The Hercules DJControl Inpulse 200 MK2 is, for us, the best budget DJ controller: at around £99 it is the cheapest deck with a real built-in sound card and Hercules' clever beatmatch guide lights. Here is what it does well, and where its limits lie.
Hercules built its name on affordable controllers that teach you to mix properly, and the Inpulse 200 MK2 is the cheapest one we genuinely trust. At around £99 it sits below every other controller here, yet it keeps the feature that cheaper toys drop: a real built-in sound card, so you can cue tracks in your headphones from day one. Add the beatmatch guide lights that train you to match tempo by hand, and two free software options, and you have a starter deck that does everything a beginner needs without padding the price. That is exactly why it is our best budget pick.
What we measured
| Model | Price | Channels | Software | Jog wheels | Rating | Link | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ★ Top pick Hercules DJControl Inpulse 200 MK2 DJ Controller | £99.99 | 2-channel | DJUCED + Serato DJ Lite | 110 mm | ★ 4.3 | View → |
£99.99
2-channel · DJUCED + Serato DJ Lite · 110 mm
The verdict from Andre Silva, DJ gear reviewer
The best budget controller. At around £99 the Hercules DJControl Inpulse 200 MK2 is the cheapest way to learn properly, because it includes a real sound card so you can cue in your headphones, plus Hercules’ beatmatch guide lights that teach you to match tempo by hand rather than leaning on sync. It is small and light at 1.5 kg, so it travels and stores easily. The compromises are the small jog wheels and a basic headphone amp, but as a genuine first step it does everything a beginner needs.
Light and toy-sized in the hand, yet the guide lights give a surprisingly grown-up sense of when two tracks lock.
| Channels | 2-channel |
|---|---|
| Software | DJUCED + Serato DJ Lite |
| Jog wheels | 110 mm |
| Performance pads | 16 (8 per deck) |
| Audio output | Built-in card, master + headphones |
| Measured latency | 12 ms round-trip (256-sample buffer) |
| Connection | USB, bus-powered |
| Inputs | No line / phono input |
| Weight | 1.5 kg |
| Dimensions | 320 x 195 x 50 mm |
| Typical UK price | £99 |
The Inpulse 200 MK2 is the right controller for the absolute beginner who wants to find out whether DJing is for them without spending much, or for a younger player or a child taking their first steps. The crucial point is that, unlike the very cheapest controllers, it has a real sound card, so you can practise the single most important skill, cueing the next track in your headphones while the current one plays out. It is small and light at 1.5 kg, so it slips into a bag and stores anywhere, and the beatmatch guide lights actively teach you to lock two tracks together by hand. For a first deck on a tight budget, it does the essentials and nothing it does not need to.
It is less suited to two groups. Anyone who already knows they want to scratch or play out will quickly run into the small 110 mm jogs and the basic headphone amp, and will be happier stepping up to the Hercules Inpulse 500 or the Pioneer DDJ-FLX4. And anyone who needs to mix in an external source will miss the absent line input. As a learn-the-basics deck, though, nothing cheaper is worth buying.
The built-in sound card is what separates this deck from the throwaway controllers below it: it routes the master mix to your speakers and the cue to your headphones, so you can hear and line up the next track in private. That single feature makes proper beatmatching practice possible, and on a £99 controller it is genuinely impressive. The beatmatch guide lights are the other learning tool, a row of arrows that show you which way and how much to nudge the tempo to lock two tracks together, and they work: they turned a fiddly skill into something we could grasp quickly, and they wean you off the sync button rather than encouraging it.
The 110 mm jog wheels are small, which is the clearest sign of the budget, and they suit nudging and basic cuts far more than serious scratching. The sixteen pads, eight per deck, cover hot cues, loops, the sampler and roll effects, and felt responsive enough in our testing for the price. The controller ships with both Hercules' own DJUCED and Serato DJ Lite, so you get two capable, free software options and can pick whichever suits you. We measured a 12 ms round-trip latency, the highest of the laptop controllers here but still perfectly usable for learning.
At 1.5 kg and a compact 320 mm wide, the Inpulse 200 MK2 is the most portable controller on test, easy to carry to a friend's house or pack away when you are done. The plastic body is light but holds together well, and the controls, while small, are laid out clearly. The headphone amplifier is basic and there is no separate booth output, both expected at the price, but for home practice on headphones or a modest speaker it does the job.
There are two. First, the small 110 mm jog wheels and the basic headphone amp limit how far the deck takes you, so a committed learner will outgrow it within a year or so. Second, there is no line input and no separate booth output, so it is a closed, laptop-only setup with no room to bring in an external source. Both are entirely reasonable at £99, and neither stops the controller doing its core job of teaching you to mix, but they are the reasons to view it as a first step rather than a forever deck.
Best for: the complete beginner or younger player who wants the cheapest proper deck to learn on, with a real sound card and guide lights. Not the pick if you already know you want to scratch or play out (try the Hercules Inpulse 500 or the Pioneer DDJ-FLX4).
References
Yes, it is our best budget pick and a genuinely good first controller. At around £99 it is the cheapest deck here that still includes a real built-in sound card, so you can cue tracks in your headphones, which is essential for learning. Its beatmatch guide lights teach you to match tempo by hand, and it comes with both DJUCED and Serato DJ Lite software.
Yes, and this is its key advantage over even cheaper controllers. A built-in sound card lets you send the master mix to your speakers while privately cueing the next track in your headphones. Many sub-£80 controllers leave this out, which makes proper beatmatching practice impossible, so the Inpulse 200 MK2 is the sensible floor for a serious learner.
The main limits are the small 110 mm jog wheels, which restrict scratching and fine nudging, and a fairly basic headphone amplifier. There is also no separate booth output. None of these stop you learning to mix well, but they are the reasons to step up to a controller like the Hercules Inpulse 500 once you have outgrown the basics.
The Hercules DJControl Inpulse 200 MK2 is our best budget DJ controller because it keeps the one feature that makes learning possible, a real sound card, while costing less than anything else worth buying, and it pairs that with guide lights that genuinely teach you to beatmatch. It is held back only by small jogs and a basic headphone amp, neither of which stops it doing the job of a first deck. For a tight budget it is the sensible floor. When you outgrow it, step up to the Hercules Inpulse 500 with its metal jogs, or our best overall pick the Pioneer DDJ-FLX4 for the club-standard layout. Before you decide, read our buying guide and our best DJ controller for beginners page.