I’m the happiest digital DJ on this planet today
the great folks of ZAJ DJ supported me with this beauty
they are the Staton dealers in Hungary and we plan further things together
so, further good news will come
I will use my SCS.3m with Ableton Live of course

now I have a brilliant and futuristic controller
I can use 4 tracks with EQs and effects
the touch sensitve pads are super cool and the contol leds are MEGA
and the unit fits in my laptop bag easily
I was waiting to put my hands on this baby for months
now I will touch it all night long, or even longer
I will make a detailed test/review thinggy in few days about my experiences

STANTON 4 LIFE!

I can’t really think about anything else than my new controller
so I’ve collected my thoughts
and I made this resume about the best DJ controllers ATM

NOTE: these are personal picks and faves
everybody has different needs and ways of working
so let’s say these are my tips for starters who want to start laptop Djing

DJ CONTROLLERS FOR ABLETON LIVE

Stanton scs.3m
small and futuristic, easily fits into your laptop bag
the faders are touch sensitive
it can handle 4 tracks and their effects

Vestax VMC-600
heavy, big but great for studio and DJ use as well
6 tracks, and each has it’s own rotary knobs and controls

Allen & Heath Xone 4D
a legend, used by many many top DJ’s
a club mixer and a midi controller with built in soundcard
big and expensive

AKAI APC40
I think it’s more for live acts and studio use
but probably the best solution for groove and sample based sets

my new controller will be one of these above
because I use Ableton Live for my DJ sets
but here are four more units
for those DJs who use traditional DJ softwares

DJ CONTROLLERS FOR SERATO, TRAKTOR AND LIKES

Allen & Heath Xone XD
A&H’s unit for the new Serato ITCH
4 decks control, effects, built in soundcard

TRAKTOR KONTROL X1
made by Native Instruments themselves for their own DJ software
do I have to say more?

Stanton SCS.3d
like I said about the scs.3m small, futuristic, easily fits into your laptop bag
if you want the traditional 2 player+mixer setup you need the System3
but you can do pretty much everything with one unit as well

EKS OTUS
the beauty, the best looking bastard of the whole gang
the OTUS works with almost every DJ software
can be bought with or without soundcard (OTUS RAW)
and it’s also a dual deck, so you can work with one unit only

I made my choice already
hopefully I can post up the good news in few days
meanwhile check out the product pages for more info
and ask me if you wanna know something special

so, let me know, which controller is your fave?

computers are evil, really
usually I get along nicely with them
and I never had any serious problems on gigs with my setup
few small things always happen, but it’s normal I think
so I was a happy nerd dj

and then I went to the gig on last Friday
beside of DJing and have fun
my secret mission was to test my new soundcard and headphones
the studio conditions and the club conditions are not the same
I needed the loud dark dirty smokey club atmosphere to make up my mind

I’ve plugged my gadgets together
and I’ve seen something what I never seen before
my controller fucked up and crashed the whole system
the result?
disabled audio, missing drivers, freezed Windows crashed laptop
dunno exactly what happened and why
dunno exactly how I’ve fixed it
but after 4 hours (!!) of reinstalling, tweaking and remapping it worked again
the party was kool BTW
the new soundcard and the new headphones are GREAT

but I don’t wanna talk about my controller ;)

last nite I’ve checked and tested everything and it works well
like nothing happened, hmmmm

there are more results of this ‘surprise’
- after two years one problem is OK
- now I have a reason to get a new controller
- the computers are all evil and USB comes straight from hell

I’m flattered
if love could really kill I would be dead now
the wonderful M-Audio Hungary kindly supported me with these superb tools
just in the perfect moment!!
as you know I’m a die hard Ableton Live user
so I’m really happy to use hardwares from the same family

the Fast Track Pro is a great soundcard
it was supereasy to set up and works really well
I will use it in my studio and in my gigs too

the IE-20 XB High-Precision Professional Reference Earphones are dope
not sure about DJ use yet, but I will test it and will let you know

I can’t say how thankful I am, so let me put it this way
M-Audio <3 Simon Iddol
Simon Iddol <3 M-Audio

geeking, nerding and fixing tech issues is a nice way to spend your Sunday
I just updated my Ableton Live to the (8.1.1) version
and I decided to install my brand new soundcard as well

I had some very very weird issues at the last party gig with the E-MU
so hopefully this new baby will solve all my problems

as an accidental side effect I made a new mashup too
I had to test the new Live you know ;)

being sick can be surprisingly good
how kool is to lay in your bed AND to mix wicked tunes
the Pacemaker is pure evil ;)