Hercules Pc Dj Console

Drivers / Supportability / Recommendation FAQ

Preface - As a vendor, Hercules has been good about supporting the Mixxx project through donations of their hardware. We'd like to thank them for that support and encourage you to consider their goodwill towards Mixxx when you are weighing your options. ;-)

Now onto the meat... On 2/16/2009, Hercules released Linux MIDI drivers for all of their DJ product. Download them here Hercules Linux Driver page

Drivers / Supportability

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

• On Windows/OSX you can use any of Mk1, MP3 Control, Mk2, RMX, DJ Steel Control via MIDI. These devices are remappable via the XML config files that correspond to their names. LED support doesn't work all that reliably though (this is a Mixxx problem not a driver or hardware problem).
• On Linux, all devices should work with the exception of the Mk1. You must have Mixxx 1.6.1+Herc and the Hercules Linux Drivers. The Mk1 needs the kernel maintainer to remove the USBQuirks put in for the Mk1 which interfere with the Herc MIDI driver.

Are Hercules devices USB-MIDI class compliant?

• Nope, none of the Hercules devices from Mk1 to RMX are USB-MIDI class compliant. They all require OS MIDI drivers to do MIDI. Fortunately MIDI drivers are available for Windows, Linux and OSX.

My Hercules RMX doesn't work with Mixxx on Linux

• If you are using Mixxx 1.6.1, you need to get the +Herc pack from the downloads page. If you have Linux you need 1.6.1+Herc and the Hercules Linux driver installed.

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

• No and it never will. The hercules joysticks are very imprecise mice that overshoot all the time, they are in no way helpful and because of that have been superseded by direction buttons on the RMX and DJ Steel controllers, these work much better and are used to navigate library and playlists.
• If you load the joystick driver you may get an error message that libDJConsole can not communicate with your DJ Console, because the kernel sees it as one device you can only use either the joystick OR the rest of the console via libDJConsole, to fix it ditch the joystick driver. The joystick driver may mess with the MIDI driver, don't know for sure though.

Recommendation

Which one should I buy?

• Cost and function should drive your decision. They all work pretty well, the RMX has a better sound output at low volume but is heavier then the others by quite bit (it's solid metal vs. the others which are plastic).
• The Mk1 is quite old and though it can be made to work with previous builds of Mixxx on Linux, we would not recommend it until the problem with the MIDI Drivers and USBQuirks gets sorted out and it can supported.

General Info

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

Link to website: http://www.hercules.com/us/

Hardware Models

Currently, there are 5 different models:

• Hercules DJ Console MK2 - Very popular controller with a built in 4x4 soundcard. (Two inputs, two outputs.)
• Hercules DJ Console RMX - supported in Mixxx with a built in 4x4 soundcard. (Two inputs, two outputs.) - Thanks Francois @ Hercules!

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

• Hercules DJ Console MK1 - Same as the MK2, but much older. Linux MIDI driver does not work because of USB Quirks kernel conflict.
• 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 MK2, slightly different MIDI mapping file in Mixxx.

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

Pictures

The Hercules DJ Console MK2. The Mac Edition and Control MP3 versions are very similar.

The Hercules DJ Console RMX. Release date is April 2008.