Terry_42
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Terry_42
KeymasterActually not really. (Sorry again, it is my opinion):
If you keep your mixtrack, invest 150 bucks into a reloop Neon, you would have (theoretically) the better setup, sans longer pitch faders of the S1 for the current version of Serato (if you upgrade the Mixtrack to full Serato DJ which was 50% off for a long time now).KeymasterIf you are playing in front of people and you manage to not empty the dancefloor with each tune you play… you are basically a DJ. Now of course there are different levels of DJs:
– Slaves (do not get paid)
– Acolytes/padawan (in it to learn)
– Jedi (mastered the trade but are humble)
– Sith Apprentice (in it for the money but failing)
– Sith Lords (only in it for the money and good at it)
– Mixmaster (has mad skeeeeelz man)
– Grandmaster (Mixmaster on steroids)
– Twinkie (DJ fanboy DJ and immitation mime)
– Muggle (tries to be a DJ but has no idea)
– Hollywood (fame struck DJ but is a real a-hole)
– Jedi Master (famous and still humble – very rare breed of DJ)
– Nomeeee (cannot get ahead and is blaming everyone else and his gear)
– Junkie (fixed on gear rather than DJing)
– G.A.S. Junkie (junkie with a lot of money – soon to be broke through gear aquisition syndrome)
– Jedi Knight (Good DJ – semi famous at least locally – giving his wisdom freely to others)Those are some that come to mind 😛
KeymasterWell it is old, so expect support to last significantly shorter than in a new model, it has no performance pads, the layout is outdated and cumbersome, the platters while big are not as responsive as in other controllers and some functions of the software cannot be accessed as it was made for a pretty old version of Serato.
Hence it is not a controller I would recommend, even if it is cheap.
With an SR you have at least the basic functions all available and you can always upgrade using an addon like a reloop Neon if you need flip controls etc. which is not good with the S1 since it simply does not have the basics to make that a good choice.
Hence I would not recommend the S1 to anyone currentlym which does not mean it wont work, but you could have significantly more on other platforms.KeymasterHow I do it:
Copy your “music” folder from mac to macbook.
Since the Library.xml should be in your music folder, it should also sync your playlists…
If not export your music.xml from the file menu and import on laptop.KeymasterHonestly Peter those scenarios you painted do not exist.
Big clubs have techs, that will phone you (or you them) prior to the gig and they will only accept “good” controllers and will know how to hook you up and how to check it via their monitoring system even before you turn over.
Smaller Clubs now have prepared cables, so you put your controller up, connect and immediately see if you are good to go. You can always fallback on your USB stick, but I never had to do it yet. Except one time, but it was no equipment fault, I was already packed up and the DJ working had to throw up, so I had to take over in a seconds notice…Also premium controller gear and good laptops are reliable. Yes I have a backup (pre-recorded mix on mp3 player) as backup and in clubs with CDJs also bring a USB stick prepared. But I never had to use it. I never had a piece of gear not working. Of course you have to upkeep your gear and I always re-test it all before I leave the house.
Honestly all those issues that some people paint in their head or that some CDJ DJs tell you are not in the real world in my experiance. I exclusively DJ with my controller now for quite some time (unless someone pays me to do it on CDJs) and my experience has been positve 100%.
Have I seen others have problems? Sure if you are expecting to DJ in a Beach Club, even in indirect sunlight with 40-45°C and decide to show up with a 300 bucks chinese laptop… yes I saw those crap out and flat out die. But I was there and took over since my MacBook was working fine.
So get good gear (still way cheaper than CDJs) I also recommend to overspec your laptop (it will run cooler if the CPU is used less) and buy a premium laptop like a MacBook, HP EliteBook Folio, Dell XPS, Alienware,… and a controller from a good brand like reloop, Numark, Pioneer or of course a tank from Denon.KeymasterNo.
KeymasterBeCool
Macarena Club
Moog
Razzmatazz
Row 14
La Terrrazzza
City Hall Club
Mac Arena Bar and Beach Clubwould be my top pics for nightlife…
KeymasterYes it is too much.
KeymasterI totally agree with Vintage and could not have said it better.
Today’s software offers so much more than simple CDJs to express your creativity it is a totally new freedom that we DJs have and also are able to create USPs for ourselves.
In the reign of CDJs almost all midcard DJs sounded the same, as they only had CDJs and DJM and built in F/X and some additional F/X. The upper class DJs would then add some samplers etc. that costed tons of money as all was in hardware.Today you can decide, do I go for Traktor and stems, do I want to slice and dice I go Serato, do I want to be versatile (VDJ/Cross) do I want a special feel (dJay) etc. etc. so much things to do and choose and finally even midcard DJs do again sound different from one another and you can make yourself stand out very easily and most important cheap.
Highend controllers start around 500-600 bucks if you can get a good price on a reloop or Numark. And they top out at around 2k (which is the entry price for a single CDJ).
Also stability is not longer a huge issue. Macbooks have been stable for ages and new Windows 10 machines from major brands seem to do fine (my observation over the last 6 months).
Then you might ask “why then are so many still using CDJs?”:
Well when a market is going places there are people sticking to the old things as they never knew anything else AND “we always did it that way”. Hence we still have Revolvers in our world, which (special fun usage aside) any Glock beats in features, safety and reliability.
Then there are those that do not want to learn anything new.
Next there are those that get paid to use it (mostly high card players) and they do get LOTS of money and most of the time they do mime anyways playing their pre-recorded sets…
And then there are of course the “lifestyle” crowd as I like to call them. They tell everyone if you want to be “pro” or “down” or “hip” or whatever you have to use certain gear, clothes etc. Those do not have any idea about what they are talking and are most of the time midcard players or highcard player “proteges” that have no idea about real DJing and creativity. Most of the time they are in it for the money and die out fast.These are my observations in 20+ years DJing.
I would not want to miss the level of freedom and creativity that my controller and laptop give me for a single day. While I can DJ on CDJs, I started this year to charge and extra fee if a venue or promoter wants me to use the CDJ gear, as I see it as promoting outdated very expensive gear so that someone can make money of it, so why should I not ask for extra cash to do it…KeymasterI would also note that CDJs you should use “-R” or “-RW” CD blanks, as some CDJ drives have problems with “+R” or “+RW”.
KeymasterThese questions have been answered a hundred times in recent weeks. Please search this forum a little bit.
KeymasterPlease post in the correct forum 🙂
I checked out the Magma and Odyssey and both are excellent, maybe the Magma even slightly ahead. I did not get any hands on with the ProX sorry.
KeymasterSometimes it is hard… all I say.
KeymasterSame here I have only used Rekordbox without a controller to check it out.
Using Serato with a Terminal Mix 8 here and prolly soon an MCX8000 😉 /hugs VintageKeymasterYeah typical tie in thing. That is why I do not use DJ pools. They are overrated anyways as you do not need that much music.
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