djemcee
Thanks for the compliment.
Here are some more pictures
http://www.digistash.com/data/06a81a4fb98d149f2d31c68828fa6eb2/full_1477_p104204.jpg
http://www.digistash.com/data/06a81a4fb98d149f2d31c68828fa6eb2/full_1477_p104205.jpg
This one is with my assistant,
http://www.digistash.com/data/06a81a4fb98d149f2d31c68828fa6eb2/full_1477_p104206.jpg
Here is the link to the rack mount for the monitor
http://www.gtweb.net/rackmount.html
Here are some more pictures
http://www.digistash.com/data/06a81a4fb98d149f2d31c68828fa6eb2/full_1477_p104204.jpg
http://www.digistash.com/data/06a81a4fb98d149f2d31c68828fa6eb2/full_1477_p104205.jpg
This one is with my assistant,
http://www.digistash.com/data/06a81a4fb98d149f2d31c68828fa6eb2/full_1477_p104206.jpg
Here is the link to the rack mount for the monitor
http://www.gtweb.net/rackmount.html
Posted Sat 11 Feb 06 @ 5:43 pm
kamakuakane
Its nice to see someone other than myself using the SKB system. Here are my pics: http://www.virtualdj.com/blog/kamakuakane/
Posted Sat 11 Feb 06 @ 7:03 pm
asymptote
Hi everyone,
Please don't get me wrong, I'm a massive fan of VDJ, and we definitely have the best ever community forum here.
Also I ave tried Otsdj and I thought it sounded a bit better than VDJ, but the program is severely limited in terms of features compared with VDJ. And it is very expensive too.
But, on Friday night I did a 5 hour set using Mixmeister express. It's quite basic, only around $50 but has very good sound quality. - no sound level imbalances or distortion at all with it's standard limiter/compressor.
I found was that I could easily make very good beat matches using the programs automatic settings and ensure that they were spot on by visually looking at the program traces. Mixmeister Pro does a lot more than that but for a live situation, simplicity is often wanted.
As a former vinyl dj since the 70s I can't get used to beatmatching with CDs and can't be bothered.
Ithink the main aim of a dj is to keep the customers supplied with music that gives enjoyment and mixing is just a mechanical device to keep things flowing. I want to interact with the crowd through the music and the talking, etc. Mixmeister made it very easy to do that.
Having said that, I still will use VDJ mainly for now, particularly if the new release helps on sound quality.
Please don't get me wrong, I'm a massive fan of VDJ, and we definitely have the best ever community forum here.
Also I ave tried Otsdj and I thought it sounded a bit better than VDJ, but the program is severely limited in terms of features compared with VDJ. And it is very expensive too.
But, on Friday night I did a 5 hour set using Mixmeister express. It's quite basic, only around $50 but has very good sound quality. - no sound level imbalances or distortion at all with it's standard limiter/compressor.
I found was that I could easily make very good beat matches using the programs automatic settings and ensure that they were spot on by visually looking at the program traces. Mixmeister Pro does a lot more than that but for a live situation, simplicity is often wanted.
As a former vinyl dj since the 70s I can't get used to beatmatching with CDs and can't be bothered.
Ithink the main aim of a dj is to keep the customers supplied with music that gives enjoyment and mixing is just a mechanical device to keep things flowing. I want to interact with the crowd through the music and the talking, etc. Mixmeister made it very easy to do that.
Having said that, I still will use VDJ mainly for now, particularly if the new release helps on sound quality.
Posted Wed 15 Feb 06 @ 10:51 am
DJ FORMAT
Mixmeister express. and Mixmeister Pro.
I Have to say that Mixmeister program make it very easy to mix like a Pro.
The program mixs for you and not the DJ
Mixing is just a mechanical device to keep things flowing not the case
If you want to learn how to dj, you have to practice, practice and practice some more the above and improve your techniques and mixing skills so that you can run together a set. Then practice a whole bundle more until you can do it with your eyes shut. Don't 'hear' the music, 'feel' the music. And, when the day comes that you wake up and you can think about nothing else other than mixing music and making people move, you will be a . Pro
Program FOR MIXING TOP 5
1 VIRTUAL DJ 3.3 Professiona The Best for me
2 BPM Studio Professiona
3 Ttractor DJ Professiona
4 PCDJ FX 7.3 Professiona
5 MixVibes Rro 5.2
I Have to say that Mixmeister program make it very easy to mix like a Pro.
