Hercules introduces DJ Control Steel mixing deck

While those only versed in the ways of the iPod-based DJ mixer may want to steer clear, those with a bit more DJing experience will no doubt find plenty to like in Hercules' new DJ Control Steel mixing deck here, which can be hooked up to the Mac or PC of your choice via USB. As you can see above, the unit itself will give you two mixing decks, along with 13 rotary switches, six faders, and no less than 46 push buttons, including five effects buttons and six kill buttons. To add your own stamp to the deck, you can also remove the steel center plate and replace it with a customized one, and you can use it with the MIDI-based DJing software of your choosing if the included Virtual DJ 5 isn't to your liking. At $299.99, it also won't be too much of a hurt on your bank account, although you'll have to wait until December 22nd to actually get your hands on it.

[PyRo1509 @ Dec 17th 2008 12:15AM]

OooOO all those knobs and sliders.

If I was 3 again that would be the toy for me...

[who? @ Dec 17th 2008 12:17AM]

Oooooh. Ahhhh. So... Many... Knobs!

[Mobius_1 @ Dec 17th 2008 7:51AM]

I hope that's not what she said.

[who? @ Dec 17th 2008 10:01AM]

It tickled when she turns them :D

[kastonie @ Dec 17th 2008 12:21AM]

wow a post about dj gear....
Please cover more dj gadgets

Thanks!

[helloUser @ Dec 17th 2008 12:23AM]

Id rather see them not, theres so much wrong with the blog entry, it reeks of ignorance.

[cooper8168 @ Dec 17th 2008 12:44AM]

Oh, well perhaps helloUser can enlighten us then. Please, wow us with your Beatmatching Badassness. Tell us why this is better or worse than Torq or Serato, or why it doesn't hold a candle to a pair of 12s with 680s and some nice felt slips.

[Scott @ Dec 17th 2008 10:38AM]

I would love to see more about this gear too, but not so much with the midi stuff. and more with stuff like the monomes and hardware gear. like say the 4d a nice hybrid of midi and hardware.

[Fusion Fuzo 008 @ Dec 17th 2008 12:37AM]

NICE


Professional
Fusion Fuzo

[jon @ Dec 17th 2008 1:13AM]

jon

You are redundent.

jon

[JerseyBricklayer @ Dec 17th 2008 1:17AM]

I came here just to low rank you.

[jon @ Dec 17th 2008 1:19AM]

Why is there no edit button?
*redundant*

[Give up the lights @ Dec 17th 2008 12:42AM]

this is a ripoff of beatmania

[V Langs @ Dec 17th 2008 2:12AM]

i can't believe someone would compare quality music production to a childs toy video game.

this deck connects to any number of DJ softwares out there. vDJ, torq serato and the numerous other ones based off of those with a branded skin.

it amazes me with such confidence that you made such a bold statement. you good sir, are completely and utterly wrong. apart from the fact that both beatmania and this deck involve music, they have nothing in common. you might as well say a car is a rip off of beatmania because a car has a stereo!

[Matthew xB @ Dec 17th 2008 12:08PM]

trolled

[Minilap @ Dec 17th 2008 12:43AM]

Old stuff.....

It's not Vestax but good build quality and good converters are what to expect from Hercules.

[Tom @ Dec 17th 2008 1:09AM]

Cooper. U r gay.

[helloUser @ Dec 17th 2008 1:12AM]

careful, the apple zionists @ engadget might low rank your comment.

this one will. i got 2 dollars that says so.

[Loonie @ Dec 17th 2008 1:21AM]

Whoa, Hercules are still doing stuff? That looks pretty decent.

[AJR @ Dec 17th 2008 1:27AM]

I could make use of that, just hook me up with the speakers and away I go.

