Stavros Spartalis
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Stavros Spartalis
ParticipantDo it! Wats the worst thing that can happen if you mess up? Maybe your boss being a bit angry/disappointed at you. At the end of the day tho you work for the cinema, dont take it as a trial for a djing job because it’s not.
On the plus side, if you do well, and if you follow all the tips above you should, you will have done a favor to your boss, you will have gained some LIVE experience and confidense respect from your friends and maybe a few new friends.
One more tip, someone mentioned record your practise set. definitely do that, and bring it with you and something else you like on an mp3 player if you can as backup. unknown problems might turn up suddenly on “maiden journeys”. You also have less stress to deal with a problem if you know there is a plan b.
Make sure you have fun!!
December 23, 2012 at 7:57 pm in reply to: Should I have the Standard laptop stand, or the one with the cooling fans? #34010ParticipantIf you get one with fans you have to make sure that the laptop fan is right on top of the stand fan otherwise its pointless and doesnt work as well as a dj stand which keeps the laptop off the ground. just make sure the laptop fan is unobstructed. i ve had both.
ParticipantLast few days i ve been looking like mad for vst plugins that will do the job. so what do you guys think of izotope ozone (more expensive) or bbe sonic maximizer (cheaper). Both supposedly can run as sound effects plugins “live” through virtual dj, apparently without much cpu usage. from what i gathered soundflower acts like a “bridge” between programs and plugins and its only for mac?
ParticipantThanx for the replies! Had a quick look today. Logic seems to be for mac only? ozone looks good but isnt cheap. so what does it do? is it a standalone program that processes the audio signal on the fly? or does it permamently change files? does it have to be installed in virtual dj? is it compatible with vdj? sorry about the many questions but vst’s are a new thing to me.
I plug the controller on a powered mixer. and so far, instead of adjusting the gain in the software i ve been increasing/decreasing the volume on the mixer which is far from best i know.
ParticipantINTERESTING! ok will try both solutions, i really dont like itunes but if software picks it up i have most things that matter tagged for artist – song title and how much i like them anyway. i don’t use traktor but vdj that came with the mixtrack pro. been organizing my playlists with winamp, sometimes with vdj. I refuse to use itunes for that matter. the fact that it will not allow me to play these five-ten songs in folder X and i have to add it all to the library just does not seem right.
what’s with pioneer recordbox? any good? what programs is it compatible with? was steering clear off traktor because of lack of video. need video for karaokes but if i like traktor better i could run karaokes off a separate laptop anyway.
As far as tspotter goes, does it work with other programs? or is it just for traktor? never heard of it to be honest but from what Erik is saying it sounds pretty good. will try. thanx for the info guys!
ParticipantThanx for your input guys. I did give itunes a go on a modern laptop and it seemed very slow with a large library and also very “limiting” in what it allows you /does not allow you to do hands on with the folder/file structure. I didn’t want to start an itunes / not to itunes debate. i did gave it a good try with the best intentions for two weeks but im sorry it’s not for me. probably works better on a mac but ill stick to a pc for now.
I dont think i need smart playlists at the moment. I do use playlists as a rough guide but build them manually. all i want is to tell the software where the mp3s are. then with a scan/without as scan to be able to find them based on filename and/or id3 tags doing a simple search. I think i explained it pretty well above:
“Was using virtual dj and where you search for songs it wouldnt provide the result unless you search for part of the title in the correct order. for example:
i had to put rolling stones satisfaction
not rolling satisfaction
or even roll satisfaction
If i put rolling stones, it would provide all the rolling stones songs”Im not trying to diss dj software here but if winamp could do it all those years ago, then i dont see why such a feature has not been incorporated in modern expensive dj software…and if it does which one is it…i want it lol.
Any more ideas?October 26, 2012 at 6:16 pm in reply to: Getting better sound in your dj sets (Tony Andrews interview) #30851ParticipantWell said Will, meaning that in the real world it doesnt make much difference because a lot of other parameters come into play…club, how full it is, pa system, , setup of the pa, eq setup, sound card, program etc etc.
BUT, if you had the perfect setup of all the above, then a cd would be the superior. or a wav. The difference to a “good” mp3, meaning that it was ripped with the “right” settings, with a “good”program @320 would be small but there would be a difference. noticeable or not noticeable and how noticeable it doesn’t matter because it is unarguably true.
