DJ Vintage

I used to work in 5-star hotels around the world. 6 days a week, 6-7 hours a day. Packed house 2-3 days a week with the regular crowd. The rest of the week some lost hotel guests and the occasional group of holiday goers.

Definitely not only “big fun” all of the time. Then again, you get paid (a lot) better than working 40 hours a week in construction or car maintenance, you don’t get your hands dirty, you get to practice lots of stuff for free on club gear AND you DO get the super fun nights when everything just comes together wonderfully.

And in my case I got to see something of the world and stay in 5-start hotels :-). Not too shabby for a 22 year old kid.

Sure it is a challenge to keep giving the crowd what they want (i.e. what they know) while still being creative in blending in stuff you want them to hear. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and sometimes you play something 2 months too soon. Like a writer has to be creative to come up with new stuff to entice his fans, like musicians have to come up with more of the same but different, dj’s have to put in the work to keep their fans happy.

You can be as bold as you like, but if the “sheep” (I hate that term) don’t dig you, you’ll be stuck in obscure venues with a, possibly small, obscure crowd. For me, anybody that goes out to a club is there to have good time with his/her friends, enjoy dancing and good music. That is the people I am there for when I DJ. Come to my house and I’ll show you some more out-of-the-way tunes if you like 🙂

Agreed with Kelly, it’s work, fun work many times, but work nonetheless.

Is DJ-ing a hobby, a calling or a more fun than average job … choice is up to you really.

Greetinx,
C.

I am trying to picture what you are describing here. I looked at the T80 manual and noticed a few things. A) it apparently has a built-in RIAA correction (switchable with the phone/line switch). Important to match the type of input on your mixer/controller (phone or line) with the setting of this switch. This should only have impact on the eq of the signal and NOT on the hum you hear, it is nevertheless very important to make sure your records sound the way they are supposed to.

So be sure to set the switch right :).

B) it it is clear there is NO ground terminal on the T80! This probably means they had reason to believe you don’t need one.

I re-read your first posting and you said something about the quality of the sound/level of buzzing changed when you fiddles with the connectors. That might be indicative of a faulty cable. Does the hum appear in both channels or just in one? If you use the same cable and hook up something else (maybe a cd player with rca connectors?) does it still hum? If the input on your controller is switchable phone/line, using the same cable does it make any difference if you switch between the two settings. Using the same cables and T80, does it do the same thing if you hook it up to another (line) input if you are now using the phono input?

Just some troubleshooting tips trying to locate the problem.

Let me know what controller you are using. Makes it easier for me to understand the possible connections. If your controller has a digital in (SPDIF) input (rca type connector) you could also try that input.

Finally, when you had it open, did it seem any of those ground wires from the rca-connectors (there should be more than one) where loose/disconnected?

Well, there is some homework for you 🙂

Let me know the results.

Greetinx,
C.

p.s. if there WAS a groundwire or ground terminal on the T80, you’d be using a twisted copper single copper core insulated wire. No need for it to be very heavy/thick.

p.s. 2 Are all your power cords (controller AND T80) on the same “trunk”, i.e. wall outlet, extension block?

p.s. 3 Did some more research, this article (http://www.virtualdj.com/forums/119646/General_Discussion/How_to_earth_Stanton_T80_s_.html) says something about testing earthing by connecting a wire to the ground terminal on the controller and then just touching that wire to any metal part on the T80 or the outside of the RCA plug on the T80. They too suggest using the T80 in line mode and connecting it to a line input on the controller/mixer.

I faced the same decision last year, only with a slightly larger budget. I tested and was thoroughly disappointed by the JBLs and ended up with Mackie HD1221 (I was gonna get an 18″ sub, so the 12″ were fine for me, they actually pack quite a punch). I also tested the Mackie Thumps and think they live up to their name.

There is no substitute for your ears, so bring your top 5 tunes and head over to a shop that has a wide selection and listen and compare.

Good luck,
C.

Hey m8,

Great to have housemates that will get you kewl DJ gear for Xmas!

Depending on the budget they have, it may be advisable to make sure they don’t get you something below the level you need, better if you can add a few of your own dollars to what they are willing to spend and get the right thing.

As usual, when Traktor comes in play, the usual controller suspects come into play, i.e. de S2 and S4. I have searched hard before buying my controller and with the set of specs I wanted, I ended up getting the Denon MC6000. Awesome controller, it’s a Denon (which usually means indestructable) and it is suitable for both VDJ and Traktor, so you could always move between the two platforms if you’d like. The only real con about them is that the layout is pretty tight, so you might want to look at the MC3000, pretty much the same controller only with a two- instead of a four channel mixer.

obviously the “Controller Bible” here at Digital DJ Tips should be able to tell you a lot about the available controllers.

Good luck and keep spinning!