Vestax Vci 300

Vestax VCI-300

Image (c) Vestax

• Forum thread
• ProAudioStar review

The VCI-300 is a dedicated USB MIDI controller. It also comes with a built in audio interface with standard 4-in/4-out and headphone connection, which means all you need for DJing is the VCI-300, a laptop and a set of headphones.

Vestax went out of business in 2014.

Differences between VCI-300 and VCI-300MKII

In 2010 Vestax made changes to the original VCI-300 that improved the controller. AFAIK there were no changes in the MIDI mapping.

1. Volume Boost (Gain Boost)

• Higher output gain level and headphone volume level when supplying power with the optional power adaptor.
• Important Note: Optional power supply DC-7 must be used in order to get the boost on the headphones and Master output. Without the power supply the MKII will perform just like the original VCI-300. Also, using the DC-7 on the original VCI-300 will do nothing.

1. Optional Vestax Digital Fader (not included)

• The VCI-300MKII Cross fader can be upgraded to Vestax's new magnetic sensor system digital fader CF-X2.

1. **New Direct Audio Thru **

• Audio fed to the MIC/AUX input can now be directly sent to the Master outputs with the THRU switch turned ON, minimizing latency of when fed through ITCH.

1. New adjust knobs for the JOG sensor control

• New JOG sensor adjust knobs for speedy and accurate adjustments.the VCI-300MKII's JOG wheels have excellent tracking ability,and flexibility for various play styles.You can control songs with analog precision.

1. New Mini Head-Phone Jack

• 1/8 inch headphone connection along with standard 1/4 inch connection.

Mapping description

Image (c) Vestax

Mixxx 1.11 support the VCI-300 out of the box. The mapping for Mixxx closely resemble the original to make the transition easy.

Version 2013-10-12

#	KEY	FUNCTION
01	Pitch Slider	Adjusts playback speed.
02	Auto Tempo	Toggle quantize (1.11.0: Trigger beatsync)
	Shift + Auto Tempo	Trigger beatsync (1.11.0: Toggle quantize)
	Scroll + Auto Tempo	Tap BPM. When taped repeatedly, adjust the tracks BPM to the tapped BPM.
03	Keylock	Trigger beatsync
	Shift + Keylock	Reset pitch to 0.00% (quartz)
04	Pitch Shift	Pitch bend
	Shift + Pitch Shift	Fine tune playback speed +/-0.01
05	Cue [1-3]/In	Set/Activate Hotcue
	Shift + Cue [1-3]/In	Delete Hotcue
06	Scratch	Toggle scratching on jogwheel
07	Out 1/Loop	Set manual loop in point
	Shift + Out 1/Loop	Clear loop point
	Out 2/Loop	Set manual loop out point
	Shift + Out 2/Loop	Clear loop point
	Out 3/Loop	Enable/disable loop
08	Shift	Holding shift engages shift functions of many of the buttons, secondary functions are printed inside a grey box.
09	Trim	This controls the volume of the track before it goes to the EQ and fader.
10	Censor	Temporary play backwards while pressed, resumes from where the playhead would have been if the button was not pressed
	Shift + Censor	1.11: Toggle reverse playback. Pressing Censor again during reverse playback, will return to normal playback.
	:::	1.12 (work in progress): Enable/disable effect unit with preselected Filter effect. The filter parameter is controlled with the Mid EQ knob next to the button.
11	Auto Loop	Enable beatloop of the current beatloop value (default: 4 beats) for tracks that have BPM calculated
	Shift + Auto Loop	Enter/Exit beatloop roll
	Scroll + Auto Loop	Reset number of beats to 4 if beatloop not active
12	Equalizers	Adjust the gain of the high/mid/low EQ filter.
13	Half	Halve loop length
	Shift + Half	Jump to start of track (while paused)
	Scroll + Half	Seek backward (while paused)
	Double	Double loop length
	Shift + Double	Jump to end of track (while paused)
	Scroll + Double	Seek forward (while paused)
14	Master Level	This knob controls the overall output of the VCI-300, ensure this is right down before running the software.
15	Monitor Select	Controls the balance in the headphones between the mix output and the PFL headphone cue
16	Monitor Volume	Controls the volume of the headphones.
17	Cue	If a cue point is set, jumps to the cue point when pressed.
	Shift + Cue	Set the cue point (while playing), clear the cue point (while paused), jump to beginning of track (if no cue point is set)
18	Play	Start/Pause playback
	Shift + Play	Stutter Play
19	Crossfader	Fades between the left and right channels.
20	Input faders	Control the volume of their respective tracks.
21/23	PFL A/B	Sends the left/right deck to the headphone mix.
	Shift + PFL A/B	Load selected track into the deck (while paused) and switch PFL to this deck
22	Scroll + Jogwheel	Scroll playlist (while paused)
24	Cursor Up/Down	Scrolls to the next/previous track in the track table.
	Cursor Left/Right	Switches to the next view (Library, Queue, etc.)
	Tab	Toggles (expands/collapses) the currently selected sidebar item.
25 1	Jog (platter touched)	Track search (while paused when scratching is disabled)
	:::	Pitch bend / nudge (while playing when scratching is disabled)
	:::	Scratch (when scratching is enabled)
	Jog (outer rim)	Pitch bend / nudge
	Shift + Jog	Fast track search (while paused)
	Scroll + Jog	Scroll playlist (while paused)

