Hi,
I love my DJCONTROL MIX ULTRA and use it over my DDJ-FLX4 and DDJ-SX, but there are couple of improvements that would make it even better :
- When selecting the secondary pad modes (pitch play, bounce loop, slicer and sampler), the modes do not get selected if the "shift" button is released before the pad button.
This is annoying because it make quick selection a hit and miss, and I use those pads (remapped for beat jump), every single time I dj.
I hope Hercules can release a firmware update imprving this.
THANKS !!!
@svolto I really like your suggestion; I'll keep an eye on what others have to say about it.
Hello,
It is not firmware related, it is just the way the controller is mapped in DJ apps, and that is the standard way.
If you want to set a pad mode as fast as possible, you should remap it in the DJ app and assign the pad mode to a primary key (no shift), as mapping a function on a secondary mode (with shift) is by design slower.
When using Shift+ key X:
- You press first Shift then key X (if you did to the other way, press key X first and shift afterwards, then key X would have to way to its primary command to know whether you will or not press shit)
- Shift + Key X pressed down send a MIDI Note On command
- Then you release Key X
- Then you release Shift, and the controller sends a MIDI Note Off command => the app sends the function
=> It is the normal and intuitive way, sending the MIDI Note Off command before you release the shift is not intuitive (I tested it, it feels defective).
Hello UX team !
I appreciate you take the time to reply !
But I am unconvinced. Other decks I have do not behave this way and it is more intuitive the other way.
I guess maybe the answer is not which button should be released first, but more as long as the 2 buttons have been pressed together, the signal sent should be that both buttons have been pressed together, no matter which is released first.
I guess what is happening according to your explanation is that if you release shift before X, then X is also sent as a midi command after the release of shift and then overwrite the Shift+X command that has been sent prior.
I do not understand the ins and outs, but I can tell the behaviour is different and less intuitive than other controllers.
I appreciate the suggestion of using primiary pads instead of secondary and I will consider it.
EDIT : I will make a short video showing the behaviour on other decks if that helps !
Thanks !
Best,
Jonathan
Another way to think about it is when you CTRL+S on a computer, the window open, but even if CRTL was released before S, no S is added to the text field as though S was the last key pressed. (unless you hold S for a long time).
Hello Svolto,
Maybe you compare full hardware and not full hardware pad modes when comparing with with FLX4 (I have no DDJ-SX).
To explain the difference:
- DJControl Mix Ultra: when you set a pad mode, the pad mode is set at 100% in hardware, even with no DJ app, the pad mode light matches the mode,
- DDJ-FLX4: when you set a pad mode, the pad mode is set in hardware (changing by the pads commands), but with no DJ app, the pad mode key backlight does not reflect the actual pad mode.
To test it, you can connect the DJ controller to a computer, run Chrome and go to a website showing MIDI commands as MIDILLI or MidiMonitor and see what occurs when you change the pad mode.
Software and hardware modes have advantages and disadvantages:
- Benefit of a full software mode (a mode when the pad mode does not even change pads MIDI commands): the set of commands is more compact, and the DJ app can more change/combine pad modes (as in Serato Combo pad mode).
- Benefit of full hardware mode (a mode where the pad mode changes the MIDI commands of the pads, and where you set the pad mode out of the software): the controller has the same behavior in any app, and in any environment (Windows/mac/iOS/Android/Linux), and the DJ app does not need to store a table of pads status as the controller stores all the pads status in using a different MIDI command on the same pad when the pad modes change
So I suppose DDJ-FLX4 98% hardware pad mode is intended to fit the DJ apps it comes with, and in DJControl Mix Ultra, the 100% hardware mode works better in sending the pad note off MIDI command once you release the shift key (I do not remember exactly what, but I remember of a backlight conflict when sending the commands when releasing the pad mode key instead of waiting for the shift key release).
Thanks again. So based on your last answer, I undesrtand that this behaviour is not the behaviour intended, but a technical limitation. It's quite sad to hear.
I appreciate your time. Thank you !