The program mixs for you and not the DJ
Mixing is just a mechanical device to keep things flowing not the case
If you want to learn how to dj, you have to practice, practice and practice some more the above and improve your techniques and mixing skills so that you can run together a set. Then practice a whole bundle more until you can do it with your eyes shut. Don't 'hear' the music, 'feel' the music. And, when the day comes that you wake up and you can think about nothing else other than mixing music and making people move, you will be a . Pro
Program FOR MIXING TOP 5
1 VIRTUAL DJ 3.3 Professiona The Best for me
2 BPM Studio Professiona
3 Ttractor DJ Professiona
4 PCDJ FX 7.3 Professiona
5 MixVibes Rro 5.2
Posted Wed 15 Feb 06 @ 6:14 pm
asymptote
Hya
Not being funny DJ format, but I've been DJiing since the mid 70s and have been a proper paid Pro DJ most of that time. I'm sure you werent suggesting that I am not professional bu using the 'you' word when you followed my post.
The main thing is always the music, and the audience don't stand there thinking 'oh boy that was a good mix between those two tracks'. They shouldn't notice. To that end I don't give a sh** if I use software, or mix it with vinyl as long as it does the job ok. Matching the beat itself is just a mechanical skill which I have done plenty of years with vinyl. It's not as hard as everyone tries to make out. VDJ is good for doing the beat matching too. It's just a question of degree of automation.
Strangely enough, it is also possible to keep a dancefloor happy and moving without beatmixing. i know that is a new concept to many younger DJs, but at one time there was a lot more talking to the public. It's surprising how a personality DJ (and I count myself as one of those) can work a crowd. I know there are plenty like me on the forum. Not very long ago an old DJ friend of mine who was running the biggest club in the area asked me if I would do some work for him because he was 'fed up with DJswho were too frightened to talk'.
The real skill is, as you rightly suggest, is in choosing the music, knowing what tracks will work toggether and what will give people a good night. That doesn't come from anything else but our own instinct, intuition, knowledge of tracks, other nights which have worked and our vision of what tonight's audience need. That special moment when you instinctively know what is the only track which will work and when the audience hear it and react
I guess we all love VDJ here. many of us come from different genres. I
Not being funny DJ format, but I've been DJiing since the mid 70s and have been a proper paid Pro DJ most of that time. I'm sure you werent suggesting that I am not professional bu using the 'you' word when you followed my post.
The main thing is always the music, and the audience don't stand there thinking 'oh boy that was a good mix between those two tracks'. They shouldn't notice. To that end I don't give a sh** if I use software, or mix it with vinyl as long as it does the job ok. Matching the beat itself is just a mechanical skill which I have done plenty of years with vinyl. It's not as hard as everyone tries to make out. VDJ is good for doing the beat matching too. It's just a question of degree of automation.
Strangely enough, it is also possible to keep a dancefloor happy and moving without beatmixing. i know that is a new concept to many younger DJs, but at one time there was a lot more talking to the public. It's surprising how a personality DJ (and I count myself as one of those) can work a crowd. I know there are plenty like me on the forum. Not very long ago an old DJ friend of mine who was running the biggest club in the area asked me if I would do some work for him because he was 'fed up with DJswho were too frightened to talk'.
The real skill is, as you rightly suggest, is in choosing the music, knowing what tracks will work toggether and what will give people a good night. That doesn't come from anything else but our own instinct, intuition, knowledge of tracks, other nights which have worked and our vision of what tonight's audience need. That special moment when you instinctively know what is the only track which will work and when the audience hear it and react
I guess we all love VDJ here. many of us come from different genres. I
Posted Wed 15 Feb 06 @ 8:41 pm
kamakuakane
I agree with asymptote, the foundation of a good dj is knowing what music to mix to keep the client happy and the dance floor packed. I started in 1980 and have been going strong ever since. My music knowledge has kept me alive all of these years, not my scratching, beat mixing, etc. You must be able to adapt your mixing skills to the task at hand. I remember this one DJ from the 70's and 80's, we called him the Butcher, because he could not beatmix two songs together if his life depended on it; however, he knew how to keep the dance floor packed.
Posted Thu 16 Feb 06 @ 6:40 am
tunic
Regarding sound quality I noticed one more thing that seemed to make a big difference: if you are using an external mixer then change the crossfader style to full. This means with the VDJ crossfade in the middle you are getting 100% volume out of both decks - important for balancing a line in against say your CD decks. Having 100% range from your soundcard must increase the full dynamic range available - that coupled with disabling timestrech and gain seemed to work the best for me.
Regarding issues you may have with differing volume of mp3s with gain disabled, you may want to consider using a decent audio tool to normalise the volume. When playing CDs I also burnt them normalised and rarely had to pay much consideration to gain on the mixer in a live environment.
