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beeaar posted:Just virtual DJ. Sorry, I should have clarified that. Yeah ebay will do or see if you can get a refurbished one via a music equipment retailer. They are built like tanks so second hand wasn't a problem for me you. I've not used virtualDJ but Traktor is pretty flexible (but I wouldn't like to say that it's better). The S4 has vinyl inputs so you connect turntables up to it to play out switching between mp3s and vinyl on the fly it also supports timecode stuff so you can control mp3s with the turntable, not something you've explicitly said you are interested in but it's a further option.
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Mar 4, 2022 20:20
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JamesKPolk posted:I'm kinda throwing around getting cdjs. I have turntables but lol at this point digitizing my vinyl seems easier than gigging that way. I'd stick with pioneer if your going to play out. I'd look at used xdj700 , or the first gen xdj1000mk1. The XDJ-RR is also a nice stand alone unit.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:39
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I want a drum machine and a DJ controller, because GAS. Is the Roland DJ 505 worth getting, since it has both and isn't super expensive? Also why are they on backorder everywhere?
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Mar 6, 2022 01:37
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I think it's finally time to retire my S4 mk1. First off, there's some hardware issue where touching a control in the mixer area will make the right deck patter register as being pressed down, which stops the audio. For a while this was a super rare occurrence, but now it's happening often enough that it can no longer be trusted in a live setting. Usually pushing down hard on the mixer section resolves it, but yeah... In the past I resolved a wandering fader issue by opening it up, cleaning contacts and hitting it with compressed air, but a) getting full access to the mixer section is tough because the mixer top plate is glued on, and b) I'm going to be upgrading to an M1 based Mac soon, which AFAIK will never work with the S4 (it requires drivers as it's not class compliant USB, and the drivers cannot be run via Rosetta 2). So ultimately, probably not worth the effort to try and fix it (and this thing went to burning man a few times 8-11 years, so I wouldn't be surprised if more gremlins start appearing regardless). Long story short, it's time for a new controller. For a while I was convinced my next controller would be either a DDJ-1000 or Pioneer standalone like the RX2 or XZs to get more familiar with Pioneer gear as well as have my tracks already prepped for Pioneer gear (especially since a buddy I often DJ with recently got an XDJ-RR). The idea of getting comfortable enough to just carry around USBs to drop into other people's gear is appealing to me. However, I hadn't considered how large these options are. One short term issue is my current desk can't really handle the depth of these units that comfortably (due to a riser/shelf that would overhang the rear of the controller), but more importantly, I most often DJ in situations where potability, packability and sometimes table space is a concern (e.g. the beach, parks, dispersed camping, house parties, vacation rentals). Only having something like an RX2 for example just seems impractical for how I often tend to use the controller. I was also hoping to make it another year or so at least before dropping this kinda cash on a controller (and some of these are very hard to get right now due to supply chain issues). So then I was considering going smaller for the portability, maybe a DDJ-400 to stick with my plan of switching to Pioneer/RB, or a Traktor S2 mk3 (which can also be used with the iPad version of Traktor for even more portability / being able to leave the expensive laptop at home). The Denon Prime GO, with it's small size, while being standalone, 'pro' quality AND battery powered (could even be comfortably used in a car due to it's size + no laptop) also has been sounding more and more appealing (main downside being the price is high for something that ideally wouldn't be my only controller). However, one thing I'd struggle to give up which the S4 gives me is the ability to connect external inputs into channel 3/4. A while back I picked up a beat up Technics SL-1200MK2 on the cheap and have been using it with Traktor timecode vinyl to slowly learn how to scratch. As best I can tell, there really isn't anything that's at least as portable/small as the S4 that would maintain the ability to connect a turntable. In terms of the Prime GO, I've also heard the Denon software is a bit lacking compared to the other big names. So that lead to me considering just picking up a used Traktor S4 mk2, as I believe it's