Digital DJ Tips

How to DJ properly with portable digital DJ gear

Review & Video: The Novation Twitch DJ Controller

 

 

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Using the touchstrip was actually pretty easy. I don’t think it’s quite as accurate for setting beatgrids as a jogwheel is, but in practice it was fine, and setting cues on loading was intuitive. You have to learn to keep your hand on the “drop” button when needle-dropping because as soon as your finger leaves the touchstrip, the drop turns off by default.

Novation Twitch Review Transport

You have to learn to keep your hand on the “drop” button when needle-dropping because as soon as your finger leaves the touchstrip, the drop turns off by default.

Sometimes when I wanted to nudge a tune that was slipping out of time, I needed to manually turn the “swipe” transport mode on, and I didn’t work out when this was the case. That was annoying as obviously a jogwheel is always either in nudge or scratch mode so you don’t have to worry about that on that type of system.

I sometimes left the loop roll or auto loop buttons pressed and didn’t realise, so when I tried to nudge the tune with the touchstrip, I actually changed the parameters of those functions instead. When this happened, it took me a while to work out what was happening. I guess you’d get used to this.

Beatgridding, effects and loops
I was surprised that I actually did quite a lot of beatgridding while I was DJing. I often don’t bother beatgridding my music, preferring to let the software determine the BPM then just mixing it manually, but in keeping with the spirit of the Twitch (it is obviously very beatgrid-led, for instance there’s no manual looping at all), I attempted to beatgrid most of my material for this set. I found it easy to use the built-in beatgridding functions in this way.

Because saved loops are all right there in front of you, you use them more…

The fader FX were great fun. I used them for filters mainly, but also for echo just to mess with the outgoing beats under an incoming tune a couple of times. I can see DJs getting seriously into using these because frankly it looks good when you’re purposefully using a fader to do something, so the more excuses to do so, the better!

However, I didn’t get to do anything really complex with effects over the master outputs in addition to this. You could feasibly use the master FX to give some processing to a vocal microphone, for instance, and the deck FX for your recorded music, which would suit having a live vocalist perform with you. I also admit – I did nothing with the slicer! This is something to practise for next time.

 

 

One thing I noticed which excited me was that because saved loops are all right there in front of you, you use them more. Most controllers allow you to save loops – indeed, the aforementioned VCI-300 lets you have three right there on hotkeys, and I make use of those often – but this is another level: eight perfectly synched, saved loops at your disposal means you can chop tunes up really easily.

For instance, I play some 70s Latin, rock and disco music in my sets – Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, original dubs and the like – and much of this stuff fades out at the end. But there’s always a funky drum loop somewhere in the song, or a guitar lick on its own, that can be used as a tool.

With the auto loops, I found myself habitually setting loops for these parts, so as soon as a track began to fade, I’d hit the fader FX to put some echo on it, then cut to a loop of its middle eight drums to give me an interesting (and more to the point, endless) texture to mix out from.

VU monitoring Novation Twitch

I found VU monitoring to be nice and bright, but some of the backlit buttons to be dim.

I suspect over time you’d get used to thinking of your set as a number of loopable elements and not just as set records, which in this case for me could really liberate pre-dance material and allow me to be more adventurous mixing with it.

I found the VU monitoring to be great – nice and bright – but the lighting of the buttons not so; my sets are at sundown so some of my DJing is in daytime. As soon as it got dark they were all well enough lit, and I accept that most people will after all be using the unit in a dark environment, but a brightness control would have been nice.

Overall, I didn’t miss the jogs; the gear felt professional to use (and I felt I looked professional using it); and while I only scratched the surface with the features (for instance, I haven’t yet found a creative way to use the slicers – I’d love to chop up the Amen break on them, for instance…), I can already see how DJing solely with this would encourage you strongly to set creative cues and loops and start doing stuff you’d never normally attempt with your material. I’m looking forward to DJing with it again.

Conclusion

This is an important controller. Vinyl and digital are not the same, and this is the first mainstream controller to fully acknowledge that.

