Hercules DJControl

Inpulse 500
Quick-Start Guide

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Setup
Serato Software
The Hercules DJControl Inpulse 500 is a “Serato DJ Lite hardware unlocked” device, meaning it works with
Serato DJ Lite out of the box.
It is also a “paid upgrade to Serato DJ Pro device”, meaning it requires the purchase & activation of a Serato
DJ Pro license, in order to be used with Serato DJ Pro.
You can also trial Serato DJ Pro, for up to 14-days.
Click here to find out more about buying or activating Serato DJ Pro

Please ensure you have the latest version of Serato DJ Pro installed:
Click here to download Serato DJ Pro

Connection
The Hercules DJControl Inpulse 500 requires manufacturer specific drivers on both Mac & Windows
operating systems.
Before using Serato DJ Pro, please download and install the driver, from Hercules’ website, here.
Once the driver is installed, simply launch & activate the latest version of Serato DJ Pro and connect your
Hercules device using the USB connection.

Help
Show Tooltips

Click on the button in the upper right-hand corner of Serato DJ Pro, then to enable
tooltips. Tool tips provide a handy way to learn the various features of Serato DJ Pro.
Move the mouse over a section of the screen to bring up a context sensitive tool tip.

Watch Tutorials
Click on the button in the upper right-hand corner of Serato DJ Pro, then to launch
your default internet browser and watch tutorials, to help you get familiar with Serato DJ Pro.

Get Support
Click on the button in the upper right-hand corner of Serato DJ Pro, then to launch your
default internet browser and navigate to the Serato DJ Pro knowledge base, where you can find helpful
articles and guides on Serato DJ Pro. Alternatively, type in the box, with keywords, to
search the Serato DJ Pro knowledge base for specific, related topics.

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Overview
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# DJCONTROL INPULSE 500 FUNCTION SHIFT FUNCTION
CONTROL
1 SLIP Toggle Slip (per deck) -
2 QUANTIZE Toggle Quantize (per deck) -
3 MIC SECTION MIC level/MIC Hi & Low EQ. -
MIC level will light up in green when input volume clips/distorts
4 CHANNEL GAIN/EQ Adjust Hi/Mid/Low EQ & gain per channel -
5 LOAD Load selected track to deck (per deck). Double press to Instant Double -
6 BROWSE Turn to scroll Library. Press in to toggle forward between Library & Crate Fast Library scroll. Press in
list. Library knob exterior will pulse to the beat of playing track to toggle backward between
Library & Crate list
7 ASSISTANT Toggle Autoplay -
8 CHANNEL METER Monitor level of playing channels -
9 MASTER SECTION Adjust Master Level, monitor Master Level, & Toggle Master Cue -
10 SYNC Toggle SYNC on per deck Toggle SYNC off per deck
11 BEAT ALIGN Move jog wheel/platter forward (FWD) or in reverse (REV) to align beat- -
grid, as the corresponding arrow lights up. ‘BEAT ALIGN’ will light up in
green when beatgrid is aligned.
NOTE: This feature relies on accurate beatgrids.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT BEATGRIDS IN SERATO DJ
12 TEMPO MATCH Move tempo slider up (-) or down (+) when corresponding arrow lights -
up. ‘TEMPO’ will light up in green when tempo is matched.
NOTE: This feature relies on accurate BPM.
13 TEMPO SLIDER Adjust tempo/pitch per deck Ignore tempo/pitch
adjustment per deck
14 PLAY / PAUSE Toggle Play / Pause per deck Stutter Play
15 HEADPHONES SECTION Adjust headphone level and mix -
16 CHANNEL CUE Press per channel to cue for monitoring in headphones -
17 CROSSFADER CURVE Toggle crossfader curve type -
18 CROSS FADER Crossfade audio between channel A-B Crossfader start

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Overview
# DJCONTROL INPULSE 500 FUNCTION SHIFT FUNCTION
CONTROL
19 BEATMATCH GUIDE Toggle BEAT ALIGN & TEMPO MATCH features on / off -
20 CHANNEL FADER Adjust channel volume Fader start
21 FILTER FX SECTION Apply low pass or high pass filter per deck, toggle FX -
SEE FX SECTION FOR MORE INFORMATION
22 AUX SECTION Adjust AUX volume / Adjust AUX high pass & low pass filter -

