Hercules DJControl Starlight - Compact DJ Controller with Light Show

Read some of the other reviews here, written by people who received this product from Amazon for free, who do not seem to know a whole lot about DJ hardware and what to expect from it. I am a professional DJ, and I'd like to give my two cents. I bought this controller just for fun to see how it is. I wasn't sure what to expect from it, but I was beyond pleasantly surprised. This controller comes with Serato DJ Lite, which another reviewer complained about because of the cost associated with upgrading to DJ Pro, and questioned the trustworthiness of Serato. I can assure you that Serato DJ Pro is extremely widely used and respected by pros, and although Lite has limited features and promotes upgrading to Pro, it is still very good software and its shortcomings shouldn't reflect negatively on the controller itself; especially since a Pro license is only $100, which, assuming you already have a laptop, makes your total investment $180 - an extremely reasonable price for a functioning DJ setup, seeing as a single Pioneer CDJ can cost 10x that. Anyway, upon getting the Starlight in the mail, I immediately plugged it in and got to some mixing. The knobs and pitch faders feel very high quality, not too far short of what you'd have on a much more expensive controller. The quality of the audio output is pretty good as well, not superb but no worse than an average smartphone's headphone jack. I saw other reviewers complaining about the inability to connect Bluetooth headphones; this is not a valid complaint, I have never known of any piece of DJ gear with Bluetooth output, mainly due to the lag and quality limitations of Bluetooth audio. I suppose the last thing to address would be the LED lighting, which is certainly corny, but it's a fun touch and I see how it could appeal to new and/or very young DJs. Overall I would recommend this product to anyone looking to try out DJing or to give to their children to do so (assuming they have access to a Windows or Mac laptop). Remember when buying any DJ or audio gear to take online reviews with a grain of salt. Some people don't know enough to judge whether a product is good or bad, but review it anyway, resulting in uninformed and unwarranted praise or criticism. There are lots of good websites to ask questions and inform yourself!

this is honestly everything I need in a controller. super portable, I've used it from planes to trains to stadiums to more. if you use it with a bluetooth set of cans it only needs a single wire. or you can wire it in for great latency control. limitations... there aren't that many knobs and they all do a limited set of things. if you are comfortable remapping that's not an issue, you'll basically be mixing with 6 software knobs (with toggle), a crossfader, and plenty of buttons. that's more than enough for me. also two decks only, duh. lastly, the sound card isn't great quality (as expected for the price), and if your laptop is plugged into a noisy ground or DC that will translate, especially under high amplification. I still use it and find no issues, but this isn't a $1000 mixer. it also feels a little cheap/plasticy, which might turn some people off. I don't care, because it does the job. the pros of the knobs is they are *very sensitive*... micro-movements translate extremely well which gives you lots of control. the crossfader is also surprisingly smooth and bouncy for the price, again don't expect a $1000 scratching crossfader but you can actually scratch on this thing without much effort. upsides... you can mix anywhere. and if you can sound good on this thing, moving to any other controller is ez mode. it's very compatible with a wide range of software, including my favorite the open source Mixxx. It's on the wired midi standard so should be good for many many many years to come. tldr buy this thing.

I,ve been a professional DJ for over 12 years. From mixtapes to clubs and concerts. I grew fond of controllers over the past 6 years or so. I was looking to add something smaller and more portable than my DDJ-SB3 and this is perfect! Still has most of the functions a basic DJ would use as well as the ability to scratch. I was actually surprised at how well it scratched and how it didnt sound any more digital than any other controller. I'd recommend something a little bigger for beginners. Just to get a better feel for the art. This, as said in other reviews, works better for me as a backup for a professional. Enjoy!

Great little controller! Use it with Virtual DJ. Works great!

Love it! I work for a radio station, this Is helping me in my off time get more comfortable. Is also an excellent ice breaker in public

I've got a Pioneer DDJ-400 and XDJ-R1 available to use but very much wanted something that would comfortably fit on my desk along with all the other crap on it. It has just enough functionality for my purposes including bass/filter knobs which Numark's competing product doesn't have. Feels pretty well built and is definitely the most portable. Would have been nice to find something similar with rekordbox unlock included but Pioneer won't provide even at an inflated price point. Works well with Mixxx on Linux which I like. Only true con is the mini-USB connection which is known to have a terrible MTBF for insertions.

I've professionally DJed in bars and clubs for over a decade. I play a lot of eclectic setlists using a lot of music that was not made using a metronome (old funk, disco, rock). As many DJs know, a "sync" button is completely useless to people who DJ with this kind of music, because the beats never fall on steady points. Once Serato started allowing 3rd party controllers into their ecosystem, I spent a lot of time and money trying to find a portable controller that would let me scratch and beat sync the way that I'm used to - using the type of pitch adjustment and nudge functions that are available on a traditional turntable/CDJ/mixer setup. A lot have come close, but none has done it as well as this little controller has. Now I have something I can rock on the beach or on a plane, or even something I can use to test out mixes at home without setting up my whole rig. That said, there are a few drawbacks. First, not having all three EQ knobs stinks. Mixes and mashups are a lot smoother when you can target specific frequencies. And having the bass EQ also double as the filter knob can get confusing. You have to remember to reset the knobs to zero on both functions before starting another track or it's going to sound bad. Secondly, not having a dedicated library control function is kind of a bummer. Part of the whole point of having a controller is to not have to touch your computer to hit play and trigger cues. Fortunately in Serato, you can midi program some of these functions (I did a shift/jogwheel combo to scroll and shift/play to load in each deck). I'm not crazy. I realize that a lot of these functions are missing from the setup to keep the footprint small and make the controller more portable. And frankly the utility and portability of this device makes up for whatever shortcomings it may have, so it's still worth five stars in my book.

The output connector is cheesy and occasionally drops in and out making a poor contact to the sound system. Should be designed better for more secure connection

Está super cool y sorprendentemente completo para su tamaño

Otimo produto...recomendo

It’s simple and awesome at the same time, plus it’s great on plug and play , very easy to setup!

Realmente esta muy bien hecho para llevar en la mochila. Nuevamente, no tiene las mismas caracteristicas de un controlador de tamaño estandar (no contiene control de Altos y Medios), pero funciona bastante bien con el filtro y el control de bajos. Es muy bonito y no pesa nada. Solo que los botones suenan muy fuerte al presionarlos. Supongo que es por el plastico, pero al presionar el boton de play, por ejemplo, suena bastante fuerte. No se percibe por los demas, pero no son tan suaves al tacto.

J'ai acheté ce mini-contrôleur comme solution de dépannage, au cas où mon contrôleur principal me lâcherait. Bien que ses fonctions soient limitées, il y a moyen de mixer sur Serato de façon satisfaisante. J'aime la portabilité de cette console et le fait qu'il n'y ait pas de fil supplémentaire pour l'alimentation électrique (ça passe par le USB).