First contact with new Hercules DJ Control Steel
Yesterday we received Hercules DJ Control Steel directly from the parent company in France. The exterior of the case is exactly the same as that of RMX, it is metal and very sound, only the colour of the top panel has changed (a mixture of grey and black).
There are no connectors for a soundcard at the rear part, in fact, this console is only a MIDI USB controller.
Once the console is connected, it gets recognized by a single driver only in a couple of minutes. Hercules has updated the Driver for PCs recently, and we need to mention that you can use all the existing Hercules DJ consoles with this single Driver.
You will find the latest version of Virtual DJ Console Edition 5.2.1 PC and Mac (which can be updated to PRO for only 99 Euro) on the installation CD, as well as drivers both for PC and Mac.
As we have already mentioned, in contrast to its previous version RMX, this console doesn’t have an integrated soundcard but, as compared to RMX, here almost all buttons have LEDs below and thus they can be illuminated.
With RMX, it was not possible to illuminate all the buttons due to power consumption of the soundcard, and I underline it as many users complained that it was not possible to illuminate, for example, EQ kill buttons; however you can do it with the new Steel!
The potentiometers, which regulated microphone and headphones volume in analog mode in RMX, here are replaced with 2 rotary encoders allowing to change very quickly 2 parameters of effects which you activate (on the left), and headphones volume which used to be analog is now in MIDI mode (on the right).
There is a new button "Apply Ctrl On" below 2 knobs on the left which allows to choose working with 2 parameters on decks A or B, position "Select" allows you to choose the specific effect with which you want to work immediately. 3 LEDs on its side show the selection you made.
Buttons “Source” of RMX here are replaced with 2 very convenient buttons “Shift” which allow to use other 12 functions for 6+6 buttons of the console. They get illuminated when you press them, and you can choose other 6+6 functions for these buttons in Virtual DJ skin.
All the rest buttons and sliders have the same functions as those in Hercules RMX.
In conclusion I can say that this new Hercules Steel is effective and particularly suitable for those who need a more professional external soundcard than that integrated in RMX.
You will find the latest version of Virtual DJ Console Edition 5.2.1 PC and Mac (which can be updated to PRO for only 99 Euro) on the installation CD, as well as drivers both for PC and Mac.
As we have already mentioned, in contrast to its previous version RMX, this console doesn’t have an integrated soundcard but, as compared to RMX, here almost all buttons have LEDs below and thus they can be illuminated.
With RMX, it was not possible to illuminate all the buttons due to power consumption of the soundcard, and I underline it as many users complained that it was not possible to illuminate, for example, EQ kill buttons; however you can do it with the new Steel!
The potentiometers, which regulated microphone and headphones volume in analog mode in RMX, here are replaced with 2 rotary encoders allowing to change very quickly 2 parameters of effects which you activate (on the left), and headphones volume which used to be analog is now in MIDI mode (on the right).
There is a new button "Apply Ctrl On" below 2 knobs on the left which allows to choose working with 2 parameters on decks A or B, position "Select" allows you to choose the specific effect with which you want to work immediately. 3 LEDs on its side show the selection you made.
Buttons “Source” of RMX here are replaced with 2 very convenient buttons “Shift” which allow to use other 12 functions for 6+6 buttons of the console. They get illuminated when you press them, and you can choose other 6+6 functions for these buttons in Virtual DJ skin.
All the rest buttons and sliders have the same functions as those in Hercules RMX.
In conclusion I can say that this new Hercules Steel is effective and particularly suitable for those who need a more professional external soundcard than that integrated in RMX.
More info: http://www.hercules.com/uk/DJ-Music/bdd/p/83/dj-control-steel/
Cioce DiJ
(translated and edited by Taissia Zubova)
