Hercules Pc Dj Console

General Info

The Hercules PC DJ Consoles are a series of USB DJ controllers for use with software such as Mixxx.

Hercules is supporting the Mixxx project through donations of their hardware, we'd like to thank them for that!

On 2/16/2009, Hercules released Linux MIDI drivers for their DJ products. The driver has not been maintained by Hercules in years and was never merged upstream with Linux. It is now maintained by a volunteer, Neale Pickett, on GitHub.

Drivers / Supportability

What is the state of Hercules device support for the different Hercules DJ Consoles?

• On Windows/OSX/Linux you can use any of Mk1, MP3 Control, Mk2, RMX, DJ Steel Control via MIDI or as a HID with Mixxx 1.11+.
• These devices are remappable via the XML config files that correspond to their names.
• LED support works with scripts.

Are Hercules devices USB-MIDI class compliant?

• None of the Hercules devices from Mk1 to RMX are USB-MIDI class compliant, they require OS MIDI drivers, which are available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Newer controllers from Hercules are USB MIDI class compliant though. See the tables on the DJ Hardware Guide for details.

My Hercules Mk1/RMX doesn't work with Mixxx on Linux

• If you have Linux you need the Hercules Linux driver installed.
• The Mk1 needs a modified dynamic kernel module for the Herc MIDI driver.

Does the Joystick on the Mk1/Control MP3/Mk2 work in Mixxx?

• The hercules joysticks are HID mice used to navigate library and playlists, they have been superseded by direction buttons on the RMX and DJ Steel controllers.
• The joystick driver may mess with the MIDI driver.

Hardware Models

Currently, there are 5 different models:

• Hercules DJ Console MK1 - controller with a built in 4-channel soundcard. (1 input, 3 outputs.)
• Hercules DJ Console MK2 - controller with a built in 4-channel soundcard. (2 inputs, 2 outputs.)
• Hercules DJ Console RMX - supported in Mixxx with a built in 4-channel soundcard. (2 inputs, 2 outputs.)

The MK2 and RMX have headphone ports for monitoring (configure headphones for channels 3-4)

• Hercules DJ Control MP3 - Very similar to the MK2, but without the built-in soundcard. It's also significantly cheaper.
• Hercules DJ Console Mac Edition - Same as the MK1, slightly different MIDI mapping file in Mixxx.

Mixxx's support for the Hercules controllers is described on our hardware compatibility page.

Pictures

The 1st Hercules DJ Console (Mk1, but Mac/MK2/Control MP3 versions are all similar looking).

The Hercules DJ Console RMX (April 2008).