Digital PCDJ

[Candybeatdiscos]

I am looking to design a customized PC/Deck station, such as the one in the following images

i was thinking say a flight case with a PC inbuilt, the mixer & Dac3 controller on top, with a TFT screen built into the lid.

Next to the handle would be two drive bay's for external hard drives that would hold the music, and a smaller HDD would hold the operating system etc required.

I was thinking perhaps 2Gig Ram, two 300GB HDD, A 20 or 40GB HDD to hold the programs, OS etc a 17" TFT screen.

I would think that i would need at least two if not three Fan's, as well as a ground loop isolator. I would also need to see about an external soundcard that could be built in and wondered if anyone can suggest the best to use as well as a way to quienten the system down.

As i have not yet priced the components up, i think that i could perhaps put this sytem together for £1000, and if it's successful would consider making them to order for say £1400? Would anyone here consider buying one?

[Jiggles]

well couldent you just sell the case and then people could then put there own bits and bobs in you'll make more money by doing that (i think)

[Candybeatdiscos]

ok just priced up the following items:

Flight Case £139.95 10x4 Multi Rack Case
TFT Screen £119.00 17" HANNSG 12MS TFT MONITOR
Dac3 Controller £385.99 DAC-3 USB 2.0 Controller with FX and KJ
OEM XP £100.00 XP Professional
Motherboard £71.99 GA-945P-S3
Processor £159.00 INTEL CORE 2 DUO E6400
RAM £90.00 1GB DDR2 800 / PC6400
Soundcard £98.00 Audiotrak Maya44
HDD £34.00 80GB IDE 8MB
Ext HDD1 £89.99 320 GB seagate USB Ext HDD
Ext HDD2 £89.99 321 GB seagate USB Ext HDD
Fans x 3 £15.00 12CM FAN WITH LED
Heatsinks x2 £48.00 GIGABYTE G-POWER PRO
PSU £30.00 500W EYE-T TRANSPARENT light-up PSU
Mixer £185.00 Vestax VMC-004XL DJ Mixer B-Stock


Cost = £1,655.91

So maybe not gonna go for it just yet lol

[Candybeatdiscos]

mind you the one in the pictures is for sale on Ebay as a used item for a buy it now price of £1800, and that doesn't include the laptop, so my one aint that bad

[Candybeatdiscos]

ok tell a lie its new but a lot poorer spec and the laptop make will vary!!!!

Click Here For Original Listing (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DIGITAL-DJ-SYSTEM-laptop-dac3-mixer-gigaport-pcdj-fx_W0QQitemZ140073508434QQihZ004QQcategoryZ96962QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

[Jiggles]

Well i made my PC that i got for Xmas for £425!! 3.21GH proseessor, 1gb Ram, 300gb HDD,Good graphics card

[BeerFunk]

You don't need a USB soundcard if it's a rackmount PC...

[CRAZY K]

ok just priced up the following items:

Flight Case £139.95 10x4 Multi Rack Case
TFT Screen £119.00 17" HANNSG 12MS TFT MONITOR
Dac3 Controller £385.99 DAC-3 USB 2.0 Controller with FX and KJ
OEM XP £100.00 XP Professional
Motherboard £71.99 GA-945P-S3
Processor £159.00 INTEL CORE 2 DUO E6400
RAM £90.00 1GB DDR2 800 / PC6400
Soundcard £98.00 Audiotrak Maya44
HDD £34.00 80GB IDE 8MB
Ext HDD1 £89.99 320 GB seagate USB Ext HDD
Ext HDD2 £89.99 321 GB seagate USB Ext HDD
Fans x 3 £15.00 12CM FAN WITH LED
Heatsinks x2 £48.00 GIGABYTE G-POWER PRO
PSU £30.00 500W EYE-T TRANSPARENT light-up PSU
Mixer £185.00 Vestax VMC-004XL DJ Mixer B-Stock


Cost = £1,655.91

So maybe not gonna go for it just yet lol


Why not try this digital approach?

Cortex reader £450 plus rack mounting AND maybe small keyboard( £20 in Maplins sale)

HDD Seagate 320 gig ( its only 300 when connected!) £89-99
plus spare back up Seagate £89-99

Mixer ? £100 or maybe you have one anyway?

After inital problems understanding how to correctly tag ripped tracks it all seems to be going ok--unless Dragonfly or Spin say differently?

CRAZY K

[BeerFunk]

I would agree with Crazy K, I think purpose-built digital decks are the way to go, as the new wave of machines from Denon, Numark and Cortex are proving. The only exception would be if you are a KJ aswell.

