DJ hardware has remained expensive over the years, defying the general trend of other electronics getting cheaper and cheaper. For a beginner, it feels like the choice is to either go for a small starter-controller or fork out what is for most people a cost-prohibitive amount of money for a full set of decks (up to 4) plus a mixer, which can set you back upwards of $10k for the full set.
I am convinced that the cost of the hardware itself has to be significantly lower than what most brands charge – sure, back in the day with analogue electronics and manual circuit board assembly I can maybe understand, but these days everything is processed digitally and microcontrollers are cheap!
So, I’m making a fully open sourced piece of hardware and software as a replacement for expensive hardware. By fully open source I mean:
- The entire design will be completed using open source pieces of software (3D modelling, circuit board design, etc.)
- All native files will be made available so you can edit them, everything will be designed with modification in mind
- All items will either be:
- 3D printed, designed to minimise printing time
- Off the shelf and chosen based on ease of availability and/or substitution
- PCB(s) designed to minimise price and potentially ease of assembly
The goal is to make something both cheap but also equally high quality to the top tier equipment that’s available out there. This is not planned to be a compromise to allow for cheaper equipment.
The jogwheel design is one of the key components of this device. Good feel and accurate sensing on the jogwheel is a top priority for a good result. It’s also one of the more difficult and time consuming parts of the design, because it’s very difficult to get right.
The jogwheel design is currently on its second iteration after an early test print.
This page will be updated as progress is made and aims to be the key source of information for the project as a whole.
If you want more, you can find more information about this project at:
- More recent project blog posts for progress updates
- The github page for the project
If you have any feedback or advice relating to the project, please, get in touch!