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Professorbx
Jan 27, 2005
Wicki Wicki

THAT drat DOG posted:

Anyone have experience on the audio side of DJing? I'm looking for a pair of powered speakers, and I'm stuck between JBL EON G2, Mackie Thump TH15A, and American Audio XSP.

First off, are 15" speakers overkill for a 75-125 person crowd? I'd rather go easier on my wallet and hopefully not blow my crowds eardrums, would a 12" speaker suffice?

Next one, a single JBL speaker can cost as much as half my cars worth, can I get by with a Mackie speaker or even an American Audio speaker? The venue I will be playing at has JBL EON G2s but they're pretty much all blown, so I can't really see how good they sound like.

E: The venue has a subwoofer so I guess bass shouldn't be a problem.

None are GREAT, but the Eon's smoke the others by a ton. The cooling system is genius, and they just don't die. Loud as hell, and won't let you down. The Tapco's are kind of garbage, and the American Audio's use pretty cheap chip amps that will give out way before the JBL's.

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beeps-a-palooza
Jan 2, 2009

by T. Finn
just save up for a sub (18" should do) and two 15's. it's definitely worth it.

edit: missed your edit. but seriously get your own it's crucial

Sjoewe
Nov 30, 2008
Yeah, we also have JBL EON gen. 2's at the 'office'. That 18" sub really has some good punch to it, and what I love about the EON's is that they are light weight, for a mobile system that's a huge plus.

We occasionally rent the PA from our local illegal soundsystem (think what you want about ravers, but they always have a real good system), and their amprack alone already weighs in at 250 lbs, let alone for the subwoofers. Not something you want to drag around too often.

Le0
Mar 18, 2009

Rotten investigator!

Sjoewe posted:

:words:

Twiin posted:

:words:

melee beats posted:

:words:

Professorbx posted:

:words:

Thanks for the advice guys, since I'll be using only Traktor I won't get the 7200 RPM hard drive but I'll get the hiress screen.

chrix
Jan 3, 2004

Football man, the guy with the football plan





oredun posted:

I really really like the b52 matrix systems. Have a look at those.

I also have a B52 Matrix system. I couldn't be more satisfied.

oredun
Apr 12, 2007

OG KUSH BLUNTS posted:

The rule of thumb is that it's usually a watt per person, and 2 watts per person if its outside.

you sho about that?

Are you sure its not some multiple of that?

a 1000w b52 certainly isnt enough for 1000 people, hell, i use a 3000w system for about 300 people all the time and id like it to be a little more. and i use a ~7000w system all the time and its never enough for a decent sized room.

I think maybe you mean 10w=1person.

beeps-a-palooza
Jan 2, 2009

by T. Finn

(Yamaha DSR118W)

i can honestly say this is one of the hardest hitting portable subs I have ever witnessed. for a decent sized room, this will completely obliterate your crowd.

if you have a truck (and oodles of money), then get two for the larger venues.

THAT DAMN DOG
Oct 26, 2009
^^I went to a Designer Drugs party that had two of those, pretty sure because I remember them using Yamaha subs. That was the show where I got tinnitus, haha.

Sjoewe posted:

Yeah, we also have JBL EON gen. 2's at the 'office'. That 18" sub really has some good punch to it, and what I love about the EON's is that they are light weight, for a mobile system that's a huge plus.

We occasionally rent the PA from our local illegal soundsystem (think what you want about ravers, but they always have a real good system), and their amprack alone already weighs in at 250 lbs, let alone for the subwoofers. Not something you want to drag around too often.

You are right about that. One of the crews in our city regularly rented out the local raver crew's sound system and jesus christ you could feel the bass all the way in the parking lot.

melee beats posted:

B52 Matrix systems, as stated, are really nice. loving huge sub, though. I have an EON system and I love it, but I got mine secondhand for like $150 each. It was a steal.

oredun posted:

I really really like the b52 matrix systems. Have a look at those.

I looked at a b52 system that has two 15s with stands and a sub for ~1,000 looks like I will be getting that, thank you!

THAT DAMN DOG fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Feb 16, 2011

Sjoewe
Nov 30, 2008

oredun posted:

you sho about that?

Are you sure its not some multiple of that?

a 1000w b52 certainly isnt enough for 1000 people, hell, i use a 3000w system for about 300 people all the time and id like it to be a little more. and i use a ~7000w system all the time and its never enough for a decent sized room.

I think maybe you mean 10w=1person.

I really depends on the kind of system you are using. We always rent a horn-loaded system, which clocks in at about 2500-3000W and we never had to push it beyond 50%. Hell at that level you could hear it two blocks down the road. Problem officer? :v:

Dubplate Fire
Aug 1, 2010

:hfive: bruvs be4 luvs
Anyone know what's being upgraded with the new Traktor 2 that's being released on April 1?

