cd or mp3

[Nakatomi]

Please tell me you've previously worked in commercial radio? It's the only time that phrase gets used!

Lol no. I don't know if there's another term for it.

[ckpr2]

I prefer MP3 to CD's.
MP3's rarely skip and stutter.

With CD's the tracks are spread over numerous CD's and the one's I want have to remember which CD and where that CD is.
CD's weigh a ton and I had numerous boxes of them to transport and carry in/out. A laptop weighs next to nothing.

I wrote my own MP3 playing software where I hold all my music in one directory.
So its just a matter on scrolling down to the right song then double clicking on it to add it to play list.
The software has a progress bar for each track and a countdown timer so I know when it will end.

[Imagine]

Lol no. I don't know if there's another term for it.

Oi! I "back-time" for at least the last 30 minutes and I've never worked in commercial radio. It's just my way of finishing dead on time as per the venue's wishes

Back to the topic in hand, I started out with black, shiny discs with grooves and a stylus (I sort of miss those days....but not much! My arms and back really don't miss the milk crates with sections knocked out of them!)

When I started back up in 2012, I went straight to digital. I seem to have missed the CD revolution.

MP3 vs WAV? I can't really tell the difference if I'm completely honest when listening to them (too many years of standing between big speakers), and I'm damned sure more of my guests can't.

Most of my library is iTunes MP3 format these days. Why? Because I use iTunes Match to synch all three of my playouts and regardless of the format you download the track in, it converts it....and sometimes to a better quality version!

So in answer to the OP - I'm MP3 all the way these days....It's just easier

[yourdj]

The main thing to ask is would your client know the difference between a commercially bought high quality MP3 or a CD. My best guess is no. I think many of the guests will may not even own a CD (complete guess), so CD DJ's may start looking very dated before too long (everyone and their dog has phones & spotify now). Although this would suggest that CD's and vinyl are still massive as people strive for better quality at home, so who knows? I remember since 2008 to a few years ago, people handing me a CD and me saying 'what am I going to play this one then' as I converted my CD drive to HDD ages back. Always amusing to see their faces, especially in the early days.

With MP3 quality, I notice the difference between some of the older tracks i have from when I started in 2008 and have slowly deleted them and bought new copies. New tracks are fine for what we do, parties in a smallish room with up to 200 guests. Having a good sound system and eq is most important. Its amazing the CD guys who swear by it and still have antiquated sound-lab speakers, or equally crap sound equipment. Or they have good sound systems, redline it all or have the mid up too high etc. Or just play it far too loud and deafen everyone LOL.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

CD DJ's may start looking very dated before too long

I agree with some of what you've said Toby but I have picked this line out from your post because I don't agree with it.
As I said, I personally don't use CD's anymore. I still have them all stacked away in the loft even though I'll probably never play them again and I don't take CD players as a back up either so some could say "What's the point keeping them?".
Thing is, I spent a lot of money on them over the years and they'll be handy if I ever needed to rip again due to a HD problem but then again, I have copies.

The reason I don't agree with what you've said is firstly because I think you've contradicted yourself if I've read your post correctly (which I may not have done because I am still half asleep).... In one sentence you ask if the customer would notice any difference between a commercially bought CD or MP3 and then you say that DJ's using CD's may start looking dated before too long?

As you said, is the customer going to notice?
I can see the only comments regarding DJ's using CD's coming from the under 25's who will pop over to the decks (usually with phone in hand), expecting the DJ to have every song ever made and if they don't, showing the DJ that they have the track on their phone that they are requesting and asking if they can connect to the DJ's system..... (No, from me always).

I don' think anybody else would be that bothered in all honesty. If the DJ is still using CD's, they may have a very good reason why they are using them. They may also have a decent sound system and the quality is great? I think it is common sense that one of the most important things in this business is good quality sound. Someone using CD's may sound just as good with their system as someone using digital through a mediocre system.

I get the impression (again, apologies if I am wrong), that you are assuming that any DJ's still using CD's are members of the Maplins fan club or have inferior equipment to everybody else and to me, that's just snobbery.

[Benny Smyth]

Oi! I "back-time" for at least the last 30 minutes and I've never worked in commercial radio. It's just my way of finishing dead on time as per the venue's wishes

I finish ten minutes early, as per my wishes.

There's still a market out there for DJs who only use CDs or Vinyl. I've lost out on two gigs this year because of my choice of playout system and, to be honest, I'm OK with that. I personally don't see the need to create the hassle of lugging around CDs or Vinyl in 2017 when it can all be transported in one convenient case but I know that some clients want to have the illusion of a 'proper' performance and, of course, the old adage that laptop DJs aren't proper DJs.

[yourdj]

I agree with some of what you've said Toby but I have picked this line out from your post because I don't agree with it.

Hi Gary, I hope you are good? My comments are always speculative, you should know that by now.
Words like 'may', 'possibly' (complete guess) and questions marks after each sentence.

Its not something that can be answered with one answer so i like to throw out a few things I have seen or perhaps may help answer the question. The one thing I know is most of the digital hater CD veterans I know have mostly moved over to the MP3 format now. Some took longer than others, but all of them have said 'I don't know why it took me so long, i wont be going back'.

[Excalibur]

I'm not going to multiquote everybody, but I share a lot of common ground with Toby's last but one post. I believe ( with little hard evidence ) that nowadays, most folk are looking for convenience over quality, ie having lots of music on their phones, and often playing it from them via tiny earpieces.
Thus, they're hardly hearing them on high grade equipment, and no wonder they can't tell the difference between compressed and lossless.

Re the quality of the kit they're played on, whether CD, MP3 or WAV, as long as it's run at sensible levels, and eqed properly, it will still sound fine. I've had compliments about the sound of my QTX cabs when I was using them. Overdrive them, and they sounded absolutely awful though. It's not what you've got, it's how you use it! Ooh er, Missus.

Mike, re your custom software, it sounds to work much the same way as a colleague who uses a program designed for radio. I've seen it used, and it's easy on resources, and virtually bombproof. Could have a lot to do with being single channel only, and very basic.

Benny, " Proper DJs ". Oh how we've debated this title over the years. Only time my playout has been mentioned beforehand, I asked if being Digital was a problem. " Oh no, it means we get our requests on quicker " came the reply. All I'll say on the subject is that I believe the fear of Digital DJs stems from the s who sit/stand like statues adding tracks to autoplay like zombies. It's quite possible to emulate such behaviour with a crate full of Mastermix CDs, so again, it's not what you've got........................

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Your last line there Peter about the DJ's standing there adding tunes to automix made me laugh.
Totally agree on that side of things and a guy booked me the other day for his wife's 40th in November. I gave him the usual blurb about how I operate etc etc and he simply said "You've gotta be better than the bloke that did our wedding a few years back. He was stood there one minute and then the next minute he'd disappeared we wondered where he was. He was outside having a fag and when we told him to get back inside and do what he was being paid for, he casually said "Let me just finish my smoke, I've put it on autoplay".

The ONLY time I ever use autoplay / automix is when I have set up a playlist for background music during Christmas meals.