Digital Vinyl System Query ?

[Charlie]

Does anyone here use any kind of DVS set up to mix with ?

If so what's your verdict and any recommendations ?

Also are the cheapo ones like Stanton Final Scratch & Intimidation iScratch a waste of money ?

Thanks in advance

 

[U31]

Horses for courses, try before you buy is my only advice, oh and ITCH uses its own MIDI hardware controllers, other generic controllers cant be mapped to work with it, the idea is you buy itch and a specific itch controller and it works straight out the box, where as with other systems you have the ability to map controllers to your preference- that is if your any good at programming.
Be aware that if you go the itch route your stuck with a limited choice of hardware

 

[Charlie]

Horses for courses, try before you buy is my only advice, oh and ITCH uses its own MIDI hardware controllers, other generic controllers cant be mapped to work with it, the idea is you buy itch and a specific itch controller and it works straight out the box, where as with other systems you have the ability to map controllers to your preference- that is if your any good at programming.
Be aware that if you go the itch route your stuck with a limited choice of hardware

Cheers for that mate. I'm gonna have to take that advice and try and find somewhere that'll let me try these out.

 

[Wezza]

Does anyone here use any kind of DVS set up to mix with ?

If so what's your verdict and any recommendations ?

Also are the cheapo ones like Stanton Final Scratch & Intimidation iScratch a waste of money ?

Thanks in advance

i saw this thread and just thought id add my 5p worth of though ive just moved over to the dark side as some purists call it and i know a lot of people and old skool dj's who say its just a passing faze or gimmick and call you a sell out and say dj'ing should be done the old skool way well after all we do love old skool.

been new to the dvs style dj'ing system i thought i would do a bit of home work before i bought one as i thought i may not like it or the set up my be crap ect , i know i lot of folk will say you need serato ltd edition blue blar blar blar sl 4 ect but can you realy afford to buy it and take the risk of you not like the way it works or you not like'ing it in general ! plus i know 2 or 3 folk who use serato and say yer it is good but i think serato are just out to sting more money out of you as ive heard you have to pay for all the add ons and stuff ect .

Rane Serato Scratch SL3 DJ Interface, NEW UK STOCK SL 3 | eBay

i first saw it been used in full effect in 05 by joey beltram @ joy the techno sessions in leeds and after been stood behind him in the dj box and watching him use it i thought wots all this about and to be truthful i didn't have a clue wot it was or wot it did then after a chat about it i decide to look into it and found out all about it and the price too also watched nipper use it to good effect too .

i think serato is a bit pricey just for a bedroom dj as were called or wot ever you want to call us so i ruled that one out and started to look at the ones in my price range or the ones i thought i would like to try out to see if i liked them or the way they ran ect , and i would tell you to steer well clear from the cheaper end ones like mix vibes and the very dodgy one i bought and used and may i say sent back after 4 months as the audio sound card packed up working and after sending it back and contacting the makers of it and finding out it was a faulty sound card chip and they had all ready with draw it from the market all the cheaper end ones are made by the same company under different names like pinky - mixvibes- Intimidation iScratch u could even buy the iscratch in argos but they now have stopped selling it as the audio card were all faulty. .

do not buy this very dodgy dvs system
Intimidation iScratch Mix Live DVS System | eBay

i later found out tractor pro scratch is stanton final scratch they just dropped the stanton name in 2000 and use tractor pro scratch now.

Ive just bought traktor scratch duo 2 got to learn it all now .

and was just wondering wot folk thought of it too as it was designed with imput from richie hawtin and John Acquaviva and used by named dj's like DJ Rap - Paul van Dyk- Junior Sanchez -LTJ Bukem so it must have some cred .

Native Instruments Traktor Scratch Duo 2 | DV247

check the vid u cant realy argue with q-bert i think see wot u think . [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTj-L7EKCL8&feature=related"]‪TRAKTOR VS SERATO Comparison By DJ Qbert !!!‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]

 

[U31]

Plus 1 for Traktor Scratch Pro , i know a lot on here use it on the Sly... My only issue is, if you are gonna play digitally (Edit: or use the effects and loops - i don't so i forgot to mention it ) without the decks you need to tightly beatgrid every one of you tracks (Ha he says as he tries out Ableton.. its 10 times worse)

Once this is done tho you are away, there are a lot of youtube tutorials And Brock landers on here one talked me through the process. Easy but tedious and sometime frustrating as its what sound like the most straightforward 4/4 tunes turn out to be a total bastard and vice versa

My personal fave is one that gets the most stick, Virtual DJ pro 7 its just sooo easy and intuitive to be up and away.. i have literally taught people who have never mixed in their life the basics in afternoon (using the synch cheat instead of beatmatching, i tell em they need to learn this in their own time because sooner rather then later, relying on a computer algorithm to beatmatch it will come unstuck, its like the old readouts on CDJ, never ever trust em over your lug 'oles)

