Newbie Saying Hi PLUS A Couple Of Basic Q's
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  1. #1
    Tech Wizard Whitey's Avatar
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    Default Newbie Saying Hi PLUS A Couple Of Basic Q's

    I have been observing in the background here for a short while having been looking into products etc. and stumbling upon this great site/blog.

    My situation is this:

    I have been DJing for 28 years now in the UK and have made a reasonable success during most of that time. I switched to complete digital DJing, via laptops, about 6 years ago and have almost exclusively used the old PCDJ Red program through a variety of run-of-the-mill mixers etc. for the past 6 years.

    I guess that as DJs a common trait of ours is that we like our gadgets/gizmos and toys and recently I got Traktor Pro which quite honestly blew my world apart and reawakened the creative juices withing me that have been dormant for a long time now. Whilst the PCDJ program has been reliable and easy to use it has meant that there is little in the way of original and exiting stuff that you can do with it given it's limitations.

    Seeing some of the demos and stuff that Ean is promoting has made me want to get back to being creative in my DJing on a musical level in the hope that I am not too old to A) get to know more about the finer art of digital DJing and B) get some work in this area again.

    I used to DJ in lots of clubs, but got disillusioned by the scene in general - the clientele, being taken for granted - I guess looking back that I worked the same clubs for too long and should have moved on, but instead I turned to more mainstream forms of DJing that have served me well, but have never filled the void creatively.

    I have always been a quick learner and hope that that the background knowledge I have, coupled with what's new to learn, will get me to where I want to be.

    I have some basic product related questions that I would appreciate some opinions/answers to if some of you guys would be kind enough to comment on.

    In the new year I am planning on buying a VCI-100.

    With this as a starting point and with the need to be able a) to use pfl and b) to be able to use a decent mic channel.

    Do I need to buy an external sound card and if so is there something designed to do the job that could be recommended?

    Also I have seen various articles on midi controllers that I am not fully to speed with, but understand that they make the ability to be creative with FX and shortcuts easier.

    What are your comments in this area? I saw that the Korg nano pad was rated fairly well or would you suggest a more arcade button style of controller to get me started?

    My short tern plan is to set up a fairly basic studio at home to practice and learn and then extend this to hooking up to my mobile rig to take on the road and in the long term maybe to hooking up some residency/club work again.

    This leads to another question for those guys who play club sets. What do you guys do with regards hardware. In the past when we turned up at a club they all had the standard 1200/1210's and a mixer and away you went. Surely, digital djing makes the whole thing very equipment based and I can see that one would get very accustomed to using ones own equipment. Do you take your own mixer etc. and hook up to the house system or do you just make do with what they've already got?

    I know there's a lot of stuff I've covered above, but once I get a few answers from those who have done the initial stages before I will be able to move forward.

    Thanking you in anticipation of your reply


  2. #2
    Tech Mentor Krilikz's Avatar
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    Hi and Welcome!


    Not sure what PFL is so cant help you there.

    however with the MIC channel this is what you need to do. First you need to buy a soundcard for your computer (Due to the fact that running out of the 3.5 jack of your computer wont give enough audio quality nor will it give you the ability to separate the Main and Cue channels)
    http://www.djtechtools.com/2008/10/1...-we-reccomend/
    Then you need to route cables from the soundcard to an external mixer (So you will have the ability to add in more lines/mics)

    My suggestion is start messing with any midi controller you got till you pick up the VCI-100

    Hope this helps some
    Dj Krilikz‡ -

  3. #3
    Tech Wizard Whitey's Avatar
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    Hi Krilikz,

    Not sure what PFL is so cant help you there.
    PFL = Pre-Fade Listener - basicly to hear in the headphones channels pre-output with the main channel faders down.

    It doesn't need to be the whole mix output in my case, just the next channel I am going to use.

    Thanks for your swift reply

  4. #4
    Retired DJTT Moderator DvlsAdvct's Avatar
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    Hey Whitey. Welcome to the collective :-)

    You can preview PFL on Traktor. In fact, I've never seen an alternate setting.

    For the mic/sound card thing, You'd want an interface. I'm assuming you'll always be mixing internally and not using time codes or an external mixer. If that's the case than you just need a basic sound card with a master and monitor outs. Are you going to want to get involved in producing beats and loops?

    Good luck to you, sir.
    It's the FAQ. Read it.

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  5. #5
    Tech Wizard Whitey's Avatar
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    I have found an online DJ store here in the UK that are selling the VCI-100 with Audio Kontrol 1 for £484.00.

    Their price for the VCI-100 is £337.00

    Making the Audio Kontrol about £150.00

    Seems like a pretty good deal.

    I assume this will give me the necessary gizmos to get hooked up??


  6. #6
    Retired DJTT Moderator DvlsAdvct's Avatar
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    Yup. Worst case you might need a USB cable. But you'll just need two open USB 2.0 ports on your laptop and you'll be good to go :-)
    It's the FAQ. Read it.

    My Mixes, Mashups and Rants

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  7. #7
    Tech Wizard Whitey's Avatar
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    Thanks Devils Advocate - I assume that's it - you're missing some vowels.

    Cheers for the help.

  8. #8
    Retired DJTT Moderator DvlsAdvct's Avatar
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    Yeah, it makes it easier to print on fliers, and it's an instant conversation starter.

    "Dude, it took me all night to figure out what your DJ name means. Did you get it from the movie?"

    Oh, and it's no problem. Don't hesitate to ask questions around here :-)
    It's the FAQ. Read it.

    My Mixes, Mashups and Rants

    Divided we stand
    United we fall

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