If you’re just getting started as a DJ, there are a lot of impressive entry-level DJ controllers out on the market. Here we see that one such contender for the top spot is none other than Hercules DJ and their budget-friendly yet fully capable Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300.
This beginner DJ controller is meant to help starting DJs get a better grasp of beat-matching as well as several other DJ-based basics.
Here we take the time to look over the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 and see if it has what it takes to pull people away from some of the bigger DJ gear names out there like Pioneer DJ and Numark.
We’ll go over its overall build and design as well as what included features it offers before finally giving it a verdict.
Is The Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 Any Good?
Yes, the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 is a good option for beginner DJs and music producers who want a versatile and feature-packed controller at an affordable price point. It provides a range of tools and functions that can help users improve their skills and create dynamic and engaging performances.
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Hercules Inpulse 300: First Impressions
Starting with first impressions, fresh out of the box, the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 is made almost entirely of plastic. While it’s what you’d expect from something of this price range, the Hercules DJ control 300 definitely did remind me that this is what an affordably-priced starting DJ controller is like.
Build
Building off of the plastic body, the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300’s is 48 centimeters wide while being 29 centimeters tall. It hosts a pair of 14 cm jogwheels.
And unlike most other DJ controllers out there that have to choose between being touch-sensitive or not, the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 has a “vinyl mode” feature that allows you to toggle this aspect on and off whenever you want.
In terms of power use, the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 doesn’t require a power brick to draw energy from, instead only needs your laptop to do all of its functions.
It comes with a braided USB-B cord that is thicker and more durable than what you’d see with most higher-end DJ controllers. At least in this regard, it’s clear they were going all out.
The DJ controller also gives all of its buttons a hard plastic feel that is fairly responsive. The problem I picked up on is just how “loud” they were. It had gone past expected clicking and was just a smidge distracting.
Plus, when it comes to most DJ controllers, you expect them to avoid the plastic look since it comes across as a bit cheap. Again, it’s not going to be the end of the world for most people but it’s definitely something you will pick up on.
Output Connection Ports
As with most beginner DJ controller units, the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 uses RCA cables for its output. Here, they have an output port to the master as well as the speakers. For the headphones, it uses a 3.5mm jack which helps prevent snapping and breaking.
While there could be some issue with properly fitting into the headphone jack – as it is recessed into the DJ controller rather than being more pronounced – I never had any issues with it.
The controller’s rear-side panel has a specialized port labeled as “Hercules Add On”. It’s unclear what it’s meant to be used for but it kind of suggests that it could be connected to another device later on. I get that they were trying to be ambitious and futureproof the DJ controller, but having a port that effectively leads to nowhere (at least for the time being) is a bit weird.
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Controller Features
Taking a deeper look at the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300, you see that they worked hard to make it stand out.
Decks
The DJ control Inpulse 300 has two decks both outfitted with dedicated controls for various built-in effects. Directly from the deck itself, the effects can be turned off, and turned back on, affecting how much of the effects are being applied, and also how often the effects repeat themselves.
The only issue is that these effects can’t be changed or tweaked directly, instead only able to be tweaked via the computer.
The DJ controller holds several dedicated button options for the slip function as well as the quantize function. What’s so crazy is that this is really rare with most mid-range controllers and below, being almost impossible to find with entry-level controllers.
Performance Pads
Each DJ control Inpulse 300 deck also comes with eight performance pads (hot cue, roll, slicer, etc.). These pads are rubberized and have a much nicer feel when compared to the plastic buttons that litter the rest of the DJ controller.
The Hot Cue, Slicer, Roll, and Sampler buttons are all above the pads which, when held down, let you access their secondary modes: FX, Beat Jump, Tone, and Slicer Loop.
A bit of an annoyance is the fact that the cue, play, and sync buttons are just a smidge too close to one another. While playing around with it, I found myself accidentally hitting sync when I was trying to cue and vice versa.
And though it wasn’t “all the time”, it was often enough that I did get a bit frustrated.
