After more than a year of relatively trusty service and a country-spanning tour, my BCD2000 has finally become too flaky for performances. I’ve been looking at the various DJ-style midi controller options, and was down to about 5 options when I was asked to play a set on short notice at a relatively big festival this weekend. So I made a snap decision and picked up a Numark Total Control, choosing this over the NuVJ because it has a couple of extra sliders and knobs.

This is a NuVJ, my second choice MIDI controller from Numark

As a class-compliant USB MIDI device it installed fine. I loaded my VJ software of choice, Resolume, mapped the jog wheels to scratch video, and scratched.

The video went bonkers.

I’ve tried, Behringer, really I have. I’ve tried to support and defend you, to explain your quirks and help people use your promising but terribly flawed BCD2000. How do you repay me? You make some OSX drivers, fix compatibility with Traktor, give the BCD2000 a new coat of paint and then sell it as the BCD3000.

There is time, however. You can save yourselves from utter scumbagdom (at least in my eyes). This thing is obviously the same hardware as the BCD2000, so you can do it. Update the BCD2000 drivers and firmware and we’ll never speak of this again.

The alternative is to get crushed by Numark’s NuVJ and Total Control/ION’s iCue, Vestax’ VCI-100, MAudio’s Xponent… Seriously people, when the BCD2000 was announced it was basically the only kid on the block at the price point, 18 months later there are similarly functioned devices from all of the major players, and all you’ve managed is a coat of paint and platform support which was put together by a hacker sniffing USB packets?

Dude, ouch.

Numark’s new VJ product looks like it could be the missing link DJ controller hardware a lot of us wanted. The Behringer BCD2000 is inexpensive, but availability has been scarce and it doesn’t yet support the Mac, on top of some MIDI implementation oddities. (See shipping and driver complaints, full review on PC.)

The US$300 NuVJ, in contrast, looks like it might have just the combination of controller features and build that people want, with complete Mac and Windows support. More on that in a moment.

In the meantime, our friend Steve Cooley writes on somesoundswelike about the disappointing lack of nudge controls on the iDJ2, Numark’s revision to its iPod DJ mixer:

I’ve been staring at the iDJ2, and noticed there’s no nudge controls … you know, the thing that lets you simulate a spindle-twist or a finger on the platter to momentarily speed up or slow down a track that you’re beatmatching to another track … these are absolutely critical tools to beat matching … Oof. To come within 99% of solving all of the criticisms of the original iDJ, and then fall on your face for the last 1%… that’s a shame.

Shown: his picture, clearly laying out his response. I don’t expect this will get fixed, as the iDJ2 is supposed to ship some time in August. Sure enough, if you look closely at the NuVJ controller, it has the same problem, and even more oddly lacks transport controls. (Maybe Numark is planning a separate controller for the music market, and assuming VJs will just use the clip buttons to trigger their video clips?)

Thanks, Steve! I’m equally disappointed: this could be a deal breaker on the iDJ2. But back to the NuVJ, I still think some people might find it useful as a controller for software like Ableton Live, musicians and DJs alike, assuming Numark gets the other details right. See Create Digital Motion for a preview of the hardware, but here are the controls that could make it useful for music, from Numark’s specs:

If you’re like me, your head is about to explode from iPod overload. Can you still find something about a new iPod DJ mixer to love? Maybe: this one lets you connect other players and USB storage and scratch, change pitch, and loop. It might even appeal as a portable scratcher/sampler. And you can use it to play FLAC and OGG files, meaning you could dock it in your living room to play back all that glitchy, indie music you’ve been buying in the seldom-trod corners of online music stores. (Read: not the iTunes Music Store.) In fact, you don’t really even need an iPod. Here’s a first look at Numark’s second take on the iDJ — and some details on why we might just have to give it a second chance.