Cortex Hdc-1000!!

[yourdj]

Hi thinking of going totally digital. I'm also fed up of carting my laptop around.
Ayone used one of these?

video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM3wDh3ev9o

pic:
http://cachepe.samedaymusic.com/media/quality,85/brand,sameday/HI_HDC3000_strght_on_RGB-a18485dbbf977fe79dcec0af7c2da8c6.jpg

Cant seem to find anything else similar which does not require a computer. looked at Denon and Numark. Cortex is a subsidiary of Gemini, which slightly worries me?

When are Pioneer bringing something like this out?

Im going to Portsmouth sound and light to test it :D

[Vectis]

Before someone else does, can I suggest you click on 'Search' and type 'Cortex'.

It's been done to death about a million times on here ;)

[CRAZY K]

Hi thinking of going totally digital. I'm also fed up of carting my laptop around.
Ayone used one of these?

video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM3wDh3ev9o

pic:
http://cachepe.samedaymusic.com/media/quality,85/brand,sameday/HI_HDC3000_strght_on_RGB-a18485dbbf977fe79dcec0af7c2da8c6.jpg

Cant seem to find anything else similar which does not require a computer. looked at Denon and Numark. Cortex is a subsidiary of Gemini, which slightly worries me?

When are Pioneer bringing something like this out?

Im going to Portsmouth sound and light to test it :D

I run the HDC 1000 ---magic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO YOU REALLY NEED THE 3000?

So good--im buying another one.

CRAZY K

[Dragonfly]

i on the other hand am going the other way have used a hdc-1000 for a year and now going laptop have got 2 lappys now so cortex is redundant ....

no issues with it i just heard a laptop through a maya44 sound card and a cortex together and to my mind the laptop put out the far better sound and has a few more bells and whistles than the cortex .... nice bit of kit though.

[CRAZY K]

i on the other hand am going the other way have used a hdc-1000 for a year and now going laptop have got 2 lappys now so cortex is redundant ....

no issues with it i just heard a laptop through a maya44 sound card and a cortex together and to my mind the laptop put out the far better sound and has a few more bells and whistles than the cortex .... nice bit of kit though.

We never did work out if the Cortex could go through the maya44 Dave?

Like for like and all that!

Happy Boithday

CRAZY K

[Starlight]

The Cortex doesn't look that impressive when you compair it to the Denon DN HD 2500 :D I'm going for the 2500 because 1. They look FAR better than the Cortex and 2. The build quality is FAR better :p :D

Bottom line is the Cortex looks good but the Denon wins hands down :cool: :D

Mendoza.

[Adam_F]

Go for the HDC 1000, the HDC 3000 is dreadful. They've made the effects so complicated to use, by the time you've worked out how to apply it, the track has finished. The HDC 1000 is so much simplier to use.

Failing that, the Denon DNHD 2500 is the best media controller out at the moment, slightly more than the Cortex, but worth it.

Pioneer has the CDJ 400, but not really in the same league as the Cortex, Denon or Numark ones as you can't add a keyboard for search strings.

[Vectis]

the Denon wins hands down :cool: :D


The Denon still doesn't have a "crate" feature a la Numark. Indispensible, and the only reason for me choosing Numark over Denon.

[Adam_F]

The Denon still doesn't have a "crate" feature

Very true, but then the Numark is not a midi controller, doesn't have effects, doesn't have a built in hard drive and you can't connect a CD drawer to it :D

A crate feature is really useful, and I wish Denon would hurry up and put a firmware update out that enables this.

[CRAZY K]

The Cortex doesn't look that impressive when you compair it to the Denon DN HD 2500 :D I'm going for the 2500 because 1. They look FAR better than the Cortex and 2. The build quality is FAR better :p :D

Bottom line is the Cortex looks good but the Denon wins hands down :cool: :D

Mendoza.

If you buy everything based on looks your gonna have a disappointing life!

Build quality--dont you know Dragonfly smashed his on the floor--and still COULDNT BREAK IT---:eek: :eek: :eek:

Still plays fine:D

If you want simplicity for £350 --Cortex is the answer for some of us:D

CRAZY K

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

A crate feature is really useful, and I wish Denon would hurry up and put a firmware update out that enables this.