class compliant and therefore won't have any issues with lack of driver support. It's pretty much the same size as the S4 mk1, and maintains all features I currently have (e.g. vinyl support) while also having a few upgrades. My main hesitation with this approach is it would still be ~$400 put towards something that is ultimately just a stop-gap, and it keeps me with Traktor for the foreseeable future. I'm resistant to committing to Traktor long term via buying a new S4 mk3 as I've been telling myself I'd move away from Traktor because a) I felt like they dropped official S4 mk1 driver support way too soon for being their $900 ($1k MSRP), flagship, 'pro' controller (their last official driver release was in 2015 for El Capitan support, which meant it was officially unsupported when Sierra was released mid 2016); and b) NI has seemingly been neglecting Traktor (for 'regular' DJing at least) for awhile now. On the driver front, their excuse was Apple switched to a new driver format, however that did not prove to be a problem for many other pro audio companies (e.g. my audio interface from ~2007 still received updates). I wouldn't mind paying for software updates to maintain support, but completely dropping driver support after around only 5-6 years just feels unacceptable to me. On the software front, TP3 mainly just a GUI refresh IME, and they've still yet to add commonly requested features like flexible beat grids that most other DJ software has now. In terms of having my tracks rekordbox/Pioneer compatible, I've come to realize there are other options than switching to a Rekordbox controller. I.e., something like DJ Conversion Utility. I still want to get familiar with the Pioneer layouts and functions, but converting via DJCU and playing around with my buddy's Pioneer controller might be sufficient for now. Anyway, if you've made it this far, any controller advice? I'm currently leaning towards either a used S4 mk2, holding off on switching to a large and/or standalone controller, OR grabbing a Prime GO and just giving up turntable support until I grab a larger 4 channel controller/standalone for home use and gigs where portability isn't as much of a factor. Splinter fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Mar 29, 2022 |
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Mar 29, 2022 02:18
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^ That's a tough one. I had the little Native Instruments bare bones 2 ch mixer and used it with their ipad app and being able to mix on planes, cars, classrooms was an absolute blast, so the Prime Go would be extremely fun if you think you'll use it in that way. It also gets you into a "pro" ecosystem and you could add the big boys for home/studio later like you were saying. I've been itching to try those motorized players. There's a nice used one on Musicians Friend with a case: https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/used-denon-dj-prime-go-dj-controller/117799618.
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Mar 29, 2022 03:43
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I really enjoy playing around with djay on my iPad with my DDJ-400.
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Mar 29, 2022 04:00
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I was reading your post thinking "maybe that cute little standalone controller Denon makes" and yeah, you're already thinking about a Prime GO as an option. Practicing on buddy's Pioneer rig is probably enough to get the lay of the land, for sure. And you're already looking at the right things, like DJ Conversion Utility. Personally I use RekordBuddy and I've preached before about how great it is at translating Traktor grids/cues to Rekordbox. You're right that most of the standalone options are enormous. The only other thing I can say WRT compact controller selection is, how married are you to platters? If you don't use 'em, your options are much wider. I used to carry a Traktor F1 around with my laptop, since it's bus-powered and small I could bust it out to preview mixes, set up hotcues and prep playlists basically wherever. There are also loads of pre-built templates for using things like an APC40 to control Traktor - some of them even have visual feedback with the button LEDs. Mister Speaker fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Mar 29, 2022 |
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Mar 29, 2022 04:13