While it looks complicated and in some ways it is indeed advanced, it’s nothing to be scared of – in fact, it’s quite simple (only two decks, no samples or loop recorder like Traktor, no manual looping, to name a few presumably deliberate limitations).

It will be interesting to see what happens when ITCH 2.0 comes out, because there’s a sampler in that

Where it excels is taking the obvious advantages of digital and put them centre-stage. By beatgridding your material, you can slice it up, easily add beat-led effects, jump around within it, play from loops, and generally perform in a way that is impossible with vinyl, and with the Twitch, you can do all this on a small, lightweight unit.

More importantly, you can do so out of the box. It’s always seem a little ridiculous to me that DJs who want a lot of these functions have to build or reapportion Midi devices and program them themselves, spending valuable time getting their hands dirty with mappings when they could be finding great music and learning creative ways to mix it instead.

Novation Twitch Review Traktor Overlay

There's a supplied Traktor mapping, which comes complete with an overlay and will allow the adventurous controllerist to really go to town on programming all of those buttons.

The ITCH software isn’t for everyone, not least because barring a few setting tweaks you get what you’re given, but those of you who want more granular control over how everything works will be pleased to know that there’s a Traktor mapping supplied, as well as an overlay for the unit indicating how everything works with Traktor. The notable omission in the Traktor mapping is the slicer, although you do get your four decks back. However, ITCH and all future updates are free.

Speaking of number of decks, it’s interesting that Twitch is two-deck only. I guess the thinking is that with all this ability to manipulate two tracks, DJs can have so much fun that they really won’t need decks three and four to “get creative”.

Certainly it will be interesting to see what happens when ITCH 2 comes out, because there’s a sampler in that, and if the Twitch manages to incorporate that somehow, it again lessens the need for extra decks – two decks plus a bank of samples should be quite enough for most DJs.

 

 

So the question we asked was: Is this diminutive little controller the way forward, or a brave failure? Well it’s definitely brave, but also it deserves to do well. I suspect it will scare off some DJs who may feel they’re not learning the “right” skills by having no jogs, but for every one of those there will be another DJ who wants to learn a thoroughly modern way of DJing, free from many of the limitations and cliches from the old way of doing things.

The more you use it, the more Twitch makes sense. I’m very much looking forward to spending a decent amount of time DJing with it to see how it changes the way I play my sets. I suspect it has the capability to change the way I DJ quite profoundly, and very much for the better.

Video


Summary

We like:

  • Innovative features and functions, well suited to digital
  • Great size and portability while still feeling “serious”
  • Flexible routing for mic and aux inputs, plus a booth output

We don’t like:

  • Lights are a bit dim for comfortable use in daylight
  • No sampler – yet

Star ratings:

Features:

Build quality:

Sound quality:

Value:

OVERALL:

Product details:

Size & weight: 13.8 x 10.8 x 2.6″ (350 x 275 x 65mm), 4lb (1.8kg)
Price: US$499 / £399 / €529


What do you think?
Would you be tempted to go down a no-jogwheel route to get back some portability,? Are you excited by the way this controller prioritises its features? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Now go to:
DJ Midi Controllers: The Ultimate Buyer’s Guide 2011
4-Deck DJ Controllers: The Ultimate Buyer’s Guide 2011
Will You Be DJing With Jogwheels In 5 Years? Ritchie Hawtin Won’t…


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84 Responses to “Review & Video: The Novation Twitch DJ Controller”
  1. Mike says:

    Great, great review Phil! Very informative.

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  2. loopbg says:

    i just love it since the first time I saw it! It has all what’s needed and is still easy to move around. That’s what controllers have to be about – compact, yet powerful. Kudos to Novation for the price point they’ve set too.

    DEFINITELY WANT ONE!

    The library sorting thing – do you have anything to do with the design, or it’s just that the Novation’s designers are smart enough to figure it out themselves?

    Enjoy your new tool!

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    • Phil says:

      It was all their doing! The Xone:DX has the sane function but the NS6, for example, doesn’t.

