with VDJ so if you want to use traktor you will have to purchase traktor, which will work out more expensive than the above option.

[SolDios]

You can get the mixtrack pro's for $220 of ebay

auzzie seller too!

(im savin for the ddj t1 too)

prehaps get the mixtrack pro to start, then move up later to the ddj 1t

[Noob]

@mitch_fudd shit i really wanted tractor software! i might try and get the Mixtrack off eBay for a good price so when i get the I/O it will have a cheaper total cost.

@SolDios that's awesome man. can you get me a link?

[wazza]

do you have firewire port on your laptop..???

I have a edirol fa 66 sound card going cheep if you need it

this sound card shit all over the numark I/O

rrp for the edirol fa 66 is still over $700

https://www.storedj.com.au/products/EDI-FA66

for $200

will also give you mixvibes cross software and mixvibes time code vinyl for free

[eggssell]

Damn. Nice bargain wazza. If noob dont get it, richo you may want it. 200 for a dvs!

[Noob]

@wazza i'll buy the edirol fa 66 from you if i get the mixtrack. thanks mitch_fudd for the advice, ill get the mictrack and not the mixtrack pro.