Hi guys,
Was talking with a DJ buddy of mine tonight at Thanksgiving dinner and he wants to convert his 600 + CD collection to a computer HD and then use the computer as his music source and mixing station. He told me there are some PC programs out there that will do the mixing stage for him.
However, I am wondering if he used an 80 - 100 Gig, USB.2 port and ran as an outboard slave drive, if he can adequately store his music and still make genre files this way? I am estimating each song will average out to about 6-8 Mb/song (about 1Mb/minute?) Does that sound right?
Yes, he has a lot of CD's to rip. But some only contain a few songs he will use per CD. The rest will be more or less, a hard copy, a backup and all cuts will be 192 format, not MP3. (128 files) Am guessing he will probably need about 1000 songs on HDD slave.
Any toughts on this idea? More or less, a computer based juke box is the general idea here. I am assuming that initially, he will want to use an internal sound card with line outs to his present DJ mixing kit. Then, when he finds a software program he like, then he can switch to PC mixing.
Swez
PS Keep your comments simple as I am not a computer geek.
Replies (4)
supagav on 11/25/2005 09:40:26
Hey,
Silly question, but Is for instatallation in his car, or just a front room based system?
Gav
Raefin on 11/25/2005 10:21:49
http://forums.generationtrance.com/
If you got to the forum labeled "DJs, Geeks, & Groupies" you will find a ton of suggestions for ripping cd's to hard drives and then the mixing software to create your mixes.
That forum is loaded with a lot of up and coming DJ's who get together to discuss optimal ways for mixing.
From my understanding if he was to pull it to his car it would be some form of music player like an Ipod and it would just play the pre-mixed music. Unless he wanted to go with a carputer type setup.
The site does require registration to view those forums but I have never received any spam from them and you can request to not receive notices of new mixes.
I went ahead and did a little more research and it seems that the three programs recommended most for mixing are:
Adobe Audition 1.5
http://www.adobe.com/products/audition/main.html
or
Virtual DJ
http://www.virtualdj.com/
or
Mixmeister Pro 6
http://www.mixmeister.com/products_mmpro6.html
For the ripping of the CD's they recommend a multitude of programs and most agree that different ones are better at different ages of cd's. If I can be of more help just let me know.
ttocs on 11/25/2005 11:13:22
I just use windows media player. You can set it up to automatically rip the cd once it is in your drive, and you can select where you want to save it to.
swez on 11/25/2005 12:21:42
Thanks for the solid inputs folks. I too, did some looking last night and found a few DJ type programs for Windows based OS.
Raefin- Will have a look and pass on these sites to him for review. He mentioned a few programs he had seen others DJ's using and likes the concept and portability factors of a PC based Jukebox and mixing system.
It's just a matter of defining his goals, picking out a software package that he can work with and then integration. A good deal of ripping will be needed here and then building files to access the cuts he wants on a given job.
In his car? Not sure if he would want to go that route for this specific application. (although he could do so with ease) If you were a DJ, would you want your work files, (music mixes) playing all the time as you drive? A few cuts perhaps. (especially new demo material) But for everyday listening, I'd be burned out on the rest. (Polkas, Marches, Chicken Dance, Macarena, Oldies, Big Band etc.)
Ttocs- Yeah, that's how I do my music lists too. It's fine for a few hundred cuts or so. But, as a Pro DJ, it seems like a more advaced system is needed.
Ever watch a good DJ in action? They are multi-tasking all the time. A dual CD player, mixing board, talking it up with the crowd, queing cuts and crossfading all the time. (all at the same time)
It's the perfect job for a person with moderate ADHD. (in my friends' case, he fits that profile well and admits his ADHD allows him to do this flawlessly too) How 'bout that for a career path to those who love music, want powerful sound gear and consider their jobs as a total blast?
Yes, the startup costs are a tad high. But once all the basics are purchased, it pays for itself in time. Just depends on how many gigs a guy can get in a few years.
Again, thanks for the inputs. Sorry that this was a bit off topic though. But hey, the results are worth a few side comments. After all, this is Clib Knowledge right. It's not always car audio we dabble in.