Slip Mode
The Slip Mode feature on the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 is pretty cool to use, especially after you’ve had a chance to play around with it for a while. When used, the Slip Mode allows you to manipulate a track’s playback.
During that time, you can add in a variety of other FX and features like scratching or looping. Once you’ve finished, the track will pick up right where you left off. This makes it an awesome way to have fun with a track and get creative, especially if you’re planning on becoming a Scratch DJ.
Quantize
The Quantize feature is another useful option, this time allowing you to effectively cram all of your actions in and have them match with the beat. Effectively, this is not too dissimilar to many “Sync” features, only doing it directly with your actions rather than just lining two songs up on the beat grid.
Looping
The looping feature is, as you’d expect, always a cool and popular one. Found above the “cue” and the “play” buttons, the looping controls are fairly extensive.
They have an “In” and an “Out” button that can be used to manually put a loop together. You can also create a four-beat loop by holding the “In” button for a few seconds.
One thing you’ll note when using the DJUICED software (more on that later) is that it allows you to automatically loop parts of a track. Not only that, but the loops happen exactly on the beat. This is true even if you have the Quantize feature turned off.
This is all thanks to the “SNAP” setting, which can fluctuate between different beats, ranging from 1, 1/2, and 1/4. It can also be turned off entirely while in the settings.
Read this next: How to Beatmatch properly: The Ultimate Guide [2023]
Beat-Matching Guide
Another super-popular and impressive Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 feature that everyone loves, the Beat-Matching Guide feature allows the Inpulse 300 to beat match at a much easier rate compared to other beginner DJ controllers.
Each of the two larger jog wheels, as well as the tempo faders, features a set of small red LED arrows that will light up. This is meant to inform you that, if you plan to beat the match, you need to either speed the track up or slow it down.
Overall, it’s a really useful tool if you’re not used to beatmatching yet.
What makes it great, though, is the fact that it’s not an indefinite thing. I was afraid that this was something you couldn’t turn off and would just constantly have running around in the background even after you got a hold of things.
To disable it, there’s a button on the controller’s center that you can press to clear things out.
As I said, this not only means that DJs can toggle it off and on based on if they need the feature or not, but it also means that if a more experienced DJ needs a stand-in DJ controller, they can grab this and play with it without feeling prompted unnecessarily.
However, we always recommend that you master beatmatching manually. It is one of the core Djing skills and needs to be learned and not controlled by the software.
We repeat you MUST master beat-matching manually. Listening skills are a DJ’s best asset.
Mixer
At the center of the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300, there is the mixer. Not only does it make really good use of its space, but everything is incredibly responsive and easy to access.
The faders are a bit on the smaller side, but they are also on either side of a full VU meter, making them very easy to use when you need to. This VU meter will flash either green or red based on either channel’s volume, allowing you to visually know when one is overpowering the other.
The mixer comes with an assortment of different dedicated knobs that control its gain as well as the highs, mids, and lower-end frequencies.
On top of that, it also has a dial when it comes to the high/low pass filter for either deck, working more like an EQ than strictly an isolator.
This, unfortunately, does mean a bit of sound is going to leak out from time to time so you should be aware of that.
The Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 crossfader is entirely software-controlled and is completely changeable based on the two different modes, scratch, and mix. It’s also able to be completely disabled while in the settings menu if you’re not interested in using it.
Energy Feature
The Energy feature on the Inpulse 300 is a function that allows DJs and music producers to analyze and visualize the energy level of a song. It is designed to help users identify the most energetic parts of a track and use them to create dynamic and engaging mixes.
The Inpulse 300 Energy feature works by analyzing the waveform of a song and assigning a color-coded energy rating to different sections of the track. The colors range from blue (low energy) to red (high energy), with green and yellow indicating intermediate levels
By providing a clear and intuitive way to visualize the energy of a song, it allows users to make more informed and creative decisions about how to mix the most appropriate track in.
