It’s great to have both physical and digital formats at your fingertips imo
Time and a place for both.
That’s exactly what I’m beginning to realise. I’ve also found I have a load of stuff on vinyl which I also have as Bandcamp downloads that I can now sell to fund a cdj
When you make the beats align with the beat grid in any software you would usually do it so the start of each bar aligns or even every beat aligns but you don’t have to quantise every note in between. All house music plays the kick drum in time but the various percussion elements can still shuffle and swing over each beat. So, you could quantise each kick drum but not necessarily every conga, bongo and shaker.
I’ve now managed to digitise a sizeable chunk of my music into Rekordbox. Any tracks that have tempo fluctuations I have made a loop at the start that fits the grid, i’ve then edited the track from the end of that loop, not worrying if the grid is off in the middle as long as it is back on at the end, having a little practise last night this seemed to work fine. I’m not sure if there is a better way to do this but it worked for me.
Those of you that are playing out with digital are you using WAVs or are 320 MP3s fine?
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AIFF’s mainly
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I’ve not tried playing anything other than 320 mp3s. Seems a bit time consuming, downloading larger files from Bandcamp. Does it really make a difference to sound quality?
If you have a true 320 mp3 file, only in very very good soundsystems have I heard a bit of difference. I wouldn’t fret over it, most people won’t notice anyway.
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I just drop all my bandcamp wavs to 16 bit using Audacity. Takes seconds and all the Pioneers play them
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Thanks! I’ve started listing some of the more ambient bits of my record collection on discogs and have already sold enough that I am almost at the point where I can purchase an XDJ 700
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Report back from party last night. Just used performance mode in Rekordbox, no headphones, full sync. Went heavy in the cue points to prepare which really helped. Went down really well and even got another paid gig out of it. People were surprised I had not djed on a laptop before, to be honest it felt very easy to use. Definitely want to invest in two cdjs to get more of a hands on feel.
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Did you do any epic long transitions with the crossfader on the screen?
Oh I can see from the playlist it wasn’t that kind of set.
Yes, it was more of a human jukebox type of affair, but useful from a research purpose. I did manage to sneak in half an hour of African tunes in near the end which was more to my taste
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That looks like a fine venue, darkness and some warm red will help the mood. Looks like the world is your oyster, good luck.
I was thinking about selling one of my turntables and getting 2 of them xdj 700s but I just don’t know if I can bring myself to do it. However buying all the records I want is getting a bit too much for me right now. Thoughts?
I’m a fan of the XDJ700. Decent sound and display for the price. Obvs a bit plastic/lightweight/smaller jog wheel than the proper expensive Pioneers but perfect for digital action at home.
Just a little expensive for what it offers but that’s a “monopoly” for ya…
What’s it like using it the control vinyl and rekordbox?
The DJM-450 seems like a reasonably priced option that’s available round my way, and if I’m understanding correctly I should be able to use vinyl and digital on the same channel using the same deck. My ancient Ecler mixer is giving up the ghost, and doesn’t owe me anything after all these years.
All I would need is to pick up a pair of control discs (if I wanted to play digital through both sources at once) in addition to the mixer - right?
I’ve got an old VCI-100 and a tiny NI audio out box but haven’t used it for a while. And Traktor seemed to be an increasing faff the last couple of times I could be arsed. Heard good things about Rekordbox and haven’t really spent much time or effort trying to organize my digital stuff, so feel like it could be worth switching and freeing up some space.
Thoughts, tips, suggestions welcomed!
I’ve never used Rekordbox / control vinyl. I tried the Traktor ones years ago and just couldn’t get into it.
In theory it would be a great and much cheaper solution. But I’ve been much happier using dedicated digital players XDJ 700 than I ever was on any form of Traktor or other controller.
Each to their own I guess.
The XDJ looks nice but I can’t really justify splashing out on one.
I’ve been putting off getting a new mixer for years and the DJM400 seems to be a decent price - and the control vinyl option seems to be a very reasonably priced option.
I guess if it isn’t for me, I could still use the VCI-100 if I can be arsed. Although I don’t think it’s Rekordbox compatible?