Any DJ’s in the house?

[Netlist]

What I have:
A notebook, a mixer, an amplifier and two massive speakers.

What I’d like to do:
Use the notebook as a music server, capable of feeding the mixer and be able to do pre fader listening.

…Says my neighbor, who got the notebook for his birthday.

What soft and hardware does he need, being a youngster and not having the big budget of a pro DJ?
I was thinking of a program capable of building and maintaining a music library and two external USB soundcards feeding two inputs of his mixer.

Other, better ideas?

/Hugo

[spzzzzkt]

Personally I'd forget the two usb soundcards and have a look at something like a Echo IndigoDJ instead.

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/Ca...goDJ/index.php

Most of the dj mixing programs have some kind of virtual mixer, so the physical mixer is probably not really that important.

Using something like the IndigoDJ you'd use one pair as the main outputs and the second for headphone monitoring the mixer. You could run both outs into the mixer, but this limits the usefulness of the mixing apps.

There are plenty of dj programs out there from free to pricey.

A quick google turned up this free cross-platform dj app f'rinstance:

http://mixxx.sourceforge.net/

I'd suggest having a look around and trying out a few different apps to see which feels right...

hope this helps...

Paul

ps this might be worth a read too:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/dj-software.ars

[Netlist]

Paul,

Thanks, this looks like a very nice and cost effective solution.

/Hugo

[Lsharptec1]

Netlist,

American Audio has recently released a new dual SD card player, the SDJ-1. It operates just like a dual CD player.

Each SD card can be up to 4 GB in size, so you can have enough music for a long party night without ever repeating songs.

Check out the American Audio SDJ-1 on page 74 of the current ProSound and Stage Lighting catalog, or visit www.pssl.com.

Larry

[d to the g]

I'd suggest traktor and skip the external mixer.

[Cal Weldon]

I like the idea of that echo audio product.

I just use two cd players, a mixer, an amplifier and two massive speakers. The queueing is done through the mixer with headphones. I really like the fader function and the auto muting (15dB?) which allows the use of the mic without touching any buttons. I guess I have an old fashioned way of doing it but it works for me.

[Netlist]

Thanks guys.
I ordered the IndigoDJ card and together with Mixxx, he'll probably have the most versatile tools for starters.
If I were a DJ, I'd probably leave the notebook home too, but I can't tell that to a 17 year old.

/Hugo

[vitalstates]

Hi Hugo

I'm not familiar with the dj thingy but I can thoroughly recommend echo kit generally as I've been using it in the studio for 4 years without a glitch. Fwiw Its certainly more stress free than the previous maudio kit.

Ed

[Netlist]

I'll report when the echo thing arrives. Vendor said two weeks.
Meanwhile I downloaded Mixxx. It looks good but lacks the flashy style kids appreciate. I found some skins but have no idea how to make those bz2, tgz and gz files to work.

/Hugo

[spzzzzkt]

Perhaps Future Desks Lite is more on the money for the nice interface and feature set... Ars Technica liked it well enough. NI's Traktor is one of the best mixing apps out there but with price tag to match.

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/dj-software.ars/6