Recording Studio Equipment

Man let me tell you. This little gadget is Awesome! I Djayed 7 parties with this thing and people were amazed. Yeah it looks like a toy, but it works great! I recommend this for beginner Djs as well as some of the vets out there. I use it for practice and I use it for some gigs as I said earlier. One Word AWESOME!!!!

When I received the package it was all perfect sealed and all of that. First thing I did I installed the Mixvibes software it came with which was on a CD. Next I hooked up the Discover DJ controller to my computer’s usb, the wheels and other buttons works fine except the Scratch Button. The scratch button did not led up as it was suppose to, it did not function at all. So I’m returning it and getting a refund to get a better midi controller. Should you get Discover DJ? If you’re just going to scratch and mix and thats all you’re going to do with your music with a basic software then Yes. But, if you’re going to use it to practice and get to learn even more about DJing to get a little experience then maybe not, why? Because the Mixvibes software is basic and has no effects or sampling functions, just drag and play and mix of your choice. If Discover DJ was compatible with Virtual DJ that would BE GREAT, but currently no. Virtual DJ has many functions and is very easy and organized than Mixvibes. Virtual DJ allows you to activate effects like Flanger, Echo, etc.. And samplers like sirens and more. If the Mixvibes software it came with had these basic functions then this product would be worth all the trouble. Discover DJ has the kind of vinyl feeling on the wheels, the crossfader is smooth and so as the treble and bass and other volume leveling and other buttons as well, but the scratch button of my product did not work or function for me so I was disappointed. If you are thinking about a product that works with Virtual DJ, I believe the ION Audio icue is compatible with Virtual DJ, and other midi controllers like Hercules or Pioneer controllers. It’s your choice to buy this product, so don’t expect to get effects and samplers from this product’s software and its compatibility with other softwares.

I’ve been a DJ for 20 years for clubs, studio, radio. I have used every medium possible and had played around with laptop DJing in the mid/late 90’s but gave that format up for gigs because technology wasn’t up to par in my opinion unless you wanted to be a jukebox DJ which I am not. Very interactive with the music.

Finally technology is decent enough so a person can manipulate music on the fly without a lagging as bad (thank bill gates)

Anyway, the company whom sent this did so in a timely manner and I give 5 stars for what they said they would do and what they did. All good there.

The product seems to work though the jog wheel (to mix or scratch) lags a bit. Meaning when you manipulate the wheel, it takes a bit for the software/computer to react. With Vurtual DJ, when you scratch with the mouse, its instant. The Herc jog wheel doesnt seem to sync with VDJ in that respect and it may be due to the USB drawing power AND syncing with VDJ through one USB cable.

I am only using this on a netbook with 2 GB RAM (Asus Eee) so to use this with a bigger box may have better results. I haven’t used this unit ALOT either so I havent assigned any buttons or sunk into this much due to lack of time. The buttons that are usable out of box without having to assign anything seem to work well.

I dont know if this helps your decision in purchasing this unit. It seems pretty solid and I would say the ONLY drawback is the lag in the jog wheel when back cueing/scratching. The company whom sent it did great.

Much love

Johnny Manson
DJ High-Q

As the title of my review says, I’m going to break this down into two parts:

The Interface
Let me preface by saying I’m an amateur DJ who upgraded to this interface from the M-Audio X-Session Pro, which was a pretty big step. The Hercules RMX is a truly sexy piece of hardware. The metal casing looks ultra professional and it’s nice and heavy (unlike the other one I had, which is made of plastic and feels like a toy). All of the controls feel like quality, from the smooth action of the faders to the satisfying click of the buttons to the easy action of the jog wheels. Many of the buttons are even illuminated with blue LEDs to help you see what’s going on. My favorite part is the pitch/tempo faders, which have a tactile click at 0% – brilliant. It even comes with a decent Hercules-branded carrying case. For the price point, it’s worth every cent – but if you have the means, the M-Audio Xponent has a LOT more controls on the interface (more on that product in a minute).

