For anyone who’s ever wanted to try their hand at DJing but didn’t have the cash to invest in a turntable and record collection, Hercules has created a pretty nifty solution. Although it’s not the first of its kind, the DJ Control MP3 e2 (not exactly the sexiest name for a gadget) is one of the cheaper and more portable DJ units on the market. It contains everything you’ll need to get the party started, including two jog wheels to navigate your tracks, as well as a cross fader and two volume faders for mixing. You can also add automatic loops and sound effects, control the pitch of each track, and even scratch using the jog wheels, but chances are, most beginners won’t have any idea how a lot of that stuff works.
It’s nice to see that Hercules has included these features in case users want to play around with more advanced techniques in the future, but it’s hard to imagine the DJ Control being used for anything other than casual parties and wedding receptions. This is not a professional unit, nor is it meant to be, but it is pretty user friendly and incredibly well-made for its price. It’s lightweight but sturdy, and can easily be carried around in a backpack with the confidence that it’ll survive the trip in one piece thanks to the inclusion of a tight-fitting, plastic protective cover.
The Virtual DJ software also plays a big part in its accessibility, because while you might not want to mess with all of the knobs and buttons on the actual unit, the drag-and-drop nature of selecting songs from your computer practically guarantees that just about anyone can assume the role of DJ within minutes. Those who upgrade to the Pro version of the software will notice some cool enhancements (namely, the ability to mix music without having to plug the DJ Control into your computer), but it’s really not worth the extra $250 unless you’re really serious about it, in which case you should probably be using a better MP3 turntable.
So is the DJ Control MP3 e2 just an expensive toy? Not exactly. While you’ll need to spend some money to reap the full benefits of the unit (especially if you don’t have a 5.1-channel sound card), it does just enough to warrant its $129 price tag. It’s hard to recommend to those who only plan on using it for simple mixing at parties, but if you also want to record your own tracks and learn the basics of DJing before graduating to something bigger and better, Hercules’ DJ Control does it all without breaking the bank.