Regarding issues you may have with differing volume of mp3s with gain disabled, you may want to consider using a decent audio tool to normalise the volume. When playing CDs I also burnt them normalised and rarely had to pay much consideration to gain on the mixer in a live environment.
Posted Thu 16 Feb 06 @ 1:39 pm
digijoc-Mele
@asymptote, in using MM Express, do you notice any strobing/vibrato effects when you play something like a ballard and pitch it way up/down ? Try also with a song where a note is held for some time, especially if the note is without any accompanying vocal or instrument as the case may be. Seems the Master Tempo of MM has an issue.... don't know if it is in the Express ver or not.
Re: the vDJ sound quality, it seems that this issue has been beaten to death. I don't agree with the suggestion about the fader curve setting. In my experience, some sound systems that you connect to will require you to use Smooth vs Full... just depends on the systems dynamic processing. I believe the best sound Q is only acheived from vDJ when you don't over drive the output from your PC. Setting vDJ to -3db and match with AutoGain in the FAME settings works fine.
As mentioned before, there is a new sound enginie on the way that may be better, but for now, it is what it is and works well enough to keep clients very happy. Better sound will only be a nice gift.
Re: the vDJ sound quality, it seems that this issue has been beaten to death. I don't agree with the suggestion about the fader curve setting. In my experience, some sound systems that you connect to will require you to use Smooth vs Full... just depends on the systems dynamic processing. I believe the best sound Q is only acheived from vDJ when you don't over drive the output from your PC. Setting vDJ to -3db and match with AutoGain in the FAME settings works fine.
As mentioned before, there is a new sound enginie on the way that may be better, but for now, it is what it is and works well enough to keep clients very happy. Better sound will only be a nice gift.
Posted Fri 17 Feb 06 @ 5:58 pm
asymptote
Hi
Sorry if I haven't come back for a few days, I've been busy working. thanks for comments.
I haven't noticed any sound quality probs with mixmeister express but will try and let people know if I get warbling.. I've been mostly mixing with the CDs this weekend because I did a silly thing and deleted a lot of my files on my hard drive. Fortunately I had backed up all the files onto CDRWs and so made my wife unhappy by spending all the time I wasn't playing music in transferring the files back. Need to buy another external drive. Back to Ebay I guess
But, I really enjoyed playing this weekend because I rediscovered the fact that I can mix OK with CDs. I'm using the Numark CDN95 and it is pretty good (although I prefer my old Denons). The sound quality is great and it plays MP3s with looping etc. Good effects with the beat and looping with mp3s too. and I have to say the sound quality was great when using CDs. The effects are very easy to use and give some interest to the show.
This last six months has been a rollercoaster for me as I've attempted to go digital and stay reliable. I've tried PCDJ and hated it, so stopped. I bought and sold a DAC-3. Still love VDJ and can't wait for the new version. The icing on the cake, though is the forum. Great atmosphere and good friends even if we never meet. Only DJs can really understand.
Good gigging.
andy
Sorry if I haven't come back for a few days, I've been busy working. thanks for comments.
I haven't noticed any sound quality probs with mixmeister express but will try and let people know if I get warbling.. I've been mostly mixing with the CDs this weekend because I did a silly thing and deleted a lot of my files on my hard drive. Fortunately I had backed up all the files onto CDRWs and so made my wife unhappy by spending all the time I wasn't playing music in transferring the files back. Need to buy another external drive. Back to Ebay I guess
But, I really enjoyed playing this weekend because I rediscovered the fact that I can mix OK with CDs. I'm using the Numark CDN95 and it is pretty good (although I prefer my old Denons). The sound quality is great and it plays MP3s with looping etc. Good effects with the beat and looping with mp3s too. and I have to say the sound quality was great when using CDs. The effects are very easy to use and give some interest to the show.
This last six months has been a rollercoaster for me as I've attempted to go digital and stay reliable. I've tried PCDJ and hated it, so stopped. I bought and sold a DAC-3. Still love VDJ and can't wait for the new version. The icing on the cake, though is the forum. Great atmosphere and good friends even if we never meet. Only DJs can really understand.
Good gigging.
andy
Posted Tue 21 Feb 06 @ 12:10 am
asymptote
Great News - I'm getting fantastic sound quality!!!!!!!!!
Just bought a mew laptop - It's only a Dell Inspiron 1.4MHz Celeron with 512 but was a great deal on Ebay.. I used igt a couple of days with the built in soundcard but tonight I received an Echo Indigo DJ (also off Ebay) and the sound quality is fantastic.
Now here's an interesting thing.
