Chuck Van Eekelen

Many ways leading to Rome in that regard.

Up until about a year ago DDJT was a solid supporter of using iTunes (with all its drawbacks) for maintenance of your DJ collection. That has changed. Use the search feature over at the main site to find the article(s) explaining the why of that move and the suggested alternatives.

Course like “How To Digital DJ Fast” and the book “Rock The Dancefloor” all have substantial content regarding music discovery, track preparation and collection management in the digital age.

The headphone output is either optimized for headphone use (low impedance, relatively high voltage) or (like on a laptop) geared to be both a headphone/line level output. In the first case it’s not too suitable for line out, in the second case it’s a compromise that really doesn’t do either option much good.

Like I said, on iDevice headphone use is fine, using the output into a mixer is possible but sub-optimal or worse. Good enough for emergency use or as backup or just very occasional use.

To get true line level outputs from an iDevice, you either go for a USB sound card (hooked up to the Camera Connection kit, with the new iPhones probably directly from the usb-c connector) or something specific to integrate the iPad for example.
For example:
* iPad enable controller with built-in sound card
* iPad integrated mixer (like the Mackie DL806)
* Things like the Behringer iStudio IS202 (not sure about sound quality, low financial budget gear) or Alesis iO Dock II

Your choice depends on th9ings like budget,exact purpose, your ears and such.

I won’t be replacing my MCX either (if only because it fits on my desk next to my computer for those impromptu practice sessions), but I would love to start with adding 1 (one) SC5000 to it, occupying line in on channel 3 and 4.

Hi and welcome to the forums! Great introduction, thanks.

Enjoy your time here and good luck on that gig the 25th!

1) Since the 502 has balance knob for L/R balance, the only reason I could find for the double mono vs stereo argument is out the window. The mixer is designed to use channel 2/3 as stereo channel. There is no real reason to hook it up any other way. Imho, of course. In my defense, I AM a certified sound engineer too.
Output is the same story. You get a separate L and R output signal, going into the L + R inputs on the amp. That is full stereo. The only extra option the amp might have, is the option to go into bridge mode, which mean you couple both amp channels into one mono channel. This would mean you need two identical amps.

2) Yeah, that’s a bit of a tricky one. I think the headphone output on iDevices is below par. Using a low signal from the iDevice means you have to do more amplification on your mixer (channel gain up). Unfortunately when you amplify a signal, you also raise the noise floor, which is an unwanted side-effect. I would go full level or one step down on the iDevice and do the rest of your gain chaining on the mixer. I have not seen major distortion with the iDevice on max output level.

If you want an iDevice as back-up solution this is fine. If you want to use an iDevice as a primary tool, you might want to start looking at solutions that add regular external sound card options.

Hope that helps some.

There you go, you are using a condenser mic on a mic input that does not support phantom power.

Condenser mics need +48V power (over the XLR) in order to function properly. Both to power the actual condenser (it depends on a potential=voltage difference between the two layers) and to boost the signal to a usable output level.

And there are no controllers and very, very few DJ mixers that will have Phantom power. PA mixers on the other hand have it as a standard option. The reason? For any form of live DJ-ing outside of a studio dynamic mics are a far better choice. Since you do online stuff and essentially run it in a studio-like environment, condenser is not a bad choice.

Imho you have two obvious solutions to your problem:
1) Get a phantom power injector that puts 48V on your XlR cable to power the mic. You can then use it as a regular dynamic microphone because the controller will receive a normal input signal.

Here’s a link to give you an idea: http://artproaudio.com/phantom_power_supplies/product/phantom_ii_pro/
This can be run with either a 9V block battery or external power. Plug in the cable from your mic to the input, another cable to your mic input, hit power and off you go. Price about 70 euro here. Good quality dependable brand.

2) By far the better option would be to insert a small PA mixer in your setup. Even better to use the Yamaha AG03 (or 06) which is actually advertised as a webcasting mixer.

The AG03 is very compact (sits easily next to your SB2 on your desk), allows you to run your monitor speakers with separate level control, you can add your mic (including Phantom power, compressor/EQ and FX options) with separate gain and a nice longgggg fader and you can hook up your SB2 master output to the line inputs 2/3 on the mixer. The real beauty here is that you have a built-in soundcard (USB) so you can use that superior output to send the master output to your web-/podcasting/streaming software. No more need to use a mic input 3.5mm cable for line output from your controller, full and much better control over your mic (not to mention that the mic preamp is way better in the yamaha than in the Pioneer), Phantom power at your finger tips as well as tone control, compression (always a nice to have) and good EQ. I am sure you’ll agree that the way mic use is integrated in the SB2 is minimal at best. Level control with a small button at an awkward place, no EQ, no FX, nothing.

No, I don’t get endorsed by Yamaha, but I do have an AG03 on my desk, which doubles as my PCs external sound card. I love the thing to pieces. One of the best buys ever. And at a very decent price (around 120 euro here, which is only 50 more than the Phantom power injector and give soooo much more functionality).

Hope that helps some.

Isn’t that what the sync button is for?

Seriously, this is a pretty out-there idea. Which, I am assuming, will not make much sense to most of us.

Apart from all the other things I could say about it, a DJ set at a single BPM would be the most boring thing ever for your audience.