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chooch
12-19-2012, 12:19 PM
Hi, i'm looking for a dj effects unit for a set up with two 1210s and an allen and heath xone 22, but its so hard to find decent information for analog djs on the internet!

Ive heard that the Pioneer EFX 500/1000 arent that great in terms of sound quality, although the have the sort of functions im looking for. Ive also heard that the Korg Kaoss Pad is more of a toy than a serious tool. I like the look of the roland EF-303 but i can't find much on it with reference as a dj tool. I'd rather get some older analog equipment but i dont know whats out there other than this lot.

Like i say, i'm mainly just interested in BPM synced delay/echo/reverb and the ability to loop at least 8 beats.

Any info would be great!

xs2man
12-19-2012, 12:33 PM
I would be going for the Pioneer RMX 1000 personally.

chooch
12-19-2012, 12:43 PM
Is the sound quality better than the EFXs? Also can something like the Roland sp808 be used as a dj effects unit using send and return?

Andrew B
12-19-2012, 12:54 PM
The EFX-1000 has good sound quality, the 500 doesn't. I can't see the Roland units you mentioned being especially useful for a DJ, unless you want to do some sampling and sequencing. Pretty much any effector is going to be digital unless you find an old analog filter unit or use some guitar stompboxes.

FWIW, this is an analog reverb:

http://i.imgur.com/RzxMS.jpg
It's almost two feet wide, and it's just reverb. :lol:

Unfortunately, there aren't many choices. Certainly nothing useable thats inexpensive. If you really want effects, I would say save up for a Pioneer DJM or something.

Era 7
12-19-2012, 12:59 PM
Also can something like the Roland sp808 be used as a dj effects unit using send and return?

sure. jeff mills for example has been using a 909 for ages. it's just quite cumbersome compared to the units that are out there today.

chooch
12-19-2012, 01:08 PM
That sounds a lot more up my street. So it would be possible to plug via the send and return on the allen and heath to apply to either of the channels? (talking about the sp-808). For playing samples, would it be possible to play them via the effects on the mixer as the mixer only has two channels, so say if on deck one i had nothing playing but the effects turned on and samples coming from the sp-808, they would play through that channel as if it was an effect?

chooch
12-19-2012, 02:16 PM
Any ideas? Im mainly interested in using it as an effects unit whilst i'm playing a track live on my turntables. Does anyone know if that is possible with the SP 808? Does the echo work in time with BPM?

Andrew B
12-19-2012, 03:21 PM
sure. jeff mills for example has been using a 909 for ages. it's just quite cumbersome compared to the units that are out there today.

Yeah, but Mills uses it as a drum machine hooked up to a channel. It seems like chooch just wants to use it as an effector, which IMO it isn't very suitable for.


Any ideas? Im mainly interested in using it as an effects unit whilst i'm playing a track live on my turntables. Does anyone know if that is possible with the SP 808? Does the echo work in time with BPM?

Check the manual. I'm not sure if it can be used to effect a live signal. And no, the echo won't be BPM-synced.

Era 7
12-19-2012, 03:33 PM
Yeah, but Mills uses it as a drum machine hooked up to a channel. It seems like chooch just wants to use it as an effector, which IMO it isn't very suitable for.

yeah i know. technically the SP-808 should be capable of being used as an EFX unit with send/return but all the people on youtube that used it to shoot off samples had it hooked up to an individual channel. but as i said: there are units that are better suited for that these days.

chooch
12-19-2012, 03:35 PM
Would an sp404 perhaps be better for this?

Andrew B
12-19-2012, 03:43 PM
Would an sp404 perhaps be better for this?

Not really. If you want an effector, get an effector. If you want a sampler, get a sampler.

xs2man
12-19-2012, 04:23 PM
Like i say, i'm mainly just interested in BPM synced delay/echo/reverb and the ability to loop at least 8 beats.

