When the music stops......

[ppentertainments]

When your playout system locks up for whatever reason, what is your backup to keep the music going ?

Reason for asking is for many years I used a cortex with a lappy playing as backup - not that is was ever needed.
Now the roles are reversed where the laptop is the main playout and cortex in reserve.

The problem I have is the cortex is coming to the end of its long life so looking for alternatives. Have thought about an ipod, however would like a little more control over what is played, also have a ADJ SD card play thingy - however ideally would like something which has a bigger capacity and if needed could limp through the rest of the night.

A second laptop is an option but space limitations etc (plus more to wire up) makes it less appealing. Ipad - again not great storage, ideally would love something which has all my music on.

Obviously a 'proper' backup is available from the back of the van, but looking for something I can kick in with without anyone realising the music has stopped.

(before the Apple Fanboys say so, I do use a Macbook)

[DJWilson]

Main playout is a brand new laptop.

Back-up is a dual CD player.

Will be getting another laptop and midi controller black Friday/cyber Monday to have as a back-up and fade out the CD element once we get the music from CD to digital which will save a heap of space on the 4ft deck stand!

[Imagine]

I remember having this particular conversation with myself a couple of years ago and well and truly over-thinking things to the extent that I went out with two playouts including two mixers and an electronic gizmo that combined the signals from both desks to the PA. I also had a USB combiner so that both laptops could be connected to the mixer at the same time. Twas a pain in the backside to set up every night.

So....what do I do now?

My main playout is a MacBook (it's just my preference, it used to be a PC but I went to the dark side a year ago and didn't look back). That's connected to the MC6000mk2 and out to the PA...simples. However, next to the main playout is a SECOND MacBook (I'm either incredibly rich, stupid or both) which controls the lighting (I don't like to mix the two). BOTH MacBooks are identical in that they have the music libraries, the lighting control and VDJ on them (so technically I can run the whole shebang from one if I wish to or if something goes wrong with one of them).

The second MacBook isn't actually connected to any sort of mixer or the PA, because my next action depends on what goes wrong.
Should the main playout machine go down, it's a quick swapper of the USB cable to the Denon (and a little banter on the mic) and the show goes on. If the Denon goes down, I have a DJ2GO2 sitting on the booth which can be quickly swapped in (again with a little banter to save dead air for the 5 seconds it takes).

If both Macs go down, I have an iPad and an iPhone with emergency libraries on them which can either connect via the Denon OR use the magic of Bluetooth to connect into at least one of the Maui's if they're the PA of choice on the night and depending on how I've connected them. With both of these, I use Djay2 which although isn't ideal....is very good on "auto mix" which will get me through any immediate troubleshooting.

Yes, I have the risk of a little "dead air" should something go wrong until I swing whichever backup into place....but at least it's only a couple of seconds and the party will continue. There's a LOT of DJs in this area that aren't anything like that resilient ;)

Sorry....I ran on a little bit there :(

[yourdj]

iPad with Djay. its amazing for immediate back up as it takes up no room, takes my whole music library and I also run my lighting from it. Not sure I would be happy doing a whole night from it, but I could if I wanted to, without mixing. I have a duplicate MacBook in the can and also a duplicate controller. They have never actually been used and hopefully wont be. Chances are that the fault is something silly, so either or can be changed without disruption or anyone actually knowing anything happened. :)

[DJ Jules]

iPad with Djay. its amazing for immediate back up as it takes up no room, takes my whole music library and I also run my lighting from it. Not sure I would be happy doing a whole night from it, but I could if I wanted to, without mixing. I have a duplicate MacBook in the can and also a duplicate controller. They have never actually been used and hopefully wont be. Chances are that the fault is something silly, so either or can be changed without disruption or anyone actually knowing anything happened. :)

I know a local club DJ who uses an iPad with Djay to play every night and uses the clubs Denon CD decks for backup. He walks up with his iPad playout in a compact case and a handful of CD's under his other arm and runs the whole night. Seriously, some people don't even know they've been born :D

I've been a punter in the club when he's been playing and I'd rate his skill level on the iPad as 9 or 10 out of 10 (i.e. I haven't heard anyone do anything on any other playout that he hasn't done on the iPad at some point or another).