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Virgil Vox posted:^ That's a tough one. I had the little Native Instruments bare bones 2 ch mixer and used it with their ipad app and being able to mix on planes, cars, classrooms was an absolute blast, so the Prime Go would be extremely fun if you think you'll use it in that way. It also gets you into a "pro" ecosystem and you could add the big boys for home/studio later like you were saying. I've been itching to try those motorized players. There's a nice used one on Musicians Friend with a case: https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/used-denon-dj-prime-go-dj-controller/117799618. qirex posted:I really enjoy playing around with djay on my iPad with my DDJ-400. Mister Speaker posted:And you're already looking at the right things, like DJ Conversion Utility. Personally I use RekordBuddy and I've preached before about how great it is at translating Traktor grids/cues to Rekordbox. Mister Speaker posted:The only other thing I can say WRT compact controller selection is, how married are you to platters? If you don't use 'em, your options are much wider. I used to carry a Traktor F1 around with my laptop, since it's bus-powered and small I could bust it out to preview mixes, set up hotcues and prep playlists basically wherever. * Side rant: haven't actually got to try it with Rekordbox though as this guy refuses to give Rekordbox a shot even after our other friend we usually DJ with picked up the RR (pretty sure he gave up on RB within 10 minutes of unboxing). He'd rather bring his $3k+ work MBP to run Virtual DJ and look into additional hardware/mixer for smoother cut-overs than just have his tracks prepped on a USB and spend some time learning the RR/Rekordbox for when we play together outdoors. He doesn't even have the 400's hardware cue mix working properly in VDJ, so he came up with this weird (if not a bit clever) setup where he uses his headphones connected to the laptop instead of the 400s, and some how gets any track that is 'on air' at full volume in the headphones regardless of track fader position, then turns up his 'cue' track's main volume fader to just slightly above 0, which is essentially inaudible in the mix, but plays at full volume with the other track in the headphones (IIRC...hard to explain). To each their own I suppose, it's just frustrating that we now have what could be a much simpler live setup with the other guys RR, and he even already has the RB license that would make the prep easy on his end, but just won't give it a shot. I will say VDJ's spleeter integration is pretty cool, and something none of the other major DJ software has, but I feel like he's used it as a crutch to avoid learning proper EQ techniques, which makes switching to other software feel a bit more daunting.
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Mar 29, 2022 11:13
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I was going to get a DDJ-400 but snoozed and now it's sold out on Amazon and on their official website. What's the best place for me to look for one? Can I trust ebay?
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Apr 2, 2022 03:21
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beeaar posted:I was going to get a DDJ-400 but snoozed and now it's sold out on Amazon and on their official website. What's the best place for me to look for one? Can I trust ebay? assuming USA: Reverb, Guitar Center, Musicians Friend, agi pro and yeah ebay is prolly fine
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Apr 2, 2022 03:41
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I like djtechtools, they’re a good small business but they’re out of stock too.
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Apr 2, 2022 05:00
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I ended up pulling the trigger on a used Denon PRIME GO. Couldn't say no to the additional freedom the combo of compact size + standalone + battery will give. Even just being able to comfortably use it on my lap in a car (without having to awkwardly prop a laptop or ipad up somewhere) will be an immediate benefit. After watching a bunch of reviews, I think the only thing that will initially annoy me is there doesn't seem to be a non-hacky way of jumping back to the beginning of a track without first setting the cue there (e.g. what shift + cue accomplishes on the S4, and I think other platforms have similar functionality), but that's not a huge deal. I also realized that since my S4 hardware issue only affects one platter, I can still continue to use it with my turntable/timecode when I want to work on scratching (as long as I keep a Windows or Intel Mac laptop around). Eventually I'll look into getting another 4 channel controller w/ external inputs for home use, whether that be an S4 mk2/3, DDJ-1000, Prime 4, XDJ-XZ (who needs money anyway) or something that hasn't been released yet, but right now the GO aligns more with my use. For the DDJ-400, a shop in town I checked for used gear definitely had a new 400 in stock, and they have a webshop/ship. If you can't find one in stock at one of the major retailers I can send a link. Used is a great option for the 400s too though, as they're a high volume (for DJ controllers) product that a some either eventually want to upgrade, or use for a bit before deciding DJing isn't for them.