¹ changed in Mixxx v1.12.0

Vestax VCI-300 factory Midi map

The VCI-300 ships with the Serato Itch DJ software with assignments as follows:

	Deck	MIDI STATUS TYPE	MIDI CHANNEL	MIDI NOTE SEND	MIDI NOTE RECEIVE (LED)	KEY	FUNCTION ( according to the official Vestax Manual )
01	A	Control Change	1	0x0D + 0x2D	none	PITCH SLIDER	Adjusts playback speed.
	B	Control Change	1	0x13 + 0x33	none
02	A	Note on	1	0x29	0x25	AUTOTEMPO	Turns on auto tempo, this automatically matches the speed of the track to the other playing track.
	B	Note on	1	0x3C	0x39
						SHIFT FUNCTION: BEATSYNC	Automatically aligns the last transient in the track with the closest one in the other playing track.
03	A	Note on	1	0x26	0x24	KEYLOCK	Engages Keylock. This keeps the key of a track the same even when you change the tempo.
	B	Note on	1	0x39	0x33
						SHIFT FUNCTION: QUARTZ LOCK	Resets the pitch of the track to zero regardless of the slider setting.
04	A	Note on	1	0x27	0x3B	PITCH SHIFT DOWN ▲	Offsets the pitch range by 12%, for example when pitch shifted one step up your available speeds become 6% to 18%.Pressing both buttons at once return you to normal pitch range of ± 6%.
	A	Note on	1	0x28	0x3C	PITCH SHIFT UP ▼
	B	Note on	1	0x3A	0x3D	PITCH SHIFT DOWN ▲
	B	Note on	1	0x3B	0x3E	PITCH SHIFT UP ▼
05	A	Note on	1	0x2A	RED=0x41 Orange=0x41+0x47 GREEN=0x47	CUE/IN 1	Pressing these buttons will set cue points 1-3, pressing them again will begin playback from the relevant cue point.
	A	Note on	1	0x2B	ORANGE=0x43 LIME=0x43+0x49 GREEN=0x49	CUE/IN 2
	A	Note on	1	0x2C	BLUE=0x45 CYAN=0x45+0x4B GREEN=0x4B	CUE/IN 3
	A	Note on	1	0x2E	RED=0x42 Orange=0x42+0x48 GREEN=0x48	OUT 1/LOOP
	A	Note on	1	0x2F	ORANGE=0x44 LIME=0x44+0x4A GREEN=0x4A	OUT 2/LOOP
	A	Note on	1	0x30	BLUE=0x46 CYAN=0x46+0x4C GREEN=0x4C	OUT 3/LOOP
	B	Note on	1	0x3D	RED=0x4D Orange=0x4D+0x53 GREEN=0x53	CUE/IN 1
	B	Note on	1	0x3E	ORANGE=0x4F LIME=0x4F+0x55 GREEN=0x55	CUE/IN 2
	B	Note on	1	0x3F	BLUE=0x51 CYAN=0x51+0x57 GREEN=0x57	CUE/IN 3
	B	Note on	1	0x41	RED=0x4E Orange=0x4E+0x54 GREEN=0x54	OUT 1/LOOP
	B	Note on	1	0x42	ORANGE=0x50 LIME=0x50+0x56 GREEN=0x56	OUT 2/LOOP
	B	Note on	1	0x43	BLUE=0x52 CYAN=0x52+0x58 GREEN=0x58	OUT 3/LOOP
						SHIFT FUNCTION: DELETE CUE	Deletes the current cue point setting.
06	A	Note on	1	0x2D	0x26	SCRATCH	Puts the platter into "Scratch" mode which allows vinyl style playback control.
	B	Note on	1	0x40	0x38
07	A	Note on	1			OUT/LOOP	When you have a cue point set this will create a loop out point. Playback will loop between the cue point and the outpoint until you press the out button a second time.
						SHIFT FUNCTION: DELETE OUT POINT	Deletes the current out point setting.
08	A	Note on	1	0x31	0x27	SHIFT	Holding shift engages shift functions of many of the buttons, secondary functions are printed inside a grey box.
	B	Note on	1	0x44	0x37
09	A	Note on	1	0x0E	none	TRIM	This controls the volume of the track before it goes to the EQ and fader.
	B	Note on	1	0x14	none
10	A	Note on	1	0x32	0x28	CENSOR	Pressing censor reverses playback temporarily, when released playback resumes from where the playhead would have been if censor was not pressed. It is used to "censor" out portions of a song.
	B	Note on	1	0x45	0x34
						SHIFT FUNCTION: REVERSE	Toggles playback direction.
11	A	Note on	1	0x33	0x29	AUTOLOOP	Autoloop works for tracks that have BPM calculated and when pressed will create an autoloop of the current autoloop value.
	B	Note on	1	0x46	0x35
12	A	Control Change	1	0x0F	none	EQ HIGH	Adjust the gain of the high EQ filter.
	A	Control Change	1	0x10	none	EQ MID	Adjust the gain of the mid EQ filter.
