Vestax Spin

I recently received my Vestax Spin a few days ago. Vestax is well known for it's audio products such as the Vestax VCI-100 and VCI-300, as well as its turntables and mixers that are used by some of the biggest names in Dj music like DJ Qbert, and Mix Master Mike.

The Vestax Spin is basically a cheaper version of the VCI-100, with less knobs and faders. It can be seen through the quality of the materials used on the Spin, as they are inferior to those found on the VCI-100 which is built with metal. Fortunately though even though the Spin is made of plastic, it is solid and does not feel like it is going to fall apart anytime soon. The faders could be better with a bit more resistance, as they feel very light and almost too easy to push. The jog platters are built with quality. They are touch-sensitive, and have a blue illumination underneath them when playing a song, and red when being touched. The controller was created with the beginner dj in mind, with a built in soundcard to allow pre-cueing right from the unit itself, without the need for a soundcard. One can easily just go to a party and connect the Vestax Spin directly into an amplifier or powered speakers, through its RCA outputs and play a set. It also comes with a microphone, but I personally don't use microphones for my sets so I couldn't really tell you if it is good or not.

The Spin comes with Algoriddim's Djay 3 software. The software is pretty decent considering it is packaged in with the unit. It allows mixing between two songs, with a few effects. Although it is good for the very primitive beginner, it lacks for the advanced dj out there who likes to use a large variety of effects and equalizers. The program is disappointing with setting cues, as it only allows for three cues to be set. Djay 3 also does not save the cues made on a song, and therefore requires that the cues be put in manually each time the song is being played. Mind you the software does sport a very tight integration with Itunes giving it an adavantage over other software when trying to track down that song you're thinking of playing next in your set.

All in all the Vestax Spin is a very good midi controller coming in at a price of $250 US or $280 CAN. It can only be purchased from the Apple store in North America. I personally use Traktor Pro with the Vestax Spin, thanks to a map created by Oldfashioned on djtechtools.com, which allows me to use all the effects and features of Traktor Pro on the Spin. As for the soundcard, it is fairly decent. Not bad for the beginner dj at all; I personally use the Audio 2 Dj soundcard from Native Instruments, which just adds a little bit of umph and power to my set. I'd say this is a very cheap and feasible option for those people just starting to DJ and don't have enough money to purchase decent CDJs or Turntables.

In the box:
Vestax Spin (unit)
USB cable
Manual with Djay 3 software.
Microphone.
2 x 3.14 mm to 1/4" adapters.

Pros:
Good value
Can be used on better software.
Looks good.
Jog platters are very good
Portable

Cons:
Djay 3 software leaves some to be desired.
The quality of the faders and knobs.
The lack of knobs.
Material used on the unit.

regards, BMO