Switching to vinyl?
Switching to vinyl? Posted on: 28.02.2010 by Leann Zugay So after about a year with the vci-100, I find myself in a hard place. I recently went to a club to see a dj play a hard techno set. I have really only see DJs play with cdj's and mixers, so I was surprised when I saw this DJ running vinyl. Where I'm going with this is after watching his set I was thoroughly impressed with the performance, there is something in the performance on the tables that really intrigues me and I would love to get a set of turntables to go with my ddm-4000 mixer. However I believe I would like go the time coded route, unfortunately I know absolutely zero about this process, (getting ready to pay my dj dues ) so I was wondering if anyone has any good links to resources I might be able to read, or if anyone wants to share their knowledge that would be abwesome! Thanks! | |
| Antonia Dodgens 02.03.2010 |
Originally Posted by mmauve
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| juan garcia 01.03.2010 |
Originally Posted by BentoSan
+1 |
| Xavier Emanuels 01.03.2010 |
Originally Posted by Phormula1.8T
+1 on the stanton str8 150's They are sick turntables, my mate owned a pair and i really liked them so a couple of months ago i went out and bought myself a couple second hand. Really well thought out layout, simple elegance - perform really well. I have even started a little bit of a vinyl collection since - it pays to be diverse in what you can do given the situations you are put in. If you can perform with CDJ's controllers and vinyl your going to be in a better of position than a person who can just perform with controllers. Thats not to say at all that someone should start with vinyl then progress to other controllers - digital mixing can be a great way to quickly get into djing for a low cost and yet still be able to do ALOT of creative stuff, not something to be scoffed at what so ever. |
| Roselle Mcnaul 01.03.2010 |
Originally Posted by Phormula1.8T
After that mixer, there isn't much that compares to it to be honest, and I'm a total gear whore. Tried the TTM 56/57, every Xone, Pioneer DJM 909/800...they're all great mixers but they just don't compare in feel. The big ass ergonomic knobs, heavenly faders, great lay out, sound quality, ability to modify the effects processor from a PC - it was a surefire winner. I'm in between mixers at the moment, still deciding where to go from here |
| Antonia Dodgens 03.03.2010 | didnt even know you could us scratch live without tables/cdjs. |
| Tawnya Nevels 02.03.2010 | When I play records now and days it's like the easiest thing on earth to mix. I remember how awesome it all used to be and then dream about the past. Then I look on Juno and realize that records are fucking expensive and I already own like 10000 of them. Now I use Serato Scratch and map it to an apc40. No turntables anymore. |
| Marguerite Truka 02.03.2010 | I use vinyl timecode mainly. however i do play cd's and straight vinyl. When setting my tone arms up i personaly take the weight off flip it round and put it right to the front well allmost this causes maximum weigh on the record. This does ware your records out more but for scratching it is a must. the early head shell ideas are spot on in my opinion so i wont add. however serato have bought out a timecode needly apparently its very good |
| nayit ruiz jaramillo 02.03.2010 | I agree with every word of that post Big C. |
| Audrey Pinda 02.03.2010 | It's interesting. The other evening
I had a conversation with one of my good buddy's about vinyl/controllerism/time-code. He and another good friend of mine share an apartment, and have the decks set up in the living room. So usually one of them is on the decks when we all go and chill. They generally use SSL. But that evening my buddy was working on just using straight vinyl and his mixer, and leaving the computer out of it. He literally said it was a lot harder, and therefore more interesting for him at the time. He's gotten down beatmatching using the waveforms pretty well, and wants to train his ears further so that he can do it without the "crutch" so to speak. I've brought up controllerism with him before, and he believes it's neat just not for him. Personally I'm out of work and can't afford anything right now, nevermind decks or a decent controller. But there really is something about seeing someone spin straight vinyl that says "Damn, that guy put in a lot of effort to get to the point where that can sound good." Because it's something about tuning your ears and not relying on any real visual data for what you are doing. There is a certain "magic" about it I guess you could say. That being said, any option is equal in my opinion. But as others have said, expanding yourself with the ability to play on different mediums will do nothing but help. And practice is practice, and sometimes you just need to switch it up to stay fired up. |
| Dj LsEx 01.03.2010 | Yup. I learned to mix after burning out with guitars and drums (and having a heavy inclination to share music I love). Learned vinyl out of being bored with midi and CDs. I imagine a lot of folks explore other disciplines similarly; out of curiosity, love of learning new things, and just the right amount of boredom. I really like seeing people do that. By the way, MASSIVE plus one on Ecler's mixers. I bought a Nuo 3 last year for a good price not knowing what I was getting myself into. . . all I can say is that I have absolutely no desire to play any other mixer in my studio. The big, fat knobs are luxurious (heyo), and that nice, round analog-ish sound it gets sits very well with me. I haven't used the Eternal fader yet but I've heard people compare them in a favorable light with the Innofader. Allegedly the dog's bollocks. |
| Adolf Hit 01.03.2010 | +1 on the M44's - solid as fuck! I recomend turning of the phase meter pretty quickly if you want to use Traktor Skratch, that just makes it like a slow form of djing using auto sync once you have the basic feel of vinyl down. Learning different methods something I couldnt recommend more, you should always push your self |