23 PERFORMANCE PADS SEE PERFORMANCE PADS SECTION FOR MORE INFORMATION -

24 CUE Set Temp Cue point / Cue from set Temp Cue point Load previous track to deck

25 SHIFT Use in conjunction with other controls as modifier -

26 OUT Set Loop Out point / Edit Loop Out point Parameter right

27 IN Set Loop In point / Edit Loop In point. Press and hold to toggle 4 beat Parameter left
autoloop
28 AUTOLOOP Press in to toggle autoloop, turn left to halve loop length, turn right to -
double loop length
29 JOG WHEEL Control waveform within Serato DJ Pro in vinyl mode, or pitch bend with Fast waveform scroll in vinyl
vinyl mode off mode / aggresive pitch bend
in vinyl mode off
30 VINYL Toggle vinyl mode per deck -

Overview
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# INPULSE 500 CONTROL FUNCTION

1 MASTER OUT (UNBALANCED) TRS or 1/4” master output (unbalanced)

2 MASTER OUT (RCA) RCA master output
3 MIC IN (BALANCED) Microphone TRS or 1/4” input (balanced)
4 AUX IN Auxiliary RCA & mini-jack or 1/8” input
5 USB Connect PC via USB connection
14 HEADPHONES 1/4” & 1/8” headphone output

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Performance Pads
The Hercules DJControl Inpulse 500 comes with 8 RGB performance pads, that can be used across 8
different performance pad modes.

These consist of:

HOT CUE mode: Press the HOT CUE pad mode button to enter HOT CUE mode. Pads 1-8 trigger Serato
DJ Pro Cue points, and if no Cue point is present on that slot/pad, pressing that pad will set a Cue point.
Holding SHIFT while pressing a pad will clear the Cue point from that pad/slot.
MANUAL LOOP mode: Press the LOOP pad mode button to enter MANUAL LOOP mode. In this mode
pressing pad 1 to set or edit the Loop In point, pad 2 to set or edit the Loop Out point, pad 3 to turn the
loop on or off, pad 4 to reloop, pad 5 to select the previous loop slot, pad 6 to select the next loop slot, and
pad 7 to save the current manual loop to the selected slot.
SLICER mode: Press the SLICER pad mode button to enter SLICER mode. In this mode a specified
range (or domain) is divided into eight equal sections, and these eight sliced sections are assigned to the
respective performance pads (1-8), and can be triggered by pressing them. The domain shifts as the track
duration elapses. Use the Parameter left & right buttons to decrease or increase the domain size.
SAMPLER mode: Press the SAMPLER pad mode button to enter SAMPLER mode. Press pads 1-8 to
trigger samples loaded into the Serato DJ Pro Sampler. Hold SHIFT while pressing a pad to stop the sample
playback once triggered, or load a sample to the respective Sampler slot if no sample is loaded. Use the
Parameter left & right buttons to cycle Sample banks forward and backward respectively.

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Performance Pads

Secondary modes consist of:

PITCH PLAY mode: Hold SHIFT while pressing the HOT CUE pad mode button to enter PITCH PLAY
mode. PITCH PLAY mode requires the Serato Pitch ‘n Time DJ expansion pack to be activated.
SEE THE PITCH PLAY SECTION FOR MORE INFORMATION
LOOP ROLL mode: Hold SHIFT while pressing the LOOP pad mode button to enter LOOP ROLL mode.
In this mode holding pads 1-8 activates a loop roll of varying sizes. Release the pad to exit the Loop Roll.
Use the ‘Shift Autoloop range’ controls in Serato DJ Pro to change the 8 selected loop size options. Use the
Parameter left & right buttons to shift the loop roll left & right respectively.
AUTOLOOP mode: Hold SHIFT while pressing the SLICER pad mode button to enter AUTOLOOP mode.
In this mode pressing pads 1-8 activates an autoloop of varying sizes. Press the same pad again to exit
the autoloop. Use the ‘Shift Autoloop range’ controls in Serato DJ Pro to change the 8 selected loop size
options, or press the Parameter left & right buttons to shift the loop left & right respectively.
BEATGRID EDIT mode: Hold SHIFT while pressing the SAMPLER pad mode button to enter BEATGRID
EDIT mode. In this mode, pad 1 adjusts grid left by a large amount, pad 2 adjusts grid left by a small
amount, pad 3 adjusts grid right by a small amount, and pad 4 adjusts grid right by a large amount. Pad 5
slips the grid left by a large amount, and pad 6 slips it left by a small amount, while pad 7 slips the grid right
by a small amount, and pad 8 slips the grid right by a large amount. Parameter left sets a beat marker, and
Parameter right clears a set beat marker.