You can beatgrid your tunes in VDJ if you like, but i never bother, its just easier ( for me) to just nudge your virtual deck in to synch just like you would with vinyl or a good CDJ

 

[Wezza]

Plus 1 for Traktor Scratch Pro , i know a lot on here use it on the Sly... My only issue is, if you are gonna play digitally (Edit: or use the effects and loops - i don't so i forgot to mention it ) without the decks you need to tightly beatgrid every one of you tracks (Ha he says as he tries out Ableton.. its 10 times worse)

Once this is done tho you are away, there are a lot of youtube tutorials And Brock landers on here one talked me through the process. Easy but tedious and sometime frustrating as its what sound like the most straightforward 4/4 tunes turn out to be a total bastard and vice versa

My personal fave is one that gets the most stick, Virtual DJ pro 7 its just sooo easy and intuitive to be up and away.. i have literally taught people who have never mixed in their life the basics in afternoon (using the synch cheat instead of beatmatching, i tell em they need to learn this in their own time because sooner rather then later, relying on a computer algorithm to beatmatch it will come unstuck, its like the old readouts on CDJ, never ever trust em over your lug 'oles)

You can beatgrid your tunes in VDJ if you like, but i never bother, its just easier ( for me) to just nudge your virtual deck in to synch just like you would with vinyl or a good CDJ

nice read that m8 very intresting as like i say ive just moved over to traktor duo scratch 2 now ive got to get to grops with it all.:S

wots beatgrid on vdj pro and pro scratch m8 .:$

 

[U31]

nice read that m8 very intresting as like i say ive just moved over to stanton scratch to get to learn it then if i like it i might move up to sommert like serato or stan with final scartch .

wots beatgrid on vdj pro and pro scratch m8 .:$

When you rip your tunes digitaly, the dj software creates a visible waveform, which you can learn to read ( Waveriding )

On the waves are "peaks" or "transients" where a certain thing is happening in the music at that time, a kick drum, a snare or whatever, but its how you can tell where the beat starts, like when you run a record backwards and forwards to find the beat. Most DJ software drops a marker at each of these transients and a "Beatgrid" is formed along the length of the wave

Now the algorythm aint very bright, especially on BPMs which is what the software uses to work out where these beatmarkers will go, the human ear is connected to the best computer in the world, so nine times out of ten, even though the software generated beatgrid will just about do, you will find yourself wanting to correct it to get it absolutely perfect.
Its easy to do and you can quickly get a beatgrid near enough right, mid set in under 60 seconds if you drop a new track, just go back later and tweak and lock it when its perfect.

Once its perfect you can then use something that will have vinyl purist whining for ever more The Synch button.
When used on properly beatgrided tracks, two, three, four, five or up 99 tracks or samples will run perfectly in time from start to finish without drifting. But this is only if using the digital decks, the SL12's will still need a nudge every now and again as the pitch controls are never spot on.

But im a lazy git, i dont beatgrid on DVS so i just use a system of hitting synch to get them where the computer thinks is somewhere near, i waveride to see where the beats are on the track and use the headphones to confirm the tunes are in beat, if i can see and hear the tracks run out i'll nudge the deck and tweak the pitch so its not unlike what you'd normally do on vinyl with the added benefit of a visual aid.

I'd think strongly about Serato products too, and try before you buy, this is the stuff that only runs with its own hardware and controllers, so swapping and changing if you don't get on with it is a pain in the butt.

Traktor, VDJ, Numark DJ, Gemini and a few others are all interchangeable with the controllers and hardware, and i run Traktor Scratch, Virtual DJ and a limited amount of Ableton's massive features list on the same soundcard and MIDI controller

 

[siman91]

:S And I wonder why I sold all of my digital stuff and kept returning to my vinyl and 1200's

S

 

[U31]

'Cause your a tit?

Nahh, its swings and roundabouts.
DVS was the only way i could get in to actually playing, i did a bit after the clubs BITD and i can remember the last time i touched a pair of SL12's with vinyl and an analogue mixer was the housewarming when i bought my first house -and I didnt have kids then, my eldest is 14 this year

I had vinyl, but it was mainly for listening pleasure and by the time the kids came along no second deck and certainly no mixer. After 3 million and one housemoves, i didnt have much vinyl left, giving away just about the last of 'em last Christmas, but i did make rips, for using on the car and vans SD card stereo. And i still had a fair amount of stuff on CD.

The choice was go digital or CDJ, digital won.
DVS is what i have been using up to now, as it emulates traditional DJing, turntables spinning round, pitch controls, nudge or drag to get in beat etc..