Julian

[ppentertainments]

Ipad and Djay could be a good contender, only snag I have is when I bought my 2 Ipads I went for the cheap option with only small storage lol

[rth_discos]

Ipad and Djay could be a good contender, only snag I have is when I bought my 2 Ipads I went for the cheap option with only small storage lol

How many songs do you realistically need on it?

After all, it is designed for emergencies.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

I remember having this particular conversation with myself a couple of years ago and well and truly over-thinking things to the extent that I went out with two playouts including two mixers and an electronic gizmo that combined the signals from both desks to the PA. I also had a USB combiner so that both laptops could be connected to the mixer at the same time. Twas a pain in the backside to set up every night.

So....what do I do now?

My main playout is a MacBook (it's just my preference, it used to be a PC but I went to the dark side a year ago and didn't look back). That's connected to the MC6000mk2 and out to the PA...simples. However, next to the main playout is a SECOND MacBook (I'm either incredibly rich, stupid or both) which controls the lighting (I don't like to mix the two). BOTH MacBooks are identical in that they have the music libraries, the lighting control and VDJ on them (so technically I can run the whole shebang from one if I wish to or if something goes wrong with one of them).

The second MacBook isn't actually connected to any sort of mixer or the PA, because my next action depends on what goes wrong.
Should the main playout machine go down, it's a quick swapper of the USB cable to the Denon (and a little banter on the mic) and the show goes on. If the Denon goes down, I have a DJ2GO2 sitting on the booth which can be quickly swapped in (again with a little banter to save dead air for the 5 seconds it takes).

If both Macs go down, I have an iPad and an iPhone with emergency libraries on them which can either connect via the Denon OR use the magic of Bluetooth to connect into at least one of the Maui's if they're the PA of choice on the night and depending on how I've connected them. With both of these, I use Djay2 which although isn't ideal....is very good on "auto mix" which will get me through any immediate troubleshooting.

Yes, I have the risk of a little "dead air" should something go wrong until I swing whichever backup into place....but at least it's only a couple of seconds and the party will continue. There's a LOT of DJs in this area that aren't anything like that resilient ;)

Sorry....I ran on a little bit there :(


I run two MacBook pros into an mc6000 too :D

Mine is configured a little different though:


Mac 1: vdj 8 into channels 2 and 3 on mc6000, runs my main lighting rig on mydmx3

Mac 2: vdj 8 via aux into channel 1 on mc 6000, runs my mood lights on mydmx 2

If something goes wrong with mac 1, mac 2 can take over the sound and my main lights can run on my dmx 2 as well.

If something goes wrong with mac 2, it's not the end of the world as mac 1 is doing the important stuff

If something goes wrong with the denon, mac 2s aux can be easily fired into one side of my HKs directly and with a bit of jiggery pokery the music will only stop for a few seconds.


I've only ever had the main mac crash once and needed to be restarted. It was during a charity freebie I stood in to help my dad outwith at the last minute (cheap DJ didn't turn up!!!) so I didn't have back ups running but no one cared and they'd have been told where to go if they did complain :D

[ppentertainments]

How many songs do you realistically need on it?

After all, it is designed for emergencies.

That is my bug bear - I have tried to take a selection, but always think 'what if it a different song/genre I need'
Probably overthinking it, which is why to be honest an Ipod just playing something constantly will probably suffice as Toby says, a spare laptop is in the van and normal problems are fixed with a restart which takes seconds.

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

How many songs do you realistically need on it?

After all, it is designed for emergencies.

We play what, 80 tunes per night max. Of those 80 you're probably looking at a core of 500 that you'll realistically be asked for - by 99% of punters. Even 1,000 tunes is probably more than enough for the majority of situations.