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Apr 4, 2022 21:11
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You can pry my discontinued and extremely unpopular Kontrol S5 from my cold, dead, never beatmatching hands
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Apr 4, 2022 21:16
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Any ideas why a turntable would be consistently hotter in one channel than the other? I'm using my 1200s again because it's the 25th anniversary of this absolute weapon of an album and I'm noticing the right channel comes in a bit stronger than the left. There's probably some phasing going on too, as not only is the left channel weaker but it seems to be lacking the low end weight that comes in fine on the right. I've had this problem before, and it was extremely noticeable. I sent my decks in to get serviced a year or two ago and they came back sounding crisp. This time it's not nearly as present but it's there, both in my DJM900's meters (to the tune of only one LED difference, so somewhere less than 3dB) and in my ears. I've fiddled a little with the RCA connections and it sometimes helps, sometimes doesn't. I'm thinking maybe the cartridge connections need some attention with rubbing alcohol or something. Mister Speaker fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Apr 11, 2022 |
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Apr 11, 2022 20:09
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Mister Speaker posted:Any ideas why a turntable would be consistently hotter in one channel than the other? I'm using my 1200s again because it's the 25th anniversary of this absolute weapon of an album and I'm noticing the right channel comes in a bit stronger than the left. Check your headshells, make sure they have a good contact to the tone arm. 99% of the time when I have this issue DJing out, it is the tone arm having a loose connection to the headshell. That said modern ortofon conchords have lots of problems with older 1200 tone arms. Some contact cleaner or the old lick your finger and rub the contacts on your headshell trick should help
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Apr 11, 2022 20:16
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Dumb question maybe but does it move if you swap the channels? Any chance its the phono pre/eq in the mixer?
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Apr 11, 2022 20:40
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It might be something mixer-side, actually  , I know that's pretty unlikely but I swapped the record onto my other deck and it's doing the same thing. It's definitely possible that these two M44-7s with off-brand replacement stylii are the culprit though, but beyond cleaning the headshell connections I'm at a bit of a loss.This is the second of two mild scares I had in as many days. Fortunately I don't see myself mixing any vinyl any time soon so this one can wait. The other day I thought one of the cue buttons on my CDJs was toast - it was just stuck on a piece of debris, I 'fixed' it with a knife but should probably take all my poo poo apart to clean it soon. I'll pick up some rubbing alcohol and go at the headshells tonight, and continue fiddling with the RCA connections. Thanks, pals.
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Apr 11, 2022 20:54
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Hm, so I gave the headshell connections a quick cleaning job with some hydrogen peroxide and Q-Tips, and gave the RCA connections a once-over as well. I tested records on both turntables and on every input on my DJM900; same noticeable discrepancy on all meters in my monitoring path: right channel a good 3dB hotter. I'm thinking it's not the decks that are the problem - bloody just as well, since I did get them professionally serviced last time. Could this be a preamp issue inside the DJM? Admittedly I don't know much about preamp circuitry, it seems counter-intuitive that this problem would be common across all four phono inputs but maybe there's some shared component in the preamp causing trouble. Wish I had another phono preamp sitting around so I could rule out the decks once and for all.
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Apr 11, 2022 22:40
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Records where one channel is hotter is not uncommon but also check the tracking and weight on needle edit: this on the chem bro album? I'll pull my copy and see Virgil Vox fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Apr 11, 2022 |
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Apr 11, 2022 23:01
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Listening through Dig Your Own Hole today was when I noticed it again, yeah. But it's definitely not the record. I'm now reasonably certain it's my mixer. Tried a line-level signal from my roommate's phone and it was showing a similar discrepancy in channel volume, though not as pronounced as from the phono inputs. Had me second-guessing my whole signal path honestly. Good thing I almost only mix completely digitally! The S/P-DIF inputs seem to be reporting just fine. Ugh I'm itching to drop this new mix, I got the playlist done way too early, keeping it to myself is difficult but I promise to keep it a surprise for the D&B thread.