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  3. David says:

    What do you think of using it as a sort of overkill mixer, say with a pair of TTs in a DVS or between some turntable style controllers?

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    • loopbg says:

      makes perfect sense, IMO. I vote for Serato to integrate proper native support into SSL for it … and of course, it’d need to run through SL* for the audio I/O

      … would be doable with TSP too …

      Any chance that it can accomodate a battle fader inside? Would there be enough room for an innofader ?

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  4. Grab the Itch 2.0 beta Phil, just had four hours on it without hitch….

    Sample player on there as well, need to figure out how to use it lol!

    Cheers
    D

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  5. Will says:

    Seriously considering selling my S4 and buying one of these.

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    • loopbg says:

      lol, me too. I don’t want to see the S4 go, but if I have both, the s4 would likely just stay and collect dust :(

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      • Will says:

        Yeah. I really like the S4, but the smaller size of this is very appealing, especially as I’m going to be travelling a LOT over the next few years.

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      • Jon Cravenwood says:

        I’m selling my s4 as well, like you said the size of this is really appealing…setting up the s4 in a DJ booth is a mammoth task….i’ve actually gone back to using cdjs when i play out which is very boring if the venue hasn’t got either some cdj 2000s or 1000s because you don’t have that many features…..hence why i love this so much because it has 8 hotcues on each deck :D

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  6. John says:

    You have beautiful hands Phil

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  7. goodguy says:

    Great review, thanks – another nail in my “right, I’m buying that sucker” coffin :)

    You made a really solid point with “the truth is, digital music files are not like records – they’re not round, and they don’t spin”. I’d include CDs in that (sure they physically spin, but not in a way that’s at all useful to the DJ!) as well – basically if you want a round controllery thingy then use vinyl or DVS. If not, then this is probably more valid than most controllers out there as it’s not “faking” vinyl…

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  8. David says:

    I dont go for this jogwheels = archaic remnant of vinyl. Jogwheels are tools, just like pots, faders, pads, etc.

    Ean Golden for example uses jogs to great effect – as FX controls.

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    • Phil says:

      True but they’re big tools when a smaller tool may be able to do the trick.

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    • DJ Forced Hand says:

      Oh but they are worse than that. You cannot “Drop” anywhere in the track immediately with a jog wheel (as you can with Vinyl and Twitch), nor can you “pinch or expand” a loop with a Jog Wheel (something neither CD or Vinyl allow). The touchsrtip is simply a better tool for the job.

      When you really break down the (Traktor Kontrol S2) video, you see that the jog wheel press and turn moves all the parameters at once (something that can be mapped with any controller). Ean customized the jog wheel for his trick… Ean is also around DJ tools all day and has the know-how to make all of those “very narrow control mappings” work for a set or one demonstration mix, something most people won’t do and shouldn’t be fooled by one man’s expertise at mapping controls. On the flip-side, if you’re looking for controls (out of the box) The Twitch has the ability to control all 3 parameters of all four of the Traktor Pro effects.

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  9. Kregg says:

    I’m anxious to try one of these out. Looking for something portable that I can throw into a backpack and take on my motorcycle. Thinking about a used VCI-300 but this might be a better choice.

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    • Phil says:

      It’s much lighter than the VCI-300 so would suit you in that respect.

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  10. tony says:

    Does it have headphone split cue please!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    • Phil says:

      No it doesn’t.

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      • Dj Loki says:

        Yeah that kind of screws it up for me. Why on the world would they make such a great product with no split cue?

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      • Phil Morse says:

        To be fair, very few DJ controllers do. It does have a master/cue mix which achieves the same goal albeit by a different method. It also has a booth out which I think is more important.

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  11. djjc says:

    More controllers with no jog wheels would be great. Buttons and faders are all I want really. Some of my friends still use their trusty UC33′s. And something similar to this without the built-in audio interface would be even better to keep costs down and to appease those of us who are perfectly happy with our external interfaces. Here’s hoping.

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    • Chris Argueta says:

      djjc says” More controllers with no jog wheels would be great”.