But Brendan off here mentioned he was going on an Ableton course and i was intrigued.
Ableton is a DAW that can also be used to DJ with Digital audio workstation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It totally embraces the fact that the media is digital, so doesn't even attempt to try to pretend its anything like traditional DJing. So you are total unleashed from those confines.

I'd go as far as saying it isn't actually DJing as we know it, it can produce the same results at the amps and PA, but there the similarity ends.
Tracks need to be tightly beatgrided as above, either on the fly mid set or in advance, but once done the results are truly amazing.

It's early days yet and its a very very steep learning curve especially for an old fart like me, and dont let anyone say its just pushing a key and it will mix.. Yeah it can do that, after hours of meticulous preparation, but it can do sooo much more, you can remix tracks on the fly, mid set, the transitions are something i can only dream of pulling off with a mixer with eq's and faders...

Bear with this video, it starts slow but just watch till the end when he turns a Bjork track in to D&B tune on the fly..
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKVCGBBW7h8]‪Akai APC20 Unleashed !‬‏ - YouTube[/ame]


Oh yeah... I was that bloke a few years ago, saying digital dj's are tossers, pressing buttons to pull seamless mixes.. Ohhhh how i've eaten those words!

 

[siman91]

'Cause your a tit?

A Great big DD at that too!!

When ever my brother now plays out he has to pre order 1200's as very rarely do venues have them now. One recent event didnt even have cdj's which realy screwed him up as thats what he now tends to play. I supose its progression although I do think technology has spoiled what should be an analogue sound with an unaided mixing skill.

S

 

[U31]

But the other side of the coin is, the everyday club goers ain't interested how the sound they are dancing to is produced, they just wanna dance to it..

It's only us anally retentives going to specialist Retro nights who give a fig about skill?

 

[Postie]

But the other side of the coin is, the everyday club goers ain't interested how the sound they are dancing to is produced, they just wanna dance to it..

It's only us anally retentives going to specialist Retro nights who give a fig about skill?

Agreed,but vinyl is still

 

[siman91]

But the other side of the coin is, the everyday club goers ain't interested how the sound they are dancing to is produced, they just wanna dance to it..

Guess thats where im different to most, I love the music and realy appreciate good dj'ing skills. I can sometimes just pull up a chair pop on my headphones and actually listen to records from start to finish, a cd and especially digital dont give me the same feel......and thats in the middle of a club too

As said technology changes. Problem I have is my opinions dont so ive got to admit im an old fart stuck in the past

S

 

[Wezza]

i've got one query and this is going to sound dum i know but wot is the difference in the speed on the time coded vinyl 33 and 45 as they are realy blank records wot just send the digital signal to the laptop i cant tell or hear a diffrence with the sound or track on my laptop wile its playing, with the old slate if it was on 33 it went faster and if on 45 it went slower thats if the labels and speeds were printed correct that is as some wernt back in the day lol.

 

[U31]

You need to select on whatever DVS programme you run, the deck RPM you favour, if you set it to 33 and play your timecode at 45 on your decks it will sound like the chipmunks!
The Timecode Vinyls or CD's arnt blank but have a tone that the software can read to work out where the stylus (or laser) is.

You can hear the timecode signal if you run the decks thru your mixer normally instead of the DVS..

 

[Wezza]

You need to select on whatever DVS programme you run, the deck RPM you favour, if you set it to 33 and play your timecode at 45 on your decks it will sound like the chipmunks!
The Timecode Vinyls or CD's arnt blank but have a tone that the software can read to work out where the stylus (or laser) is.

You can hear the timecode signal if you run the decks thru your mixer normally instead of the DVS..

on my traktor duo 2 it says just 33 12mins and on the other side 33 17 mins , yer u can hear the high pitched noise when no music is playing and the mixer is on 0 db's i was just wondering wot the diffrence was ,

and was having a play with it today and as im new to it all was just wondering how do you know wot latency is the best for the dvs mines set at sample rate 44100hz as im just wonting to get it all set right cheers m8 .

 

[U31]

Latency on traktor (Or any DVS ) you just need to fiddle with till you find the best setting just before it hangs and the sound drops out, there is a yellow bar you drag to the right in the options. Go too far to find out where it hangs then slide it back to the left for the best setting. All computers are different so there is no stock answer

 

[Wezza]

Latency on traktor (Or any DVS ) you just need to fiddle with till you find the best setting just before it hangs and the sound drops out, there is a yellow bar you drag to the right in the options. Go too far to find out where it hangs then slide it back to the left for the best setting. All computers are different so there is no stock answer

cheers mate i was doing that today in the setting moving the yellow slider up and down will have another go 2moz , i've just been on the native website reading about it .

Windows 7 Tuning Tips for audio processing

 

[U31]

Let me know how yer get on...

Oh, and get something new upped to mixcloud!

 

[nupski]

there's no such thing as digital vinyl dude best of luck with it tho, let us know how u get on