I currently am using an audio 4 DJ with the current Traktor Pro software. If I use my existing hardware and I only upgrade the software will I be losing any of the new functionality? Also, what is being improved with the new sound cards? If I'm going to upgrade I would be purchasing the Audio 10 (the new Audio 8 DJ). NI is offering a pretty decent discount if you are upgrade within the first 3 months of release so I would like to know if the sound card is actually an improvement or if I am just throwing cash away.

THAT DAMN DOG
Oct 26, 2009

Dubplate Fire posted:

Anyone know what's being upgraded with the new Traktor 2 that's being released on April 1?

I currently am using an audio 4 DJ with the current Traktor Pro software. If I use my existing hardware and I only upgrade the software will I be losing any of the new functionality? Also, what is being improved with the new sound cards? If I'm going to upgrade I would be purchasing the Audio 10 (the new Audio 8 DJ). NI is offering a pretty decent discount if you are upgrade within the first 3 months of release so I would like to know if the sound card is actually an improvement or if I am just throwing cash away.

http://www.djtechtools.com/2011/02/10/traktor-pro-2-now-released/

That should answer most of your questions. Maybe someone else can provide more insight into whether an upgrade in your soundcard would be worth it or not.

vanilla slimfast
Dec 6, 2006

If anyone needs me, I'll be in the Angry Dome



For what it's worth I'm planning to do the software upgrade but I'm going to stick with my Audio8

Cowboy.
Jan 13, 2004
...
Anyone played around with Torq 2.0 yet? I have the Connectiv but I got Serato recently and don't see myself going back.

Sjoewe
Nov 30, 2008
I guess I will wait it out for a while before upgrading to Traktor Scratch Pro 2. The transfer from the old Scratch to Scratch Pro wasn't very smooth, there were a lot of bugs and minor issues. My current version is stable as a rock, so I'm not trading it in for and unproved version. And I will be keeping my audio 8 as well, I just keep to two decks anyway, and I already own a hardware loopmachine.

So to all you upgraders: please report back

Dubplate Fire
Aug 1, 2010

:hfive: bruvs be4 luvs
Thanks for the information guys. It seems like if you have audio 8 its not worth the hardware upgrade. Since I have an audio 4, I will look into it, but I am leaning towards just upgrading the software.

vanilla slimfast
Dec 6, 2006

If anyone needs me, I'll be in the Angry Dome



FYI, there's a great interview with the (new) CEO Matt Adell of Beatport up on RA that's worth a read. He talks about major label content, charts, territory restrictions, lossless formats, and other stuff

http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=13612

vanilla slimfast fucked around with this message at 21:12 on Feb 16, 2011

OG KUSH BLUNTS
Jan 4, 2011

quote:

you sho about that?

Are you sure its not some multiple of that?

a 1000w b52 certainly isnt enough for 1000 people, hell, i use a 3000w system for about 300 people all the time and id like it to be a little more. and i use a ~7000w system all the time and its never enough for a decent sized room.

I think maybe you mean 10w=1person.

I have 2 Mackie SRM450v2, they get pretty drat loud and the sound is amazingly clear. I would recommend them. I previously had JBL EON G2s and they were beasts.

You can definitely hear them from a block away.

OG KUSH BLUNTS fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Feb 17, 2011

TheWevel
Apr 14, 2002
Send Help; Trapped in Stupid Factory
The only thing that I really hate about the Eons is that they have rounded edges. You have to lay them on their front in your car otherwise they roll around too much.

The Eon 515XT's are supposed to be pretty good from what I hear, though I haven't sampled them yet. I used to regularly use my friend's Eon G2s and they never let me down. They're loud enough for small rooms and if you use a sub with them, they'll do larger rooms as well.

When I was doing my speaker shopping, I looked at JBL's PRX line as well as the QSC K-Series but since my friend had neither in stock (and I'm impatient), I ended up going with Turbosound M15's. Best decision I ever made.

Vector 7
Sep 29, 2010

I got another DJ to switch from Serato to Ableton. Once he got his head around warping he realized how much it rocks.

OG KUSH BLUNTS
Jan 4, 2011

Vector 7 posted:

I got another DJ to switch from Serato to Ableton. Once he got his head around warping he realized how much it rocks.

Why have one when you can use both? That's why I like The Bridge.


VVVV Game Set Match

OG KUSH BLUNTS fucked around with this message at 07:56 on Feb 17, 2011

dj bobby bieber
Oct 9, 2003

the fanciest whale

Vector 7 posted:

I got another DJ to switch from Serato to Ableton. Once he got his head around warping he realized how much it rocks.

How is scratching working out for him?






Oh yeah

THAT DAMN DOG
Oct 26, 2009

Cowboy. posted:

Anyone played around with Torq 2.0 yet? I have the Connectiv but I got Serato recently and don't see myself going back.