I agree.

[yourdj]

Don't care about the money or looks though want the best possible piece of kit :D

I love Denon, as i have dns decks and dnx mixer so would far rather go down that route. Does the Denon work as a stand alone unit like the Cortex (ie plug play - no need for a screen/laptop) or is it a midi?

Yes it does look much nicer too :cool:

[Adam_F]

Don't care about the money or looks though want the best possible piece of kit :D

I love Denon, as i have dns decks and dnx mixer so would far rather go down that route. Does the Denon work as a stand alone unit like the Cortex (ie plug play - no need for a screen/laptop) or is it a midi?

Yes it does look much nicer too :cool:

It does both. The DNHD 2500 is a stand alone player, OR you can use it as a midi controller for your favourite software (updates constantly being developed to work smoothly with various software) AND you can hook up the BU 4500 CD drawers, and use is as a CD player too.

[rob1963]

The Cortex doesn't look that impressive when you compair it to the Denon DN HD 2500

It does when you compare the PRICE!


Don't care about the money or looks though want the best possible piece of kit :D

I guess that depends on your definition of BEST.

[Starlight]

If you buy everything based on looks your gonna have a disappointing life!
Nope, its not just down to the looks but the build quality and obviously the features it has :p :D :D

Mendoza.

[Starlight]

It does when you compare the PRICE!

NEVER! The Cortex looks PANTS when you compair it to the Denon.

Regards,

Mendoza.

[CRAZY K]

NEVER! The Cortex looks PANTS when you compair it to the Denon.

Regards,

Mendoza.


I have never seen the Denon to compare--the Cortex looks absolutely professional and works perfectly at a great price for a simple playout system.

What more do you want?:D :D :D

CRAZY K

[Dragonfly]

NEVER! The Cortex looks PANTS when you compair it to the Denon.

Regards,

Mendoza.

yes all those extra flashing lights on the Denon not to mention the sticker you get on it :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Starlight]

The Cortex looks professional but not as good as the 2500 end of :p :D :D :D We can debate this all day long but us Denon lovers know that the 2500 is packaged with more features, no, its not all down to the looks but the Denon is better in terms of features AND looks :cool: :cool: :cool: :D :D :D

Regards,

Mendoza.

[Corabar Steve]

I have never seen the Denon to compare--the Cortex looks absolutely professional and works perfectly at a great price for a simple playout system.

What more do you want?:D :D :D

CRAZY K

There's always the next time we work together

[CRAZY K]

[QUOTE=Corabar Steve;188924]There's always the next time we work together[/QUOTE

Did you want me to bring the Cortex Steve --just in case your 2 Denons break down ;)

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

regards

Alan
CRAZY K

[yourdj]

I guess that depends on your definition of BEST.

I want a digital player that is reliable, easy to find tracks (main thing), use playlists, search etc., and use in terms of cuing, scratching and mixing.

Thats it really. oh in built hard drive important in case of hardware (ipod) failure.

Effects not too important as although useful during dance sets i hardly use loops/flanger/echo and the rest for most the time. the low mid high i can do on my mixer so thats useless.

i do however use the brake option on my dns's quite often especially during my international student party when a track goes not do down well! they really react to it (as long as the next is popular)! :)

[Vectis]

There's fanboys here for all 3 of the main devices - Cortex, Denon, Numark.

In a nutshell, you have the Cortex and the Numark at similar price points (Numark slightly dearer). Neither have an internal HDD. The Cortex is a little more simplistic. The Numark has the much-loved 'crate' feature where you can stack upcoming tracks not present on the other two. Numark also has a better reputation in the marketplace. Cortex has documented issues with mp3 files encoded in VBR - Numark does not.

Denon is the rolls-royce (although minus 'crate') in terms of features and brand name. It's also more flexible in that you can hook up CD drawers and midi devices. It has a (small) internal HDD. But it's a quite a lot more £££s.

