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TRAKTOR Digital DJing Cutting-edge pro DJ equipment, built on the industry leading software for DJs: All-in-one DJ systems, DJ controllers, scratch systems, and more.
Something exciting for DJs who own iPads just happened. In a nutshell, the answer to the question “Will my DJ controller work with my iPad?” has just changed from “probably not” to “yes, it’s pretty likely”!
With iOS6, we’ve learned that as long as your DJ controller is “class compliant” (best test: when using it with a Windows laptop, it doesn’t need audio drivers to be installed), it should work with iPad just as it is. The short of it? You may no longer need a Numark iDJ Live, iDJ Pro or Vestax Spin2 if you want to use a DJ controller with iOS. And as iOS6 includes multi-route audio, your controller’s sound card should work just fine too.
Before we start…
This is all new stuff. Many of the manufacturers we spoke to at BPM 2012 weren’t even aware of this, and they also didn’t know if their controllers were class compliant. It’s also massive news because potentially your iPad could replace your laptop as your DJ computer – as of now!
But it’s all experimental too. We want to know what does and doesn’t work, so we’d love you to share your results. We’ve started a list of USB class compliant DJ controllers, but we want your help too. Here’s what you need to know and do in order to test your controller and start using your iPad in place of your laptop for DJing…
- You’ll need aCamera Connection Kit. This basically plugs into the connector on the base of your iPad and gives you a USB; it’s this you’ll plug your controller into. (As it only works with iPad, currently if you want to use an external DJ controller with iPhone or iPod touch, you’ll have to use one of the Apple approved models like the iDJ Live or Spin2 mentioned above)
- Something’s got to power your DJ controller. It more than likely the case that your iPad can’t provide enough power. You’ll therefore need a powered USB hub, which has the added advantage of also charging your iPad. If your DJ controller has a mains lead, you could plug it in and see what happens
- You’re going to need DJ software that can work with this. The first DJ app for iPad that advertises the ability to work with multi-route audio and have Midi mapping is DJ Player 5, so if you’re serious about doing this, you’ll want to go and grab a copy of that should you not already have one, and be prepared to start doing some mapping. But just for testing purposes, you can use free app Midi Monitor
How to do it
Get Midi Monitor (or DJ Player 5) installed and running. Plug a camera connection kit into your iPad and USB that into your plugged in, powered hub. Put another USB between the hub and the iOS device fitted with the camera connection kit. That’s it! Playing with controls on your DJ controller should now show Midi messages being received on Midi Monitor, and on DJ Player 5 you should additionally see your DJ controller’s sound card recognised.
So, does your controller work? Great! Please let us know. Your next step is to come up with a mapping. Doesn’t yours work? Sorry to hear that, but again let us know – manufacturers ought to be considering this stuff or risk getting left seriously behind, so we can help by making them aware.
Video
Here’s my video explaining all about this. I will be monitoring the comments below to answer issues, share tips and update the list of what does and doesn’t work with iOS 6.
List of class compliant DJ controllers
Here’s the current list of controllers we know will work in this way with iPad. We’ll continually update this as we find out more…
Vestax: VCI-100, VCI-300, VCI-380, VCI-400, VFX-1, Spin, Spin2, Typhoon
Numark: MixTrack, MixTrack Pro, MixDeck Quad, iDJ Live, iDJ Pro, DJ2Go, N4
iONAudio:iDJ2Go
Behringer:CMD series (forthcoming)
DJ Tech: iMix, VTT 101
Faderfox: Most controllers
Novation: Dicers
Stanton:SCS3D and SCS3M
Pioneer: CDJ 900, CDJ 2000
American Audio:VMS4
AKAI Pro:LPD8
DJ TechTools: MidiFighter Classic, MidiFighter Pro
Korg:Nano Series 2
Denon: All
Numark: MixTrack, MixTrack Pro, MixDeck Quad, iDJ Live, iDJ Pro, DJ2Go, N4
iONAudio:iDJ2Go
Behringer:CMD series (forthcoming)
DJ Tech: iMix, VTT 101
Faderfox: Most controllers
Novation: Dicers
Stanton:SCS3D and SCS3M
Pioneer: CDJ 900, CDJ 2000
American Audio:VMS4
AKAI Pro:LPD8
DJ TechTools: MidiFighter Classic, MidiFighter Pro
Korg:Nano Series 2
Denon: All
So – don’t forget to let us know how it goes for you. If you’ve got any questions about using iPads and DJ hardware together, please ask below.
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There has been lots of talk about DJing with the iPad or iPhone, and programs like djay have got off to a great start in this new DJing field, but another way of using your iOS device for DJing is as a remote control for your existing software – just like a DJ controller.
