Sound quality

[MikeW]

Hi everyone.
Bit of a long story. I recently purchased a Denon MC6000. I am running VDJ using Mackie SRM450s.
I was really happy with the sound quality up until last night. I was doing a wedding in a slightly larger venue and was driving the speakers slightly harder than normal, when I noticed a very slight distortion on a couple of tracks.
Didn't think that much about it, but decided to set the unit up in my garage today.
I started noticing distortion via my headphones when turned up really loud.
I then put on the track: I need a dollar, by Aloe Blacc and noticed a crackle at the start of the track.
I was thinking it might be the speakers, but tried playing the track just through my Ipad and the crackle was still there.
I then played it on my home system, crackle still there.
My questions are:
(1) Do you think it is because I am running the music via a better quality mixer that I have just picked up on this (ie it has alway been there)
(2) I use amazon to download my music, I take it there is no choice in d/load quality.
(3) has anybody else noticed this problem
I need to say it is also happening on older tracks as well.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance.

[Excalibur]

Have you tried using your backup copies as music source? Is it possible that your HD is corrupted in some way? :confused:

[MikeW]

Have you tried using your backup copies as music source? Is it possible that your HD is corrupted in some way? :confused:

Whether I play it via my disco laptop or via my Ipad through the disco, or Ipad via my home speakers, the crackle is still there?
It seems to be the way it has been downloaded from Amazon?

[mattydinx]

Amazon's MP3s are only at 256kbps, but this wouldn't account for any 'crackle'

Just listened to my copy of the track (320kbps from DMC) on my Audio-Technica M50 headphones ("Studio Monitor Headphones") and notice slight distortion on the opening bass riff - but I'd put that down to incorrect gain structure or over-compression when the track was recorded/mixed.

It's not the best recording to test with really.

Also, the output from iPhones/Pods/Pads tends to be around +3dB, so the audio may be clipping before it even leaves the device - take the volume down one notch

Do you use an external sound card with your laptop?

[MikeW]

Amazon's MP3s are only at 256kbps, but this wouldn't account for any 'crackle'

Just listened to my copy of the track (320kbps from DMC) on my Audio-Technica M50 headphones ("Studio Monitor Headphones") and notice slight distortion on the opening bass riff - but I'd put that down to incorrect gain structure or over-compression when the track was recorded/mixed.

It's not the best recording to test with really.

Also, the output from iPhones/Pods/Pads tends to be around +3dB, so the audio may be clipping before it even leaves the device - take the volume down one notch

Do you use an external sound card with your laptop?


Thanks for that. My laptop is running via the denon mc6000 mixer. It all points to the way it has been downloaded from Amazon, but it is not just one track that is affected. I just downloaded a different version of, I need a dollar, and it seems to be ok. Really not sure what to do next to be honest.

[MikeW]

Question for all the guy's who download from Amazon. I might be being a bit fick here, but I take it there is no way to increase the quality of an Amazon download (they all download at approx 240 kbps).

And if you do download from Amazon, are you happy with the quality?

Oh and one last question, does itunes or Tesco for instance, download at the same rate?

Thanks in advance.

Mike.

[mattydinx]

does itunes or Tesco for instance, download at the same rate?

Can't speak for Tesco's downloads, but iTunes use unprotected ACC files at 256kbps which are equal to, if not a little better quality than MP3s at 320kbps. Some older software (PCDJ Red for example) won't read these files, so make sure your software is compatible first.

Take a look at www.dmcdownload.com in future, all their MP3s are 320kbps MP3 and are only 74p per track too (unless you buy compilations/packs then they're even cheaper)

[MikeW]

Can't speak for Tesco's downloads, but iTunes use unprotected ACC files at 256kbps which are equal to, if not a little better quality than MP3s at 320kbps. Some older software (PCDJ Red for example) won't read these files, so make sure your software is compatible first.

Take a look at www.dmcdownload.com in future, all their MP3s are 320kbps MP3 and are only 74p per track too (unless you buy compilations/packs then they're even cheaper)

Thanks Matty, I will take a look.