[V Langs @ Dec 17th 2008 2:17AM]

i like Virtual DJ and Torq but still nothing compares to the feel of vinyl running under your fingertips and a crowd going wild to the music you're providing them.


this is the sole reason i still buy music and haven't turned into a pirate: you can't record your own vinyls, unless of course you have a phonograph and lathe to carve in the music into pvc and i don't think many people have those

[rde @ Dec 17th 2008 2:50PM]

I believe u can attach your turntables to this and with some timecoded vinyls u can mix your digital audio and still have that nice feeling.
And you won't have to buy pricey vinyls

[V Langs @ Dec 17th 2008 7:11PM]

of course you could, but then again you have to contend with the quality of your mp3s

and of course, there is then lag that is naturally brought on from a timecoded vinyl and the processing of the sound through the computer.

I'm all for new technology and i have found some that work very well for me.

but just like people who like to play acoustic guitar over electric, there is something about the original that you can't shake off. like people who drive antique automobiles, sure the newer automobiles have tons more features, but there is still something about the vintage

[Level 5 @ Dec 17th 2008 5:34AM]

I've said it before, and I'll say it one more time.

Technics 12xx for analog
Pioneer CDJ-1000's for digital

Love vinyl? Try Serato. But come ON people, this is fucking bar mitzvah and wedding reception bullshit. The only reason anyone would want this is so they can pretend to mix music, can't afford an ACTUAL setup and vinyl or CD's, or are too lazy to carry around a record crate. REAL DJ's know this.

[Murfo.com @ Dec 17th 2008 8:10AM]

REAL DJ's know that gear isn't everything. A real DJ can mix anything on any DJ gear. Only posers keep on bragging about their expensive gear. Those guys spent thousands of dollars on it, and still nobody outside of their little village has ever heard of 'em.

Besides that, this isn't made for playing at huge gigs, it's for fun parties at home and to start learning to DJ. No need to spend too much money on that.

[Level 5 @ Dec 17th 2008 8:35AM]

Thanks for assuming what kind of person I am as well as what kind of DJ I am. Here, however, are the facts:

1 - I got a pair of Tech 12's off of Ebay for $450 shipped, a mixer for $100, and starter Stanton needles for $60. Total invested, $560. Not close to even ONE thousand, let alone thousands in the plural sense. I'm no idiot, and I started learning on setups that friends had. When I wanted my own tables, I got them; and I was not about to waste money.
2 - Although a good DJ CAN mix on anything, most probably WON'T mix on something as ridiculous as this. Put seasoned cats in front of one of these, and they will leave your venue.
3 - I can finally agree with you, yes it's for people learning, or throwing small parties. But devices like these are always lame because learning to DJ usually goes one of two ways. You either buy this, learn to spin and graduate to more mainstream equips because that's what 99% of clubs worth a shit have thus wasting the $300; or you spend the $300 and don't get into it and have also wasted the money. You can always hock it back to eBay and recoup your losses, but by the time all that happens, my initial point was already proven.

[skant @ Dec 17th 2008 9:40AM]

Here I'll help translate murfo.com's comment

You are an annoying pompous twit who doesn't understand the place this product has in the consumer space.

I hope that helps

[Mobius_1 @ Dec 17th 2008 10:28AM]

What does Sasha use?

[Scott @ Dec 17th 2008 10:48AM]

Im sorry but Blank and Jones play gigs all over the world using this thing so I think you might need to shut you trap....

[neodorian @ Dec 17th 2008 10:50AM]

And just like I have a $500 DSLR instead of a $2000 one, sometimes people want something entry level. It may come as a shock but some folks like to DJ parties or play around with mixing as a hobby or maybe they are just learning to beat match. I got something like this off eBay a while back and while it is obviously no pro deck, maybe all I wanted it for was parties and weddings and such. Not everyone wants or needs to go straight to the best there is for thousands of dollars. I just wanted some hardware controls for PCDJ and VirtualDJ and the like.

[Lazaro @ Dec 17th 2008 10:53AM]

Since when has midi become bar mitzvah wedding reception bullshit?

Fact is traktor scratch pro is growing more popular now, outselling any other dj software, and lets you do a lot more than the conventional tables/cdjs.

