Re: Advice Please on Simple and Flexible DJ Equipment

"Peter D" <please@.sk> wrote:

>"Ed Jay" <Medbj@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>news:5o6hj1l2gv2cqhpqmar3704sfi9g6dhk9a@xxxxxxxxxx
>> "Peter D" <please@.sk> wrote:
>>
>>>Last time I Dj-ed it was on 78s! :-)
>>>
>>>Some very close friends are getting married and they've asked me to supply
>>>the dinner and dance music for the event. The dinner, reception music is
>>>easy -- burn a CD and let it play. For the dance though, I need some sort
>>>of
>>>compact, easy to setup system that's flexible enough to let me load up a
>>>wide range of mp3s, maybe also some on DVDs or CDs, and add/remove from a
>>>playlist as I go. I've tried a variety of DJ load/play/mix software, all
>>>good, but it's the hardware side I can't decide on.
>>>
>>>I had thought about a DVD player and a small TV but that doesn't let you
>>>switch between different DVDs and the text info means you really need to
>>>know what's on the DVD before adding a track.
>>>
>>>I thought about a notebook/laptop, but how good is the output quality and
>>>sound levels?
>>>
>>>What about those 20-40G media players with a screen? They seemed to be the
>>>easiest of all. Again, what's the quality like and do they come bundles
>>>with
>>>software and/or and OS?
>>>
>>>Any other ideas would be appreciated.
>>>Thanks
>>>
>> Are you looking to spend or save money?
>
>Assuming I'll have to do the former, and hoping I'll get to do the latter.
>:-)
>
>I tested a portable DVD player with a screen. Works well, but the one I got
>limited the number of files (255), folders (32), and name length (7
>characters) and couldn't read v2 ID3 tags. I might try it with another one.
>
>I've been asked if I'll make it a regular thing to play at dances (for pay)
>so I'm going to go research equipment nad see what I can put together.
>Because I get to start this from scratch, I want to make it an easy to move
>(but not easy to steal!) rig. For mixer, speakers, etc. I'm going to rent
>(greater flexibility). To play I'm going to go with a laptop and a backup
>DVD/CD player in case the laptop crashes. For the laptop I'm looking at a
>new model with 512M RAM and 100G HD. I figure that should be more than
>enough for the job.
>
>Software, I don't know. So far I've tried:
>
>Atomix (nice interface, but I can't queue up tracks the way I'd like to and
>playlists don't seem to work for me)
>
>Traktor (a friend raved about it, but I find it's mixing from one to the
>next by speeding up the end of A and slowing down the start of B to sound
>poor. Not a good way to do it imho.)
>
>I've got v 10 of Musicmatch Jukebox (which I'm most familiar with). I like
>it, I knwo the interface, I don't think it can really mix/transition well,
>but I can deal with that. Only problem is it keeps crashing (might be a
>memory problem, but I doubt it)!
>
>iTunes works fine, but isn't flexible enough for me re managing my
>collection. That said, as long as I don't mind having a separate program to
>manage the collection, it will do.
>
>Windows Media Player - yeah, riiiighhhhttttt. :-)

I recently moved our entire 350 CD collection onto a computer (it takes up
much less space in the living room). I use the S/PDIF 'raw' digital output
and let my Yamaha receiver do the A-to-D conversion, so the sound board
quality ceases to be an issue. And, I'm using Windows Media Player to
manage playing.

If the computer is connected to the Internet, almost all of the tags are
filled in by the Internet-based CDDB when recording are ripped using WMP.
Makes the task easy; however, if a CD or song isn't in the CDDB, it seemed
to assign random tags. :-( As with most computerized juke boxes, WMP
lets one develop play lists.
>
>Any other suggestions are welcome.
>
You might consider getting in touch with Jack Smith (Jumpin' Jack) for his
suggestions. He's built a damned nice portable DJ system. I'll privately
send you his email addy.

Ed Jay (remove M to respond)
.

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