REVIEW BOTTOM LINE: Mixxx 2.00- A FREE, open source DJ software that is not just for beginners and radio shows anymore, it is good for DJs on a budget and even good enough for many professional DJs.
RATING: 4/5
COMPATIBLE: Windows, Linux, Mac OS
PRICE: FREE
The minute we think DJ today, we think digital and that's right because one way or the other, there is something digital involved in most setups. All the logistics and hardwork required in the days gone by seems alien to most younger DJs and producers today. Powerful DJ and music production software has become the choice of the trade, where most of the hardware is simulated and in recent years it has been perfected furthermore, making it a replacement for carrying bulky gear, vinyls or CDs. Although, the cost of the old ways was very high and moving to digital greatly reduces it, professional software and hardware still costs a decent amount. The most popular DJ softwares out there demand no less than £80 for being nearly fully functional and usually to be featured further, the licenses can cost upto £200 or more. Then there is the dilemma of buying hardware that comes with a software license but that software may have its limitations for you and vice versa. What if someone told you, there is a fully featured software, you can install and use for FREE without limitations? Unbelievable? Not quite... welcome to Mixxx DJ! It is an open source music software available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux! (no joke!). Mixxx has been around in beta (1.110) for a long while but recently they released 2.00 and boy is it good! Whilst Mixxx 1.110 was just fine for basic mixing, load tracks, beat mix and looping, 2.00 takes it to level par with the big boys.
Compatibility and Cost
The monopoly in DJ software is held by a few, namely the top 3 : Traktor by Native Instruments, Serato DJ and Virtual DJ. At least these are the ones you'll have heard of if you aren't a DJ but the list does not end there. There is great software choice like, DJAY by Agoriddim (admittedly for Mac and tablets only), Rekordbox DJ by Pioneer (recently released with an aim to take over the software market), Mixvibes Cross DJ (brilliant and underrated) and Deckadance DJ.They each are set apart slightly by the performance oriented features and packages they offer.
All the above have their pros and cons and it would be a matter of a whole other article to discuss them. What is of importance is that they all cost money or come included when you buy hardware built for them. Whilst Traktor can be mapped to just about any MIDI controller, Serato DJ can't (you need Serato certified hardware). Virtual DJ and Cross boast the widest 'plug and play' compatibility to most hardware you're likely to come across. What Mixxx has in its bag is, a community which contributes to its progress and also to making more maps available for popular hardware. It isn't quite 'plug and play' but it isn't very difficult to get a controller from the list of those supported (apparently over 85) working in minutes. For something that costs £0, that is really good. What's more? Mixxx supports DVS with timecode with your existing Serato or Traktor DVS soundboxes.
That answers the question of compatibility but surely a FREE software, designed by a community can't come close to the 'paid-for' big boys, can it? I would say, with 2.00 Mixxx has come very close to the big boys. There are still some things that aren't just that bit perfect, for instance effects just don't sound right (to my ears at least) but for most other things you can think of, in my opinion Mixxx is on par or in some cases better!
Features
1. Skins and UI: Let's get this out of the way shall we? Skins is a love or hate thing! Virtual DJ lovers look at being able to customize and skin the DJ software as an essential function whilst those who play Serato or Traktor couldn't care less. However, skinning isn't just for making something look beautiful (the way you think it is, after all beauty is in the eye of the beholder or so they say). Skinning is extremely useful for different use cases, for example somebody using a mixdeck for radio won't need the same items displayed as a DJ would. Mixxx supports xml and css based skinning and comes with 3 very clean and useable skins which render beautifully on medium power hardware as well. Just like anything else in Mixxx, the UI and the resources used for drawing the waveforms is customizable in the preferences.
2. Waveforms: They weren't nearly good in 1.110 but in 2.00 the waveforms are brilliant. You can choose your framerate, RGB, filtered or monotone waves. Depending on the skin you can have them on each deck or you can stack them! They render cleanly, look sharp and scroll intuitively. There is great detail in them too and you can see the differences in the frequencies of the sound you are playing. I can compare them to all three, Traktor, Serato and Virtual DJ and say that I like these alot, the best for me being Traktor so far closely followed by Virtual DJ. Infact for those who have given Cross DJ (Mixvibes) a spin, these will remind you of those. (Why not Serato? Someday I'll write an article about that too- the programmers at Serato simply ignore Windows as a platform which is why the software is mostly ported from Mac OS to Windows. This has left a glaring error in waveform rendering and even in 2017 you have to deal with choppy and laggy waves even on premium hardware. There is plenty of discussion about this on the Serato forum and most folk even have trouble with this on certain Mac Books.)
