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Topic: Advice on internal sound card for VDJ plz!

This topic is old and might contain outdated or incorrect information.

I just bought the machine for use only with VDJ for mobile video gigs. I have not bought VDJ yet because Im waiting to the native support of HC 4500 and/or VCI-100. If there is no native support in later jan ´08, will buy the DMC-2 or total control.

My VDJ PC:
Intel MotherBoard
Intel Core Duo 2.66 with 4 mb
4 Gb RAM
1 - 120 Gb Sata HD (for system and software)
3 - 500 GB Sata HD (for storage of videos)


I have not decided on the video card, and the sound card. I have read that USB cards are low latency, but also read that internal cards are ZERO latency.
Any one would recommend me a "perfect" internal sound card for VDJ ?

If I go with external, I found very interesting the Native Instruments Audio 8 DJ, any comments about this one?

For the sound card, I have a budget of $400.

Thanks for your comments.
 
Posted Tue 18 Dec 07 @ 6:57 pm
 
SWEET!!!!!... sweet!!!

thanks for your advice.. really helpful.
 
internal as in you have a desktop machine? bit confused. if you have a desktop machine (which wouldnt make sense if you are using it for the road) i would not recommend an external device, especially not firewire or usb as there is inherant latency just from the controller chip of the interface (not including the audio device itself).

always try to get as close to the data bus as possible. if you have a laptop, check out the emu 1616 which is cardbus and lower latency than anything firewire or usb can ever give you. and it fits your budget.

if you have a desktop, you have nearly free range of choice because anything thats pcie will give you near 1ms latency.
 
Thanks PAZ, you’re right, I’m looking for an internal (not the integrated one with the motherboard) PCI sound card. I will use a minitower case mounted in a custom rack case. I mentioned the Native Instruments because I liked all the features that have for the price and for their reputation.

Now that I have seen the Virtual Vinyl, Im really confused and don’t know what to buy, If Time coded cds or a midi controller.

If I go with TCCDs I’ll use a Pioneer CMX-3000 cd player, but I don’t know how I will do the video translations.

If I go with the Vestax VCI-100 I don’t know how the hell I have will control the headphones (volume).

The one that cover all my needs are the denon HC4500 coupled with the Denon DNX500 mixer with the X-Control for the video translation. But still waiting for the native support, and wait to read reviews of real users (not brand’s personal)

The numark DMC2 looks great, but I think the video and audio translatios will be a little tricky with buttons.

Im a mobile DJ, only beatmatching with CDs, and wants to add visuals as soon as possible.

My needs are:
Hardware 100% stable with VirtualDJ or CUE
Sound Quality
Easy video translations (I prefer faders)
I will prefer not to interact with the computer keyboard while playing.

Any any any advice, comment, suggestion, will be truly appreciated.
Thanks guys.

 
cant help you with videos at all. never been interested in that because my kind of music is never released in video.

definitlley go with a PCIe card. check out the Emu 1616m pci version, at 449$. the M versions have digidesign DACs so they are very sweet sounding and extremely stable. i beat the life out of vdj on a 1616m cardbus version and it would not fail or quit no matter what i did (whereas doing the same things destroyed m-audio). as i said on a different thread, m-audio is not pro. Emu and Motu make some good mid-level stuff, and RME & Apogee are high-level, but beyond your budget.

check this page out: http://www.sweetwater.com/c703--PCI_Audio_Interfaces

As for TCCD/TCV or midi, you can still use both. TCCD/TCV will still give you the hands on feel, whereas if you get a midi-controlled mixer (not a full midicontroller) you can also use that.

there is one other thing you could think about, look at the Ecler Evo5 mixer. It's firewire which i usually try to avoid, but the soundcards are on the mixer and it's fully midi controllable. that means everything is in one unit and ecler has a pretty good sound.