Swez USFLAG
Was talking with a DJ buddy of mine tonight at Thanksgiving dinner and he wants to convert his 600 + CD collection to a computer HD and then use the computer as his music source and mixing station. He told me there are some PC programs out there that will do the mixing stage for him.
However, I am wondering if he used an 80 - 100 Gig, USB.2 port and ran as an outboard slave drive, if he can adequately store his music and still make genre files this way? I am estimating each song will average out to about 6-8 Mb/song (about 1Mb/minute?) Does that sound right?
Yes, he has a lot of CD's to rip. But some only contain a few songs he will use per CD. The rest will be more or less, a hard copy, a backup and all cuts will be 192 format, not MP3. (128 files) Am guessing he will probably need about 1000 songs on HDD slave.
Any toughts on this idea? More or less, a computer based juke box is the general idea here. I am assuming that initially, he will want to use an internal sound card with line outs to his present DJ mixing kit. Then, when he finds a software program he like, then he can switch to PC mixing.
Swez
PS Keep your comments simple as I am not a computer geek.
Replies (4)
supagav on 11/25/2005 09:40:26
Hey,
Silly question, but Is for instatallation in his car, or just a front room based system?
Gav
Raefin on 11/25/2005 10:21:49
http://forums.generationtrance.com/
If you got to the forum labeled "DJs, Geeks, & Groupies" you will find a ton of suggestions for ripping cd's to hard drives and then the mixing software to create your mixes.
That forum is loaded with a lot of up and coming DJ's who get together to discuss optimal ways for mixing.
From my understanding if he was to pull it to his car it would be some form of music player like an Ipod and it would just play the pre-mixed music. Unless he wanted to go with a carputer type setup.
The site does require registration to view those forums but I have never received any spam from them and you can request to not receive notices of new mixes.
I went ahead and did a little more research and it seems that the three programs recommended most for mixing are:
Adobe Audition 1.5
http://www.adobe.com/products/audition/main.html
or
Virtual DJ
http://www.virtualdj.com/
or
Mixmeister Pro 6
http://www.mixmeister.com/products_mmpro6.html
For the ripping of the CD's they recommend a multitude of programs and most agree that different ones are better at different ages of cd's. If I can be of more help just let me know.
ttocs on 11/25/2005 11:13:22
I just use windows media player. You can set it up to automatically rip the cd once it is in your drive, and you can select where you want to save it to.
swez on 11/25/2005 12:21:42
Thanks for the solid inputs folks. I too, did some looking last night and found a few DJ type programs for Windows based OS.
Raefin- Will have a look and pass on these sites to him for review. He mentioned a few programs he had seen others DJ's using and likes the concept and portability factors of a PC based Jukebox and mixing system.
It's just a matter of defining his goals, picking out a software package that he can work with and then integration. A good deal of ripping will be needed here and then building files to access the cuts he wants on a given job.
In his car? Not sure if he would want to go that route for this specific application. (although he could do so with ease) If you were a DJ, would you want your work files, (music mixes) playing all the time as you drive? A few cuts perhaps. (especially new demo material) But for everyday listening, I'd be burned out on the rest. (Polkas, Marches, Chicken Dance, Macarena, Oldies, Big Band etc.)
Ttocs- Yeah, that's how I do my music lists too. It's fine for a few hundred cuts or so. But, as a Pro DJ, it seems like a more advaced system is needed.
Ever watch a good DJ in action? They are multi-tasking all the time. A dual CD player, mixing board, talking it up with the crowd, queing cuts and crossfading all the time. (all at the same time)
It's the perfect job for a person with moderate ADHD. (in my friends' case, he fits that profile well and admits his ADHD allows him to do this flawlessly too) How 'bout that for a career path to those who love music, want powerful sound gear and consider their jobs as a total blast?
Yes, the startup costs are a tad high. But once all the basics are purchased, it pays for itself in time. Just depends on how many gigs a guy can get in a few years.
Again, thanks for the inputs. Sorry that this was a bit off topic though. But hey, the results are worth a few side comments. After all, this is Clib Knowledge right. It's not always car audio we dabble in.
Swez USFLAG
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