I doubt any of that stuff you are mentioning will be good as a DJ effect unit. The RMX 1000 will really be your best bet for the requirements you mentioned originally.

chooch
12-19-2012, 05:49 PM
Do you know if the 404 can loop on the go? I've read that the DJ effects on it are fine? The RMX looks cool but does also seem to be out of my price range, though i guess if i want the functions i'm going to have to fork out. To clear up again, i want decent sound effects (delay, reverb, echo above all) and importantly the ability to capture loops on the fly and replay them instantly. I'm attracted by the sampling capabilities of the 404 and would really like to try a sampler, but if it cant process loops and effects on the music im playing live then it isnt any good for me.

Thanks for all the help so far, i'm slowly coming closer to what i need.

Panotaker
12-19-2012, 07:32 PM
Sounds to me like you need Serato Scratch Live.

DJ Boom Bap
12-19-2012, 07:37 PM
My buddy has an SP 808, the sound is similar to an old tape deck

chooch
12-19-2012, 07:53 PM
I'm vinyl only so i'm not really interested in an all digital solution, i want some hardware to upgrade my current set up. Its looking like the 808 is too bulky and probably not appropriate for what i want, the 404 is starting to look promising though. I've heard that the dj effects are not too bad and the sampler is a massive extra for me. Does anyone know how it fares with on the fly looping though?

mczozoo
12-20-2012, 03:15 AM
This is not an analog solution, but it has a lot of time-synced effects (like delay, echo and many more). This dj effect software (http://www.musicfxlive.com) runs on your laptop and you can connect the laptop to the mixer via send/return.

chooch
12-20-2012, 03:20 AM
I know but thats what i said, im not interested in a digital solution, i know what serato/traktor is. I just prefer vinyl.

mczozoo
12-20-2012, 03:31 AM
By the way, me too. I have two MK5's on my desk. :)

chooch
12-20-2012, 12:03 PM
Seems like there isn't a unit that has an effective on the fly looper and good quality effects, apart from the kp3, and i dont like the look of the interface, and i've heard the sound quality can be poor. Does anyone have a tc electronic d-2? I've seen that mr.scruff uses one of these and he manages to get some sweet delay out of it and i imagine the sound quality is banging.

chooch
12-20-2012, 12:03 PM
What do any other people use for dj effects units with success?

Andrew B
12-20-2012, 12:34 PM
I know but thats what i said, im not interested in a digital solution, i know what serato/traktor is. I just prefer vinyl.

All of the solutions you're looking at are digital.


Seems like there isn't a unit that has an effective on the fly looper and good quality effects, apart from the kp3, and i dont like the look of the interface, and i've heard the sound quality can be poor. Does anyone have a tc electronic d-2? I've seen that mr.scruff uses one of these and he manages to get some sweet delay out of it and i imagine the sound quality is banging.

TC rack delays are legendary. Does Mr. Scruff use it live, or in the studio?


What do any other people use for dj effects units with success?

Most people use what's on their mixer, or a Pioneer EFX. The reason is that they're designed for live, on-the-fly usage. Most effects units are designed to set it and forget it, at least for the duration of a song. The only other DJ effector besides the Pioneer units and the KAOSS pads that I can think of is the Rodec Restyler, which I've never even seen. I think Behringer makes one (some?) too.

For looping, the most popular solution is the Red Sound Soundbite.

chooch
12-20-2012, 07:14 PM
Yeah i guess i meant i want external, not to have to virtual dj with traktor etc.

Mr. Scruff uses it live when he djs. I'm guess if its good for him its good for me because i play similar records, including a lot of old disco without a drum machine so get some echo would bee cool for mixes that could otherwise be tricky.

I guess its gonna have to be a different solution for looping.

Andrew B
12-20-2012, 07:52 PM
So, all you want is delay?

chooch
12-20-2012, 08:12 PM
Well i'm basically trying to sus out what all the options are, but effects like flanger and phaser and all the over the top ones arent really for me. I just want to be able to add some subtle spice here and there, but i want those effects to have a nice smooth and warm sound. Having seen a lot of units with sampling functions i could be tempted but i do want the efx to not sound too overt/poor quality. I'm pretty new to this side of hardware so im just trying to see whats posible.

I.e i was suprised that the rack mounting delay units like that could be any good for djs, normally being for guitar use by the looks of things. I mean could something like the yamaha spx990 be used by a dj for quality effects?

Andrew B
12-20-2012, 08:31 PM
I don't think the TC is any good for DJs.