	A	Control Change	1	0x11	none	EQ LOW	Adjust the gain of the low EQ filter.
	B	Control Change	1	0x15	none	EQ HIGH
	B	Control Change	1	0x16	none	EQ MID
	B	Control Change	1	0x17	none	EQ LOW
13	A	Note on	1	0x34	0x2A	HALF	These buttons set the auto loop length before you turn it on. Once autoloop is on they allow you to half or double the length of the loop.
	A	Note on	1	0x35	0x2B	DOUBLE	These buttons set the auto loop length before you turn it on. Once autoloop is on they allow you to half or double the length of the loop.
	B	Note on	1	0x47	0x32	HALF
	B	Note on	1	0x48	0x36	DOUBLE
						SHIFT FUNCTION: NEXT/PREV	Skip to the next or previous track in the current selection.
14		none	none	none	none	MASTER LEVEL	This knob controls the overall output of the VCI-300, ensure this is right down before running the software.
15		Control Change	1	0x19	none	MONITOR SELECT	Controls the balance in the headphones between the mix output and the PFL headphone cue
16		none	none	none	none	MONITOR VOLUME	Controls the volume of the headphones.
17	A	Note on	1	0x24	0x71	CUE	When playback is paused this sets a temp cue point, once the temp cue is set pressing it while playing will jump to the temp cue point.
	B	Note on	1	0x37	0x73
18	A	Note on	1	0x25	0x72	PLAY/PAUSE	Starts and stops playback.
	B	Note on	1	0x38	0x74
19		Control Change	1	0x18	none	CROSSFADER	Fades between the left and right channels.
20	A	Control Change	1	0x0C	none	INPUT FADERS	Control the volume of their respective tracks.
	B	Control Change	1	0x12	none
21	A	Note on	1	0x36	0x2D	PFL A	Sends the left deck to the headphone mix, pressing with SCROLL loads the current selection to the left deck.
23	B	Note on	1	0x49	0x31	PFL B	Sends the right deck to the headphone mix, pressing with SCROLL loads the current selection to the right deck.
22		Note on	1	0x52	0x2F	SCROLL	Turns on platter scrolling, this allows you to browse the library using the platters.
24		Note on	1	0x4D	none	NAVIGATION UP	This control works like cursor keys for navigating the library.
		Note on	1	0x4E	none	NAVIGATION DOWN
		Note on	1	0x4F	none	NAVIGATION BACK
		Note on	1	0x50	none	NAVIGATION FWD
		Note on	1	0x51	none	NAVIGATION TAB
25	A	Control Change	1	0x1C + 0x3C	0x75	PLATTER Move
	B	Control Change	1	0x1D + 0x3D	0x77	PLATTER Move
	A	Note on	1	0x53	0x76	PLATTER TOUCH	On startup the platters temporarily NUDGE the playback speed slower or faster.
	B	Note on	1	0x54	0x78	PLATTER TOUCH
						SHIFT FUNCTION: FFWD/REWIND	Skips through the track at high speed.
26		Note on	1	0x4A	0x2C	CRATES	Switches cursor focus to the crate area.
27		Note on	1	0x4B	0x2E	FILES	Opens the Import panel where you can browse your filesystem for tracks to load.
28		Note on	1	0x4C	0x30	BROWSE	Opens the Browse panel where you can filter your selection by Genre, BPM, Artist and Album.
29	A	Note on	1	none	Red=0x59-0x5B Green=0x5C-0x64	OUTPUT LEVEL METER	Output level indication (12 LED`s per channel, 1-3=red & 4-12=green)
	B	Note on	1	none	Red=0x65-0x67 Green=0x70-0x68	OUTPUT LEVEL METER
NN		Note on	1	none	0x1A	C.F.Curve	Adjusts slope of Crossfader. Rotate clockwise to shorten fade time with sharper cut off at either end, and 50/50 mix across width of fader. Rotate anti-clockwise to lengthen fade to gradually mix across fader and 50/50 mix in centre only.
NN		Note on	1	none	0x1B	L.F.Curve	Adjusts slope of Channel Faders. Rotate clockwise to shorten fade time with sharper cut off at bottom and full level most majority of fade length. Rotate anti-clockwise to lengthen fade to gradually increase level up fader and 100% level at top only.