Your opinions on Cortex HDC 3000 please!

[Creature]

send the cortex 3000 back and get the 1000 - the 1000 is far better than the 3000 which just has too much onit and save money at the same time

[chrispeacock]

i just tried audiograbber and it wont list the song names. i have to input them myself. that'll take forever to do. also when i rip a cd with these programs can they be ripped straight to the memory stick or external hard drive or do they need to be ripped to the pc first then transferred over

the cortex hdc 3000 cost me £193

[Excalibur]

send the cortex 3000 back and get the 1000 - the 1000 is far better than the 3000 which just has too much onit and save money at the same time

I didn't like to say that, particularly since I've never used a 3000. I strongly considered buying one to work with my 1000, but it didn't offer me anything useful over the 1000. I believe the 3000 isn't as robust as the 1000. I know of one member on here who has recently bought a very cheap 3000, and I will seek a progress report from them.

i just tried audiograbber and it wont list the song names. i have to input them myself. that'll take forever to do. also when i rip a cd with these programs can they be ripped straight to the memory stick or external hard drive or do they need to be ripped to the pc first then transferred over

the cortex hdc 3000 cost me £193

Make sure you're connected to t'interweb when ripping, cos that's where the data is stored. Otherwise you will have to input it manually.

When ripping, ( at least in MM ) you can select the destination for the rips. Send it wherever you wish.

[chrispeacock]

i have been told elsewhere that the 1000 is glitchy and the updates dont solve the problems as good as the updates for the 3000

i thought about it but managed to get the 3000 for cheaper than the 1000 so i took a gamble. i will let you know how good it is when it turns up. im suprised how many people use the cortex units to be honest as i had never heard of them until about a month ago

[Excalibur]

i have been told elsewhere that the 1000 is glitchy and the updates dont solve the problems as good as the updates for the 3000

i thought about it but managed to get the 3000 for cheaper than the 1000 so i took a gamble. i will let you know how good it is when it turns up. im suprised how many people use the cortex units to be honest as i had never heard of them until about a month ago

When I bought my first Cortex, the chap in the shop said they were outselling Numark 2:1.

Sadly, I suspect you may have fallen victim to a sales pitch. As far as I know, the reverse is true. The 1000 is regarded as relatively bulletproof, whereas the 3000 is perceived as finicky and fragile.

Edit:Every update I've done on the 10000 has had a beneficial effect, one even being done mid-gig.

[DJ Jules]

i have been told elsewhere that the 1000 is glitchy and the updates dont solve the problems as good as the updates for the 3000

i thought about it but managed to get the 3000 for cheaper than the 1000 so i took a gamble. i will let you know how good it is when it turns up. im suprised how many people use the cortex units to be honest as i had never heard of them until about a month ago

The 1000 and the 3000 are quite different units. The HDC3000 is built around the same software as the HDTT500 (Cortex's poor response to the CDJ1000) so it has effects, hot cues, loops and sampling as well as waveform display and much much bigger displays which are great for building playlists, etc etc. The HDC1000 is built on the same software as the HDC500. I've been told the continuous play feature on the 500/1000 is a lot better than on the 3000 (bear in mind that the HDTT500's were designed to be single, stand alone decks so the 3000 kind of inherits this philosophy). As to which is more stable... the HDC3000 stopped being developed/maintained about 2yrs ago as the HDTT500 was a complete flop so there are probably about 5 HDC500/HDC1000 units out there for every HDC3000. However, once you get to know the unit, and you've built up a library taking Cortex's advice on directory structures, etc, and you've got a decent USB hub, keyboard and hard drive, and you don't try and press too many buttons while it's busy - it's generally very stable.

Having used both the 1000 and the 3000 now, I'd definitely say that the 3000 is worth the extra dosh. While the effects, loops, samples, etc don't get used a lot, the waveform display is invaluable when playing out songs that you're not overly familiar with, the bigger screen is great for building playlists and song selection and the four assignable hot cues are great if you do want to try and be a bit more adventurous.

Julian

[Creature]

the 3000 is no were near as solid as the 1000 - it has been dogged with problems from day one and as far as i know has not really been resolved.

i have used and played with the 3000 extensively and wouldnt have one if you gave it to me.

as for the reported problems with the 1000

there was 2 issues a few years back and I got caught by both - but with some great help from Cortex the problem was resolved - altho it took me nearly 6 months to resolve as cortex say there wasnt a fault - it took one of there engineers to come out with me to see the fault as it would only happen under gigging conditions - the fix was so simple. Cortex not only replaced mine but gave me a refund as well.!

there was also an issue with doing the updates - I get called everytime my local disco shop gets these problems and its always been either the unit was turned off before update was ready or the updating procedure was not followed properly.

As Excaliber says the 1000 is the far better machine - yes its basic but it does what it says on the lid ! you wont find a better digital playout device out there for simplicity and usability. ( that will start a debate )

the only thing really missing from the cortex is an internal hard drive like the Denon - but then again its not really missed.

at the moment i use a 500 gig hard drive bit of a waiste really as only using just over 70 gig. but with using the keyboard everything is great (if you use internal file browser whilst other side is playing may temp freeze) this issue is not there with a mem stick - so its not a cortex issue but the fact im using a hard drive with multipul discs and heads.

I am keeping an eye out on the mem sticks as the 100 gig ones are slowly dropping in price.

if you keep it simple no problems i use the back USb for my hard drive lead stays fixed all the time - have a spare at home for connecting to PC and teh front one for my USB keyboard.

use a powered harddrive prefurably not a laptop one and you should have no problems at all.

the tagging is a real pain in teh butt and is probally teh most boring and longest part of teh job - get it right and it will reward you loads.

may tags are

Band
Genre
song title with band name and year
year

my hard drive index is done in decades till 2000's were currently I am using years until i sort out stuff i no longer need

[chrispeacock]

cheers again for the replies guys, interesting read. i havent bought the unit from a shop so had no sales pitch. i also read last week that the cortex 3000 was basically a paper weight until the updates as they froze all the time. but since cortex sorted out the updates they are virtually bullet proof. if i find i aint happy with it i can always get a hdc 1000 instead and sell the hdc 3000 but i doubt i will if its fine.

i have managed to get my head around audiograbber now but sometimes its slowing my laptop down big time

[DJ Jules]

the 3000 is no were near as solid as the 1000 - it has been dogged with problems from day one and as far as i know has not really been resolved.

As another guy has just said - when the HDC3000 was originally released it was hopeless, but the updates fixed the majority of issues early on. Can you elaborate on what problems you found?

By the way - Using the file browser can make either the HDC1000 or HDC3000 either pause or lock up if you store music in a hierarchy more than 2 folders deep. Cortex don't recommend using the File browser anyway, but then the majority of users will use the Manager software to index a drive, which means you shouldn't ever need to browse (just search using the keyboard).

Julian

[Corabar Steve]

will the cortex play a song on the memory stick and then play the next song without you doing anything, if you get the song ready like a playlist of some sort.

Yes. Again, it's simple. ( And easier than Denon/Numark ). You set one side to run from the stick, the other side to run from the HD, and bingo, away you go. That's the beauty of having, in effect, two completely separate players in one housing.

That wasn't what was asked (If I'm reading correctly, it is a completely different question to the one you answered & so far nobody has answered it)