[Jiggles]

Garry where are you getting your parts from (I may be able to get them a wee bit cheaper)

[DMX Will]

ok just priced up the following items:

Flight Case £139.95 10x4 Multi Rack Case
TFT Screen £119.00 17" HANNSG 12MS TFT MONITOR
Dac3 Controller £385.99 DAC-3 USB 2.0 Controller with FX and KJ
OEM XP £100.00 XP Professional
Motherboard £71.99 GA-945P-S3
Processor £159.00 INTEL CORE 2 DUO E6400
RAM £90.00 1GB DDR2 800 / PC6400
Soundcard £98.00 Audiotrak Maya44
HDD £34.00 80GB IDE 8MB
Ext HDD1 £89.99 320 GB seagate USB Ext HDD
Ext HDD2 £89.99 321 GB seagate USB Ext HDD
Fans x 3 £15.00 12CM FAN WITH LED
Heatsinks x2 £48.00 GIGABYTE G-POWER PRO
PSU £30.00 500W EYE-T TRANSPARENT light-up PSU
Mixer £185.00 Vestax VMC-004XL DJ Mixer B-Stock


Cost = £1,655.91

So maybe not gonna go for it just yet lol

You can get those PC parts alot cheaper if you look around, try ebuyer.com or insight.com/uk :)

[DMX Will]

the fans you mention (for example), can be found for under a £1 on the ebuyer.com website!

[BeerFunk]

OK, it may seem as though we're picking holes here, but I'm just trying to help. I don't think the PSU you have listed there is reliable enough - it is a component often overlooked.

I use a Thermaltake PSU, which set me back around £70, but my PC is on practically 24-7, and has been for the last few years since I've used it. What's more, I run multiple applications - ranging from low resouce usage stuff like MSN Messenger - up to demanding games like Half Life 2 and Quake 4.

My point is, this PC has never, ever crashed - and I assure you that feat is fundamentally down to the PSU :)

[Candybeatdiscos]

most of the components were priced at www.silicon-group.co.uk, they were no way searched to be the cheapest, but i wanted an approx price, i realize that i can get them cheaper and prob save approx £200 at most. The fans could be priced at £1, £2, £3 or the ones i choose at £5 (only cause they have smart LED's on them which make it look cool from the rear lol) Again the PSU is a light up one (again for coolness) and would be more than applicable bearing in mind i will only ever have the PC switched on during gig's (hence the removable Ext HDD) and will only run PCDJ & XP, so not required to run multiple applications.

[BeerFunk]

Oh, my point about the multiple applications was only mad to highlight what I put my PC through (:D), and it still maintains 100% stability and performance :thumbs_up:

[Candybeatdiscos]

ok i need £899 - cheers Crazy you have now placed another idea in my head.Cortex HDC-3000 (http://www.cortex-pro.com/hdc_3000.php)
Wife will love you for this one lol....

Can't wait till its released

[CRAZY K]

I would agree with Crazy K, I think purpose-built digital decks are the way to go, as the new wave of machines from Denon, Numark and Cortex are proving. The only exception would be if you are a KJ aswell.

I dont do KJ work so I know nurthing about how you work ---BUT

why couldnt you use a USB reader?

Dont you just cue up music and let some one murder the song?::D

Lewnics --do you really need the more expensive Cortex?

Luckily I only have simple needs--just fading between tracks mainly.

CRAZY K

[DMX Will]

The fans could be priced at £1, £2, £3 or the ones i choose at £5 (only cause they have smart LED's on them which make it look cool from the rear lol)

Bringing this up again....89p for a blue LED fan (like i said!)

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/search/index.html?rb=24434115000&strSearch=&bolShowAll=true&intSubcatUID=1291&intCatID=125&intStoreID=48&intPage=2&intSearchCampaignID=0&strOrderDir=descending&intPage=1

Scroll down slightly.....

[BeerFunk]

I dont do KJ work so I know nurthing about how you work ---BUT

why couldnt you use a USB reader?

Dont you just cue up music and let some one murder the song?::D

Lewnics --do you really need the more expensive Cortex?

Luckily I only have simple needs--just fading between tracks mainly.

CRAZY K
I'm not sure I follow, but as I understand it, there is no such device such as the Cortex or HD2500 which you can use for karaoke. Theoretically, there could be, and most likely there is one in development right now :)

Oh, and isn't the Cortex cheaper than putting together a solid PC solution?

[Corabar Entertainment]

why couldnt you use a USB reader?

Dont you just cue up music and let some one murder the song?::D No, Alan. The tracks have associated graphics so that the lyrics can be displayed.