You get 4 simultaneous inputs + you can use control cds or vinyl (tables/cdjs) + midi support. Yes, meaning that your wedding reception bullshit contraption pictured above has plenty of knobs, sliders, and buttons to be a nice midi addition to traktor.

Oh even Serato has announced a partnership with Ableton Live to FINALLY support midi input.

[GriffinMG @ Dec 17th 2008 11:01AM]

Scott

Who the hell are blank and jones?Nothing comes up on beatport when i search them so Im gonna disregard your comment.

[Mobius_1 @ Dec 17th 2008 11:09AM]

OMG Serato and Ableton??? OMGFTWBBQ! Seriously, I want that.

[Scott @ Dec 17th 2008 11:34AM]

you must have look really hard "Blank & Jones"

[Mr. Charlie @ Dec 17th 2008 5:58PM]

DJ'ing with vinyl is a wonderful skill, but eventually it will become all but obsolete. I've been dj'ing in New York for about 15 years and was one of the first people I knew to use CD decks. People made fun of me, saying that I'm not a "real" dj, but now they exist in every venue and most of my peers use them regularly (if not exclusively). The same will happen with digital. It doesn't mean that those who prefer vinyl (or cd's) can't continue with their medium of choice, but there is no harm embracing new technology (which only moves in one direction, btw). Why judge?

[BOGRASH @ Dec 17th 2008 6:43AM]

LMAO at "Real DJs" wake up it's nearly 2009, DJing died ten years ago

[Level 5 @ Dec 17th 2008 7:13AM]

When's the last time you actually went to a club, toughguy? Do you think said club puts one cd on and has it on repeat the rest of the night? DJing is alive and well, especially in places like UK where a house or drum & bass tune will hit top 40. A comment like that just shows you don't know shit about clubs, DJ's, or the music they spin. Happy faceplanting buddy.

[Mobius_1 @ Dec 17th 2008 7:53AM]

Never been to the likes of Ministry of Sound, Fabric etc have you? Now finish your homework and stop playing WoW so much. Sleep is good for you.

fyi, a real DJ kicks the ass of any computer.

[helloUser @ Dec 17th 2008 8:38AM]

Real DJing died ten years ago? What an idiot. This is part of the reason why I said this blog entry reeks of ignorance: engadget staff know hardly anything about DJing or equipment required. And *MY* original comment got low ranked?

Ridiculous.

[BOGRASH @ Dec 17th 2008 2:36PM]

lol @ you chumps. I live in the UK and have played Ministry, so I am well qualified to comment...

[Maxi @ Dec 17th 2008 7:22AM]

In Argentina we have this device since October, here its price is around $ 765 (US Dollars).
It´s beautifully crafted and comes with a carring bag.
It´s sold throught M-Audio vendors.

[Gary D @ Dec 17th 2008 8:53AM]

I have the earlier version of this mixer, the Hercules DJ RMX Controller and the Steel is pretty much the same thing.

I cannot say enough good things about it! It a great mixer, great build quality and theres a lovely sound out of it. Only downside to the Steel version is that there is no soundcard inbuilt to the mixer. This means you need to splash out for an extra soundcard if you want to hook decks up to it aswell. While the Steel is a great mixer, the price really isn't justified when you can get the same mixer with an inbuilt soundcard for the same price.

[Elliot @ Dec 17th 2008 9:49AM]

this kit is lame kit
i run club nights in manchester uk
i'm always interested in new ways of djing (that multitouch turntable setup for instance was pretty novel)
but this type of kit is for bedrooms, conferences and (maybe) rock clubs only.

it looks well made, but why this device got covered by engadget at all is beyond me
There's heaps of digital music gear coming onto the scene all the time, and there's been news from jazzmutant's camp a couple of times this year which engadget hasn't shown any interest in

why this product?
it's just a standard piece of kit which hardly anyone would use or want.
why, why oh why???

[JoC @ Dec 17th 2008 10:01AM]

DJ's who talk about 'real' DJ's etc are wannabe musicians and should just form a loser f#)&king band already.