      Vestax TR-1.

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      • Phil Morse says:

        Good point, although it’s bit long in the tooth now.

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  12. loopbg says:

    question: Is the cue mix MIDI or hardware control?

    I often wish the Cue mix knob on the S4 would be a hardware control and not MIDI, as i’m setting the system default output (e.g. iTunes, Youtube) to the sound card master out, but I need to listen to it through the headphones, when at home, as my speakers are off. Now, I have to switch back and forth the software routing to output on the headphones, which is inconvenient. If it’s an analogue control, it’d be flawless …

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    • Phil Morse says:

      Not sure what you mean, but you can use your laptop’s sound card independently of the Twitch’s sound card – so you can be playing a tune on your iTunes on the laptop and also two different tunes on Twitch, and in the Twitch headphones mix, you are hearing your two DJ tunes. Does that help?

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      • loopbg says:

        I understand what you say, but my question is different. I’d be setting TWITCH’s master out to be the default system output, not the laptop one.

        My question is if the knob, which controls the Master/Cue mix (the one next to the headphones level on the right) is an analogue control, or MIDI one. Analogue, in terms that it crossfades the master & the cue bus electrically, independent of the software.

        It’s better if it’s an analogue, so in case TWITCH’s master is your default sound out, by twist of the knob, you can still hear the same signal audible on the master/speakers, but on the headphones . With the S4, it’s Traktor doing the crossfade (MIDI), so I don’t hear the same signal as the one one the speakers in case other app is sharing the soundcard’s master output. It’s best if it’s software independent.

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      • Phil Morse says:

        I’m not sure you can do what you’re wanting to do in ITCH, but I may be wrong. Anyway, I don’t know how to work out whether that’s an analogue or a Midi knob – I think it’s probably Midi.

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      • loopbg says:

        The test for this would be easy:
        1. from the Audio/MIDI Setup app (Mac) -> Audio Setup (in the Window menu) you can choose which is your default Audio Out device. Right click the TWITCH soundcard and select “Use this device for sound output”
        1a. By default, it should set to output on the master channel, but if not, the default output pair can be changed from the “Configure Speakers” menu.
        2. Start an iTunes or another preferred player – you should be hearing the audio playing through the speakers connected to TWITCH
        3. Twisting the MIX knob will either do nothing (if it’s MIDI), or you will start hearing the iTunes music in the headphones, like on the speaker.

        It doesn’t matter if ITCH will be running or not, if you hear the output of iTunes on both the speakers and the phones, while the MIX knob is at “master” position, it’d be an analogue control.

        BTW, I really like that the BOOTH can be switched on either the CUE or the MASTER buses. That’s very useful and makes me really optimistic that the MIX knob will also be an analogue control too :)

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  13. Chris Argueta says:

    I was hoping for a more details on the touchstrips. I think that is one of the most innovative features of this controller.

    I had a hard time getting used to not having jogwheels with my current controller, but eventually got used to it. I was able to adapt by mapping buttons to “seek” functions and what not.

    I want to pick one of these up, if the touch strip can give me the same amount of control in nudging tracks forward and backwards as you would with jogwheels. In other reviews on Youtube, it looks like that may be the case.

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    • Phil Morse says:

      That is the case – they are “progressive” like using a jogwheel, and feel pretty convincing. To me they’re 90% as good as using jogs – but I’m used to VCI-300 jogs, which are the best in the business. I suspect you’d get used to the touchstrips quite quickly. I am going to play a couple more gigs on it to make my mind up about that. Watch the video for a demo of the touchstrips.

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      • Chris Argueta says:

        Looking forward to it, Phil.

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  14. thisisian says:

    Hi Phill

    I notice you’ve got a MacBook Pro. Did Twitch seem happy enough running on USB bus power from that?

    This is the only thing that’s concerning me, as historically there’s been “issues” with making sure you use the “right” USB socket on Mac’s.

    I’ve got a Twitch on order, so hopefully it will be fine.

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    • thisisian says:

      also, is the mic input useable?

