niu02kevin, post: 37680, member: 8306 wrote: 1) All of my music I dj with is in AIFF format. I know Traktor will record in wav. This will maintain premium sound quality, right?
Yes. Of course you should perhaps test it a little. Just record a minute of audio as if you were mixing…so you get your settings within Traktor down. You should also have some kind of audio editing software like Audacity or Sound Forge so you can normalize, compress, whatever you like to do to maximize audio without distortion.
niu02kevin, post: 37680, member: 8306 wrote: 2) Since I use lossless audio, the files will be quite large. How much time will I be able to put on a cd?
80 minutes is the limit, but you’re better off staying safe at 74-76 minutes. Bear in mind also that sometimes it’s better to just do 60 minutes…not because of some limit on a CD, but for how much the human ear and mind can tolerate. Long mixes tend to sound draggy and thus attention gets lost. If this is a demo, you want to start and end things with the listener on a high note…so they love it and remember it.
niu02kevin, post: 37680, member: 8306 wrote: 3) Any restrictions on uploading certain audio formats/file sizes to Soundcloud?
They take most formats…but you’ll run into issues with mixes. They’ve been cracking down on DJs uploading mixes and even mashups/remixes. Use a service aimed at DJs like MixCloud or MixCrate. Unfortunately there they do have file size limits…so you’ll have to turn your file into a lower quality MP3.
Still, all the mixes I put online are 192 kbps. I know audiophiles would hate this, but I have to also think of convenience. Mixes, especially in wav or flac form, will take loads of time to download and loads of space in someone’s MP3 player. I still get great sound at 192.
niu02kevin, post: 37680, member: 8306 wrote: 4) I know to keep the VUs out of the red to prevent clipping. Even if my recording is a little quiet, I can go back and make adjustments in something like Audacity, right?
I usually let my VU bounce in the middle for normal play and let it grow when I’m blending tracks. I’ll go into Sound Forge (or Audacity in your case) and then normalize each channel, then use the wave hammer on each channel. I don’t go overboard, just a small amount to maximize volume without distortion. Don’t worry about “hiss”, it’s not like we’re recording to tapes.
niu02kevin, post: 37680, member: 8306 wrote: 5) Any other advice as far as settings/preferences are concerned (latency/sample rate)?
I usually do 44,100 for sample rate.
niu02kevin, post: 37680, member: 8306 wrote: 6) I will want to split the file size at 2048MB, right?
That works. Bear in mind the more you split the more you spend in Audacity piecing them together. However, think of your laptop and setup. You don’t want to crash and have your work lost.
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