I started a topic a while back about DJ mixers and potential use for production and performance (DJ mixer vs Octatrack (fx and looper)) and I’m revisiting the idea in context of the SP-16.
I’m really enjoying this machine but in some ways it isn’t so performance friendly. switching between the different tracks/pads can be a bit cumbersome and you can’t hit a pad without triggering the sound (I don’t think). The FX are fine but, again, in a performance/jamming context you can only control so much with those 6 knobs and you have to switch between screens a lot.
I keep coming back to the idea of a DJ mixer that has FX, something like the Allen & Heath Xone PX5 or a Pioneer DJM-750 mixer. My only real complaint is their size - they seem massive to me and I have limited space. I can probably stomach the cost (about a grand) if they add a decent amount of value and flexibility. The FX on the Xone PX5 look pretty fun and the analogue filter and EQ look nice. The SP-16 has 8 outs so I could get 4 stereo pairs into the mixervand be able to apply those lovely Xone FX, do crossfades, preview/cue different sounds and loops with the headphones and even stream the tracks into a DAW (I think) with the built-in audio interface (10 in, 10 out) . If you set up your patterns and tracks in the SP-16 in a sensible way then you could have e.g. each column of 4 tracks into the 4 channels of the mixer and then be able to crossfade and do transitions between your “tracks”.
Any thoughts on this? Massive overkill to buy a huge and expensive DJ mixer?! I feel like the SP-16 has so much potential and with a decent DJ mixer it would be somewhere between a DJ performance and a “live” performance which is something I have always aspired to but never quite nailed. I’m not in a position to have a room full of gear so I need it to be relatively compact and, as many have said before on this forum, any more than 3 boxes and it gets hard to sensibly perform anyway. I only have two hands!