If you want something done with Torq, Traktor can do it better and without crashing. Sorry, AVID.

melee beats posted:

How is scratching working out for him?






Oh yeah

:smugdog:

beeps-a-palooza
Jan 2, 2009

by T. Finn
i'm curious to see how other ableton dj's organize their sets. i've spent so much time color coding my set and making custom effects that if for some reason the .als file gets corrupted, i would probably go insane

OG KUSH BLUNTS
Jan 4, 2011

LouietheCuban posted:

i'm curious to see how other ableton dj's organize their sets. i've spent so much time color coding my set and making custom effects that if for some reason the .als file gets corrupted, i would probably go insane

duplicate .als sets

oredun
Apr 12, 2007

OG KUSH BLUNTS posted:

I have 2 Mackie SRM450v2, they get pretty drat loud and the sound is amazingly clear. I would recommend them. I previously had JBL EON G2s and they were beasts.

You can definitely hear them from a block away.

yeah, thats 800 watts, not nearly enough for 800 people. not even close to enough. they would be suited more like 80-100 w/o sub at most, and like 200 with sub at most.

LouietheCuban posted:

i'm curious to see how other ableton dj's organize their sets. i've spent so much time color coding my set and making custom effects that if for some reason the .als file gets corrupted, i would probably go insane

do save as, then save it as the name of the set then the date. keep them all in the same folder, ordered by date. so if you corrupt one, bam, just use the second newest one.


i personally hate using live to DJ. i think its severely limited in what you can do live(ie, you cant warp live) and if someone has some request i dont have, its just throw in serato and beatmatch to the last song.

the other thing about live is even if i have 200 songs i know ill play, it takes ~5 mins per song to warp, and it just takes to long. then i get to the gig, and realize i need different music.

serato ftw.

although the bridge is nice, it just pisses me off there isnt like a 10 second audio buffer that i can scratch, so its almost worthless to me because of the lack of scratching.

i do want to get sl3 or 4 so i can have 3 decks, 2 for songs and 1 for live. that would be tight. and really expensive.

oredun fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Feb 17, 2011

OG KUSH BLUNTS
Jan 4, 2011

oredun posted:

yeah, thats 800 watts, not nearly enough for 800 people. not even close to enough. they would be suited more like 80-100 w/o sub at most, and like 200 with sub at most.

If your goal is to be as deafeningly loud as possible I guess.

beeps-a-palooza
Jan 2, 2009

by T. Finn

oredun posted:

i personally hate using live to DJ. i think its severely limited in what you can do live(ie, you cant warp live) and if someone has some request i dont have, its just throw in serato and beatmatch to the last song.

you can warp on the fly you just gotta be good

dj bobby bieber
Oct 9, 2003

the fanciest whale
So something with my Serato boned me pretty bad in front of about 600 people last night. First, I lost tracking on a live record randomly (cleaned stylus, checked connections and everything) so I had to switch to INT. Then it happened again. I switched needles (from Ortofons to M44s) and it happened again later, even with a strong signal. My left deck kept jumping in Serato (no, not the needle) when I was trying to drop records. This isn't the first time this has happened to me either, and it's annoying as gently caress, especially because I played four hours with an NS7 previously and had 0 problems. Anyone have any suggestions when this happens? It really only happens when I play out, and I make sure everything is calibrated.

chrix
Jan 3, 2004

Football man, the guy with the football plan





melee beats posted:

So something with my Serato boned me pretty bad in front of about 600 people last night. First, I lost tracking on a live record randomly (cleaned stylus, checked connections and everything) so I had to switch to INT. Then it happened again. I switched needles (from Ortofons to M44s) and it happened again later, even with a strong signal. My left deck kept jumping in Serato (no, not the needle) when I was trying to drop records. This isn't the first time this has happened to me either, and it's annoying as gently caress, especially because I played four hours with an NS7 previously and had 0 problems. Anyone have any suggestions when this happens? It really only happens when I play out, and I make sure everything is calibrated.

If the signal bar was clean (white, instead of red) then it sounds like it's a problem with your laptop. Did you have a chance to take a look at your signal waveforms?

OG KUSH BLUNTS
Jan 4, 2011

melee beats posted:

So something with my Serato boned me pretty bad in front of about 600 people last night. First, I lost tracking on a live record randomly (cleaned stylus, checked connections and everything) so I had to switch to INT. Then it happened again. I switched needles (from Ortofons to M44s) and it happened again later, even with a strong signal. My left deck kept jumping in Serato (no, not the needle) when I was trying to drop records. This isn't the first time this has happened to me either, and it's annoying as gently caress, especially because I played four hours with an NS7 previously and had 0 problems. Anyone have any suggestions when this happens? It really only happens when I play out, and I make sure everything is calibrated.

How loud was the music? I've had problems where the booth was lovely made so the vibrations from the speaker system just poo poo all over the calibration.