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DJUICED DJ Software
While technically not a feature in and of itself, the DJUICED free DJ software is bundled in with the DJ controller entirely for free and is pretty much the go-to software that you’ll be using if you’re picking up the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300.
It offers both the aforementioned beat-matching guide feature as well as a virtual assistant.
The virtual assistant (known as DJ Assistant) is a tab found in the software as a popup, allowing the user to review tutorials on the basics. The tutorials are great since they can be minimized and set up so that you’re following along based entirely on what the audio is saying, giving you that hands-on experience.
The only problem I found with the DJ software was that, despite it being pretty slick and easy to navigate, it wasn’t particularly nice to look at. Simply put, the Djuced software looks like something from the mid-2000s instead of the 2020s.
Not only that, but it’s clear that, while the Djuced software has some uses, it’s simply not on the level of Serato DJ lite, Serato DJ Pro, or Rekordbox.
It’s clear that the Djuced software is something in the startup phase and is going to need a few years if it wants to catch up to the big boys.
This may not be a serious issue for some, but for me, I definitely found myself missing Serato’s more extensive DJ software features.
Intelligent Music Assistant
The Intelligent Music Assistant (IMA) is designed to help users select the best songs and create smooth transitions between tracks.
The IMA works by analyzing the music in the user’s library and then offering the best music suggestions that will mix well with the current song. It does this by analyzing the key, tempo, and other musical characteristics of the songs in the library.
It can also suggest the best upcoming songs based on the user’s preferences and the mood or style of the current track.
Once the user selects a suggested track, the Intelligent Music Assistant can automatically set the tempo and adjust the pitch to match the current track. This makes it easier for the user to create a smooth and seamless transition between the two best songs.
In addition to suggesting songs, the Intelligent Music Assistant can also provide other helpful features for DJs and music producers.
For example, it can display the waveform of the current track, allowing the user to see where the beats and breaks are. It can also provide information about the key and tempo of the current track, as well as the remaining time in the song.
In short, the Intelligent Music Assistant is designed to help DJs and music producers create better mixes and improve their workflow.
Automating certain tasks and providing helpful suggestions, can save users time and effort, allowing them to focus on their creativity and performance.
Pretty Cool stuff huh!
Hercules DJ Academy
The Hercules 300 DJ Academy is an online learning platform designed to teach entry-level users how to become better DJs and music producers. The academy provides a series of onboard video tutorials and courses that cover a wide range of topics related to DJing and music production.
The courses on the Hercules 300 DJ Academy cover topics such as beatmatching, mixing techniques, effects, scratching, and more. They are all designed to be accessible to beginners, but also provide advanced techniques for more experienced users.
The DJ Academy comprehensive tutorial videos incorporated are taught by professional DJs and music producers, who provide expert advice and guidance to users.
The onboard video tutorials use a variety of tools and techniques to help users learn, including live demonstrations, interactive exercises, and quizzes.
Overall Performance
What We Like:
- Slip Mode & Quantize Are Great For Beginners
- Beat-Matching Guide Is Perfect For Helping Beginners Learn To Beatmatch
- Mixer Has Some Really Great Features To Use
- Has It’s Designated Software (DJUICED)
What We Do Not Like:
- DJ Controller Buttons Feel Too Plasticky
- DJUICED Software Isn’t As Impressive As Serato Dj Lite Or Rekordbox
Read this next: 6 Best DJ Mixers for Beginners for 2023
Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300: The Verdict
The Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 set out to make itself a serious contender in the entry-level DJ controller space and I’d say that it just about does it.
While I won’t swear to it, this is definitely one of the better options to choose from as it often offers things even difficult to find on mid or even higher controllers, let alone something priced where it is.
And while some things about the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 aren’t perfect (the plastic DJ controller buttons, the less impressive software, the performance pad buttons being too close), when you consider how much you’re spending, who it’s aimed at, and everything it does get right, even these issues become insanely trivial.
Long story short, if you’re a DJ that needs a DJ controller (for whatever reason), the Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 300 is something you definitely want to consider picking up and using.