^_^

[Level 5 @ Dec 17th 2008 10:11AM]

@skant - the reason I slam this is per the reasons above, did you actually take the time to contemplate how they apply to anyone that doesn't use them to play "You Light Up My Life" at Grandma and Grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary party? For someone who doesn't perform in their DJing, these are fine. For someone that's learning, these are fine, but they will 9 times out of 10 sell them, and invest in a setup that a VENUE has, which is usually what I've mentioned above. For a performing DJ, I suppose these could be fine, although there are much better all-in-ones on the market, even for laptop driven setups.

Do you really think I've never USED one of these, or contemplated getting one while I was in my learning phase? Of course I did! Turntables are expensive, and for someone who doesn't know how far they want to go in DJing, they look very attractive. But per the advice of several friends who spin, I stayed away from it, and learned on their decks. And you know what? After a while I discovered exactly why they gave me that advice. Because when you reach that point where you KNOW you wish to DJ, and persue playing in clubs, and doing the whole circuit, you realize 99% of the clubs have the Tech 12k's or CDJ 1k's. So guess what? You need to learn all over again. That's no fun, especially when you don't have a laptop to back you up while spinning vinyl!

Tech 12k's and CDJ's are tried and tested. Someone didn't just find them clever and made up some bullshit standard.

[El Leon @ Dec 17th 2008 10:53AM]

@Level5 - Ive been researching whether or not to get a controller like this. I was looking at the Numark Omni control, but your posts have made me think.

I have NO experience. Im talking like the most experience i have is downloading a demo of DJ1800 on my mac. I dont know how far I want to go into DJ-ing. I do know it will take time to learn and it will be more of a hobby for right now in the short term...i.e. house party w friends.

So my question is, Why should/do I stay away from things like this? or is this not so bad to learn with? I mean this stuff is expensive and Ive looked for Techs on ebay did not find anything close to what you bought your set up with. What about the NS7 from Numark?

I know its more of a classic "profession" to have tables and to crate dig, and i guess somewhat acceptable to use Serato, but Im not so sure I will have the time or money for vinyls and crate digging.

Any reccomendations or tips or websites you use would be great. Thanks.

Oh and let these haters hate.

[V Langs @ Dec 17th 2008 11:15AM]

@ el leon,

if you have no intention of going anywhere with DJing, just want to have some fun with your music. this is a good (albeit, expensive) way to get that accomplished.

I will say though, that your money is better spent on quality software and a virtual vinyl setup from someone like numark or stanton. you need a usb equipped mixer and a pair of tables or a cd player or two but if you wanna fool around and then realize maybe this is something you wanna do, this is the best course of action.

my personal favorite is numark virtual vinyl, but it is more costly and you have to provide your own tables. for a beginner, a stanton dj bundle from musicians friend will run you about 200 bucks and get you started, then all you need to add is a USB based sound card that'll sync up with whatever software you decide to use (I use Virtual DJ, but Traktor and Serato have good setups too)

[eric @ Dec 17th 2008 11:59AM]

I couldn't find your posts in this entry more wrong.

You speak about tools like this limiting your ability to 'perform' as a dj.

How on earth is having a plethora of midi triggers and knobs anything but expanding what can be done with a live performance? Something like this is far more expansive than two audio sources and a mixer.

I think you may be to deeply seated in DJ culture that you're forgetting just what can be done with technology, beyond beatmatching and EQ kill switches.

[wha @ Dec 17th 2008 2:30PM]

do u know what a dj is? your a dam entertainer not some artist. a vestex vci-100 will do the same things as cdjs. the field is moving more and more towards digital and midi equip and its people like you who r stuck on this whole analogue setup. r u just pissed that u can pay half the price for a midi controler and do the more then ur tech 12s. the whole idea that clubs only use cdjs is not even a problem. all u have to do is plug ur controller into a mixer its not even an issue. keep dreaming that ur to cool for these mixers.

[Magallanes @ Dec 17th 2008 10:33AM]

Yes, the world will need more DJ's

:-(