Virtual DJ has already released an app like this for the iPhone (iRemote), and of course TouchOSC is a favourite with Ableton Live users. But there have not been any apps designed especially for Traktor – until now, when two happen to have come along at once.
1. Wireless DJ
Wireless DJ is a minimal two-channel wireless mixer/controller for Traktor Pro running on Mac and an iPad (although as it is a Midi application you can map it to any Midi software, in theory at least). It’s stylishly presented with a gun-metal effect scratch-style mixer on your screen, but with iPad-style gloss touches too. The whole lot happens on one screen – a mixer.
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Installation is simple – there’s no IP address stuff or mapping issues. You get the iPad and the Mac on the same wireless network, use your Mac’s Audio MIDI Setup utility to link things up, install the TSI file and and you’re off. (You can use with a Windows PC but you’d need extra software.) It works well and coupled with the ease of set-up it’s pretty impressive and undeniably fun – there are faders, EQ, headphone and playback controls and even needle search.
Instead of jogs, it has vertical strips down the sides of the mixer that they call “magic stripes”- Moving your finger up and down one of these executes a pitch bend, two fingers is fine tempo control. So that’s all good – but there are no cue points past the first one, there’s no control over loops and effects, absolutely no library browsing – you won’t be wanting to stray far from your Mac.
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Ipad Pro 12.9 Traktor
However, set up alongside your computer, it gives you a really smart way of controlling the basic functions, while you can then resort to the keyboard shortcuts for library, loop, cue points and FX.
Find out more:Wireless DJ website
TrakProDJ
Iximix’s TrakProDJ is exactly the same in concept, although this time the app can also run on the iPhone / iPod Touch (or even both together!) with concessions made on the latter due to the screen size, of course. It’s for Mac and Windows. So again, for Mac you get the iOS device on the same network, link the two together for Midi using the Audio MIDI Setup utility, and install the TSI file in Traktor. It’s slightly more complex for Windows apparently, but I didn’t test this.
This app is different in that it attempts to offer a more complete DJ controller. On the iPad, it looks like a typical control surface with two jogwheels and a mixer in the middle. On the iPhone, you can flick between decks, mixer and FX. I found the sensitivity on the jogs a bit much – you had to be careful not to overdo your actions. There’s a needle search too, and this time there’s also a track browse function, although for some reason I couldn’t get it to work fully – it’d load the selected track, but the scrolling didn’t work for me.
Access to both effects units is included, and there are hotkeys you can assign to cues, loops etc as you see fit. You also get a filter control for each deck, and kills alongside the EQs – good for touchscreens as turning knobs is kind of awkward.
I liked this one too, although the VU meters on the iOS screen peak out of time with the music, which is a bit disconcerting.
Find out more:Iximix website
Conclusion
These are both fun. The Iximix app is the most complete of the two, and if you were to buy the iPad and the iPod / iPhone Touch versions, you could have your iPad set up in the DJ booth alongside your laptop, and then wander out on the dancefloor with your iPod / iPhone Touch as you saw fit – that’s pretty cool. (I’m assuming the browsing issue was a glitch, by the way.)
But that’s not the whole story. By just copying the types of controls you find on a “normal” controller (and I’m thinking mainly the jogs) I think TrakProDJ misses a trick – after all, it’s a touchscreen, not something tactile. This is where Wireless DJ has an edge – those “magic strips” are more fun than jogs, and suit the surface better. For me Wireless DJ looks better to – TrakProDJ, you feel, should “look” like Traktor, which it doesn’t, whereas Wireless DJ makes sense just looking like a cool scratch mixer.
With Wireless DJ, you’d definitely want it set up next to your laptop, to use alongside it – it won’t work without that as you need to use your keyboard for many functions still. With TrakProDJ, you could in theory DJ from just the surface, although in reality I think you’d want to use your laptop still for certain functions. If you’re looking for a complete remote control solution, though, it has to be TrakPro DJ.
So – they’ve both got their strengths and weaknesses. I don’t think either is quite there yet as far as practical DJing from an iOS surface goes (they both support only two decks, for instance), but they’re both perfectly usable as they are.
Wireless DJ is the more minimal and the most expensive of the two at an overpriced US$14.99 against TrakProDJ at a still-pretty-expensive US$9.99 (iPad) and US$5.99 (iPhone/iPod Touch), but I actually prefer the former. I could see the laptop and the iPad both set up on stands, to give a really novel little portable DJ set-up. You’d have to start learning those Traktor keyboard shortcuts for your loops, cues and FX though…
Have you tried a remote control device for DJ software on your smartphone or iOS device? Would you be tempted to try one of these? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments.