software for laptop djing

[Dragonfly]

Hi guys

Just a quickie here , I have recently acquired a laptop for free ... my sister who earns a shed load of cash bought a compaq notebook thing £1000 ish , decided it wasnt user friendly (blonde proof , sorry sandy) so went out and bought another ,

now i use cortex as my play out system , and was thinking of setting up this laptop as a back up system .

could do with a few tips on the best way to do this , I have played with the trial of pcdj red which I like and seems relatively stupid proof as you all no my technical ability is that of an unripe lemon, is there anything else worth having a look at ? I also like the price tag on pcdj ... about 90 quid as it will be my back up system incase i throw the cortex on the floor again.

virtual dj looks around 150 quid ... is it that much better??

basically the requirement is a program that will allow me to get out of the toilet successfully for a night should i need to....

oh and make a few quid on un needed gear.

have seen a thread discussing this but it was a while back and just wondered if there was any ground breaking improvements around?

also would I need a dac2 to play out over my system as ive just been using keyboard / mouse on my pc which has been fine?

thanks for your time im sure you have been asked this many times but its totally uncharted territory for me.

so to sum up ....

simple to use
relatively inexpensive
easy to install
easiest to use without spending a fortune on accesories.

thanks.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

OK, I've been a user of PCDJ Red (original), Red VRM, PCDJFX and for the last few months Virtual DJ.

£ for £, the best value software is VDJ, 'cos for £150 you can run music, visuals, karaoke and video. Out of the 2 though, I reckon PCDJ red and a DAC-2 would be best for your needs - inexpensive and simple.

BY the way, DAC-2s will probably be cheaper to buy soon, as they have been superceded by the DAC-3 and also the fact that Denon have a controller coming out the end of this month. (So I may have one for sale - on DJBids of course!!)

[Dragonfly]

Thanks very much Daz thats confirmed what I thought.... bit scary not taking any cd players out though lol.

just a case of getting used to it like everything.

[groovy-nights]

Have a look at http://www.mixmeister.com/

[Vectis]

As it's a backup system try OTS Turntables (go google)

The free download will give you an idea of its capabilities. The "Silver" version (which is what I've used for a couple of years) works out at less than £30.

It's a fab piece of software. Simple and virtually bomb-proof.

[soundscapes]

i swear by bpm, very easy to use and control sufaces are very "denon"ish.

[flatliners]

i use vdj and it is great you could always go for a numark total control
numark cue is just vdj
or try sam party dj if you want something abit more basic also with sam if you put on a song and it gose down like a led ballon then press auto and it moves the song playing to the end then fades into the other

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

if you put on a song and it gose down like a led ballon then press auto and it moves the song playing to the end then fades into the other

Alternatively, don't put on a song that will go down a lead balloon.:D

If you do need to put another song on, just use the other deck. :rolleyes:

[rob1963]

so to sum up ....

easiest to use without spending a fortune on accesories.

Unlike my last girlfriend! :rolleyes:

[Dragonfly]

Thank you kindly for your replies , i have now found and installed very reasonably priced software and thoroughly enjoyed playing with it all day , works a treat and just what i was after. thanks

[Vectis]

So what did you go for? Come on... flaming opportunity!! :devil:

[Dragonfly]

drum roll ................................. pcdj red.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Thank you kindly for your replies , i have now found and installed very reasonably priced software and thoroughly enjoyed playing with it all day , works a treat and just what i was after. thanks

:D :D :D :D :D :cool:

[jamesh]

I reckon PCDJ red and a DAC-2 would be best for your needs - inexpensive and simple.


Personally i'd disagree... again having used the various PCDJ software's and others on the market i would still say that £ for £ VDJ is still the better option for the simple fact of upgradability! (if there is such a word).....

Why pay £90 now plus the cost of a controller to find in a year or so you'd like to do more with visuals or introduce a little karaoke - or a slide show or 2 that a client has asked you to display during the night.... You then have to shell out more money...

For the extra £60 plus the price of the controller (dac 2 and 3 compatible with VDJ) you might as well pick the software that is future proof - even if you can't see yourself using the additional features anytime soon... You always know should you want to you can use it at NO additional software cost... (unlike PCDJ where you'd have to shell out another £70+)

With VDJ you also get free upgrades in the future...

But seems it's too late now - you've bought the software.. so just ignore me lol :)

[DJWayne]

I agree with James just wish VDJ would sort the Karaoke side of things out its buggy as hell and wont read most of my tracks where other software has no probs.

[TonyB]

I tried PCDJ Red but didn't use it because I found it buggy and it locked up and crashed my laptop. I now use SAM DJ and it does everything I need it to do. My laptop is only used as a backup so I don't see the point in paying out for a controller when everything can be done on screen.

[CRAZY K]

I tried PCDJ Red but didn't use it because I found it buggy and it locked up and crashed my laptop. I now use SAM DJ and it does everything I need it to do. My laptop is only used as a backup so I don't see the point in paying out for a controller when everything can be done on screen.

ITS STRANGE

I bought PCDJ Red and have it on my back up which is a Laptop.

