DJ Vintage

I ain’t frowning lol … connect what works for you ;_)

Usually if you connect something that has stereo RCA connections (i.e. your S2) which sit closely together to another device (i.e. Denon 4311) that has stereo RCA connections that sit closely together, it works having a regular stereo RCA cable.

Like this one: http://static.bax-shop.nl/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Procab_ref800_5.jpg

But … when you switch to KRK’s which are active speakers with the amplifiers built in, they will have ONE RCA per speaker. This means you will have to have one RCA to RCA cable going to the left KRK and another one to the right. You can take a knife to your stereo cable, but changes are you will cut and breach the outer shell.

So, if you get seperate cables to begin with you can still use them for your current hook-up, but also for when you switch to KRKs or any other kind of active monitors. They ARE harder to find though and might be relatively more expensive. (I usually make them myself).

For what you are trying to do now, stereo RCA is fine though. They are not too expensive, the one in the link I included is about 10 euro for 3 meters (9ft) and is a decent cable for the job. If you ever move to KRKs or similar or start playing out, you could get yourself some balanced Jack/Jack or Jack/XLR cables then.

Greetinx,
C.

It is my experience that it is best to use the sub that the manufacturer intended to be used with your top speakers. Usually they are best balanced (both with driver placement if you use them stacked and crossover frequency) and will give the best overall sound as a set. That is not to say that individually there aren’t better options available, but I think I would stick with a matching set.

Greetinx,
C.

Most crossfaders can be set to different “slopes”. Some slopes have both channels at full output in the middle, others have curves that pretty much keep the total output the same from one side of the cross to the other. Which you prefer depends on the kind of music you are mixing I guess.

Greetinx,
C.

I like the way DJ Player is built from the ground up, not trying to emulate real life gear, but using the touch capabilities of the iPad. As such it does require a bit of a mental switch to work with.

It certainly has some clever ways of integrating kill switches and such.

And I have played around with the NetOut functionality so you can hook up your headphone to your ipod/iphone wirelessly (really funky running around a venue with your cans around your neck and they are actually functional :-).
It works like a charm. I think I had to dial in about 10ms delay on the mains to sync it but then it works. So no more cumbersome cans cable to worry about!

Lots of possible setups, controller support, etc.

I have used (and liked Algoriddims DJ), but right now my money is on DJ Player.

Greetinx,
C.

This is a discussion that has no ending really. In the early computer days the same argument flew in connection with computer graphic work. Apple was king when it came to desktop publishing for the longest time. Then, PC platforms caught up and started to outperform the Macs and eventually DTP developers started releasing new versions on PC before Mac, ouch.

We saw the same thing in recording studios. If you didn’t have a ProTools HD system running on a PowerMac (or whatever fancy name they gave them) you couldn’t be taken seriously.

And now the DJ booth. I am a big PC guy, I actually make part of my living working on/with PC’s. I have never wanted a Mac of any kind. Still, for DJ-ing purpose, I now have one.

Reasons:

• The (audio) driver argument. Yes, you can get PCs to do what you need them to do, but the way Apple implemented its audio drivers trumps it. Making an aggregate audio device (i.e. several sound cards working as one) is easier but especially more stable than the ASIO route.
• The build quality. The aluminum casing is indeed sturdy. The magnetic power connector that prevents you from ever breaking off the power connecter on your laptop is a lot smarter than any connector sticking out of a laptop. I have had more than one laptop break the internal connector, rendering the laptop virtually useless (that connector is often soldered to the motherboard and can’t be replaced). Not that bad at home, but for life on the road …
• The lighted keyboard. Working in darkish DJ booths that is an advantage for me.
• Dual harddisk capability standard. There is a standard bracket for MacBooks (not cheap, but hey, it’s Apple) that lets you take the optical drive out and put a hard disk in its place. So having a setup with very fast SSD for system and a regular harddisk for crazy amounts of music is very simple. Most laptops don’t offer that functionality (technically possible but just not designed that way).

There are drawback too. Parts are crazy, price-wise. Only 2 USB ports. Filesystems that aren’t exactly interchangeable. A nice Thunderbird port on newer MacBooks with nothing to hook up to it. Harder (though not impossible) to tweak and fine-tune.

I use my MacBook solely for my music (ProTools) and DJ (Traktor 2.6) work. It only gets connected to internet to download music (and I often just do that on my PC then transfer it via USB stick, external HD or network) and to run updates of the software. There are no games, no productivity programs (like Word and stuff) on it. If I am not doing audio/dj stuff, it sits in its flightcase waiting for the next gig.

For everything else I still prefer my trusted PC with all its (hardware) flexibility, expandability and such.

So, if you can afford one, MacBooks are a great piece of equipment. If you want to stay with windows (oh my god, who wants windows 8 on a DJ machine … arghhhhh), go for Intel CPUs (processors). They tend to be slightly more stable and are most definitely faster when it comes to media work (audio and video).

Whatever choice you make though, do NOT use your DJ machine (Mac, Windows, whatever) for anything else but DJ-ing. If you have to (because you can’t afford a second PC or laptop for all the other stuff you want to do), make it dual boot. That way you can start the machine in either DJ mode or “regular” work mode and if something goes wrong while in regular mode, your DJ mode is still intact. Nothing worse than visiting the wrong website on saturday afternoon and getting infected by some nice malware while you need to use your machine that night for a gig.

Greetinx,
C.

Just upgraded from MC6000 to 2x SC2900 and X1600 in a RoadReady coffin. The case nees some work, I’ll fabricate a doghouse to accomodate cabling, USB hub, Airport Express and network switch and some external connections.

I can attach a laptop holder for playing with Traktor 2.6 on my MacBook 15″ or iPad with Denon Engine, or just play “traditionally” with just CDs or USB-sticks.

The monitor is a Numark NPM100 on a mic stand

Greetinx,
C.

It’s like a dollar, only worth a bit more :-p