BRING BACK Cross DJ 1.1 (With pictures)

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BRING BACK Cross DJ 1.1 (With pictures)

Postby Henrytime on 01 Apr 2014, 23:03

Dear Mixvibes,

I first started using your iPad app in late 2012 as a way of dipping my toes into the world of DJing. After 2 months of playing with the app and a splitter cable I felt confident enough to invest money in a 'real' setup, so I went ahead and purchased a laptop and controller and Cross for my computer.

In April 2013 I was asked to be the opening DJ of a reggae party celebrating '420'. I really wanted to perform at the show but I also wanted to smoke and drink afterwards and felt that having a laptop and controller with me would be a liability. With this in mind I decided I wanted to bring a super portable setup that could easily fit in my backpack but without compromising sound quality. The solution I devised was purchasing a Native Instruments Audio 6 interface and configuring it work with my iPad/Cross DJ.
The resulting DJ set was absolutely great and ever since that day I have actually chosen to use my iPad and soundcard as my primary DJ setup. To this date I have probably spent about 400-500 hours using Cross DJ and have used it to perform in bars and venues in England, Canada and the Caribbean.

To this day I still use Cross DJ 1.1 as I believe it is the best designed, most user friendly version of the software. Infact I think it is one of the best designed pieces of software I have ever used on any platform.

HOWEVER this summer I am embarking on an ambitious 4 month backpacking trip across Africa during which I intend to DJ at hostels and local bars and record the sets and upload them as a sort of DJ travel blog. This means I will have to upgrade to the latest version of Cross to take advantage of the recording feature that does not exist in version 1.1.

The thought of using the latest version of Cross is a stressful one as I believe it is not as user friendly or visually pleasing as version 1.1.

I have prepared for you an illustrated guide highlighting examples of where I believe the earlier Cross was superior to the latest version, as well as some suggestions for new features that I would love to see. I have listed the suggestions in order of importance to me.

My dream is that you will give my suggestions serious consideration and release a new version before I leave (May 13th) that brings back some of the earlier design features whilst of course retaining the record function.

Thank you for your time,

Tim Henry

P.s. I apologize for not writing this in French

DJ HENRY T
SOUNDCLOUD.COM/HENRYTPROJECTS

-------------------

1) PITCH INFORMATION (See attached document 1 of 3)

I tend to perform high energy hip-hop sets where I usually only play a song for 1-2 minutes max. This means I am constantly racing through my music collection looking for my next selection. When looking for my next track I want to have all information displayed about what tracks are currently loaded and by how much I have changed the pitch as this influences my next selection. When my mind is busy looking at song names I don't want to have to remember by how much I've changed the pitch or leave the menu screen to check. In Cross 1.1 this is not a problem as the pitch information is clearly displayed whilst browsing the selection screen but in the latest version it is frustratingly absent. Furthermore, having it in a smaller typeface away from the rest of the information whilst viewing the decks is an awkward nuisance.

PROPOSED SOLUTION:

Bring back the old graphical interface but replace the scrolling artist/track names with the ability to drag with fingertip so the user has the choice to see what they need to see in that moment.

mixvibes-1-pitch-issue-TIDY2.jpg


2) THE LOOP MENU (See attached document 2 of 3)

I find the new loop menu extremely frustrating. In Cross 1.1 it only took 1 touch to change the speed of a loop. In the latest version it takes numerous touches in order to flick through to the desired loop. This is not an improvement!

3) THE MENU COLOUR (See attached document 2 of 3)

To my eye the flat grey selection screen is extremely bland and not as immediately easy to read as the previous menu design that incorporated 3 different and contrasting greys.
Also I found the red and yellow loading buttons a useful visual reminder of which deck I was browsing for. It was a lot more noticeable than the glowing eject symbol.

mixvibes-2-loop-issue-TIDY.jpg


4) OTHER THOUGHTS (See attached document 3 of 3)

mixvibes-3-menu-and-more-TIDY.jpg


5) DESIRABLE NEW FEATURES

8 Cue points. I would find the edition of 2 more cue points useful. I play a lot of hip hop remixes which sometimes feature 3 or 4 guest rappers and I like to have in and out points for their verses. There seems to be plenty of space on the screen to add two more.

Sample pads. Please allow me to make a sample kit using my own short mp3 files instead of the provided sound effects.

Cue point back up. I would LOVE it if you could develop a feature that allows me to backup my cue points to the web incase I need to rebuild my DJ library on a new iPad.

Separate key locks. Often I only want key lock on one of my tracks. I'd love it if each deck had its own key lock button instead of it being universal.
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Re: BRING BACK Cross DJ 1.1 (With pictures)

Postby Henrytime on 01 Apr 2014, 23:13

started.jpg


cask days CROP.jpg
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Re: BRING BACK Cross DJ 1.1 (With pictures)

Postby daniel clark on 01 Apr 2014, 23:57

:cool: hate to say i cant reply on any of your suggestions , posting seems pretty well laid out ,, my reasoning for posting is to appreiciate your efforts and hope you can keep on enjoying the Cross app and its uses ,, looking forward to seeing more postings with info and pic of your journey ,, :mrgreen: keep making the music :!: :cool:
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Re: BRING BACK Cross DJ 1.1 (With pictures)

Postby thisisian on 24 Jun 2014, 11:26

+1 on being able to create your own sampler sets.

The sampler seems pretty pointless to me without that ability.
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