New generation of HD Controllers

[Gary]

Yes, indeed I was trying to add smilies (from the right of the page - in fact a smily and a beer keg but I couldn't touch them, cut'n'paste them or double touch/click them ( from safari browser) -

Rest assured - as most who have bumped into me in person would hopefully acknowledge, I say most things with a smile - and that's how that post was intended.

One last try :smiley: :happy:

[funkymook]

Yes, indeed I was trying to add smilies (from the right of the page - in fact a smily and a beer keg but I couldn't touch them, cut'n'paste them or double touch/click them ( from safari browser) -

Rest assured - as most who have bumped into me in person would hopefully acknowledge, I say most things with a smile - and that's how that post was intended.

One last try :smiley: :happy:

[Shaun]

Yes, indeed I was trying to add smilies (from the right of the page - in fact a smily and a beer keg but I couldn't touch them, cut'n'paste them or double touch/click them ( from safari browser) -

Rest assured - as most who have bumped into me in person would hopefully acknowledge, I say most things with a smile - and that's how that post was intended.

One last try :smiley: :happy:

Peter (excalibur) mentioned the same thing earlier. The smilies are working fine for me on IE9 though. Anyone else experiencing any issues with the smilies?

[Gary]

Peter (excalibur) mentioned the same thing earlier. The smilies are working fine for me on IE9 though. Anyone else experiencing any issues with the smilies?

Those last three smiley attempts that I did above were just me typing a colon then guessing at standard smiley names then adding another colon after eg: :justlikethis:

[Excalibur]

Yes, indeed I was trying to add smilies (from the right of the page - in fact a smily and a beer keg but I couldn't touch them, cut'n'paste them or double touch/click them ( from safari browser) -

Coincidence!!!I contacted Shaun this morning with exactly the same problem, in IE9. How strange.

Rest assured - as most who have bumped into me in person would hopefully acknowledge, I say most things with a smile - and that's how that post was intended.

Conversely, I'm a beligerent, uncouth, bad tempered pain in the bottom, in person!

One last try :smiley: :happy:

Hooray.

[Corabar Steve]

[Excalibur]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for the future then.

I've often wondered why Denon discontinued the HD2500. From the various forums (both here in the UK and in the US) it appeared to be very popular with the mobile DJs.

Ahem. Replace the word highlighted with the collective term some and I won't argue. It was not greeted with universal approbation, Shaun.

Apologies.

I find it distressing, somewhat surprising, and more than a little annoying, that as Shaun has said, DJs using Hard Drive Controllrs appear to be the "Forgotten Tribe". We're overrun with laptop controllers, from the basic £50 DJ2GO, up to the five or six hundreds of pounds plus offerings from Denon and Pioneer, to name but two. CD based systems are still coming out, ( I had a look at a Gemini one which appears to be very similar to what Gary has described the Denon offering as. It was virtually useless for anyone wanting to use it as an HDC. ) but those of us wishing to continue to use a next generation of HDC have been basically ignored/forgotten. Blimey, but now they're tried and tested, we all have suggestions for improvements to the concept. I remember doing that on here once, I'm sure.

[DJ Jules]

....but those of us wishing to continue to use a next generation of HDC have been basically ignored/forgotten. Blimey, but now they're tried and tested, we all have suggestions for improvements to the concept. I remember doing that on here once, I'm sure.

Products on release now fall into one of a few categories:

1. Basic 19" CD decks
2. Basic USB/SD card players
3. Basic table top controllers
4. High end table top controllers which tend to include functionality for USB sticks or to act as a HDC (see Denon DNS3700's for example which have been around for years)
5. Basic MIDI controllers (DJ2Go)
6. High end MIDI controllers (MC6000, Mixtrack Pro, Ergo, etc)

And then there's one or two high end 19" rack mounted controller products which offer a limited combination of CD and USB connectivity and a handful of multifunction products which do a bit of everything CD/MIDI/HDC (Numark MixDeck)

The gap in the list above is - as you rightly say - High end 19" USB/SD/HDC players. I think the assumption by the manufacturers is that if you're going to go for high end controller gear, then it's basically a laptop in a box and you're more likely to buy a laptop/desktop and a MIDI controller of some kind plus the software of your choice. I also have a suspicion that the manufacturers have to invest heavily to build a custom chunk of software for the controllers to make it half as good as the software you'd get on a laptop/desktop and they don't think that they're going to get a return.

Personally, I originally started off aiming to use VirtualDJ and abandoned it because of issues with hardware/software/controller stability. After a couple of years of using a Cortex I was forced to use a laptop/VirtualDJ again for a period and after I went back to the Cortex, I found it incredibly limiting compared to all the features and visibility that I got from a full laptop and software solution.

I guess the question is, if you want a high end HD controller - why not use a laptop?

Julian

[ianforest]

I guess the question is, if you want a high end HD controller - why not use a laptop?

Why should you?

The idea behind having a HD controller is that you DON'T have to use a computer at all, other than to put songs on the hard drive.

The problem is that it is almost impossible to create a modestly sized unit, perfect for mobile DJ's...with a big enough screen to make navigation of thousands of tracks easy. Big screen and small form factor just don't go together. The trade off then is for you to use a laptop as the library management, in the same style as Pioneer's "Rekordbox" and Denon's "Engine" tool. You're not relying on the computer so much, just using it for the library but unfortunately if the laptop crashed then your library would go with it.

Denon got it right I think with the HD2500 and the 5500...the screen was easily usable (I used one for around 18 months) but was still too small for some folk.

The new crop of controllers that are coming out at the moment are directly aimed at those who only have around 100 songs, navigation of such a small number is easily achieved on a small display.

[Excalibur]

I guess the question is, if you want a high end HD controller - why not use a laptop?

Julian

I now do, for two reasons, one of which you gave above. A laptop is way more powerful than an HDC. Bigger screen, faster and more comprehensive search, etc etc. Secondly, the bargain basement controller I daren't mention any more gave me the two play buttons that were the biggest hindrance to me using a laptop. Many DJs though still don't want to use a laptop, for many perfectly valid reasons ( to them )

You're right though, Julian, there's a gaping great hole in the market for a new high spec HDC, especially if it were built into a four channel mixer, and had enough buttons to act as a MIDI controller as well if desired. Where's Nigel when you need him?