      I know a lot of people found the VCI 300 mic input to be unuseable (bad delay, funny phasing effects). If Itch’s mic input is ok, then it would make the unit useable for small mobile gigs, without needing an external mixer.

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    • Phil Morse says:

      Yes, worked fine.

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  15. rayco says:

    Hey Phil, cheers for the great review and the video. Would love to see a few mixes in action to see how well the touch strips work for setting cue points and manual beatmatching! Any chance? (cheekily)

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  16. Leetenant says:

    I am waiting for a competitively priced digital controller that can link to either traktor, torq 2.0, or serato and comes with 4 channels using rotary knobs (optional) instead of sliding faders. Until something more affordable comes out to meet that criteria I am going to use a DJM 3000, Traktor Kontrol x1, and my audio interface (M-Audio Connectiv) in an attempt to move away from the turntables and have still have fun.

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  17. Leetenant says:

    Phil, can you post some recorded sets with the Novation Twitch? Many of us would like to hear how it sounds. I’m sure it sounds good…I’m just a stickler about wanting big fat rotary controls.

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  18. Activated~soundwave (jace) says:

    Great Review, I started spinning in 1986 then skipped From vinyl straight to the digital domain with ableton 4 to present(I hated Cd decks never wanted to use them i found them so uninviting) anyhow i Felt pressured that the djing without platters/jogs was not wright or in fact fake, but what the layman clubber does not realise is the fact that the spinning discs is only a gimmick in the digital realm unless you are a scratch dj of course, most djs will Hit the sync button more often than not, is this cheating yes! But only if you don’t use your free time!, but that’s the whole point with the future. And confessions of all djs i would say, we all want to excite and be loved so now we have opportunity to put our creativity on our sets, so again those that flounder around and those who push their limits will be known apart as technology advances. anyhow last week i got my Traktor S4, so disappointing for me it was like taking a step back, i was soul destroyed at wasting £750 in my eyes, anyhow with much debate i managed to send it back, and i was stuck with the choice of the Numark NS6 the twitch had not really been noticed by myself, then i had a brain wave, i used my refund to buy another Akai APC40 and ordered a twitch controller, best of both worlds, and after reading your review it has confirmed my Instinct which is normally correct, i can use the both with ableton add a flight case and the built in souncard another reason i got fed up with ableton and sold my vestax VCM600 and my first Akai APC40,Great controllers but just to much gear to add a separate soundcard etc. all this has just changed and i cant wait to get up and running, and like is say i also have serato itch to play with, I really hope that people speak out and get on Serato’s and abletons case about developing a bridge for Itch, that would just open up the whole game and would truly be the Real game changer for the masses, so again, i am very happy chappy now, knowing i have made the Correct Choice thanks to your Review, roll on delivery day.
    PS: Small world Phil Morse after many years clubbing at tangled, i would never had thought you would have taken that digital Controller approach , but i was glad to see that Going off towards the end of tangled nights you started to delve with Traktor,as we both know their where Only a few tangled members/djs who where embracing the technology, some traktor some ableton users, so i must say its really good to see you have advanced more so again, I thought you had quit the dj game, so fair do on this well written Review i would never had thought it being you until i Clicked you where the author here.
    A true dj will never really be able to leave it behind, and technology can inspire us Tired Old time Djs, it has always kept me going, and at last we are getting somewhere,
    Glad to see you have the Buzz again Phil.

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  19. Gbrown44 says:

    As always, great read Phil (you’re the man). These words struck out to me “This is an important controller.” and I know coming from you that they really mean something (you pointed me to a great controller before and I still love it).

    Although I don’t need one, I am feeling the need deep down in my pockets to have one.

    thanks

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    • Phil Morse says:

      It’s inspired me to rethink the way I DJ alongside ITCH 2.0, the same as the S4 and Traktor Pro 2 has for many DJs. This is a good thing. :)

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  20. it's all about soul says:

    the soundcard’s quality worries me about usin this in professional PA system

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    • Why is that? Novation is essentially Focusrite, who do high-end sound-cards.