HOWEVER, assuming that our energy and funds are limited. is it better to focus our energy on that perfect mix, right eq, music knowledge, software setup etc etc or finding that song in a wav file?
Same with the money, better pa/lights/controller/cables etc? or get that wav? though i never purchased wavs apart from real cds of course. is there much difference? i dont know
July 27, 2012 at 12:48 pm in reply to: I hate iTunes!! Need an alternative to keep my sanity #1008737ParticipantI feel for you my friend. i too installed itunes with the best intentions. i thought all those ipod/ipad/iphone users cant be all wrong. and i tried. being an ex winamp user myself i only lasted a week. yes that’s it. i uninstalled itunes and will try again maybe in two year’s time. it might run better on a mac i dont know. but on a pc its too slow. and i like playing with files and folders in the hard drive and loading things from there if i want to.
i never tried traktor. i use vdj7 and so far i had no issue making playlists in winamp then either load them through vdj. you can either find them in the hard drive in vdjs browser or if you save them in mydocuments/virtual dj/playlists then they appear in the playlists section of virtual dj.
Heard mediamonkey is good too. i installed it after itunes but didnt play with it too much. was too eager to get back to winamp. i just love all the different plugins you can get for it (especially dynamic library) and that it’s fast. can be a bit unstable. but so i make sure i save plenty but i dont think ill be changing anytime soon. this winter when i get more time ill give mediamonkey a closer look.
ParticipantYeh ur probably right on that. ill format the newer laptop. its an aspire 5538g, 4gb, athlon 64 l310 and give virtual dj another chance. i know its not brand new spec but it should handle it. if it works right ill build me a desktop for my allround pc. i dont need to be much portable apart from the music these days anyway….god i havent had a desktop for years lol. Shame most laptops dont have a dedicated graphics card. most just got a chip tha shares the ram. by the way ive tried vj le that came with mixtrack and the “cracked pro version”. dont worry i always pay for things if they are to be used for a commersial use, even if it’s only for part time/hobby. my next karaoke is at the end of the month. if ive mastered it my regulars are in for a treat….hopefully!!
ParticipantYes i know :-(. looked into Serato and Traktor but no video. Im leaning towards xylio future decks dj pro at the moment, also because of the slightly cheaper price. When i was buying the controller i was hoping to use virtual dj. shame my machine doesnt like it too much. do you reckon a format or a minor upgrade (max out the Ram) might help? My “older” laptop is an Aspire 5102, Turion 64×2 1,6ghz 2gb ram.
ParticipantNone? Did I say something wrong? Anyways, ive been practising a little trying different programs and so far im between three: virtual dj (which as i said i found a bit glitchy, might be my system tho), pcdj dex 2 ( is it true they ve been bought by virtual dj? is that bad?), xylio future decks dj pro (suspiciously similar to dex2, runs ok but funny enough puts a tiny little bit more strain to the system than dex2, might just be me tho)
During practise i also realised i would have an advantage if id purchased a controller with four deck support. didnt think about it before. but with four decks i could have:
1) the karaoke track of the current singer running
2) the normal mp3 to put between singers
3) the karaoke track for the next singer
4) the karaoke track for the one after that, cuz sometimes you announce people and they re in the loo, or they chicken out and so on.Would be nice to have em all cued up ready to go. ts just a convenience but something to consider next time
And wat about this itunes? any good to an non mac user? or should i carry on with media monkey/winamp that i currently use for that? by the way a good program for creating id3 tags is tagscanner. very overlooked but worth a try.
ParticipantIm on the same boat in this one… Tried mp3gain but didnt like it. i got the impression it made songs sound a bit “dull” plus i could still tell the difference in volume between a quiet one and a loud one that got modified. Maybe I should give platinum notes a try.
So far Im using a different solution, a program called breakaway audio enhancer. It basically takes over the sound card you assign it to and normalizes the volume on the fly. It doesnt alter the files. it also has several presets for eq and makes the sound much better. I wish they could do permament changes to the mp3s but they dont. They only trouble is that the gain from the programs and eq mid/treble/bass adjustments will not work effectively but you will never have to worry about volume ever again. They re meant to have a dj version as well that works with popular dj programs. maybe i should check it out.
Funny enough i also use it watching films so i never have to struggle when people are wispering or turn the volume down when the big explosions kick in and my windows start vibrating from the bass lol.
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