[hammy]

Mike I have just started using the mc6000 and have also noticed some tracks sounding like that which didnt before, I havent sussed if its the Amazon downloads though, I did however find that if i turn the gain down on VDJ it is so much better.

[MikeW]

Mike I have just started using the mc6000 and have also noticed some tracks sounding like that which didnt before, I havent sussed if its the Amazon downloads though, I did however find that if i turn the gain down on VDJ it is so much better.

That is really interesting. It seems to me that i have just picked up on this since I purchased my MC6000 (about a month ago) it may be that the fact that the mc6000 is pushing out better quality than my previous citronic mixer, that I am just starting to notice slight imperfections on some tracks. Possibly some of the other mc6000 user could confirm?

Thanks Hammy, I will try turning the gain down slightly on VDJ.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

That is really interesting. It seems to me that i have just picked up on this since I purchased my MC6000 (about a month ago) it may be that the fact that the mc6000 is pushing out better quality than my previous citronic mixer, that I am just starting to notice slight imperfections on some tracks. Possibly some of the other mc6000 user could confirm?



Funnily enough, I thought I had noticed this on certain tracks, but as I changed my speakers at the same time as the main playout, I wasn't sure.

[hammy]

can some older mc6000 users confirm how they have vdj mixer bit set, I have mine as top, mid, low set to 12 oclock, gain set at 7 oclock, master on full, This seems to give me the best quality sound.

[Spirits High]

Mine crackled last night :eek:

I did my sound check and all was fine.

Went to do my "warm up" Unclubbed playlist and when checking in the hphones the track was crackling for some unknow reason. swithed to a playlist from the ipad and that was fine so let that play through the 6000 while I tried to find out why it was crackling. Tried a different track, nope still crackle, tried both deck A&B....still crackling. Shut down VDJ, restarted...guess what? Still crackling :eek: Decided to go for a laptop restart, fired up VDJ again and.....it was fine :confused: :confused:

How strange!

[MikeW]

Not sure if I have already mentioned this (i'm at a bad age!) But while I was testing in the garage last week, I was getting a bit of crackle, which was cured by popping in and out, the cable which goes from the back of the mc6000 to the usb in the laptop. (The connection may have been loose). Worth a try if anyone is having the same problem.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Mine crackled last night :eek:

I did my sound check and all was fine.

Went to do my "warm up" Unclubbed playlist and when checking in the hphones the track was crackling for some unknow reason. swithed to a playlist from the ipad and that was fine so let that play through the 6000 while I tried to find out why it was crackling. Tried a different track, nope still crackle, tried both deck A&B....still crackling. Shut down VDJ, restarted...guess what? Still crackling :eek: Decided to go for a laptop restart, fired up VDJ again and.....it was fine :confused: :confused:

How strange!

Happened to me a few weeks ago. I never found out why either.

[Excalibur]

can some older mc6000 users confirm how they have vdj mixer bit set, I have mine as top, mid, low set to 12 oclock, gain set at 7 oclock, master on full, This seems to give me the best quality sound.

As a general rule, I have found that setting laptop/PC mixers/pre amps as low as sensible, and turning up the hardware volumes gives me the best results.

[mattydinx]

This wouldnt explain the crackle on the i'devices' but how is virtual DJ setup?

Is the CPU usage peaking when playing tracks? - I've had audio breakup on my old laptop when running Virtual DJ and the CPU peaks into the red.

Also check the latency/quality settings in config. If you're on "Quality" try optimising for "latency" and see whether your issues go away.

[weekender45]

Funnily enough, I thought I had noticed this on certain tracks, but as I changed my speakers at the same time as the main playout, I wasn't sure.

ive just noticed this in the last couple of weeks,
Ive just bought a new sub and also additional xlr leads,
but ive also been questioning the quality of my downloads!!

The problem last night seemed to be less evident after reducing the gain and the bottom end on the mixer, but the crackle to me was the speaker!
But , with new sub,new leads as well as speaker quality and download quality, not really too sure where to start first.