When calibrating did you turn the music up to the normal volume you would be playing at and then hit the [EST] so the threshold would be properly calibrated?

dj bobby bieber
Oct 9, 2003

the fanciest whale

chrix posted:

If the signal bar was clean (white, instead of red) then it sounds like it's a problem with your laptop. Did you have a chance to take a look at your signal waveforms?

The signal bar would be fine, and then all of a sudden get totally out of whack. It was really weird. Waveforms looked good throughout the night, I was too busy putting out the fire when it got messed up to see the waveforms.

OG KUSH BLUNTS posted:

How loud was the music? I've had problems where the booth was lovely made so the vibrations from the speaker system just poo poo all over the calibration.

When calibrating did you turn the music up to the normal volume you would be playing at and then hit the [EST] so the threshold would be properly calibrated?

The booth was lovely and some dude jumped on it and it caused the needle to jump, so yeah that was a problem as well, but in soundcheck at full volume was when I calibrated. Does the play marker get jumpy when it's not calibrated correctly?

OG KUSH BLUNTS
Jan 4, 2011

melee beats posted:

The booth was lovely and some dude jumped on it and it caused the needle to jump, so yeah that was a problem as well, but in soundcheck at full volume was when I calibrated. Does the play marker get jumpy when it's not calibrated correctly?

Yeah, because it doesn't know where to set the threshold to compensate for typical needle movement in your environment. Were all the songs analyzed and what's the buffer size set at? Did you have Hi-Fi re-sampler on?

I've had this happen to me as well numerous times, and it's always due to the fact that they had someone design a booth that's absolute poo poo. Unfortunately the the vast majority of booths are designed this way, which is why once they design a better NS7 I will be jumping ship to midi controllers and keeping my turntables at home.

k0konutz
Dec 27, 2006

Just be yourself, as long as that means you're a successful person.
I'm selling my VCI-300 controller with a Decksaver cover in SA-Mart right now:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3391313

$450+shipping to you.

PM or email: joshiejosh gmail.com

k0konutz fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Feb 21, 2011

Anae
Apr 23, 2008
Yesterday ordered 2 CDJ 900s, and one Allen & Heath xone:22 to use with my laptop and Traktor Scratch. I'm pretty excited.

dj bobby bieber
Oct 9, 2003

the fanciest whale

OG KUSH BLUNTS posted:

once they design a better NS7

What's wrong with it now? I love everything except the fact that there's 7" platters and not 12", which makes for weird scratching (for me at least).

OG KUSH BLUNTS
Jan 4, 2011

melee beats posted:

What's wrong with it now? I love everything except the fact that there's 7" platters and not 12", which makes for weird scratching (for me at least).

Well mostly for the reason you mentioned, the lack of VSL/Bridge for ITCH, and buying a separate EFX unit is kinda wonky. I like the NS6 a lot, and it shows me by next NAMM they will have taken the best of the NS6/NS7 and the NS8 will be mindbogglingly awesome. The problem with MIDI controllers is that they're pegged to hardware and Serato/Traktor come up with new features every two years that date them considerably. Considering ITCH has been changing a lot, I would rather sit and wait.

I was about to go out and buy the Pioneer MIDI controller until they mentioned that it didn't have 4 turntables and it cost as much as a CDJ-2000... and at that price I would rather have a CDJ 2000.

ShortyMR.CAT
Sep 25, 2008

:blastu::dogcited:
Lipstick Apathy
I got a cheapo pair of skullcandy headphones the other day from a friend and MAN! Is mixing songs so much easier now. Granted, I was never great, but at least I can drop songs in and out with out sounding TOO bad.

Professorbx
Jan 27, 2005
Wicki Wicki

ShortyMR.CAT posted:

I got a cheapo pair of skullcandy headphones the other day from a friend and MAN! Is mixing songs so much easier now. Granted, I was never great, but at least I can drop songs in and out with out sounding TOO bad.

You know, I had some Skullcandy's for a bit-they were not great, or even that good, but I love the idea that you can go to Target now and buy a set of DJ headphones that would be actually usable if you are in an emergency pre-gig situation for not much money. Kids don't know how good they have it.

Le0
Mar 18, 2009

Rotten investigator!
So the new Macbook Pro are on the Apple store, I guess this is more than enough to use Traktor and a S4?
Any use to get the 7400 rt/min hard drive or is that just overkill?

Mac Store posted:

2.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
4 Gb 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2 Gb
Hard Disk Serial ATA de 500 Go 5 400 rt/min
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display
Clavier rétro-éclairé (Suisse) & Guide de l'utilisateur (Français)

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THAT DAMN DOG
Oct 26, 2009
I would prefer to get the 7200 rpm drive in there, but if you have the kind of money to get a laptop like that I'd throw in a SSD.

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