[rth_discos]

We play what, 80 tunes per night max. Of those 80 you're probably looking at a core of 500 that you'll realistically be asked for - by 99% of punters. Even 1,000 tunes is probably more than enough for the majority of situations.

Exactly. It's enough to 'get you out of the situation'.

[funkymook]

We play what, 80 tunes per night max. Of those 80 you're probably looking at a core of 500 that you'll realistically be asked for - by 99% of punters. Even 1,000 tunes is probably more than enough for the majority of situations.

It’s choosing the right 500 or 1,000 tunes though....

With play-out systems and storage being so cheap these days I see no reason not to have your complete DJ music library as back-up. Why limp along with a make-do selection of tunes when it’s no real hassle or expense to have them all?

[Jim - Scotland's Party DJ]

It’s choosing the right 500 or 1,000 tunes though....

With play-out systems and storage being so cheap these days I see no reason not to have your complete DJ music library as back-up. Why limp along with a make-do selection of tunes when it’s no real hassle or expense to have them all?

True (and youre speaking as someone who carried 3 identical copies of his entire music library and DJ admin stuff on his keyring btw ) and I admittedly know not much at all about ipads or tablets but if you've only got say 16 gig, you're only going to get a few thousand tunes on there once you take into account the operating system and so on.

[Excalibur]

The problem I have is the cortex is coming to the end of its long life so looking for alternatives. Have thought about an ipod, however would like a little more control over what is played, also have a ADJ SD card play thingy - however ideally would like something which has a bigger capacity and if needed could limp through the rest of the night.


My Cortex became unreliable long before yours, which was one reason I moved to Laptop. If someone offered me a bulletproof HDC with indestructible play buttons, I'd rip his arm off.


I remember having this particular conversation with myself a couple of years ago and well and truly over-thinking things to the extent that I went out with two playouts including two mixers and an electronic gizmo that combined the signals from both desks to the PA.
Been there, done that................................... ( Wonder if there's a smiley for that? ) :confused:
Total overkill. :o



iPad with Djay. its amazing for immediate back up as it takes up no room, takes my whole music library and I also run my lighting from it. Not sure I would be happy doing a whole night from it, but I could if I wanted to, without mixing.
I have used a colleague's once, and I agree with you Toby. Another one for the calendar. :) My current backup tends to be my Surface, which won't ( I think ) support Djay. It will run VDJ home well enough, but with only a 10" screen, and big fingers it's emergency only. Using a hub and a mouse might help somewhat, but it's a sticking plaster, not a cure. Edjing has become much less user friendly, so I need another option.

I thought I'd found the answer, the DJ2GO with built in soundcard. Until I got my hands on it at BPM. :( It has a flaw which makes it useless for my particular needs. It's a mixer, ie both decks come out of one stereo channel. That means either I use the small fiddly rotary faders on it, or wind them both up and just run it into one channel.

Since my VMS 4.1 has two faders available, I'm going to reinvent the wheel. It's been in my mind for ages, and it looks like it's time to raid the obsolete equipment store, and get out the woodworking tools to make or adapt a case.
A case for what? Well, a DJ2GO, a powered hub, and an UDJ soundcard. Then I'll simply plug the spare laptop into the hub, the phono outputs into the VMS, and voila, two play buttons, two faders, and laptop capability. It's not an ideal answer, but until I find that elusive holy grail. it may be the least worst option.

[ppentertainments]

My Cortex became unreliable long before yours, which was one reason I moved to Laptop. If someone offered me a bulletproof HDC with indestructible play buttons, I'd rip his arm off.

I can't believe there isn't one out there - the main flaw with the cortex (apart from the sticky buttons, although you can use the keyboard instead) was the screen - but look at how mobile phones have advanced in that respect, I am sure something similar could be utilised.

