Traktor 3 Controller

Hi there ;-)

I'm not telling you anything new when I say using Traktor solely with a mouse is a "p-i-t-a" ...

Sure, there are quite some nice controllers out there, but to be honest, I'm not really getting warm with any of them. Most I miss certain knobs and/or functions.

So I decided to build my own controller. It's based on the midibox/uCapps DIY-project. That means, the electronics and the very MIDI controller comes from them. What I did was shifting knobs and buttons around to make up a panel design which (hopefully) perfectly fits my (and maybe other's) needs ;-)

I wanted to have a controller which fits into a 19" casing. That's because I use to have my laptop in such a case. The space in front of the laptop is somewhat limited as well. So the controller has a 19"/4UH front panel.

If you take a look at the picture, you'll see, that there are 4 dedicated deck controls (at the right). Above them there are the main-eq/main-fx section. The colored parts and the knobs and buttons above the crossfader (channel eq & fx) are to be switched to the very deck. That works via the deck controls, which give focus on the deck, or the dedicated focus-buttons on the left.

Above them (top left) you have a couple of buttons for the "page change" within Traktor 3 and some other stuff like acceleration on/off for the knobs or interpolation for the knobs.

The knobs itself will be Alps encoders.

So... what do you think?

BTW: The screenshot comes from a front panel CAD proggy. So I hope you don't mind the quality. As soon as I'm finaly done with the layout, I'll post a rendered screenshot ;-)

Cheers,
John

 

A 19" rackmount would suit me just fine.
And I'm sure with the 4 deck controlability it would be ideal for installation purposes.

The layout looks pretty user friendly for a club environment (if you know your way round Traktor functions).

I would prefer sliders for deck volumes instead of rotaries and would prefer them above the crossfade.

Is this still just on screen, or will we be seeing true photos of it soon.

What cost has/will it come to (for production not retail).

 

Well, since it's a Traktor-controller, you should know your way around Traktor ;-)

The rotaries for deck volume are a compromise due to somewhat limited space. On the other hand I wouldn't want to drop any other controls "just" for the faders.

Ok, some may say, they might not need this and that. But then... well, let's put it that way: If you have some of the "rarely-needed" controls at hand, you might even use them one fine day and make some more interesting mixes ;-)
For me I got exactly this with the beat jump function ;-)


At the moment it's still just on screen. I hope to get the design done soon. Then I'll have the panel professionally done (3mm Al, maybe engraved).

Costs: Good point... ;-)
This might shock some, but due to the large amount of buttons and such the costs are quite high for a DIY project. I expect something like 350-400 Euros...

Cheers,
John

 

John--
The creator of MIDIOS, the OS behind MIDIBOX, does not allow products containing MIDIOS to be sold for profit without his express permission, which he does not give lightly.

 

@boysteve:
... ummm... wow... I wasn't aware that I'm already about selling a product... ;-)
BTW: it's MIOS and not "MIDIOS".

Anyway, I'm planning a MIDI controller for Traktor. When I'm gonna build it, it's for me and my DJ'ing. As far as I see it, that's what the midibox/uCApps/MIOS stuff is meant for ;-)


If, and I mean _if_ this controller will get that much attention from some, I might think about a way to market it.

The MIOS and the accompanied hardware parts are GPL-licenced. But the uCApps-site states (more or less) cleary, that no commercial intention is allowed.

So a possible way to market my controller could be a pre-assembled unit: The panel with all the encoders and buttons, tested and ready to be connected to the uCApps parts. Those I wouldn't include to make sure, it's still a DIY-project.

But again: At the moment that's all just speculation ;-)

Cheers,
John

 

Just trying to prevent any rude surprises. My understanding is that Thorsten was screwed on Sasha's Maven controller and is understandably touchy about commercial use. Which is why we got his permission for our Kombine controller.

 

@boysteve:
yeah, I can understand that. I mean, hey, if you put up some great project like this and quite some see the GPL-licensing as a "green card" for whatever they like to do with it... *shrugs*

BTW congrats for getting the permission for your controller ;-)

Anyway, I hope to get my prototype done within the next couple of weeks. As I said beforehand, the costs are not that smallish ;-)
And money is an issue for me at the moment ;-)

And how's your controller going? As far as I remember you've put up your prototype as well?

Cheers,
John

 

Could you maybe elaborate a bit? I did a quick Google but as far as I could find the Maven is a one off, custon made for Sasha and not being sold commercially. Is it the fact the it is being commercially used?

 

.. commercial use... this Maven-controller is indeed an interesting point. I mean what is commercial use anyway?

Usually one might think it's about marketing/selling a product. But in case of Sasha's Maven another point of view might come to light.

Well I'm not Sasha ;-)
But I do make some (small) money with my DJ'ing. What if I use a controller with uCApps parts in my gigs? Is that already commercial using? Hmmm....



Anyways I've finished a redesign of my controller. I figured that it might be a good idea to make the controller as small as possible to fit into more cases (still given a 19" width).
So I shrinked it to 3UH height.
Along with that I rearranged some things. Now there're only 2 direct accessable deck controls. But then you have direct access to
- the main f/x
- the channel f/x
- the channel EQ

Additionally a dropped the crossfader. It's now a rotary (actually an encoder).
I don't do any scratching, so this is not a serious problem for me. Other than that it keeps me from dealing with analogue input for just one fader ;-)

It also makes the programming easier, since you have only 4 layers to deal with. This is also a good thing for keeping the overview while DJ'ing ;-)

The attached picture still shows a 4UH panel, but the extra 1UH is only for the display and some more buttons. I guess it might be usefull for a prototype to have direct access to the internal controllers functions.

Nonetheless the very controlls only need 3UH space.

Oh and I decided to use other buttons. You won't see that in the screenshot. But now I'll be able to have some sort of "night design". Meaning, there're LEDs under the key caps making the edges of the buttons visible in darker conditions. That should help to hit the right button at any time ;-)


Cheers,
John