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Pitch Play
Holding SHIFT and pressing the HOT CUE performance pad mode button on the Inpulse 500 will enable
Pitch Play mode. In this mode you an play Cue Points over variable pitch ranges.
There are 3 key ranges to choose from. The following tables show pitched key ranges (in Semitones) while
using the 8 performance pads in Pitch Play mode. To toggle beteen key ranges press the Parameter left &
right buttons.
The root key pad (0) is always lit white, which will play the cue point at it’s regular pitch.
Pressing Parameter left & right while holding SHIFT will shift up or down a single semitone. In Pitch Play
mode, pressing a pad will pitch the currently selected cue point up or down the following ranges:

Up Range: (Up 7 Semitones)

+4 +5 +6 +7
0 +1 +2 +3

Middle Range: (Up 3/Down 4 Semitones

0 +1 +2 +3
-4 -3 -2 -1

Down Range: (Down 7 Semitones)

-3 -2 -1 0
-7 -6 -5 -4

When Pitch Play mode is first enabled, the middle range is selected. If a new track is loaded, key mode will
default to middle range.
PITCH PLAY can only pitch one Cue point at a time. To change the selected Cue, hold the SHIFT button
and press a performance pad where the cue point you want to select would be (as shown in the CUES
performance pad mode). While holding SHIFT, press the corosponding performance pad for:

Cue 1 Cue 2 Cue 3 Cue 4

Cue 5 Cue 6 Cue 7 Cue 8

The selected cue point defaults to Cue Point 1 on track load, even if instant doubled. If a pad with no cue
point is selected, then a new cue point will be created. Deleting a cue point however, is not possible in
PITCH PLAY mode. Range is remembered if you choose another pad mode, then go back. If a new track is
loaded, the mode will default to middle range.

NOTE: Pitch Play mode is avaialble once the Pitch ‘n Time DJ Expansion Pack has been
activated in the MY SERATO window. Make sure “Enable Pitch ‘n Time DJ” is checked in the
Expansion Pack tab of the SETUP screen.

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DJ FX

INPULSE 500 CONTROL SINGLE FX MULTI FX

FILTER Increase FX parameter depth by Increase selected FX depth by turning knob left or
turning knob left or right from neutral right from neutral position (middle)
position (middle)
FX1 Arm FX Arm FX slot 1
FX2 Toggle to adjust FX parameter 1 with Arm FX slot 2
Filter knob
FX3 Toggle to adjust FX parameter 2 with Arm FX slot 3
Filter knob
FX4 Toggle Beats multiplier value adjust- Toggle Beats multiplier value adjustment. Once
ment. Once toggled use respective toggled use respective Filter control to decrease
Filter control to decrease (left) or (left) or increase (right) value. Return to neutral
increase (right) value. Return to position (middle) to reset to 1 beat value.
neutral position (middle) to reset to 1
beat value.

Beat Jump
To activate Beat Jump, open the Setup screen and under the DJ preferences tab turn on “Show Beat Jump
Controls”.

When you close the Setup screen you will see Beat Jump controls underneath the existing Auto Loop values on
each deck. Checking this box will turn on Beat Jump features in the deck area and let you control Beat Jump
from on your supported Serato DJ Pro hardware.

When the Beat Jump option is enabled, the LOOP ROLL & AUTO LOOP perfomance pad mode will use the
bottom row of 4 pads (pads 5-8) as Beat Jump controls. This is designed to mirror the change in deck Auto
Loop area (from 8 Auto Loop sizes to 4 Auto Loop sizes + Beat Jump controls).

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MIDI
The MIDI feature in Serato DJ Pro provides the ability to remap Serato DJ Pro software functions to your
primary Serato controller, interface or mixer. You can also assign controls to a secondary MIDI controller to
further enhance your performance.
For more information on MIDI mapping with Serato DJ Pro click here

To remap your supported Serato device, open the SETUP screen and click the MIDI tab. If your Serato
device supports hardware remapping, it will show up in the MIDI Devices list at the top.

Select your connected device from the MIDI Devices list and make sure the “Allow Serato Hardware
Remapping” option is checked.

Once checked, the MIDI assign button at the top of the screen will become available for you to start
remapping.
NOTE: The Inpulse 500 has two MIDI components which detail Deck control & Mixer individually, and must
be enabled individually for mapping of the full device.

You can save, edit or delete MIDI presets in the MIDI tab of the SETUP screen. Clicking ‘Restore Defaults’
will erase any custom mappings for all connected devices and revert their functions back to default.