as a vj i wanted to have a nice midi controller which is hardcore, good looking and if something happend repairable. so i designed the modul8 hiend16.

it perfectly fits the needs of a professional garagecube modul8 user.

its made from massive stainless steel, on the back side the name of the user is engraved,
midi and usb version available,
optionals like wooden case and integrated led lamp,
every magdesign controller is unique and handmade in switzerland.

you can send me your layout sketch and you get a very nice controller which fits your needs.

The VMX VJ is the utlimate USB MIDI controller for VJs

- 99 fully assignable controllers
- Plug & Play Windows XP & MAC OS X, Linux support with USB drivers
- 2 jogs and 2 cross fader for live video scratching
- 8 tracks with soft touch fader
- 20 knobs
- 28 switches (loops, play, pause, replay etc ...)
- 39 radio buttons (special FX...)
- dim. 28x40,5 cm - same as a 17" laptop
- white steel

The Faderfox series is a modular set of controllers optimized for use with audio software, but they can easily be used and adapted by VJs. The whole range of controllers can be chained and combined to mix personal setup needs. (I will provide reviews of other Faderfox controllers soon).
The LD2 is shipping since february 2007. It has 16 endless encoders which are double functional as rotary controls AND push-buttons. In addition to that, there are 6 buttons to choose a controller setup, and two step buttons which can be used scroll through storage slots indicated by LEDs.

The faderfox micromodul LC2 is a pocket-size, custom-made controller optimized for the Ableton Live music software. But because it sends standard midi signals, it can be used with other (VJ) programs as well.
In addition to 7 faders it holds 4 endless encoders (double functional as rotary controls and buttons), a joystick and several buttons.

Hardware quality and usability are very good. Several Faderfox controllers can be combined in a midi chain, signals will not collide. (Check the other Faderfox reviews on VJCentral for more info.)

The DJ2 is mainly targeted at users of the "Traktor" DJ software by Native Instruments. For that reason, it is not freely configurable but has some hardwired functions and sends fixed midi-values.
Anyway, it is still possible to use this controller with other (VJ)softwares, because in many softwares you can root incoming midi-signals freely to software controls.

Example:

Mixman DM2 Controller Device. Good for manually scratching video live at gigs, and dirt cheap - about $25 on eBay in the US, they even sell them at Toys-R-Us! See official site at http://www.mixman.com . Also branded Digital Blue.
The DM2 is made to use for audio, but with software it can be used for video: http://www.pdoom.ch/dm2/

Well, there are a lot nice controller surfaces out ther these days, and I have a few, so I can compare & contrast. The UC33 is best in that it has 9 sliders and 24 knobs which are fully configurable for any channel and controller #. It also has several buttons you can edit for note numbers but I rarely use these. Probably more useful for music applications, less useful in the studio for my situation.

Miditech Play n roll USB Keyboard,This innovative, roll upable master key board can be unfolded to to attained full growth 37 keys a key board. Its integrated key PAD accommodates keys for Oktave SHIFTs, program changes and MIDI Kanalwechsel. The entire key board can be together-rolled in the hand turning and be stowed away in the provided carrying bag. The connection to the computer is made by the integrated USB connection, which is also equivalent for the current supply of the Miditech Play n roll responsible.

The Graphire3 4x5" is Wacom's smallest and cheapest Tablet at only $99US. Despite it's size it's not a toy and if you've never tried one you don't know what you're missing out on.
If you do any kind of Photoshop, Paint, Video Editing or Compositing work you should really consider buying one and it makes a surprisingly good scratch controller for VJ programs as well.

This device is usually sold to the gaming community as a left hand enhancement to a joystick or mouse. I bought it as a left hand keyboard to use with a MIDI controller for OpenTZT.

14 keyboard-style keys can be assigned to either a keyboard single key or a macro of keystrokes. A mouse wheel, thumb button, extra button and playstation controller style joy-pad add 13 additional events. The system stores 4 selectable configurations (identified by a series of colored LEDs on the device,) of all 27 events. One or more of the keys can be used to select or cycle through the configs.