3. Transport, Loops, Cues and Mixer: Mixxx has everything you have come to expect from a useful DJ software: Loops upto 64 beats, 8 hot cues, quantize, keylock, independent pitch control, slip mode, per channel filters, vinyl view and control and beat grid with full editing possibility. The best thing is, most of the functionality and emulation is customizable in the preferences. For example, you can select your transport behaviour to be like Pioneer hardware or Numark hardware etc. Options are also available for mixer behaviour and Vinyl (pitchbend) behaviour. Mixxx boasts one of the best Vinyl emulation engines to make your controller gigs sound just right. The EQs are great and you can customize just how much of suppression or kill you want, and also exactly where. Let's not forget, if you run short of options, you can contribute to the software yourself and build options (assuming you know your way around coding).
4. Track decks, Sample decks and Effects: Mixxx has upto 8 sample decks available, which can be triggered as normal. You can have upto 4 normal track decks in addition to the samples. The software comes with a handful built-in effects and 4 effect decks which gives you either superficial or more in depth control for each effect. The effects and the way they work, leaves a lot to be desired but this is only the one place I have found Mixxx to fall short.
5. Library functions: This, in my opinion is the clincher. Whilst Virtual DJ has a very hassle free system of directly accessing your PC folders for the library and it used to be my favorite, I have come to like the Traktor library management system. Once the inital pain of adding and analysis is over with, Traktor does it all automatically from then on when you add to the collection. As for search, Traktor is extremely powerful there too! Serato on the other hand has the worst library management system, in that it doesn't have one- if you organise your music in iTunes, Serato uses that but otherwise if you want to organise independantly within Serato, it is a bit of a pain.
Once again, not going into too much detail and coming back to Mixxx- Mixxx is as good as Traktor. In version 2.00 Mixxx can pull your Traktor playlists, iTunes playlists and Rhythmbox (Linux users) playlists as is and they will appear in your browser already. As for adding and making a collection in Mixxx, it is extremely simple- just select watch folders and it will automatically add from there everytime you start up Mixxx. The track analysis engine is fantastic and if you're coming from Traktor, it can use most of the Traktor analysis already. Search is strong- you can search for tracks with a humanly understandable command line. For example, location: 'folder-name' will display all songs in that folder! This works for most of the tags like artist, track, album etc. Mixxx allows full editing of your music tags and will also pull relevant information from the MusicBrainz dastabase if you want it to. Also worth mentioning, that ALL of the functions in Mixxx including browsing (mainly jumping between browse and search) can be achieved using just the keyboard without ever having to touch the mouse. Between your keyboard and your controller, all of Mixxx can be navigated.
In Use
In the mix, Mixxx is intuitive and powerful- coming from Traktor to use this for a test, I've had no learning curve or needed time investment for getting music analysed and onto Mixxx. It took me 10 minutes from activating the Pioneer DDJ-SB2 with Mixxx, getting my music from Traktor and selecting my UI settings to start mixing. As the DDJ-SB2 is one of the supported controllers, all I had to do was select it from the drop down list in preferances and go. It is good to know that there is a mapping software within Mixxx that will allow you to create new maps or customise the current one (like Virtual DJ and Traktor). Once on the roll, I found myself getting carried away mixing without problems and I hardly noticed the change of software (unless when trying to use effects!). It is easy to mix and perform with Mixxx including the use of samples and things like loop roll. The mixes are easily recordable as well, in the format of your choice. The options to select multiple soundcards is easy if you aren't using a controller or hardware but simply trying to use a splitter cable or a secondary USB soundcard for cueing. This will make it super easy for beginner and hobby DJs to start mixing without having to buy or get involved in expensive hardware.
Conclusion
All in all, Mixxx is a pleasant experience and the fact that it is FREE, enforces one of my personal motto's- 'All you need to mix well is basic controls and ears'- add to that a free software with waveforms and perfomance functions and you're a lucky DJ. The team at Mixxx has done a fantastic job with 2.00 and the community of Mixxx as well, in having provided so much compatibility to popular hardware already, including the most popular CDJs for MIDI/HID control. The bottom line on Mixxx- A FREE, open source DJ software that is not just for beginners and radio shows anymore, it is good for DJs on a budget and even good enough for many professional DJs.
PROS: Cheap, lots of control possibilities (4 x 16 Pads and 4 x 8 knobs), highly customizable, can be used with any MIDI software, light and small
CONS: Small knobs are difficult to hold, no basic software included
The Akai LPD8 is a MIDI protocol pad and knob controller. It is a budget device aimed at producers who are just getting into the game or for professionals as a backup. Akai hail it as providing 'production in your pocket' without a mouse or keyboard. With eight pads and eight knobs what can this pocket sized production pad provide to professionals? A hassle free USB compliant device for the Mac or PC, just plug and produce when inspiration strikes. However, being class compliant it can be of great use for DJs too! Assuming you're willing to put in a little time to map this to your choice of software.