My only problem was one day the program disappeared off the screen and I had to reinstall--although im beginning to think it may have been an accident caused by myself.

Other than that I have back tested it and it seems absolutely perfect.

Like my Cortex HDC 1000 which has been absolutely perfect from day one--

Are some people unlucky with technology:D

James, with all due respect I dont think Dave ( Dragonfly ) wants bells and whistles---he just wants basic backup if and when his Cortex ever fails.

CRAZY K

[Dragonfly]

yep exactly as a great man once said to me .... "you just want something simple that will get you out of a hole for the night if need be" :D :D :D

[cara]

i use traktor 3 for dj'ing with the bcd3000 controller and pcdj vrm with the kj plug in for karaoke

both do their job superbly, but if i had to choose out of the two to dj with i'd go for traktor

[Dragonfly]

well been out to get my leads to connect up and the infamous ground loop isolator incase.

[jamesh]

I agree with James just wish VDJ would sort the Karaoke side of things out its buggy as hell and wont read most of my tracks where other software has no probs.

Hmm not sure why you have a problem all my karaoke tracks read and play fine - how did you rip them? and are they in a zip folder? Have you analysed the karaoke folder within VDJ?


ITS STRANGE

James, with all due respect I dont think Dave ( Dragonfly ) wants bells and whistles---he just wants basic backup if and when his Cortex ever fails.

CRAZY K


yep exactly as a great man once said to me .... "you just want something simple that will get you out of a hole for the night if need be" :D :D :D

Yeah but you don't have to use the bells and whistles if you don't want to... You just know should you need them in the future you are there!

And VDJ can be as simple as you want... How difficult is it to type in a track you want to play and click load if you have a controller of drag it onto the deck and press play if you don't have a controller..... You have to do that with all software's. It's just with VDJ you can do that with video, karaoke and music all in one...

[leighinstoke]

Consider what you want the software to do.

Think of your future plans.

Work out a budget for machine and software.

Trial a few packages.

Choose.

[Dragonfly]

well tried my new toy out last night and got it all up and running ... one thing i did notice was that volume wise i had to have the faders on pcdj at about 4 or 5 level and the gain on the mixer at about 3-4 o clock other wise it distorted and didnt get the volume that i get using cortex .... doing this the sound was good but not as loud ....

is this normal or do i need to get another sound card to help or something???

thanks.

[CRAZY K]

well tried my new toy out last night and got it all up and running ... one thing i did notice was that volume wise i had to have the faders on pcdj at about 4 or 5 level and the gain on the mixer at about 3-4 o clock other wise it distorted and didnt get the volume that i get using cortex .... doing this the sound was good but not as loud ....

is this normal or do i need to get another sound card to help or something???

thanks.

As mentioned I dont use a soundcard because the laptop is only back up.

However you do have 3 volume controls to play with before mixer stage.

Basic Laptop output volume, master output for the PCDJ and individual volume on each deck.

I would have thought that would have given a fair bit of volume with reasonable quality?

Tried mine at home through the Peavey System and that was plenty loud.

Unless your doing bigger gigs? do you think it might not be loud enough?

Regular Laptop users (like Daz) will be able to give more help.

regards

CRAZY K

[pagan_flame]

well tried my new toy out last night and got it all up and running ... one thing i did notice was that volume wise i had to have the faders on pcdj at about 4 or 5 level and the gain on the mixer at about 3-4 o clock other wise it distorted and didnt get the volume that i get using cortex .... doing this the sound was good but not as loud ....

is this normal or do i need to get another sound card to help or something???

thanks.

How have you connected it to your mixer? Sounds like it's from the headphone socket using onboard soundcard into phono inputs... if so, adjust your Windows volume way way down (almost off)...

...or get an external USB soundcard to go into the line level inputs - I use THIS ONE HERE (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Creative-Labs-Sound-Blaster-MP3_W0QQitemZ160153027347QQihZ006QQcategoryZ75518Q QtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem) for a fiver with my Compaq / OTSDJ. (View his shop if it's ended, he sells them all the time)

[Dragonfly]

thanks very much Pagan thats exactly what i was/am doing will try your suggestion this afternoon ... thanks very much for the swift reply.

[axeman]

i have used my laptop for 3 years now, and still use pcdj red, as i like you, wanted a simple to operate system, i am very happy with my choice and im sure yuo will be too, especially with the addition of external sound cards.

[DJWayne]

Hmm not sure why you have a problem all my karaoke tracks read and play fine - how did you rip them? and are they in a zip folder? Have you analysed the karaoke folder withiin VDJ

all my files are zips and play fine in swift elite the program i currently use as my karaoke hoster.

VDJ just says error loading file when you try to load a track. Its a known problem and a lot of people have raised it on the VDJ forum and their answer is unpack and re-zip all your files as they are packed incorrectly. I disagree as do many others if other software can read them without issue then its not the files at fault its the software. Once they sort that out i will buy VDJ as i like the program but it really does need to do all the things it claims or i am better off as i am :)