American Audio VMS2?

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

So after declaring triumphantly that the set of Nano 600s would be my last purchase for a good while a whole 3 weeks ago, I'm thinking about investing in a controller come mixer.

I don't need any fancy bells and whistles and preferably want something that is good quality, has a decent mic section and is geared towards VDJ so I've ended up looking at the American Audio VMS2.

I've searched on here and see a few guys with them but no full reviews.

Thoughts? Alternatives?

[Retrodisco]

I've got a VMS4.1 which is the larger version and it's absolutely awesome.

[Excalibur]

I've got a VMS4.1 which is the larger version and it's absolutely awesome.

For frontline kit, that would be my recommendation, no question at all. It is indeed awesome.

However, if you wanted something as backup/adjunct, then I'd look carefully at the Denon MC2000, and possibly the MC3000. I got a 2000, since the VMS2 wasn't available from my dealer. I had a disastrous first outing with it, and looked at returning the Denon, and getting the VMS2. After much deliberation, I stuck with the Denon, mainly because of the aux channel being separate and unswitched, as opposed to the VMS which requires switching between midi and analog on each channel. One extra input, but the presence of the switch worries me.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND as sod's law would have it someone decided to run into me on the way home causing approximately the same amount of damage that a new one of these would cost

Young lass (didn't even know who her insurer was so dad is trying to deal with it from his holiday on Spain ) but I have a sneaking suspicion she's going to try and blame it on me - she came out of a car park onto the road at speed and sideswiped my driver side front wing with her passenger side rear. A no brainer on my part but I might need to dick around with insurance claims and paying up in front if she's too stupid to realise that any loss adjuster worth his salt will go:

K so driver A has 6 or so years no claims and has never made a claim in over a decade of driving, was on the main road with right of way no doubt driving slowly due to the huge speed bumps and large amount of school children mincing about as it would be bad form for a teacher to knock down a kid the way out of work whether said child deserved it or not.

vs

Driver B who has been driving for 3 months and seems to think "but I was pulling out" is an acceptable defence when you turn into oncoming traffic and cause an accident.

And then smash her premiums for years to come accordingly.

I need a

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

Ah the CCTV gods doth shine uponeth Scotland's Party DJ.

Clue - if you're going to cause a car accident and then drive off, you probably don't want to be driving a bright white car that stands out a mile on camera

What looked like a pita dealing with insurance is now going to be fairly open and shut with a little help from my insurance and the old bill.

[Excalibur]

For frontline kit, that would be my recommendation, no question at all. It is indeed awesome.

However, if you wanted something as backup/adjunct, then I'd look carefully at the Denon MC2000, and possibly the MC3000.

Belay that last exhortation. Despite having some IT guru work his voodoo on both Denon and laptop, it worked for two gigs in a very minor role, and fell over in terminal fashion after playing one track in last night's soundcheck. I was not a happy bunny.

The shop blame my aged underspecced laptop as the weak link, I blame the Denon Asio drivers. When I get the VMS which I fervently wish I'd got in the first place, I shall report my findings. Since the aforementioned laptop happily runs the VMS 4.1 without any problem, I'm quietly confident it will cope easily with two less midi channels.

If I'm wrong, I shall eat my portion of humble pie publicly, fear not. Watch this space.

[Excalibur]

When I get the VMS which I fervently wish I'd got in the first place, I shall report my findings.

Got it. I installed the ASIO drivers from CD, plugged it into my laptop, Windows recognised it immediately, and once I selected the right sound config, I was ready to Rock and Roll, no problem. It's now very obvious why the MC 2000 was cheaper, that's cos they've cut it down to the bare bones. I suspect that the 3000 is comparable to the VMS.

The Denon flatly refused to work with my laptop, and the dealer vowed that they never have problems with controllers, only the kit they're plugged into, and my aging, battle scarred, underspecced laptop was the culprit. I disagreed, pointing out that it had been perfectly happy to work with a VMS 4.1, Numark Mixtrack, and a DJ2GO with an assortment of UDJ/MAYA soundcards. So far, my theory holds more water.

So, in my opinion, the VMS 2 isn't suitable as front line kit, it's short of a mic channel, and two channels. As backup or extra kit, it seems to be perfect, so far. I'll keep you posted.