DJ Vintage

Yeah, anything more than a couple (2-3 metres) from your ears, especially when in front of and facing away from you is cause for worry as far as induced delay is concerned. With the higher frequencies having to make a detour through reflection (like the snare/clap) you are looking at relatively long delays that will throw off your mix.

Obviously the headphone trick will work, but only if your controller/mixer features split cue so you can hear the master mix in one ear and the incoming track on the other.

Those who have followed some of my earlier posts know that I am big advocate of monitors. I always bring my own. Small enough (although slightly heavy :-)) to carry around with the microphone stand it sits on. Mind you, monitor speakers are really only any good when the controller/mixer has a booth out control.

Obviously you can set the speakers behind you, but that is a surefire way to screw up your ears in no time flat. I do not ever stand in front of my speakers any more (another reason is that I couldn’t use the microphone without incurring major feedback).

I use the headphone mix at home to practice when I don’t want to disturb the others in the house or the neighbours, but in real life I don’t want to isolate myself like that, so I prefer a monitor speaker in that case.

Greetinx,
C.

Since pretty much all you want it to be is a summing mixer, I’d almost say it is overkill (since you won’t need the channel EQs and, more importantly, the mic pre-amps). Now, it’s a Mackie and they have good stuff so qualitywise you are safe.

Thing is with this mixer it can only allow maximum 2 DJs to hook up and you would be severely restricted in the way they can hook up. For channel 1/2, you’d have the choice of XLR and Jack, for channel 3/4 only Jack. No option for any channel to hook up using RCA (not recommended, but sometimes that is all you got).

To find out what is best for you the next questions are important:
1) how many inputs (stereo) do you minimally need and what number would be enough as a maximum
2) how important is it to have all the connection types available on the “mixer”
3) how imporant are balanced inputs (do you ever need to run long cables (>9ft))

I found this little box by ART,
http://artproaudio.com/files/specsheets/ss_powermixiii.pdf
which I know from live sound work is a good quality brand, which gives you three unbalanced Jack stereo-inputs with individual Channel volume control, Master volume control and even TWO headphone outputs (like you need those :-)). The price is a ridiculous € 82,00 including VAT and shipping here in Holland. You can easily use Jack to female RCA adapters for those that don’t have Jack out on their gear.
It IS unbalance however, so short cable runs or you need to add a little box (also sold by ART) that allows you to use balanced cables from the DJ setup to this little mixer and then terminate into unbalanced.
http://artproaudio.com/artcessories/audio_solutions/product/cleanbox_pro/
The good thing is these boxes are really small and portable, so they go into a flightcase, cable crate or backpack really easy and they don’t take an extra table or stand or other scarce space.

If you really need max. 5 and you would like to have balanced inputs available for most channels, you are better off getting something like a small Yamaha MG102C (only 20,00 euro more here than the Mackie), that way you could have a mix of XLR, (balanced) Jack (unbalanced, except for channel 1/2) and RCA inputs to play with. It can mount to a mic stand, so that makes it easy to set up behind you on a stage.

Unbalanced for line signals is a lot less critical than it is for microphone inputs though. Mic signals are generally in the range of 5-50 millivolts (that is 0,005 – 0,05V), where line signals are generally between 0,3 and 2,0V range. So even the slightest line signal is still 6 times stronger than the loudest mic signal. You can see how such a small signal travelling a long distance is much more susceptible to external influences and needs to be balance to ensure survival of the clean signal at the end. If you get a 0dB signal (0,775V) from a line source (DJ setup) it obviously picks up lots less interference along the line (not saying none, but chances of getting an unbalanced line signal clear from a stage to a mixer are pretty decent). Again, one balanced/unbalanced converter in your bag can solve such problems.

The best thing would be a DJ mixer because, unlike the Mackie and Yamaha, they are geared towards using stereo inputs. The trouble with a DJ mixer however is that they too have way more functionality than you need and generally offer only RCA line inputs.

Hope this helps.

Greetinx,
C.

Sorry for the delay. Some family stuff going on.

I looked at the link you sent me, and if you want my opinion, unless they sound really good (which I can’t tell from the pics/features, but seriously doubt) I personally would never buy such a set. There is all kinds of stuff you don’t need , but DO pay for (money that didn’t go in to better drivers or amps). I think they look sheepishly amateuristic, but that is just my personal opinion.

Be aware that there is no power in the satellites (that I can see), you’ll always need the sub ( which houses the amp). If the main amp blows, you are left soundless. Two true active speakers would offer you redundancy if one blows, you still have the other one going. It has happened to me once and I was sooooo happy I could just play on.

I stick with my earlier advice, get some 10″ PA speakers like the Behringer EuroLive B210D with digital (built in) amp, which are small enough to use while practicing and have enough power for small house/birthday parties. You can always add a sub later if you want the extra uhmpfff (and the pleasure of fitting the thing in your car and hauling it around :-)).

They come in at about 144 euro each, 290 for the set. That boils down to 240 pounds or less? Leaves you money to get some decent speaker stands (it is a good investment,get K&M ones, they’ll outlive you) and perhaps some cables.

If you are lucky enough having to play a bigger gig, rent bigger and better.

Just my two cents. Good luck with your choice!

Greetinx,
C.

I mean, I like the 4Tacktrigger and all … my only gripe is it has so very few buttons … pffffff 🙂

I loved my MC6000 because it did what I needed it to do, is sturdy and the quality built you may expect from Denon. So, I decided to toss it aside and switch to two SC2900s with an X1600 mixer :-). I just love big jogwheels and the possibility to use CDs or USB sticks at times. And the mixer is a best of both worlds. Works wonders as a stand-alone mixer if so needed, but press the midi-button and beautiful stuff starts to happen when hooked up to a Traktor Pro MBP.

Greetinx,
C.

Hey Pete,

I am familiar with the differences (internal vs external mixer) between the two. The MC6000 does have a button to set it to pc mixer in which case it acts pretty much the same as the MC3000 would. Besides that I am somewhat of a techie in that I have many years of experience with computers, programs, various (sound)equipment and such. So, I am sure I could be of assistance. If you can get it solved with the help of the good folks at Denon than that is fine of course.

Let me know, the offer stands.

B.t.w.: it appears that most of the problems you mentioned you have found online have to do with the Asio drivers in combination with the sound output settings in the software. It doesn’t appear to be specific for Traktor. Found plenty of stories of people who have tried it on VDJ LE and got the same problem.

Greetinx,
C.

What the f*ck Harry, are you sponsored by Denon or something? Geez, I endorse Denon products too, because I get good results with them. But marketing slogans from their website … really?

Where is Terry when you need him ??? <just kidding >

I have the MC6000 and I am sure you’ll love the MC3000. The jogwheels are very high quality especially for their size.

Setting it up with Traktor should be easy really, the setup wizard will take care of most of it I think.

Enjoy & greetinx,
C.