American Audio VMS4.1 MIDI Controller 

Comments about American Audio VMS4.1 MIDI Controller:

After 2 months with pcdj support and endless hours of fixes unit still will not work with pcdj dex2. Just loaded the virtual dj software last week and the vsm4.1 works flawlessly.

Comments about American Audio VMS4.1 MIDI Controller:

I was excited about feature set of this controller, but was disapointed that the crossfader assign switch for one side of the fader did not function... Even for the direct analog inputs. There is no tech support to speak of. All calls go to some girls voice mail and are never returned. Emails are not answered. The tech forums are filled with issues of people having midi mapping problems, but I did not experience this issue. Wound up returning the unit, and was not willing to chance having another VMS 4.1 shipped to me.

Comments about American Audio VMS4.1 MIDI Controller:

I was not going to write a reivew until I read someone else review. They are not doing some things right. The custom Virtual DJ LE is not limited and plays all your music and lets you sample, do effects etcetc. Also, the there is a ton of Traktor Mapping out there to chose from, if you can't find on on the VMS4DJ.com site or Native Instruments site that works for you, there must be a problem with what you are doing. This unit rock!
The layout is the same as the original VMS4. The updated 4 deck software works different than the original, I love the new effects and mixer section
The sound is very loud and great, the mic is clear as well. The finish is looks very high end and everything lights up brighter than the original VMS4
I don't think there is anything that comes close. This controller is very heavy duty, sounds great, 4 USB I/I, plus 2 mics and 4 Phono/line inputs. Everyone has copied this and not come close at this price

Comments about American Audio VMS4.1 MIDI Controller:

Ive been using it for two months now. It took alot of tinkering to get what i wanted but now i feel like a have a soild piece of hardwear that i can take advantage of. As a begginner dj its a huge upgrade from the hardwear i started with. I was able to adjust my dj style quite well to the mappings and it will get better as i continue to use it. My only real problem so far is static on mic one.
At this price getting a pretty good mixer along with a midi controller with solid build quality was a good choice for me.

I use Virtual dj
The sound is good-
The eq sounds great-For me mic one has a little static but mic 2 sounds great Yes during music you need to boost the gain all the way but i dont believe it is underpowered I freestyle rapped a bit and thought it came out good.
After two months all the buttons seem as solid as ever.jog wheels work as well as any ive usednice eq nobsnice slider im also happy its replaceable beacuse i go crazy on it
Yea good value. i took a chance and bought it right as it came out. it was worth it

Comments about American Audio VMS4.1 MIDI Controller:

Overall, there are a lot of things to like about it. I wanted to like the VMS4.1 but the quality and customer service are so bad that it makes the product a nightmare to configure. After three days straight of reading everything I could get my hands on the MIDI mapping for the VMS4.1 and for Traktor Pro and trying to configure the MIDI mapping, I just gave up, packed it up and sent it back for a refund. If American Audio can get it together and fix the problems on the VMS4.1 and greatly improve their customer and technical support, I may give it another try. All in all, the VMS4.1 is a great idea but very poorly executed.
There are a lot of great features on theVMS4.1. 4 channels to control 4 decks, built in sound card, 2 mic inputs, switchable USB/analog inputs, RCA & balanced XLR outputs and tons of assignable MIDI buttons, faders and sliders to control just about anything you could possibly want or need in any kind of DJ setting.
Quality, tech support, documentation and customer service are the BIG PROBLEMS here.
1) Traktor mappings on their web site need serious improvement. The cue, play and pause buttons are not assigned properly and dont work the way they should. Unless youre an expert as creating and editing your own MIDI mapping, you will be very frustrated very quickly. Changing even simple mappings are difficult. The Traktor mappings on their web site and I found around the internet are all pretty useless. If you will be using Traktor

2) The mic inputs sound flat, noisy and too low in volume. You have to turn up the gain all of the way just to get even a little volume. The mic inputs are totally worthless in a DJ setting. You cant talk over music or even make the mic heard at a decent volume unless the everything else is turned down completely. I called American Audio and they said that this was the fix for VMS4.1, just to turn it up. This is despite the fact they said they improved the mic inputs. If this is what they call improvement, I would hate to hear what the mic inputs on the original VMS4 sound like.


3) American Audio tech support is horrible. They arent very knowledgeable and arent very willing to help. They just referred me to Native Instruments on the MIDI mapping, which was just as bad. They seem to have little desire to improve their product despite the fact that they claim there were major improvements between the VMS4 and the VMS4.1. They know the MIDI mappings on their site are wrong but dont care to fix it.

4) The version of Virtual DJ LE 6.1 that is included is NOT a full version as they claim. Some songs will only play for 30 seconds and then stop. The interface graphics on it are awful. The text and graphics is unclear like it was made in some low resolution and then blown up in size. The flipping doubles & beat grid effects were pretty nice but the effects, features and user interface are far better in Traktor Pro.

5) The manual and their web site documentation were of little help in getting it configured. I have a very sophisticated MIDI rig in my studio with an 8x8 MIDI patch bay, 2 synths, 2 drum machines, sampler, external sequencer and other MIDI gear so I know my way around MIDI fairly well. It was far easier to get my MIDI rig in my studio than it was getting MIDI mappings done on the VMS4.1 and Traktor Pro.

6) When I first got the unit, the USB cable was missing. Called Musicians Friend and they told me their USB cables were on backorder so they gave me a $10.00 refund so I could buy a USB cable for it own my own.
American Audio really crammed a lot of value for the money. A lot of great features and solidly constructed. It has a nice weight to it and seems like it might hold up well over time.