So I finally finished the long awaited Denon DJ MCX8000 review. And the very first comment on Facebook was this:
…which very neatly segues me into a question that I’ve been meaning to ask for ever and a day, and one that I’ve never seen asked anywhere else — do you prefer symmetrical or non-symmetrical (asymmetrical) controller layout?
What do I mean? This diagram should make it easy to understand:
I come from a turntable background, so you’d reasonably expect that I’d go with asymmetrical. But I’m really not bothered as far as controllers goes. It’s probably down to using an ever-changing variety of tech doing DJWORX. I’ve told the story a few times but once more won’t hurt — I was reviewing a Pioneer controller, and messed up more often than normal as I kept nudging the pitch fader on the left deck. My daughter, being a chip off the old block, shouted “I thought you could DJ?”. But generally speaking, I prefer asymmetrical.
I’m sure that there’s a heap of left/right brain coordination research (head patting and tummy rubbing)that I could dig into, as well as thinking that muscle memory has something to do with it too. And I also wonder how long manufacturers agonised about symmetry or asymmetry too.
So I made a poll, which I think will help get a clearer picture:
[poll id=”2″]
This is more out of personal interest, but it’s also useful information for the industry too. So if you use a controller, please add your vote. Ta very much.