DJ Vintage

My workflow looks a bit like Titan’s:

1) Purchase/acquire tracks in highest available quality (WAV or Flac)
2) Keep the originals in a separate folder (in my case on a NAS network drive and online storage)
3) I run a copy of the tracks through PN (I don’t convert to MP3 first, but let PN do it, this is better quality-wise)
4) I let PN amend the filename with _pn at the end
5) Now that I have high quality MP3 files I run a tag editor (in my case Tag&Rename) and make sure all tags are in order and I bulk change the filenames to a “Artist” – “Title” format. I don’t care to have tracknumber and such in the filenames and like it compact.
6) After tagging (including album art) I run Mixed in Key. Since I didn’t use one of the supported DJ software I switched off the cue point option, but you can use it if you want.
7) The tracks are ready to import into iTunes (I personally at this point but my tracks in their final destination from which I DJ with them, so don’t allow iTunes to move or change them) and/or DJ software.
8) Finally run analysis (custom settings so the DJ software doesn’t do the key again) on the tracks and check the beatgrid (adapt where necessary) and set cue points.

Done.

http://www.digitaldjtips.com/topic/getting-an-avatar/

The streaming versus buying debate is as pointless as vinyl versus cdj so I’m not going to debate it

Not sure if I read this right, do you mean that streaming or buying is a matter of taste/preference?

If that is the case, I think you are mistaken. With very few exceptions streaming services (especially Spotify) simply do not allow you to play tracks (high quality or not, Premium subscription or not) in a performance setting (i.e. anywhere but at home). As such it’s equivalent to playing illegally downloaded music and something we take a stand against.

Pulselocker for example (integrated in Serato) DOES offer the right to play tracks publicly as well as download tracks for off-line use. Also a subscription service, it can be had for 19.99 or so per month (Pro version).

Apart from the legal issues and the potential quality issues, there is the issue of wireless dependency. Do you really want to rely on a wireless connection in order to be able to do your thing?

Don’t have much experience working with them. The general “rule” in PA is that you get what you pay for. So if you can get two Mackie Thumps for the same price you can get two Alto’s PLUS two Subs … Well you can do the math.

There are, unfortunately, no shortcuts to the rule. If two speakers that appear to be equal (size, RMS power, features) are varying (substantially) in price, you can count on the cheaper one being less in quality. Often invisible, but the quality of the driver, the amp, the cross-over filter, the casing and even the design all come into play.

At this point I can only suggest to go and listen to both the Thump and the Alto TS115A, preferably in an A-B comparison setup. Bring your own favorite music and trust your ears. If you feel the Alto’s sound as good or better than the Thumps, you’ll walk out the door with the Alto set with subs. Should you decide you like the Thumbs better, you may walk out the door with two of those and the promise to yourself to save up and add a Thumb sub (18″, so one should suffice for your purpose) later on.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your choice.

And you are NOT allowed to use Spotify for public performances. And with today’s prices there isn’t much of a barrier towards owning the music you use and paying the artists for their work which you use for your work.

Hi Larry, good story. Thanks for sharing and welcome to the forums!

You’ve got me beat by about 12 years in age and a little in time on the decks (40 coming up next year).

So, no worries, you are not the only veteran on board.

Yeah, that would be my choice.

By playing out I mean taking your gear and going out to play a party at a bar or venue or any other public performance. Clearly it’s good for music discovery in the privacy of your own practice room.

<NOTE FROM MODERATOR>

I have removed your other post on this subject. You pretty much asked the same question in this post and posting rules forbid to have multiple posts on the same topic/question/issue by the same user.