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      • it's all about soul says:

        yes, i hope this sound card have the focusrite quality ! and work fine in a PA system

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      • It will just be a Focusrite card in a different box. Way cheaper than designing a new card… and they will have standard chipsets, drivers, etc.

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      • it's all about soul says:

        is a lot of reports in serato forum about the deficient volume output (very low) beacuse the usb power supply, makes twitch not professioanl equipament, why do you thing in blogs review anybody talk about that ?

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  21. it's all about soul says:

    Do the Low/Mid/High EQs kill the frequencys or just attenuate ?

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  22. Xander says:

    I kid you not. I look at controllers every day, but I haven’t gotten a chance to play with a Twitch yet. Your video literally sold me on it.

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  23. Johannes Shuffle says:

    So is it possible to control the sample player within itch with the buttons of twitch?
    Greets

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  24. rishabh says:

    i wanna know if the built in sound card is as powerful as seratos to be used on a big setup???

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  25. it's all about soul says:

    Why the blogs review dont tell the deficient lower twitch output ? ham ?????

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  26. Zac says:

    So I watched the videos, looked at every review I could find, and asked around of the forums and haven’t got one yet. With the twitch can you use Serato 2.0′s new four deck control? I’ve seen the overlay and noticed that you could control four ‘decks’ using NI’s Traktor and just wanted to know before I buy.

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    • Phil Morse says:

      Serato ITCH has always had four deck control, but you need a four deck controller (NS6, Xone:DX) to use all four decks, and TWITCH is only a two deck controller – so no.

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  27. Aether says:

    Hey Phil,

    Thanks for the detailed review. I purchased the TWITCH a few weeks ago and am waiting for the next batch to come in before it’s shipped to me. I do, however, have a question about the functionality of Serato Itch with TWITCH. I have been using a Hercules 4-MX with Virtual DJ LE; One of the key features with this set up/software is that when you have the software running you can see the layout of both songs playing at the top of your laptop screen and then match up the beats by dragging and aligning them as well as matching up the drops of the songs (I do mostly EDM dance music so by drops I mean the chorus). I’ve been trying to figure out how this would be done on ITCH but I have not been able to wrap my head around it, meaning : How would one align a song so that it drops at the same time as the song that is currently playing?

    Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks again!

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    • Phil Morse says:

      It works the same as other controllers, you just use the touchstrip not the jogs to adjust.

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      • Aether says:

        Thanks for your quick reply!

        I think you misunderstood my question, though. My concern was how one would match up the drops in the ITCH software not necessarily how they would do it with the TWITCH. Like I said, with VIRTUAL DJ you can align the drops simply by syncing the beats and dragging the song via the beatgrid on top. I’m unclear as to how this would be done on ITCH, however.

        Thanks again!

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  28. Omar says:

    No sampler

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  29. Kevin says:

    Phil, I would guess you have played a few gigs with the twitch now. Does it still stand up to a 5 star rating? Have you found any limitations from using jogs?

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  30. Kevin says:

    Anyone know how well it intergrates with itch 2

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    • Phil says:

      It works perfectly; the sync button now works slightly differently to how it is labelled, and you can’t control the sample decks from Twitch, but it all works fine.

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  31. Kevin says:

    Anyone know how well it intergrates with itch 2

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  32. Kevin says:

    How well does the twitch intergrate with itch 2?

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  33. Mike says:

    Would I be able to use this with other dj device such as the vestax pad one? Anyone know if itch has a midi learn function?

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    • Phil Morse says:

      You can’t alter ITCH’s mappings, but you can use Twitch with Traktor (and Pad One) and map them as you like.

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      • Mike says:

        Thanks Phil! … decisions decisions. Either way going to have an excellent christmas break

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  34. L'As says:

    Phil, you’ve had this unit for a while, can you comment on the durability of the unit so far? Someone on this site I believe, commented on how the buttons wore out and/or didn’t work anymore.

    Currently have a DN MC6000 which I’m not fully satisfied with, and too cramped for my liking. And deciding between this and the VCI-400 (but twice the price)and will for sure see what NAMM 2012 has to offer.

