I’m coming from Traktor, and currently am using Rekordbox/CDJs, because portability is among my primary concerns. The convenience of carrying just a usb drive and headphones is hard to beat. But the numerous inconveniences of the Rekordbox ecosystem are also hard to suffer.
Meanwhile, I am not much into streaming services, and would definitely not consider using them in a gig situation. I like my music collection reliably stored on a local physical drive that I own.
My largest pain point currently is library management, especially on the go.
I am considering for some time to acquire a mobile setup that is maximally portable, but still sufficiently capable and fun to play. While retaining the option to utilize e.g. CDJs instead when suitable.
The idea is as follows:
- iPad mini (Gen 6)
- Reloop Mixtour Pro
- USB SSD drive for the music (1 or 2 TB)
- (usb hub to connect Controller and USB drive simultaneously)
I have studied the interwebz, this forum, and the djay iOS user manual and it appears that this setup would cater to most of my needs, and there is also no real competitor besides algoriddim in this segment.
But here is what is still giving me doubts thus far:
The subscription model
Not a fan, but still no deal breaker. What irritates me here is a perceived lack of transparency. I would wish to find clearly communicated pricing/fees on the product page, but I can’t find that anywhere. I am willing to be a paying customer, but when this information is obfuscated, it creates in me the expectation that I shall be lured into and made dependent on an unfavorable subscription.
I find it also not easy enough to disect what is included in the free version.
(If there was a purchase/lifetime option for a pro version that contains features I want/need I would probably be willing to pay at least 24 months worth of subscription fee for that.)
Mapping capabilities
I found conflicting info, but it seems that with current versions, it is possible to modify the factory mapping of supported controllers (like the mixtour pro), also in the sense that I can redefine/override behavior of button/button-combination functions. Is that correct?
And related to the subscription, since Mapping is a Pro-Subscription only feature, what happens to such mapping customization when dropping down in the free tier? Will they go away/cease working?
Interoperability
Assuming I made a set/playlist in djay, is there a proven workflow (ideally directly on the iPad) to have that playlist on my drive in a format that a CDJ will accept? (or at least for a compromise without Rekordbox analysis, just getting all tracks of that playlist in a folder, so that a CDJ can browse/play them).
Or will this neccessitate the use of 3rd party library conversion apps with their own subscriptions?
Library Management
As stated, being able to manage my music on a small portable device would be a key use case for me. This includes metadata editing, but also deleting tracks/files that have become obsolete. I have read mixed opinions about the usability of djays library management. Is djay on iPad up for this task? Or is it very cumbersome because I have to manage a database and the filesystem independently?
Also how can I backup my library database? Is it possible to export/import, or only via the cloud?
Reliability
Everything can crash, even a trusty old turntable. As long as it occurs rare enough, that’s not a problem. Reading about stability issues had me wonder, how reliable is djay actually in live situations? I imagine on iOS it should be rather stable? Or does it occasionally crash completely out of the blue?
Would love to hear from some existing users regarding their experience on any of those points. Thank you in advance!