I just don't like these all in one controllers. Yes they are practical, but I still prefer a proper mixer, and I have yet to use one that has similar quality output to my Denon mixer. My local retailer did explain - "look at the weight and size of the mixer, especially underneath, all it is is a mixer. Look at the size of a controller and everything it does, you can't get something to suddenly shrink in size without leaving something out". An unproven theory but can see his point. I imagined the Denon MC6000 would be similar standard to my mixer, but was wrong, the Pioneer isn't far away but certainly not as robust.

[yourdj]

My current backup tends to be my Surface, which won't ( I think ) support Djay.

The controller things are generally not great as they take up more room and finding the music is not easy. A MacBook with Djay is also a good bet, I might start using this for ceremonies in grounds as carting the controller about is a faff. I still have the old version and its great. Works perfectly with my VCI300 too.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDz2kQtNuSM

This would do the trick perfectly for your surface pro:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MTNAsv-ZuY


Exactly. It's enough to 'get you out of the situation'.

I think I would rather have the majority of my music rather than just get by. I have most my GIG folder on my iPad and all my music on my phone (128gb), but having the second MacBook is good piece of mind. I bought a few of the controller SD card type things back in the day and did not like any of them as finding the music was just not as good as software linking to iTunes. I would rather find the right tracks and not mix. :)

[ppentertainments]

A MacBook with Djay is also a good bet
I have been using this as my main software for the past few months, great program and I find it far better than Virtual DJ.

Regarding my question - my answer I have decided is, a second macbook. Seems just as easy to set 2 laptops up than anything else and at least all my music collection will be available.

[Excalibur]

This would do the trick perfectly for your surface pro:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MTNAsv-ZuY


Now just hold on a cotton pickin' minute there Toby. Sadly, I fear you may have made two errors. :(If my Surface were indeed a Pro, it might already be running a more powerful DJ programme. When I found that the standard version ran Windows 10, I decided that the cost and more importantly space savings meant it was a better idea, as it's what travels with me. Thus it's a 10" screen, not 12", and that 2" makes a big difference! :eek:

Secondly, and I'm just about to check this, the term " Pro " on the Djay app might mean them wanting me to part with money for it, and you know how grumpy that makes me. :mad:

Seriously, that could be a very good steer Toby, thanks.

Edit: Gordon Bennett! :eek: Nearly £50? Thanks rescinded Toby. :mad:

[yourdj]

I have decided is, a second macbook.

Always nice to have a duplicate machine lying around. My SATA cable went the other day. Luckily I knew the signs, so just popped the HD into my back up machine and carried on until the new cable arrived.


2" makes a big difference!
Edit: Gordon Bennett! :eek: Nearly £50? Thanks rescinded Toby. :mad:

Worth the money if you are using it often I guess? £10 a year as most software dates every 5 years. I paid £30 for the old app and have had that for many years now. Worth every penny when compared to apps like VDJ, which I have always found messy and hard to navigate/use. Djay is so easy, which is what you want in an emergency.

[Andy P]

I now have two rigs and both handle this differently.

Rig One is my main tower.
Studio Master C3X
Citronic RU610H radio mic set
Pentium I5 Nuc PC
M5 Andriod Box

The PC really does have a turbo restart of about 5 seconds on the SSD so I can reboot and have VDJ back on in 15 seconds
The android box only has a media player installed and has a sd card with a load of music on. All I do is switch the monitor from DVI to HDMI for each system.
Pros of system is PC power and size of andriod box for back up


Rig Two is my light flight case.

3U case with Kam 1960v1 radio mic
American Audio BT Media Player
Asus Laptop

The flight case has a usb sound card inside also so connection to laptop is just 1 usb cable from the hub

The BT Audio Player is awesome for the price and mixes in the mics well despite having front only inputs. I have a usb stick and sd card with different types of music on. A quick flick of the source selector has instant music back on. The USB is a few Mastermix tracks and the SD card is mainly dancy chart from last year.

Pros of system is weight and portability and media player really is a steal - I use this for doing upstairs gigs and quiz nights