    This unit looks pretty good and its a ITCH hardware, bonus!

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    • Phil Morse says:

      It’s plastic built and lightweight, but high quality – I have no problem with the durability of it. However the heavy, metal-built VCI-400 is a different beast entirely!

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  35. Jeff Drugo says:

    Hi Phil, thanks for your exhaustive reviews.
    I was thinking to buy a Twitch cause it fits all my needs, especially for the price, and I was wondering if I would be able, then, to plug an analogue turntable to that AUX input, to digitalize some of my thousands analogue songs.

    Greets

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    • Phil Morse says:

      No you can’t, it’s only a line input. There are turntables out there with amplifiers built in so you can plug then into line inputs, and every turntables with USB sockets so you can USB them straight into the PC, but a normal turntable won’t work with Twitch.

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  36. L'As says:

    I got the Twitch. It’s not perfect but I do like it.

    Coming back to Itch and now 2.1 was a little challenging which is a little different than previous versions I used. The built isn’t pro, mostly the faders and knobs but it does the job.

    The remixing and playing around on this unit, is the best experience I’ve had so far. It’s insane! For those who are used to Traktor’s FXs, Itch isn’t that bad at all. the essentials are there and easily accessible. The best has to be fader volume FX.

    In regards to the volume it is VERY low and lacks punch. Playing tunes from the laptop’s soundcard is even louder.
    However, I’m currenlty using the “Booth Out” as the master. Gonna get 1/4 to RCA cables, but the question is is the sound from the “real” Master Out 1/4 louder than the Booth out?

    Weirdly enough, the sound from headphone jack on the Twitch is louder than the “Booth Out”…

    The Traktor mapping from Novation is a waste. Awkward (mostly for FX). I hope to find a proper mapping. So much potential!

    [ link ]
  37. hi there…i have a problem here , i using novation twitch , and i want to use traktor , but i can’t here a headphone monitor in the traktor, but running well in serato itch , can you guys help me?

    [ link ]
    • Phil Morse says:

      You need to set the output routing correctly in Traktor.

      [ link ]
    • L'As says:

      Hallay, I had the same issue as well. It’s because in Traktor you have to kinda set-up manually at 1st.

      Now sure how you have your screen set-up, but I have 4 decks on below deck “D” on the same row as the crossfader there’s a “mix, headphone and aux” vol controls. I have mix all the way down, headphone vol all the way up and aux all the down since I don’t use it for now.

      With headphone volume all the way up in Traktor, now you use Twtich headphone vol to lower or increase that sound.

      Hope it helps!

      [ link ]
  38. Emil says:

    Hi Phil,

    I’m new to digital djing. I’d like it if you could comment on the lacking sampler function and what it means for you when using the Novation Twitch (if it’s made any difference at all).

    Thanks

    [ link ]
    • Phil Morse says:

      I believe it’s been mapped now to Twitch but I may be wrong. You can always use the Mac keyboard to trigger samples.

      [ link ]
  39. Jay Pee says:

    Superb review, very detailed. I had a lot of questions about Twitch and all have been answered. Especially like the part of the review when the kit is used in a live gig. The only other Q’s will be when I use the kit myself but I think this review will also help with those. Thanks

    [ link ]
  40. Kelly says:

    Thank you for the review Phil – and all the hard work you do! I am just starting out and all your reviews and videos have been amazingly helpful.

    I have gotten to the point where I want/need a DJ controller and trying to stay away form the “toys” while not breaking the bank. I have zero need for scratching and the Twitch just seems like a really interesting alternative. I am considering the Twitch or the Reloop Mixage. I’ve been using Traktor but feel I could make the “ITCH switch” if necessary. Do you think the Twitch would be difficult for beginners?

    Thank you again – wonderful site.

    [ link ]
    • Phil Morse says:

      No, it wouldn’t be difficult for beginners. Just bear in mind that most DJs have experience using “spinny things”, so you won’t be getting that experience.

      [ link ]

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