DVS. What to do?

Dayvue, post: 40990, member: 837 wrote: My reasons for having gone the DVS route instead of sticking with controllers, not in order:
1) Go to a gig without having to bring a controller/mixer/turntables

… Are you saying every club has a DVS setup? They are pretty rare and far between here.

2) Learn to dj the original way. Appreciate the creative options that technology allows

… Not sure if you need to learn the old skool way to appreciate the technological advances

3) Actually scratching with a 12″ platter with torque instead of imitating it on CDJs

Ever tried the 9″ real vinyl, adjustable torque, spinning platter on the SC3900?

4) Be able to play actual vinyl (and therefore allowing me to dig for tracks in the bargain section of Vintage vinyl, the nearby record store). Acquire vinyl collection. Feel cool and hipster. Also note that if you shop for funk/soul/r&b, you can nowadays get like 20 songs for $3 or less at a record shop.

…If I am not mistaken, you can’t mix between playing control vinyl and playing actual records, can you? So, you’d have to switch your setup for playing actual vinyl as opposed to playing DVS with timecode vinyl, right?
And how about not having to lug anything to a gig, see point 1? The heaviest bit of kit in an old skool vinyl setup was … you guessed it … the crates of dead vinyl.

5) See DVS feels “better” than a controller. It does.

… a matter of personal taste. I love the occasional round of vinyl playing (did so on Queensday here), but wouldn’t go back to doing my mobile gigs with vinyl or VDS systems.

6) You look cooler using turntables than using a controller.

… the big question here being, looking cooler to WHOM? Yourself in the mirror or the crowd. I doubt the latter care much either way.

Finally, the advantage of DVS over the NS7/V7/spinning platter things are
1) You can play real vinyl.
2) It is modular, and therefore more compatible when jamming with other people.
3) For me, controllers should be small and light (e.g. VCI 300/380). If you’re going to go big, go big (DVS).
4) if other djs want to use my equipment, tt’s are more versatible and universal

… As I said the SC3900 have the real vinyl feel, according to those I know that own or have used them. I don’t see how it is more modular than any setup with two CDJs and a mixer or a controller setup for that matter. I actually think that more people know how to use CDJs these days than turntables, so not too sure about the using your equipment is easier.

Actually real vinyl used by someone NOT knowing what they are doing is more likely to lead to a) poor results and b) damage to your gear. I never loaned out my TTs to anybody that I didn’t know very well and who’s skill set I knew and trusted. Even then, they’d have to bring their own stylii.

Long story short. In my opinion playing real vinyl is totally different from playing DVS. Real vinyl is just slapping plastic on, reading the records, dropping the needle and doing your thing with a regular analogue mixer. Not technology involved.
DVS on the other hand is controller-based digital DJ-ing, you are just using timecode vinyl on turntables to control the tune. And yes, vinyl feels great, so I can see how that appeals to many people.

I am happy for you that you found something that works for you. In my opinion ANY setup will work as long as it works for YOU.

Greetinx,
C.

Different places, different markets.

Guess that is what makes our passion so interesting :-).

Again, good to see you found out what works for you. Not everyone on these forums is there (yet).

Greetinx,
C.

SL1 – the original Serato box. Does the job. Somewhat “crunchy” sound quality (16-bit, while other Rane SL units are 24-bit). Discontinued. Allows 2-deck djing.
SL2 – replaced the SL1. Allows 2-deck djing.
SL3 – Has an auxiliary in/out, allowing either 3-deck djing or in-software recording of externally-mixed sound.
SL4 – the big momma of Rane’s sound cards. Has 4 channels and an auxiliary line. Has 2 usb in/outs, allowing for 2 djs to use the same sound card (which is helpful when transitioning from dj to dj).

Ess Jay, post: 41037, member: 2540 wrote: … more and more excited. God I love being 21.

Yes, I remember it well … vaguely LOL.

Greetinx,
C.

Nothing, it has to do with being young, energetic (to the point of ridiculous) and with less of your life behind you instead of ahead.

:-p

Greetinx,
C.

lol how much money are you planning on dropping for your setup? You can get at (used) top of the line DVS setup for ~$2000. That doesn’t buy that reliable of a car.

For the record, I am 22, so yay for the youths!

Sounds like a sweet deal.

As far as building a desk, might wanna check out this one : http://interstateaudio.nl/product/dj-table-2-foldable/. Not only is it sturdy and looks good (although I prefer closed ones, but that is just me), but it is also foldable. And if you go out with your gear, this is a good way to have your own table at the right height with you.

Flightcase is sensible if you are going to take it out of it’s normal location at all. I would never travel with my gear without it being in cases. Specially turntables are fragile, even with the lid on them (at least you’ll get nasty scratches on the lid). The wiring sticks out and has a habit of snagging behind stuff.

Coffin or seperate cases is a very good question. A few things to wonder here are:

• Will I ever use any of the pieces seperate. Like taking only your TTs to a venue?
• Can I live with the same setup forever? Some like the “classic” setup of TT-mixer-TT, others prefer to have the TTs together either left or right of the mixer. Most coffins don’t give you that flexibility because of the bracing inside of them.
• How much weight do you want to lift. Two SL1200s with a mixer AND a full size coffin is a considerable haul.
• Do you fancy plugging all your cables in and out every time. If you buy a coffin you can semi-permanently fix all your cables up to look tidy. If your coffin has a small cable lid (or you can make one easily yourself) you won’t see any of the cables. If you have seperate flightcases, you’ll have cables running all over the place. Not looking very tidy and a potential source of malfunctions.

That is the long and short of it in my opinion. Do some soul searching and figure out what it most important to you and go from there.
I recently moved from a controller (Denon MC6000) in one of those flightcases with a sliding laptop tray and two CD players (American DJ CDI-500s – I know!) in flightcases to a setup with two Denon MC2900 full-size media players and a 12″ X1600 mixer. I faced the same decision on cases or coffin. For me the coffin was the best option. Got one with wheels so I can roll it. I have all my cabling tucked away, my Apple AirPort Express built-in and powered USB hub and a network switch. Toss it in the car, unload it, set it on my foldable stand (ProDJUser but different model), take off the lid, stick in mic, headphone, two active speakers and power and I am off to the races.
Hope this is of some help to you.
Good luck with your decisions.
Greetinx,
C.