Personally I went Numark. The crate did it for me. Plus I already have loads of external USB powered HDDs and I don't need the flexibility of connectivity as I also use a laptop and don't go in for effects much.

My advice? Try them all if you can, unless you can rule any of them out due to missing critical features.

[pagan_flame]

Also, this one just droppped in from nowhere - American Audio SDJ-1.

http://www.americandjeurope.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2Rj3aj2pa0

http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2008/SDJ-1-dual-SD-player-Q-SD-combo-mixer-SD.html

Is the same size as a CD controller (as per Denon) - NO Hard Drive, NO Computer - reads common or garden MP3's from an SD card. The closest yet to a CD player for MP3's - you just load the card in instead of a CD.

For £199. :cool: ( http://www.discoworlduk.com and click on 'New Products')

The aforementioned 3 all left me quite happy with my laptop, but this one has fair turned my head as an alternative to my turn-of-the-century Citronics... ;)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Also, this one just droppped in from nowhere - American Audio SDJ-1.

http://www.americandjeurope.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2Rj3aj2pa0

http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2008/SDJ-1-dual-SD-player-Q-SD-combo-mixer-SD.html

Is the same size as a CD controller (as per Denon) - NO Hard Drive, NO Computer - reads common or garden MP3's from an SD card. The closest yet to a CD player for MP3's - you just load the card in instead of a CD.

For £199. :cool: ( http://www.discoworlduk.com and click on 'New Products')

The aforementioned 3 all left me quite happy with my laptop, but this one has fair turned my head as an alternative to my turn-of-the-century Citronics... ;)

You're a bit late with that Mal...;)

Get one from Clive on Sunday at his show for a special price. ;)

[pagan_flame]

You're a bit late with that Mal...;)

Get one from Clive on Sunday at his show for a special price. ;)Well hang me high for being 5 days late.

So - any good? And is he continuing to do a 'Special Price'?

[kilmeedyman]

Well hang me high for being 5 days late.

So - any good? And is he continuing to do a 'Special Price'?

Rumours are, when you are at the show on Sunday, you can ring Clive on his mobile and he'll match, or beat, any price you see. :D

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Well hang me high for being 5 days late.



Anyone got gallows?

[pagan_flame]

Anyone got gallows?Yes mate, I'll try and stick it on in a little while, OK?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8dbazUm1qs

[Corabar Steve]

Did you want me to bring the Cortex Steve --just in case your 2 Denons break down ;) So why would I want to do that?? :sj: The reason one is broken is because it got thumped (no fault of it's own)
I would be interested in a side by side comparison though, as most folks who own 2 seem to have either the Cortex & Numark or the Numark & Denon (am I the only one who has 2 the same?)


Also, this one just droppped in from nowhere - American Audio SDJ-1...........
The aforementioned 3 all left me quite happy with my laptop, but this one has fair turned my head as an alternative to my turn-of-the-century Citronics... ;)
Can't see the point. Rather than having all your music on 1 (or in my case 2) HDD you would have a stack of chips the size of postage stamps to shuffle through & find the one that has the track you wanted, only to find that it has fallen through that hole in your jacket pocket that you've been meaning to fix.

I know that's a bit of an exageration, but how would you keep track of what's on which card & given the size of SD cards (both physical & capacity wise) make sure you've got them all at the end of the gig? What's the biggest SD at the moment? 8 gig? How many would you need to hold your entire collection?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Can't see the point.

It's a very cheap back up solution Steve. If your Denon hadn't of been bust and you hadn't of bought another one, it probably would have been a very cheap and easy back up solution. Less than 200 quid!

The biggest Sd card it can take is 4Gb, which is probably less than 1000 songs for both cards, but as a back up - who cares?

I have a dedicated karaoke console which I'm going to bung one in. It's going to save me carrying a secondary laptop around.

[Adam_F]

I think its a great back up solution too. With the price of SD cards dropping, there's no reason why you can't have a card for 70's, 80's, 90's etc.... which means then you can have the MP3 at 320.

Had a play with one at BPM and was impressed with it, for £200 you can't go wrong!

