USB Mixer

[rdfcpete]

Guys - Can anyone spec me or point me towards a USB mixer please?

I'm a rookie DJ that's played around with Native Instruments Traktor DJ Studio for years (currently on v3.1), but I've never taken the plunge with an external mixer and would like to try one now.
I don't want it to be more than £80 ideally and must have the following:

• At least 2 channels
• A headphone 3.5mm Jack
• A cross fader/fader switch

That's it really I think? I've looked at the cheap Hercules one but online forums said it's not great as it doesn't have a sound card built in and therefore doesn't support queuing via headphones, although I may have misinterpreted that? 
Thanks,
Pete.

[S2 Ant]

no idea if these are any good or match what you said but.....

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?q=usb+mixer

[markfive]

Was looking at these the other week (for our AV system at work). Ended up buying something bigger (6 channels with XLR inputs) but you might want to have a look

http://www.studiospares.com/dj-mixers/citronic-pro-1-usb-mixer/invt/282040/

Really depends on your budget, easy to spend £200-£300 or more.

[rdfcpete]

^ That looks nice and sturdy Mark, thumbs up. I might gamble on that tomorrow.
What's the advantage of 6 channels over 2 Mark? I simply just need headphone queuing and that's it, not even a Mic channel at this stage. Will the one you linked suffice? Ta 

no idea if these are any good or match what you said but.....

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?q=usb+mixer

Well this is it mate, I'm buying blind really so any pointers are useful. They're all very similar but need to know what will do a basic job well and what's flashy junk 

[markfive]

Think of the number of channels as the number of inputs over which you have simultanenous control. So this mixer has 7 inputs but you can only use two of them at the same time so it's two channel.

Specs say it supports both mix and split cueing, so you're fully covered. But looking at Citronics website it looks like it's been discontinued 

This one looks similar in terms of features: http://www.studiospares.com/dj-mixers/numark-m1usb-dj-mixer/invt/276960/#

[rdfcpete]

Cheers Mark, makes sense 

If it's discontinued, as long as I can still buy it with the right drivers, that doesn't matter too much to me.
I'm very much at the beginners stage and only have light experience of vinyl and CD decks, so I'm quite new to the digital audio production stage. £80odd quid is more than enough for an entry level mixer for me 

£300 is loads really. I wouldn't get the return or value out of something like that 

[markfive]

This one looks similar in terms of features: http://www.studiospares.com/dj-mixers/numark-m1usb-dj-mixer/invt/276960/#

... and it's actually a bit cheaper than the Citronics one as well   

[Alexander]

Behringer BCD 3000 is a decent value USB mixer, has a built in soundcard as well so you can take audio straight out of it. Also pre mapped for traktor etc.
I also use an M-audio oxygen 25 midi keyboard as a midi trigger for cue points etc.

[Alexander]

forgot to say a USB midi mixer will give you control over traktor whereas the mixers posted above will only receive the sound from the computer!

[rdfcpete]

Thanks Alex ^^ 

I've kind of hung around on this now as I realised I can't find a mixer with the sufficient number of channels that also has digital decks too, i.e. for scratching and advanced queuing.

It looks like these do the job, is anyone able to confirm they'll give me the queuing playback ability through the headphones?

http://www.firebox.com/product/2003/iCue-USB-Music-Mixing-Kit

- I'll check out the Behringer now  Cheers!

[rdfcpete]

Behringer BCD 3000 is a decent value USB mixer, has a built in soundcard as well..

Thanks Alex. After reading about that one, it looks like it does everything I'll need and it's not badly priced either
Have you any first hand experience of one?

[Alexander]

Behringer BCD 3000 is a decent value USB mixer, has a built in soundcard as well..

Thanks Alex. After reading about that one, it looks like it does everything I'll need and it's not badly priced either
Have you any first hand experience of one?

Yep use one with traktor 3 running on a macbook. Also have lots of other midi gadgets and I'm looking at an M-audio Torq Xponent which looks good but is a little bit more than what you want to spend at £350ish.

Have you decided what to get yet?

[ianjmclean]

I bought a Vestax Typhoon a couple of weeks back, which came with Traktor LE. Up till now, all my stuff has been played on vinyl, but getting a real pain carting that about (all 60s\70s soul, bit of 70s reggae, bit of ska and 2tone).

Only played with it a bit, but its a nice unit. However, I had to buy a new laptop to make it work and having trouble getting it to pick up tracks in my iTunes that i coped from my old computer. And seems to struggle to play one track whilst i'm cueing the next - could be a memory thing but my new laptop is well above the minimum spec.

In hindsight, I wish I had taken advice of a DJ friend of mine and bought a couple of CD decks and used my old mixer - then just burnt the tracks i wanted from iTunes onto CD.

[rdfcpete]

Behringer BCD 3000 is a decent value USB mixer, has a built in soundcard as well..

Thanks Alex. After reading about that one, it looks like it does everything I'll need and it's not badly priced either
Have you any first hand experience of one?

Yep use one with traktor 3 running on a macbook. Also have lots of other midi gadgets and I'm looking at an M-audio Torq Xponent which looks good but is a little bit more than what you want to spend at £350ish.

Have you decided what to get yet?

Proper old one I know, apologies to resurrect. I have a question about exactly this believe it or not   

I got a 3000 in the end Alex, thanks again for your guidance.
Have you got any experience with this and NI Traktor Pro 2?

Basically got an issue where I have to double tap the play button on the Behringer to play the track that's loaded in deck - I desperately need it to be a single press 

Any ideas where this config sits?
Ta.

[rdfcpete]

Yep use one with traktor 3 running on a macbook. Also have lots of other midi gadgets and I'm looking at an M-audio Torq Xponent which looks good but is a little bit more than what you want to spend at £350ish.

Have you decided what to get yet?

Apologies to dig up an old one 

I completely took your advice though Alexander, being a Saints man and all 

I'd used the 3000' with my older Windows laptop for the last couple of years but my Samsung Ultrabook (plenty of spec) is Windows 7 and 64bit. The Behringer BCD3000 is 32bit and Vista < backwards only, so I'm not gonna' get any joy from it going forwards in terms of drivers.

My Traktor Pro Software subsequently can't pick it up.

Short of making a Windows XP Virtual machine to run it from, which mixers of a similar function are a little more future proof and will be Windows 7 happy?
It's maybe time to invest in something a little more mature.

Thanks again