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.
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.
Been there, done that................................... ( Wonder if there's a smiley for that? )
Total overkill.
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.
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.
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.
This would do the trick perfectly for your surface pro:
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.
Last edited by yourdj; 05-11-2017 at 01:16 PM.
Your DJ - Mobile DJ The New Forest, Southampton & Hampshire. Toby
https://yourdj.co.uk/
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.
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!
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.
Seriously, that could be a very good steer Toby, thanks.
Edit: Gordon Bennett! Nearly £50? Thanks rescinded Toby.
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.
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.
Your DJ - Mobile DJ The New Forest, Southampton & Hampshire. Toby
https://yourdj.co.uk/
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
Andy P
Disco Couture
07962143680
www.discocouture.co.uk
www.facebook.com/discocouture