I first saw this item at an Apple store.
Your reviews have been very helpful.
However;
Hook up questions,

I connect my Mac to the SPIN box. How do we get to hear the sound?
Connect to outside speaker source via the RCA plugs?
Or do I connect to an amplifier first and then to external speakers?
How about no amp and just amplified power speakers?

Thanks for your help?
Udo Winkler
Orange, Ca

1) the USB connection in the controller is in the back of unit making it impossible to butt it against the laptop. Would love to see this moved to the side.

2) if you happen to make EQ adjustments directly on your laptop using djay 3, it’s good to remember that it overrides the controller functions. So when you go back to touch any of the EQ slides or gain on the controller, the settings jump in djay 3 to adjust to those of the controller, often resulting in dramatic changes in audio. So don’t do it with a live track, only when pre-cueing.

Overall, Spin was money so well spent for an ex oldschool dj girl like me who always wanted one of those old-fashioned, massive mixer/2xturntable units but never had the space or money for it. I still have ways to go exploring all the functions & abilities of Spin so I’ve got lots of groovy nights ahead of me

Thanks again,
Mannik

The good thing about the Reloop though, is that it has a built in soundcard, just like the Spin. This makes it a lot easier to deal with than the VCI-100 which requires a separate soundcard. However, having a separate soundcard allows you to have more choices, and you could get something nice like NI’s Audio4Dj which sounds a lot better than many built-in soundcards.

One thing to consider is that Vestax is releasing a special version of the Spin for Traktor (right now the Spin comes bundled with a Mac-only dj program called “djay”) called the Typhoon. It’s pretty ugly though, since they’ve basically applied a tacky carbon fibre sticker on the front and painted the faders red. It’s the exactly same as the Spin but sold with a lite version of Traktor.

After playing with the Spin for a couple months, I can say that it’s a lot of fun and having the jog wheel is more tactile than using something like an APC40 to DJ. That being said, I’m not gigging with it, and if I was, I’d probably spend more money to have a more rugged device. The VCI-100 is much sturdier, and would likely be what I would get in the Spin’s place. I would also either get an Echo or NI soundcard to supplement it.

It really depends on how much money you have to spend as DJ controllers can get pretty pricey. You might also want to consider the VCI-300 which comes with Serato’s Itch, or even something like the new Numark N7 which has a real piece of vinyl and slipmats.

Lately, I’ve been building up a turntable set up with control vinyl. I’m interested in the Ms Pinky system, plugged into Ableton Live using Max. You can scratch clips which is pretty much what I’ve always wanted to do. Hope that helps!

I can’t find much information on the reloop but it looks to me the best product. There seems to be many VCI-100 fans around.
Could you shed some light on this please?

That said, since a lot of electrionic music is programmed and many software vendors have demos, I would play around with demos first.

However, I get curious about the types of gear musicians use too, here are some deadmau5 clips that might help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPeUM3Fqx6w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cRt9QeItEg

There are tons of threads dedicated to gear discussion for various artists that a quick google search would yield.