the option i am going very soon is a PCIe version of the RME hammerfall card. with that, an Allen&Heath Xone:3D mixer for the midi. That means i am not dependant on bringing my mixer into the clubs (as you would be with just the Ecler Evo 5). I still would have 1ms latency, top sound quality, and the benefits of midi 'if' I want it. For the most part, i want the xone 3d only for track selection and effects. I will continue to use analog faders and eq.

its basically just about removing the hand-travelling distance between mixer and laptop. when your line of sight has to move even a foot, you are slowed down for complex eq fader tricks. but at the same time, becoming dependant on a single piece of hardware is also risky IMHO. Having a god sound card means you can rely on that. if your mixer or midi controller dies, you arent out of business until you get another one. you also can use TCV/TCCD 'if' you want to but dont have to.

my two cents, good luck
 
Thanks a lot PAZ, I really appreciate your time and your experience shared. You just wrote what I wanted to read. ;)

Thanks again.
 
Motu Ultralite works great with Virtual DJ.....Its Firewire so thats all you need. You can use it with laptop, regualr PC, and even a MAC. So buy one of these you will be set for anything down the road.....or if you wanna go all out and buy mixer that has kick ass effects and high end firewire soundcard....go for the Ecler EVO 5
 
Thanks Funnyb0nz, but I belive that a PCIe will have better performance than an external (USB, Firewire) sound card.

No doubt about Ecler quality, but its a litte expensive. But re-thinking again, if I will purchase a 400 dlls, sound card, then its the same as if the EVO cost 400 less. Now thats a reasonable price. If I go this way, now I have to look for a controller (play, loops, cues, etc).
 
I currently use a waveterminal 192L, and also have a maya 44. Both are PCI and work superbly for me, club and mobile.

Current Specs Are-

Asus M2A VM Motherboard
650W Supply
AMD Athlon 64x2 5600
2 Gig Corsair Ram @ 800 meg
ATI Radeon X1600 pro 512 meg Ram
(120 gig IDE = programs and backup audio)
(500 gig SATA = Video)
DAC 3 with touch sensor buttons

This audio card also worked fine in my old machine.

Pentium 4 2.4ghz
256 meg ram
CFI small form factor motherboard
 
After thinking, and rethinking, and re-rethinking and re-re-rethinking about the posibilites to use "perfect" gear for VDJ, I found thats threres infinite options to play with. I started wishing a midi controller, now Im not sure if go to TCCDs with a CMX-3000.

If I buy this card: http://www.emu.com/callouts/E-MU-1616M-PCI-Hardware.html , It is good for TCCDs?

or I can get the whole package with the Virtual Vynil for the same price as the EMU card!

Even I found interestin the M-Audio X-Session only for video crossfading!.

too many options to chose from are killing me!!!!
 


Mixin videos too?

The killer setup :
- Numark VirtualVinyl (software, soundcard, timecode vinyls and cds)
- Ecler Nuo4 or Nuo5 mixer
(or if you have more to spend, Pioneer DJM 800 mixer).

 
Thanks
what about the hardware addin hardware?
to cue, loop, bending, stutter.... without using the computer keyboard.
 
Hows the latency in Virtual Vinyl?
 

VirtualVinyl have "zero latency" .. Well nothing is zero latency, but its so low you wont notice it much. About 5-8 ms (Serato is 11-23 ms to compare for example).

The mixers mentioned above are real hardware mixers with MIDI built in, so it will control VDJ directly.

For more of a traditional deck kinda control, there are several ways...

1) Timecode : Use standard CD players or turntables to control VDJ with a special timecode vinyl or CD

2) Midi controllers : Vestax VCI-100, Numark Total Control, Numark DMC-2 and LOTS more...

3) Hybrid controllers : CD decks that are both traditional CD players, but also direct control to VDJ without timecode CD. There are two on the market so far : Numark iCDX, Pioneer CDJ-400


 
THANKS Norway!, will check it out every detail on a setup with V-Vinyl.
 


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