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Apr 11, 2022 23:16
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"where do I begin" remains timelessly good. So I guess it most be the mixer itself? Strange then. But yeah arnt digital inputs nice, don't think I've used a line level rca in 15 years. Reminds me: The cdj200s (yes just two zeroes) were amazing bang for buck at the time, if you didn't need to scratch. .02% pitch, digital outputs, mp3 data cd capacity, very shock resistant. Virgil Vox fucked around with this message at 08:58 on Apr 13, 2022 |
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Apr 13, 2022 08:53
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Hey guys, I asked for controller recommendations here a few weeks ago and you guys gave me some good advice. I came close to pulling the trigger on a pioneer ddj 800 w traktor but just wanted to ask one more thing.Mister Speaker posted:Figure out first which software you're going to be using. Fundamentally they're almost all the same, but some software lends itself to certain DJing styles better than others. This is a broad generalization, but DJs who do a lot of scratching tend to prefer Serato, and DJs who mix more than two tracks at a time tend to run Traktor. Does anybody have a recommendation for which DJ software (or controller?) will let me slow down tracks the most - to the lowest RPM? Because I noticed a lot of the standard software and controllers don’t let tracks get slowed down to quite how slow I want. Of course I realize I could find another method to slow them down or just record them slow once them slow it down again - but is there already some software that addresses a way to get around this and lower tracks to your desired RPM? I remember when I used Torq the left side would always go to a lower RPM than the right. So I assume this is a standard thing and there is some sort of logic behind it. So, just wondering all that. I had sort of a workaround to get the left side to go much lower in RPM if I wanted to. beeaar fucked around with this message at 15:35 on Apr 13, 2022 |
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Apr 13, 2022 15:31
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Serato DJ in internal mode with the Pitch N Time plugin should be able to do what you want. I think the controllers are all +8 or +16 on the pitch. Maybe the Pioneers do +50?
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Apr 13, 2022 15:52
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beeaar posted:I remember when I used Torq the left side would always go to a lower RPM than the right. So I assume this is a standard thing and there is some sort of logic behind it. So, just wondering all that. I had sort of a workaround to get the left side to go much lower in RPM if I wanted to. That's not a standard thing and it's nuts. Tractor will let you set each decks range independently between 2% and 100%.
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Apr 15, 2022 11:42
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do Traktor and Serato have a beatmatching / syncing up option? and while I’m here, do either of those also allow the mixing of videos the same way as songs, by any chance? beeaar fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Apr 24, 2022 |
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Apr 24, 2022 18:54
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beeaar posted:do Traktor and Serato have a beatmatching / syncing up option? Both have sync, yes. Serato has a video expansion but I've never used it.
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Apr 24, 2022 19:47
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Traktor's auto gridding is also usually very good. It's rare that you need to change what it sets during analysis. The caveat however is that it doesn't support tracks with wavering or changing tempo, so if you want to sync music recorded with live drummers with no click track (e.g. most stuff from the 70s and earlier, some later stuff too) with no manual adjustments, you'll probably have a bad time.
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Apr 25, 2022 01:19
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So I'm playing out for my first time IRL on May 20 and I'm waffling on whether the streaming quality from Beatlink Pro+ is sufficient or I should buy all that stuff ala carte. ETA: They list their quality as 256kbps AAC
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Apr 28, 2022 22:49
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Have at least a set worth on a stick. I personally will never trust a streaming source, but 256AAC will be okay quality wise edit: there are some bport deals ending today so take advantage of that if you are downloading Virgil Vox fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Apr 28, 2022 |
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Apr 28, 2022 23:04
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Virgil Vox posted:I personally will never trust a streaming source
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Apr 28, 2022 23:57
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I must own a copy of all my music. And I have three distributed backups. I use streaming to listen to music (albums) before I buy them. It’s also useful for checking out artists on a music festival lineup. But never for performing… that sounds scary as heck
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Apr 29, 2022 21:54
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Not to mention that wifi tends to gently caress with realtime audio performance and all those DPCs.
