Isaiah Furrow

Chris,
Glad it went well… hope to see you around the forums…
Keep shining,
Isaiah

I use powered speakers, but I would always recommend keeping the sound system components on a single circuit.
Any time I’ve used more than one outlet to power my setup I always end up with ground hum…
I would try to use a high quality 12 gauge extension and go from the power conditioner to the sub…
If it were me setting up this gear, I’d try to use the power conditioner for the laptop, SX, Maximizer, Amp, and Sub… keeping all of the audio together to keep ground paths as short as possible between all of the components…
Then you could run the lights, fog machine, and anything else off of another power source. My lights are all LED and I’ve had no problems running them off of the same outlet pair as the rest of my system… BUT, I usually try to run my fog machine off of a separate outlet, and even a separate circuit where possible…
Hope this helps, and I’m sure others will chime in with input, others who likely have much more knowledge and experience than myself… Best of luck to ya…

I do things similarly, although in Serato I can adjust the gain for the tracks within the software and it is stored so that the next time I load a track it comes back up on the deck to the spot where I set it previously… I’m not familiar with Recordbox or whether it has a gain adjustment inside the software like Serato.
Next I use the gain adjustment on the controller to get a level that most loud parts of tracks peak just into the yellow, some very loud sounds might get a little further into the yellow (never red), and quieter parts of the tracks at least light up part of the meter.
I use the master to get the volume needed for the circumstances. If I’m playing at home, I rarely turn the volume up anywhere near unity, it’s usually about 30 percent to 50 percent. If I’m playing at an event that a mellower level of sound is appropriate I adjust accordingly, and if it’s a full on dance party, I adjust the master to put out a strong signal which is lighting most of the green part of the meter, and only occasionally blinks the first yellow LED. This sort of signal is plenty strong for the input on my EV ZLX12P speakers when the input knob is set to 12 o’clock (there is a detent at 12 o’clock and that is where I usually set it for line level signals)
Now, I’m not using a Pioneer controller, so your mileage may vary… but getting levels where more than the first bit of yellow is blinking usually doesn’t sound as good to me, especially at the loudest parts of tracks. Getting the green lit up and an occasional blink of yellow is usually plenty at both the master stage and the channel stage so that I get a loud signal that doesn’t leave out any of the quieter details.
If I put out a signal that is peaking halfway up into the yellow or more, the input meter on my EV speakers is reading an overly loud signal, and it registers an “input clip” well before I ever see a RED LED blink. In general, I don’t usually alter the input level of the powered speakers, as they have a master volume adjustment which I set to ZERO as appropriate, or sometimes -3 or -6 depending on the event.
If I’m at home and decide to use a PA speaker instead of the home stereo in my living room, I adjust it to somewhere in the -18 to -24 range usually. If I’m using the home stereo, I set the stereo to about 11-12 O’clock on the volume knob, and then lower it from there if necessary.
So, to summarize, NEVER putting any stage into the red is usually good practice. My gains on my controller, as well as the master, are usually near 12 O’clock to get good signal, and adjusting the output device (Stereo, PA, etc) to get enough volume but not have distortion, is usually my starting point. I don’t typically mess with the master output once things are going, unless I need to turn things down a bit.
When there is a need for quieter music for a period of time, such as a contest, or some speaking or announcements, or a phone call at home… I use channel faders to reduce the volume.
Having levels set, and master consistent, allows me to also set the Mic volume to an appropriate level and keep it there. Altering the master messes with this setting along with the music. So I try to set it and leave it, unless I end up turning the whole system down a bit, and in this instance having the mic and music both come down together retains the balance I achieved in the initial setup…
Given your description of the metering on your Pioneer unit, I’d guess that loud bits of the track should peak just into the first yellow LED, and only very very rarely should your second yellow LED ever light up. As far as the master, I’d shoot for peaking at the highest green LED and occasionally lighting the first Yellow… See how that works out, but definitely stay well below the RED… knowing what you’re playing out through would also help… but as a general tip, I try and set my master to make the volume on my home stereo similar to what it would be if I was just playing a CD at that volume setting on the amp/tuner. Let us know how it’s all working out for you, and best of luck…
Sorry for the book, hope it’s helpful… and remember, my two cents is only really worth a penny…

you may have higher CPU load on an older PC with Serato, but you can adjust things like latency to help with that… I wasn’t running the lowest latency on my i3 Dell for this reason… also make sure you close out other functions and applications that are not necessary while running your DJ program… best of luck!

Nice controller you’ve got there…
I have a TM8 that I’ve had since they were first released in the US. (was a pre-order)
I love it, even though we’ve had a few “disagreements” over the years…lol
Once of my favorite things on the TM8 is the loop controls, having a knob that I can rotate to double/halve the loop is nice, and being able to hit the button below it to trigger the selected loop length is nice, but just as often I hold the encoder down while manipulating the loop length, then release it to let the track play out…
I like the ability to route the Aux input and Mic either through the software or straight out the Master… means I can record the mic and aux inputs, but in a pinch I can play something or talk while sorting out a PC issue (recently got a MacBook so hope to not have to worry so much about this part). Using the RECORD feature and the AUX input is nice, as I’ve been able to sample some stuff that I’m not sure how I’d have sampled before, such as video game sounds and sound bytes from movies or TV…
I’m still relatively a NOOB, and still very much learning, building my skills and library, and saving for an eventual upgrade, but so far I really like my TM8.
One use I’ve found for the 3rd and 4th decks has been to have a “backup” track loaded up waiting on deck 4, in case I feel the vibe going a different direction, or in case I can’t find a good fit for after the currently playing track and after cueing up 2-3 songs I’m running out of time, I let the “banger” on track 4 go while I regroup.
I sometimes also use deck 3 for a track of scratch sounds, not that I scratch a lot in my sets, (I do more when alone at home…lol. ). I use deck 4 as the “backup banger” and deck 3 for the scratch track because I’m a lefty and way more proficient on the left jogwheel at this point.
I’ve rarely seen anyone playing out use 4 decks for mixing… I have seen one instance where there were 2 loops playing, one at the end of an outgoing song on “deck A”, one a looped part of the intro on “deck B”, and the DJ was using a 3rd deck to drop part of a chorus vocal in before he let the incoming track play. The chorus vocal he teased ended up getting teased again during the song and was the next track he played later on. It actually fit nicely into the big picture, and was definitely something that gave me inspiration for the future of my mixing.
Hope my .02 helps, keep shining,
Moonshadow

I like the looks of the DJM250MkII, but the more I look into using Recordbox the more I think I’ll stick with Serato…. doesn’t have the FX section like the 450, but does have some great features for a great price, and the filter has a parameter knob which really piqued my interest… I almost snagged a 250 MkI a while back, and I will continue to look into the 250MkII and Recordbox to use with my CDJ players…
Just thought I’d comment, hope to see an update from the OP…

I use a lot of this type of music for my varied genre sets, and there is some great reading above… Thanks guys for the replies, and thanks to the Op for making this post! Keep shining folks… Isaiah

I would keep saving and do lots of research for a decent period of time…. BeatPad2 looks to be a great tool, I love my Reloop TM8, built really well… my advice would be not to rush it… and while you keep researching, save your pennies… best of luck, keep us posted when you make your choice… Moonshadow