[CRAZY K]

It's a very cheap back up solution Steve. If your Denon hadn't of been bust and you hadn't of bought another one, it probably would have been a very cheap and easy back up solution. Less than 200 quid!

The biggest Sd card it can take is 4Gb, which is probably less than 1000 songs for both cards, but as a back up - who cares?

I have a dedicated karaoke console which I'm going to bung one in. It's going to save me carrying a secondary laptop around.

It might be ok for specialist areas like Karaoke and in my case Country Discos
but for general DJ work I would have to select the most likely needed 1000 tracks and spend a lot of time identifying them and putting them on a card--what about all the other 5000 tracks I might need for random requests--some DJs have 10,000 plus of course or even more.

Using a back up HDD with EVERYTHING on it together with a £350 Cortex seems easier to me--£150 saving is not that important.

CRAZY K

[yourdj]

Think i will definitely go Denon as i know the product having dns decks etc. looks pretty much the same but with mp3. the virtual jog wheel seems useful as sometimes i loose my place when trying to cue up a point to mix. you can actually see where to go etc.

might get one of those american audio later as a back up in my amp rack as that seems good for the money?

boring bloke but great Denon demo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9caHnvEGanw&feature=related

The main thing is the music easy to find and organize when not using a pc?

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

It might be ok for specialist areas like Karaoke and in my case Country Discos
but for general DJ work I would have to select the most likely needed 1000 tracks and spend a lot of time identifying them and putting them on a card--what about all the other 5000 tracks I might need for random requests--some DJs have 10,000 plus of course or even more.

Using a back up HDD with EVERYTHING on it together with a £350 Cortex seems easier to me--£150 saving is not that important.

CRAZY K

You're not listening Alan.

This is for backup. If the main playout unit fails or needs re-booting. Not only that, most people probably use the same 500-1000 tracks over a year anyway.

It has nothing to do with karaoke - I said it's to go in a dediacted karaoke console as back up. I already have a PC and software for main playout.

A backup by its very nature hopefully won't be used much.

If £150 saving isn't that important, then why didn't you buy the flagship Denon HD2500 instead? :confused:

[CRAZY K]

You're not listening Alan.

This is for backup. If the main playout unit fails or needs re-booting. Not only that, most people probably use the same 500-1000 tracks over a year anyway.

It has nothing to do with karaoke - I said it's to go in a dediacted karaoke console as back up. I already have a PC and software for main playout.

A backup by its very nature hopefully won't be used much.

If £150 saving isn't that important, then why didn't you buy the flagship Denon HD2500 instead? :confused:

Well it could be a mainstream player if you only used 1000 tracks as I mentioned before for specialist work like Country Music, or a Ska evening :D :D :D :D :D

I dont know how many karaoke tracks you use normally, not my market.

If we are talking BACK UP why not have all your tracks available not just the 1000 you guess and hope are needed.

I appreciate you know from experience which tracks are the obvious ones--but why disappoint the punters ?

Im saying why worry about £150 when you can have ALL your music tracks backed up--instead of only 1000---or have I missed something?

I didnt need the sophistication of Denon --thats why I didnt spend the extra money.

CRAZY K

[pagan_flame]

So why would I want to do that?? :sj: The reason one is broken is because it got thumped (no fault of it's own)
I would be interested in a side by side comparison though, as most folks who own 2 seem to have either the Cortex & Numark or the Numark & Denon (am I the only one who has 2 the same?)


Can't see the point. Rather than having all your music on 1 (or in my case 2) HDD you would have a stack of chips the size of postage stamps to shuffle through & find the one that has the track you wanted, only to find that it has fallen through that hole in your jacket pocket that you've been meaning to fix.

I know that's a bit of an exageration, but how would you keep track of what's on which card & given the size of SD cards (both physical & capacity wise) make sure you've got them all at the end of the gig? What's the biggest SD at the moment? 8 gig? How many would you need to hold your entire collection?

You all seem to be missing the point, have a look at this one instead - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix4ajBnoOA8

To quote: "If you usually carry 75 one-Terrabyte hard drives with every song ever recorded - this product is definitely not for you."