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Apr 30, 2022 18:21
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susan b buffering posted:Serato has a video expansion but I've never used it. I've always been curious about VDJing since I saw a couple of DJs throw an '80s vs. 90s' video dance party with a massive video wall behind them. I didn't notice anything unique about their gear; both looked like standard Serato DVS systems with Rane mixers. The club did have a FOH booth with a video console, but I'm pretty sure the selection was handled by the DJs - I mean, if it wasn't, how would they have matched up every video? For songs they didn't have the video for, some looped 80s/90s video bumpers would play. Particularly curious about how tempo change is handled by a VDJ system. Is it doing some kind of frame interpolation if you have to slow a track/video down, or does the framerate just start to chop?
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Apr 30, 2022 21:03
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Mister Speaker posted:I've always been curious about VDJing since I saw a couple of DJs throw an '80s vs. 90s' video dance party with a massive video wall behind them. I didn't notice anything unique about their gear; both looked like standard Serato DVS systems with Rane mixers. The club did have a FOH booth with a video console, but I'm pretty sure the selection was handled by the DJs - I mean, if it wasn't, how would they have matched up every video? For songs they didn't have the video for, some looped 80s/90s video bumpers would play. Some VDJ softwate (including Serato) can do frame blending which is essentially a cross-fade between frames when playing at less than full speed. This probably works well enough for most scenarios and is much faster than interpolation. Re-rendering the video at a higher framerate with a fancier interpolation algorithm is also an option. Might be overkill for a music video thing though.
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Apr 30, 2022 22:28
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The key with VJing is it's piss easy for the DJ to have a lot of control if you've done a bunch of preproduction. Most every DJ software has you covered if you have a video for each song already. There's also SMPTE which takes song+video and puts them on screen when you hear them and is the core of products like Showkontrol which is what I'm guessing that gig was using.
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May 1, 2022 02:57
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So my first gig is coming up in a week and I'm real loving nervous and feeling unprepared. Venue is a high ceiling bar/pub with a stage, event is a queer dance party fundraising for trans healthcare and I'm up first at 8 for 90 minutes then another DJ takes over 9:30-12. I play open format, mostly mainstream dance, house and hip hop. Part of it is I haven't made a setlist before, when I stream it's all improvisational just looking at what Rekordbox says is in key and I use sync liberally because I don't trust the pitch faders on my DDJ-RB for poo poo.
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May 14, 2022 13:25
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Papa Was A Video Toaster posted:So my first gig is coming up in a week and I'm real loving nervous and feeling unprepared. Venue is a high ceiling bar/pub with a stage, event is a queer dance party fundraising for trans healthcare and I'm up first at 8 for 90 minutes then another DJ takes over 9:30-12. I play open format, mostly mainstream dance, house and hip hop. You’re fine. You’re likely going to play to an empty room. Just go and play songs you like, and try to keep it medium-low energy.
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May 14, 2022 17:41
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abuse culture. posted:You’re fine. You’re likely going to play to an empty room. Just go and play songs you like, and try to keep it medium-low energy. Thank you. I'm big on overthinking.
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May 14, 2022 18:26
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Pre-show jitters are good. It means you care enough to do the job up to your own standards. If you drink, have a beer before your set and one or two ready to go for during. If you'd rather smoke to chill, do a bit of that. AC is right, you're probably going to be playing to a mostly-empty room at that timeslot, so just have fun. Don't go crazy on the energy level and remember that you were hired to be a curator; people WANT to hear your selections and how they flow - don't kowtow to playing too much top 40 because you think the crowd won't appreciate deeper cuts, play what YOU want to play. There aren't going to be any smug technical wallflowers critiquing your mixes at a charity event. Just have fun and the crowd will too. You're gonna smash it.
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May 14, 2022 18:48
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Like other posters said you'll be great! Keep it mellow with edm but if your doing open format a couple bangers from the early 2010s would be fine. I like opening the best, set the mood, play weirder tracks, can see who responds to what, it's kinda a challenge but rewarding. I remember when I first started going to raves and/or all ages shows with trance headliners and honestly I liked the warm up DJs sets more than Paul van Dyk or tiesto cause they had tunes I never heard before, they were experts at crafting a mood and atmosphere that made you work for that musical satisfaction if that makes any sense lol.
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May 14, 2022 19:16
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