I tried it using mixmeister express and mixmeister pro and it was givng a slight pumping or distortion with a touch of warble. I turned off the mixmeister compression and it was not bad sound quality. But when I used VDJ the sound quality was FANTASTIC.
This was especially noticable on some of the tracks which I scanned in at 320
The sound is very very clear with tremendous Bass which is controlled, deep and punchy all at the same time.
The laptop works fine with no freeaing, stuttering or anything of the sort.
I'll try this on a gig and let you know how it went.
Andy
Just bought a mew laptop - It's only a Dell Inspiron 1.4MHz Celeron with 512 but was a great deal on Ebay.. I used igt a couple of days with the built in soundcard but tonight I received an Echo Indigo DJ (also off Ebay) and the sound quality is fantastic.
Now here's an interesting thing.
I tried it using mixmeister express and mixmeister pro and it was givng a slight pumping or distortion with a touch of warble. I turned off the mixmeister compression and it was not bad sound quality. But when I used VDJ the sound quality was FANTASTIC.
This was especially noticable on some of the tracks which I scanned in at 320
The sound is very very clear with tremendous Bass which is controlled, deep and punchy all at the same time.
The laptop works fine with no freeaing, stuttering or anything of the sort.
I'll try this on a gig and let you know how it went.
Andy
Posted Wed 29 Mar 06 @ 11:51 pm
bagpuss
And the Good news is that Sound Quality is about to get MUCH better ;).
Posted Wed 29 Mar 06 @ 11:59 pm
asymptote
Thanks Bagpuss for the encouraging but tantalizing post.
Don't know what time zone you are in, but here in UK it's 11.30 pm.
Maybe tomorrow?
The main thing for me is that I am now happy with the VDJ sound quality. As someone who demoed CD (and laservision) round the UK before it was actually on sale from Philips and Sony (worked on the advance sales team in 1980) I am a digital fan, but for years djed using vinyl, some of it very old. Thank goodness things are getting easier and better sounding.
Andy
Don't know what time zone you are in, but here in UK it's 11.30 pm.
Maybe tomorrow?
The main thing for me is that I am now happy with the VDJ sound quality. As someone who demoed CD (and laservision) round the UK before it was actually on sale from Philips and Sony (worked on the advance sales team in 1980) I am a digital fan, but for years djed using vinyl, some of it very old. Thank goodness things are getting easier and better sounding.
Andy
Posted Thu 30 Mar 06 @ 12:39 am
djemcee
When will the sound quality get much better? One week, one month, one year?
I can't wait!
Chris
I can't wait!
Chris
Posted Thu 30 Mar 06 @ 3:44 am
bagpuss
Longer than A day, less than a year ;), feel better now? :D
Posted Thu 30 Mar 06 @ 4:04 am
djemcee
Silly
Posted Thu 30 Mar 06 @ 9:09 am
bagpuss
Indeed you are for asking, you know that we don't know, and if we did we would not be allowed to reveal this.
Posted Thu 30 Mar 06 @ 4:26 pm
djsherz
I've had no issue so far with VDJ's sound quality, but then I do use an external mixer, and switch off the auto gain and timestretch... what does sound lousy though is the playback of DIVX and XVID movies, even though the sound for them was encoded as CBR mp3 @ 160k. Sounds perfect in windows media player, truly 'orrible in VDJ. Hopefully this will be addressed in the next update (pretty please!), but until then, don't forget that us DJs are the anal perfectionists, and your average drunken punter doesn't notice the difference in sound quality, let alone appreciates a good mix! The mic is mightier than the crossfader.... ;-)
Posted Thu 30 Mar 06 @ 5:38 pm
djemcee
Not a problem. I understand it is in the works.
Until then I am using the best program available until I review the next version of VDJ and that is OTS Dj.
One day I am sure VDJ will make me want to leave OTS.
Until then I am using the best program available until I review the next version of VDJ and that is OTS Dj.
One day I am sure VDJ will make me want to leave OTS.
Posted Thu 30 Mar 06 @ 8:40 pm
djsherz
Following on from my above post, I've discovered that re-encoding my DVDs using an updated DIVX encoder fixes the audio problem. Still using the same mp3 settings (160k) but the sound is SOOO much better with the latest divx codec than it was with the XVID one I was using before... Not an ideal fix given the number of videos that now need re-encoding, but at least there is a way of making the videos sound nice... ;-)
Posted Thu 30 Mar 06 @ 9:01 pm
bagpuss
lol, There is no single best DJ software, it's simply a matter of preference.
Posted Thu 30 Mar 06 @ 9:12 pm