Instead of putting the CD in the tray - you put the SD card in the slot. Advantage #1 - Saves carrying boxes and boxes of CD's. And you would carry them in a secure case just like CD's, not in your jacket pocket... :rolleyes:

You create folders, call 'em what you like - by artist, or by album. You keep track of them the same way as you keep track of what's on your CD - you'll need a track list on paper somewhere...

Advantage #2 - However you can search the card by track or folder while it's in the player - which you can't do as very few CD's have that tagging even if your CD player supports it.

Advantage #3 - You can play tracks in both decks from one card - can't do that with a CD.

Not better than a laptop / Denon / Cortex. Is better than a CD deck. Is cheaper than a laptop / Denon / Cortex.

Currently I run a laptop with OTSDJ - with CD decks as a backup. If I went for a SDJ-1 it would be to replace the CD decks, not the laptop.



Horses. Courses. Get Me Coat. :beer1:

[yourdj]

Looking at the cortex. the playback un-reliability keeps cropping up! does this happen with the denon?

http://www.buzzillions.com/prd-116830-cortex-hdc-3000-digital-music-controller-reviews/#reviews

[CRAZY K]

Looking at the cortex. the playback un-reliability keeps cropping up! does this happen with the denon?

http://www.buzzillions.com/prd-116830-cortex-hdc-3000-digital-music-controller-reviews/#reviews

Generally thats down to corrupted or dodgy files put on the hard drive by the user.

I think only Creature has had a faulty unit replaced--far as I know?

CRAZY K


Looking at the cortex. the playback un-reliability keeps cropping up! does this happen with the denon?

http://www.buzzillions.com/prd-116830-cortex-hdc-3000-digital-music-controller-reviews/#reviews

Just read those comments on the link--as I recall from people posting on here most of those problems have been due to points made in my previous post.

CRAZY K

[Creature]

yep most of the problems seem to appear to be dodgy mp3 files for some reason. I delt with Cortex and with a lot of co-operation between the 2 of us it was decided that there was a fault on mine - they then shipped out an new replacement which has worked almost flawlessy ever since (a couple of hang ups on start up - but this appears to only happen when the unit is very cold. (haveing read the manual probally below recommended temp guide lines). I initially only brought it as a backup, but these days its probally used for 50% of the gigs . A lot of people seem to complain about these units being faulty as on that link above - but if they were to follow things thru carefully its probally 99% either faulty mp3 or something there doing. All I can say is that Cortex listened to me and to what I had done to try and illiminate the problems and they advised me from there. theres many happy users on here - some even have the denon as well.

And after talking to Cortex they have even joined up on here - altho they dont keep a daily watch on the forum a quick PM to them often gets a prompt response

[CRAZY K]

yep most of the problems seem to appear to be dodgy mp3 files for some reason. I delt with Cortex and with a lot of co-operation between the 2 of us it was decided that there was a fault on mine - they then shipped out an new replacement which has worked almost flawlessy ever since (a couple of hang ups on start up - but this appears to only happen when the unit is very cold. (haveing read the manual probally below recommended temp guide lines). I initially only brought it as a backup, but these days its probally used for 50% of the gigs . A lot of people seem to complain about these units being faulty as on that link above - but if they were to follow things thru carefully its probally 99% either faulty mp3 or something there doing. All I can say is that Cortex listened to me and to what I had done to try and illiminate the problems and they advised me from there. theres many happy users on here - some even have the denon as well.

And after talking to Cortex they have even joined up on here - altho they dont keep a daily watch on the forum a quick PM to them often gets a prompt response

Glad to hear its all going well--if the Cortex is cold just run a blow torch over it--soon warms up

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

regards

CRAZY K

[Creature]

LOL crazy - wonder if it would affect he warrenty :):):):)

[Creature]

even better got it working flawlessly with VBR files :):)

create the database as normal using the Cortexs pc program

then under that in teh playlist folder create new playlists and rename them (IE- pop 60s pop 70s etc)

then drag teh folder accross from the right window.

then insted of using the database the cortex manager creates or teh file manage use these. stops all the pauses if your playing on othe other side :):)