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I would DEFINITELY check out the aiaiai Capital. They aren’t too big, yet have 40mm drivers. They fold up and are claimed to be very rugged.

I had the TMA-1’s headband snap on me, but: only found ONE other case of this online. The guy at my DJ store told me I was the first one to return a pair of aiaiai cans. They gave me a new set no questions asked and said it was a manufacturing error. I am absolutely impressed with the aiaiai in every department and use the TMA for DJing and lots of listening on the go since I got the version with the iPhone remote. The TMA get awesome reviews over on headfi.org for their reliability and sound (which should be true too for the Capitals) and those guys are picky.

The capitals should be just as good – just not for DJing. They also have distinct style and come in awesome colors. They have the remote/mic for iPhone/iPod. I can find them for 80,- Euros -> well within your budget. If you get them please report back, I’m interested 😉

Link: http://www.aiaiai.dk/store/headphones/capital

I just use my Bike Messenger Bag from bagaboo. There’s other manufacturers like Chrome, Mission Bags, Seagull… I’d rather have sth I can use for many different purposes. Fits my S2 with prodector, Crane Pro, MBP 15″ in sleeve, lots of cables, headphones. 100% waterproof and will last forever. I also use the bag as a weekender, for grocery runs, hauling books to and from university…

Not bad, I like it. But if it’s worth mastering depends on how much it’ll cost you, how heavy that cost weighs for you and what you wanna accomplish with the mastered track. So that’s a question you have to take responsibility for on your own I guess 🙂

Keep up the good work!

Beatport, Traxsource, Junodownload, Soundcloud…

Oh yeah, I get the reason for playing that kinda stuff. My own desire to be a DJ isn’t big enough to play sth I don’t enjoy 100% honestly. And that’s one of the reasons while I’m mainly in my bedroom and playing the occasional house party. I hope your strategy is working out for you, and as I said: good mix 🙂

Not bad.

Didn’t like the first vocal sample.
In the main part I think the mix is far from optimal, the level of your various instruments/sounds doesn’t feel right or in good balance to me.

What sets apart an awesome deep house production from so-so ones? An epic bassline! Your bass, and also the kicks IMO, lack substance and volume. Too flat.

The filtery build-up kinda sounds don’t fit that genre at all IMO and are way over the top for my liking.

Last: song structure. I feel like sth was missing, like you were building up to sth, that never came to fruition. Don’t get me wrong, I like that building vibe, but there should be something more for a climax before coming to an end rather suddenly.

Just my humble opinion, think you’re on a good track, keep doing what ur doing 🙂

After owning and trying quite a few controllers in a relatively short timespan I had to decide between the S2 (which I had owned before) and the S4. Since I mostly use 2 decks and I like the smaller size (and the cheaper price 😀 ) I went with the S2. Although I’d like to have dedicated bigger filter knobs like on the S4, I use a mapping that has filters mapped to the gain encoders and I reduced the sensitivity a bit in the mapping so they’re actually usable. Takes some getting used to I guess. Also would love to have 8 hotcues on the hardware, but I will try to map a 2nd layer (HC 5-8) using “Loop In” or “Loop Out” as kind of a shift control.

Now I know the situation with the need to free up a deck, but it’s manageable even on the S2. Drop one of the Track Decks into a Sample deck slot. Sometimes you have to use the mouse to, say, apply an FX unit on your given Remix Deck or to apply a filter… Maybe next year I’ll upgrade with a F1. Still cheaper to combine S2 and F1 than to get the S4.

I find the NI controllers’ integration with Traktor hard to beat. I’m sure the Denon is great, but I personally would go for S2/S4 all day long.