Don't Laugh, Need Advice, iMac + Ableton Live, Extrenal Controller?

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-- Don't Laugh, Need Advice, iMac + Ableton Live, Extrenal Controller?

Posted by nsamadi on Jan-24-2007 21:08:

Don't Laugh, Need Advice, iMac + Ableton Live, Extrenal Controller?

Sorry to bother you guys but I wanna DJ live for fun, I really don't want to make a career out of this but I want to learn how to DJ. Do to some reasons I've choosen to DJ on a digital platform.

Basically this is what I have in short:

20 inch iMAc and currently using the demo version of Ableton Live 6 to try it out.

The thing is I'm kinda figured out how to mix but it's kinda annoying doing the fading on the computer mouse and moving knobs on the screen. Plus the iMac mouse isn't really the best.

Do I need an extrenel controller so I can do all my fading and controlling the bass, pitch, etc... on. I'd find it a lot easier to do instead of using a mouse and doing all that stuff.

Also, do I need anything else to DJ live with, I have a iMac and Ableton Live. I get high quality MP3s stored on my hard-drive.

Posted by |Thrax| on Jan-24-2007 22:08:

if you want to cue, which is not something you NEED to do, I would suggest a higher quality soundcard. Lots of people are using the Maudio firewire 410. Some people have moved on to better and more expensive cards like the prosonus firebox or something from motu.

for a beginner i would suggest the m-audio x-session pro.
it's great, its small and it does everything you would probably need to.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_...onPro-main.html

usb, plug it in, and start assigning functions through ableton midi map.

Posted by Vero on Jan-24-2007 22:20:

if you just want to have some fun with it and not spend a ton of money you might want to check out the hercules DJ controller and the uc-33e from m-audio (this is what i use for ableton).

Posted by Alex on Jan-25-2007 03:34:

I too recommend the x-session pro!

Neat little thing.

As far as soundcards go, if you're just doin it for fun, screw the 410! Go for the audiophile which is about $100 cheaper and works just fine!

I have one for sale actually, I bought a new comp and it doesnt have a firewire port.