Custom MIDI Mapping (Old Controller - no page modes)

Questions
1

Hey there,

I’ve got a Vestax VCI-400 which is currently mapped to DJ Pro. However, the 8 PADS are mapped to loop / effects by default, and the 4 buttons to change between pages are also mapped to autoloop functions (this controller was designed like this).

Using MIDI Monitor, I’ve checked that the 8 pads are the same note and in the same channel whatever pad mode/page you are (old hardware design), so in terms of hardware, I’ve got only 8 actions to do (not 8x4=32).

Comparing into a Pioneer DDJ-400, when switching into a different page, the 8 pads are in a different note / channel so for the newest controllers every pad mode assign a different channel on the pads using hardware. (new hardware design)

I am wondering if some of you are used to XML files, so I’d like to create some conditions like “if pad mode = 1 then pads are these channels to map Hot Cues” , “if pad mode = 2 then pads are these channels to map Beat Loop”, and so on.

Virtual DJ has the VDJ Scripts which is cool for this kind of controllers, so you can create several conditions into a button / combination of buttons.

Thanks in advance!

2

@monkadj I used to have a Vestax VCI-400 and I was able to get the 4 Pad Modes working. I believe you simply need to update the firmware.

Here’s some additional info that should help:

3

Thanks for the reply!

Actually I’ve got the latest audio & midi firmwares and checked that thread also from DJ tech tools.

Are you sure you could have the 4 pad modes working on DJ Pro ?

Thanks once again!

4

@monkadj yes, I’m 100% positive I had 4 Performance Pad modes on my VCI-400. I know for sure because I made a custom MIDI mapping for them in djay Pro AI on iOS and MacOS.

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5

You should try the firmware recovery procedure then do the upgrade.

6

Hey @Slak_Jaw , I’ve tried it all.

I can restore the audio driver to 0x0600 version then I’m not able to restore either FW v1 or FW v2 from DJ Techtools. However, I’m able to restore/install the MIDI FW from Serato (versions 1.15 & 2.03).

When FW v1 or v2 I get ‘ACK is not found’. I’m researching on web but so far haven’t found anything helpful.

Thanks!

7

@monkadj that’s strange. Maybe you’ve got a faulty unit then. Have you tried with and without the Stand Alone Mixer Firmware?

I have two VCI-400s and was able to get them both working using those instructions. Unfortunately, they are both in storage in different countries right now so I can’t check which firmware they are using. Sorry I can’t be of more help. I know there are a few other djay users around using the VCI-400 as well.

Are you using Mac or PC? Maybe try installing from a different computer?

8

@Slak_Jaw No worries mate, you helped me a lot already!

I’ll continue working on it :slight_smile:

Tried with both standalone and no standalone firmwares. Using 2 PCs, an old one with Win7 and a newer one with Win10. (thinking about installing a vbox machine with winxp) but not sure if this is related with.

Tried on Mac but I’m not able to run the firmware app on Big Sur.

1 Like
9

Just to clarify, I see on the DJ TechTools they talk about VCI400SE (SE edition) which I’m not sure if it’s a different hardware model than the VCI400 which is the one I’ve got. If so maybe this is the problem, so they made 2 different versions.

10

Both of mine are the SE version. I’m pretty sure the only difference is different color scheme and the default firmware. Hardware component-wise I think they are identical