Initial Setup
It is small, light and made on a budget, no surprise there. However, the pads are of a great quality in touch and feel and most of all, they are standard size. This means that you wont be mashing your drums or samples and mixing it all up. The pads are also velocity sensitive and can be used for effective finger drumming. The knobs on the other hand, are small and plasticky yet they have a tight enough feel to them! In addition to the pads and knobs, there are four other smaller buttons, which are to do with changing the programs on the Akai (we will discuss this further in the article).
The device comes with a long enough USB cable and a CD which has the software which allows you to change and program the pad with your choice of MIDI notation. This is a solid albiet standard feature but pleasantly surprising to have on a budget device. Especially that the LPD8 boasts 4 programs with 2 layers of MIDI notations. Simply put, this means ALOT of control choice out of a very small device. Just to make it clear, the software on the CD simply allows you to program the LPD8 independantly, you will still have to map it to your software of choice (Production or DJ).
Which brings me to the first real con of this purchase, it comes without any production software. Now, I didn't go in expecting any software for such a low price but also because I bought this for another purpose; DJ backup and on the go use. Those of you out to get this as your first production device, be aware of this. It would have been nice to see a 'Lite' or intro version of something like Ableton with the device but this makes it clear, the target market in mind is producers looking for an addition or a small desktop or on the go production device. Having said that, all you have to do is plug this into your computer and start-up the software you use, get mapping the AKAI LPD8 or find maps online before you start using it.
Use for DJs
Let's concentrate on why this device is actually useful for DJs. Mainly this should attract DJs, who are looking for 1. a backup device and 2. an extension to your set up. The LPD8 has 4 programs accesible using the the bottom row of pads, after pressing the red 'PROGRAM' button (NOT the 'PROG CHG' as this is for use with the AKAI software to assign the MIDI notes to each pad and knob). Each of these programs is capable of having 2 layers of controls on the pads, making them effectively 16 pads. Think of the 'CC' and 'PAD' buttons as modifier/shift switchers. On the other hand, the knobs can only have one value each per 'PROGRAM'. Therefore, each of the 4 programs can have 16 pads and 8 knobs.
That's fantastic! It truly is. Going by my own experience, having mapped this to Traktor Pro 2.11; the time it takes to map, is worth it. The 4 Program settings I have are for the following uses:
1. Loop and hot cue controls with filters and gain. This is great as an addition to a set up, where you don't have performance pads. The knobs could be mapped to effects for instance, to take advantage of the software effects One possible use is using this as an extension to your setup with CDJs and a house mixer.
2. A sampler pad! Here the knobs actually control the volumes and filters on Traktor's Remix Decks! This is a great program and can give you basic control to the Remix Decks for samples or basic remixing without having to shell out money for expensive Traktor hardware.
3. Extended browsing control. Think about how many times as a DJ, you're frustrated when you have to move your hand from the controller's browser knob to perform more search functions with your mouse and keyboard? Now, the LPD8 can't replace the keyboard but it can definitely give you more control! I have page jumping, favourite playlist jumping, adding to preparation playlist and load all programmed. Its fantastic. Once again, a valuable addition to your current hardware setup. In this program, the knobs perform other useful functions like waveform zooming, for instance. This program has another trick up its sleeve, the LEDs are mapped to show you PFL output levels.
4. This program is a standalone controller, with basic transport functions, quick looping, pitch bend, volume and equalizers. Between porgram 3 and 4, I can use the LPD8 as a full Traktor controller for 'on-the-go' DJ'ing or preparation.
In real use, it does take time to get used to if you are using all 4 programs, i.e. trying to use this as a (almost) full controller for Traktor. However, I hardly use more than 2 programs at a time, sometimes 3. Therefore, as an extension to a current hardware set-up, it wins! For DJ'ing on-the-go, it is very good in terms of basic mixing and brilliant to make mixtapes whilst travelling. Time is valuable and this helps a lot of things get done in those times you previously thought were useless as a DJ for example, in the train! Endless possibilities. Lastly, it is important to remember, the LPD8 can be as good as you map it to be. For example, in program 1 I have mapped on knob to change loop size and one pad to activate loop on hold. With 'slip mode' turned on, this combination of knob and pad can create perfect loop rolls!
Conclusion
The Akai LPD8 is a low budget, yet very useful MIDI controller. I wouldn't recommend it to beginners because it requires more than a basic knowledge of digital DJ'ing to map this well enough for use. However, if you're an experienced DJ and are looking for a preparation device or a basic performance pad extension to your hardware set up, buy this! It's a 'throw in your bag' gem, which will have you DJ'ing and performing from just about anywhere.