The Software
Truly the worst installation experience I’ve ever had. Just awful. I’m using a 2.2GHz MacBook Pro (about four years old) with 4GB of RAM and OSX 10.6.3. From the very beginning I could tell that the installation software was written for PCs and ported (BADLY) to the Mac. The drivers gave me all kinds of problems until I got the new ones off the Hercules website then removed and re-installed VirtualDJ. Then, on top of that, the VirtualDJ LE software that comes bundled with this product is AWFUL. Maybe I was spoiled by the Torq LE that came with my X-Session, but VDJ LE does so close to nothing as to make it practically worthless. And when I maximized the window, it was pixelated, ugly, and illegible. Definitely not the kind of thing I’d be proud to show people at an event. I never had any of these issues with Torq – it’s clean, beautiful, and clearly been tested in the Mac OS environment. So here you are with an absolutely rockin’ piece of hardware but no way to really enjoy it! I was livid. In the end, I had to upgrade to VirtualDJ Pro ($150, discounted from $300 by having bought this product) and was pretty happy with the result after I went and changed about half of the MIDI maps and messed with the audio settings until the headphones actually worked. HOWEVER, for the same amount of cash I could have gotten the M-Audio Xponent which comes with the full version of Torq – which to me seems like a better value, especially if you don’t have a preference about what software you use.

Personally I prefer VirtualDJ over Torq, so this worked out okay for me, but I’m not ashamed to admit I sent an RMA request for this product three hours after opening it. Three and a half hours after that, I was finally up and running. If I could do it all over I would probably go with the Xponent.

Ok so this was a christmas gift that was bought for me and I thought it was going to be awesome. I seen this in action on youtube and some other sites and from what I seen on there it looked like this was gonna be loads of fun for not a terribly expensive price. Boy was I wrong. First and formost I will start with the software that it came with. Being that I dont use alot of djing programs I just decided to use the software that it came with labeled Traktor LE. Well after I installed it and tried to run it I found out that its just a demo and I have to spend additional money to purchase the full version software. But O well went along with it and tried the demo. Before even messing with the controller I tried playing 2 songs from i tunes. It loaded them up fine and all the knobs and effects worked but 1 big issue it doesnt even play the music? So then I tried with the controller plugged it in my usb port and compluter said found new hardware then said new hardware installed and ready to use but I looked down at it and no lights or anything were on then I switched the software in the midi option to the numark total control. It rebooted but same thing I was hitting all the buttons but no response like the controller wasnt even plugged in or something but when I unplugged it my computer made the sound when you unplug something like it was detecting it? Looked in the box and comes with no instructions whatsoever and their support for it is horrible I asked numerous people and no one seems to have an answer so this crap is going back. I will try something else biggest let down so far

I’M NOT A PRO, JUST DJ’ING FOR FUN, AND FOR FRIENDS’ PARTIES, BUT I FIND THIS CONTROLLER VERY GOOD FOR THE PRICE, I USE VDJ, AND THIS DEVICE MADE IT EASIER FOR ME TO DO MY THING, IT’S MISSING SOME FEATURES, BUT IT’S GOOD FOR THE PRICE.

The Price & Performance of this sound card is just right.

recommended for laptop dj’s

Not sure what the problem was with the guy who said this soundcard doesn’t work with Virtual DJ. I use it for gigs and they work perfectly. Granted I am a computer professional and you do have to set the latency to accomodate your laptop (if it’s slow, increase the latency). I have a super fast laptop penryn Core 2 processor Ocd to 2.59GHZ with 6MB of L2 cache 4Gigs of PC5300 SoDimm RAM and a 500gig HD. Yes I put this monster together go to [...]

Virtual DJ works great, so does Deckadance, you name it. I’ve had soundcards from MOTU, Indigo, Creative, all great but the simplicity and small form factor (except the Indigo DJx PCI Express – that thing is almost too small but also sounds amazing) and the fact that it has RCA outs configurable for your mains (2 virtual turntables if you want to pipe them out to an external mixer – you name it) and 1/4in outs for your headphones and 1/4in in for a mic. This thing rocks!!

JM

This device works exactly as advertized. It is way better than a USB turntable if you already have a good turntable.