| Antonia Dodgens 02.03.2010 |
Originally Posted by mmauve
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| nayit ruiz jaramillo 01.03.2010 | Id also add that whilst its not the end of the world if you dont learn to DJ with vinyl if nothing else its a worth while thing to do that will give you great enjoyment. Its not a case of either or. Its a case of adding to your repertoire . Im a Guitarist. Didnt stop me from learning to play the drums and the keys. Im a fair guitar player, less of a drummer or a key player but i get by and have fun. Stick me in front of a drum kit and ill kick shit out of it and have a great time. Doesnt mean i have to audition for Sepultura . Learning to DJ with different mediums is just like a musician learning a new instrument. It can only make you a more rounded musician/dj, not anymore important, but you just have more ways of expressing your art. In our cases the art is DJing. And who doesnt want to better themselves at that ? |
| juan garcia 01.03.2010 |
Originally Posted by BentoSan
+1 |
| Xavier Emanuels 01.03.2010 |
Originally Posted by Phormula1.8T
+1 on the stanton str8 150's They are sick turntables, my mate owned a pair and i really liked them so a couple of months ago i went out and bought myself a couple second hand. Really well thought out layout, simple elegance - perform really well. I have even started a little bit of a vinyl collection since - it pays to be diverse in what you can do given the situations you are put in. If you can perform with CDJ's controllers and vinyl your going to be in a better of position than a person who can just perform with controllers. Thats not to say at all that someone should start with vinyl then progress to other controllers - digital mixing can be a great way to quickly get into djing for a low cost and yet still be able to do ALOT of creative stuff, not something to be scoffed at what so ever. |
| Roselle Mcnaul 01.03.2010 | Another kick ass homegrown brand of mixers which really deserves praise is Rodec. Phenomenal quality and build, worth every penny: http://www.audiolines.com/What-s-New...dec-Scratchbox |
| Antonia Dodgens 01.03.2010 | Audio Innovate AEM100i is a damn good mixer dude. check it out. |
| Roselle Mcnaul 01.03.2010 |
Originally Posted by Phormula1.8T
After that mixer, there isn't much that compares to it to be honest, and I'm a total gear whore. Tried the TTM 56/57, every Xone, Pioneer DJM 909/800...they're all great mixers but they just don't compare in feel. The big ass ergonomic knobs, heavenly faders, great lay out, sound quality, ability to modify the effects processor from a PC - it was a surefire winner. I'm in between mixers at the moment, still deciding where to go from here |
| Antonia Dodgens 01.03.2010 | i cant imagine what exaclt you cut on now after the NUO. isnt that bitch Traktor scratch ready? |
| Roselle Mcnaul 01.03.2010 | I owned an Ecler Nuo 5 for a while, and I LOVED the crossfader for wet/dry effects. Man, put the echo parameter on 2.0 and you could perform fatty double beat jabs over mixes which oozed energy. |
| Antonia Dodgens 01.03.2010 |
Originally Posted by mmauve
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| sinior cliff 28.02.2010 | Probably best to learn what you will most likely encounter in a club or rave setting. 9 times out of 10, you will find 2x 1200/10s mk2 or mk5 and probably a DJM 600 or 800. Although, there are those few times where I have encountered Rane 57 and the occassional Allen and Heath. |
| Roselle Mcnaul 28.02.2010 | Dude, Eclers are hands down my favorite mixer. Rane is great and all, but holy shit. An Ecler Nuo 5/Evo 5 is like a Pioneer DJM-800 had sex with a Rane TTM-56. Tankish, feature rich, and great value. Their scratch mixers are also ace. |
| Antonia Dodgens 28.02.2010 |
Originally Posted by eastcoastams
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| Roselle Mcnaul 28.02.2010 | yup, thats the article, I'd read it front to back, learning stuff like that can really save your arse when timecode gets finicky |
| Leann Zugay 28.02.2010 | @ mmauve, thanks for the article recommendation... Here is the link if anyone is interested http://www.djranking s.com/2009/07/2...ems/#more-1567 anyone know anything about the Stanton STR8-150 ? It's a little more economical .. |
| Cristian Carmona 28.02.2010 | get 1200's and a audio 4 or 8, hell even look into Serato SL1. |
| Roselle Mcnaul 28.02.2010 | You'll need at the very least an Audio 4 for 2 turntable timecode. As far as turntables go, my vote is for the trusty Technics SL-1200 or 1210, they're tanks, they perform solid, and have a great feel. Theres other options though. As far as needles go, if you want a nice headshell mounted one, I recommend the Shure M44-7, it was a standard for scratch DJs for a long time, and they had phenomenal tracking force. They're not that pricy either. I would recommend an Ortofon, but in all honesty, I'm not even sure if theres a point in investing $100+ per needle if you're using timecode, at that rate it's pretty much your source music quality. When you get the needles mounted onto the tone arm, make sure you reset your point of gravity on the tonearm to insure minimal record burn and optimal tracking force without putting too much wear on the stylus itself. This can be attained by: 1.) Rotating the counter balance weight on the back of the tone arm until the tone arm floats over the platter. 2.) Rotate the weight indicator on the tone arm to 0gm to indicate that point as the floating point. 3.) Rotate the counter balance weight clockwise until 2.5gm-3.5gm of force is applied to the tone arm. Easy as that. This is a fairly overlooked procedure when it comes to owning turntables, but it insures that you are getting optimal performance while keeping wear and tear on your expendables (timecode vinyl/needle stylus) to a minimal. Theres also an article on troubleshooting timecode issues within Traktor on DJTT, I recommend looking for it and educating yourself on how to deal with any potential issues with DVS usage |
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