Mixtrack pro vs Mixtrack+DJI/O?

[petegt]

mixtrack + soundcard. The built in sound card really isnt great. I have a mixtrack and tried using one of those cheap usb stick soundcards for my headphones but my laptop and usb soundcards were out of time making mixing difficult.

Would recommend a creative soundblaster live 5.1 usb sound card. It looks like this:

I bought mine for £10 at a second hand shop thinking that it will do until i can afford a proper dj soundcard. BUT this thing is realllly good. I run Traktor 2 + Asio4All and am getting 0.7ms latency with all 6 channels running (master/headphone/record out). Asio4all runs on its fastest settings with this sound card no problem on any pc I have tried it on. The only downside is the strengh of the output signal is abit low 0.9/1Vrms so the max volume in traktor has to be below -3db to avoid distortion.

[LmnLm3]

Peget, you got a deal champ, those things are more expensive at retail than the DJ I/O and the Audio2DJ.

The creative cards are like 150+ (can get them for like 90 though) and the DJ I/O retails at like 100 and you can find them for 50 (all new prices)

I'll test some things out with a dongle I just found out my wife has for a gaming headset and see what's up. I'll report back when I get a new charger for my laptop (mine just ripped in two last night. Perfect, right?)

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Also, since it's settled that I don't need the built in card in the MixtrackPro, do I even need a Mixtrack?

My setup right now is a Launchpad and a Korg nanoKontrol (v1)

I use pot9 for xfade, works fine for blending and mixing, other faders and buttons for fx generally (a couple for pitch and vol, but I don't use them that much...yet...)

I haven't even really started to get serious yet, though, because I want to be in my gear and then learn my equipment. (I already have a grasp on beatmatching and cuing up tracks)

Would you guys gig with just a LP+nano? or would you go for longer throw pitch faders and jogs for pitch bending and what not? (maybe I should open a new thread for that question...)

[petegt]

Ohh didnt know these things were worth money haha £10-20 seems to be the going rate for second hand ones here in the UK.

Do you need a mixtrack? thats a hard question!

I'v been eyeing up the novation twitch which has no jogs but does have a mixer section. It also has the touch strip which looks really handy.

The thing i like about jogs is the ease of finding cue points but there must be many ways arround this.

Dont think I could live without a proper mixer section though.

[zestoi]

Would you guys gig with just a LP+nano? or would you go for longer throw pitch faders and jogs for pitch bending and what not? (maybe I should open a new thread for that question...)

personally i tend to use sync and then move the track around with jogs a bit if needed. if using something like sync to get the tracks mostly together then an encoder probably makes more sense than a fader. using a fader would get u more used to the traditional way of doing it - but i think u need to set the pitch range in the fairly low %'s else u wont be able to make fine enough adjustments. what with a normal midi message only having 128 values etc.

I'v been eyeing up the novation twitch which has no jogs but does have a mixer section. It also has the touch strip which looks really handy.

The thing i like about jogs is the ease of finding cue points but there must be many ways arround this.

Dont think I could live without a proper mixer section though.

i do love the touch strips on my pair of scs.3d's and are a really cheap way to add a touch surface into a setup if bought 2nd hand.

must admit i still like jogs too tho...

[LmnLm3]

I started not using Sync lately (for using A Capellas traktor is a moron) so I've been having that frustration with the 128 midi values - had to up the range to 100% for some of the songs because they were way out of whack. Must be a way to force set bpm for a track...

Anyway, maybe I should be using an analogue mixer... I do like being able to record in the box without going out, but then again I've never played out so maybe my mind would change...

I am going to be a go getter, and I'm doing this (partly!) for the money, my classical composition isn't bringing in any money, and I'm seeing DJing as the NEW JAZZ which I'm psyched about as a philosophy...

So I'm trying to get set properly so I can get out and play some house parties, some frat parties, some birthday parties, maybe weddings (if I must...) and all that.

Not trying to be a sell out, just trying to be realistic about living as an artist! I don't have a day job, I'm a stay at home dad. My music (in all shapes and forms) is my life's work.

Can't live as a slave to your own high standards, right?

[bass.pr0]

I recently sold my old mixtrack so that I could buy a kontrol x1. I'm actually considering purchasing the x-session in the future, but we'll see. Anyway, that's not the point.

Right now, I'm making the assumption that you have Traktor so that won't weigh in on the decision between pro/standard. In my personal opinion, I would buy the regular mixtrack and buy a nice quality soundcard. Right now, I'm stuck in a similar situation because I sold my mixtrack pro so I'm stuck without an interface for a little until I can put down the money. I've worked on setting up a cheap $2 soundcard for cueing and whatnot, but it can prove to be difficult on OS X depending on the card.

EDIT: sorry, didn't see the second page here. Hope this can help a little anyway.

[LmnLm3]

With either a mixtrack (or an x-session I suppose) I could go out without the LP (not sure if the LP is really an out-of-studio piece of kit, you know?)

and maybe that's why I feel like I need another piece of gear... Or maybe I need to make a comprehensive 2 deck LP map (I'm new to DJing and trying to set hotcues (8/track) and loops and samples all in the same go, usually without cuing)

BTW - the USB soundcard didn't play well with Traktor on the mac - different sample rate on different devices in the aggregate made Traktor drunk. and crash. So I have my phones plugged into one of the surround sound jacks and using output 3/4 for cue. But for the laptop, it's running windows, so the USB *should* be ok with ASIO4ALL.

I'll look into that x1 again... while that sale is still going on for bundled traktor pro. Has anyone gigged with an x1 and nothing else? (or with an x-session or just with a regular mixer)

Or is that for FX and not for eq? I have so many buttons on the nano that I confuse myself sometimes - the x1 looks nice and ergonomic, but I did only pay $30 for the nanokontrol.

I'm chasing myself in circles because if I blow a purchase it really sets me back in terms of when I can get out there. Gotta make each one count, you know? (At least I knew I could resell the LP for probably the same price I paid for it, I got it so cheap...)

[zestoi]

With either a mixtrack (or an x-session I suppose) I could go out without the LP (not sure if the LP is really an out-of-studio piece of kit, you know?)

i don't see why it wouldnt be cool to play out with - nice and portable and well made and all.

I'll look into that x1 again... while that sale is still going on for bundled traktor pro. Has anyone gigged with an x1 and nothing else? (or with an x-session or just with a regular mixer)

some people have said that they've played with only an X1. i think usually people use it for effects rather than eq etc - but i've seen mappings here that turn it more into a traditional mixer too. just no xfader ofc.

I'm chasing myself in circles because if I blow a purchase it really sets me back in terms of when I can get out there. Gotta make each one count, you know? (At least I knew I could resell the LP for probably the same price I paid for it, I got it so cheap...)

i wish launchpads would drop a bit in price but they dont seem to be... i picked mine up for 80quid new and they're still going for around that 2nd hand on uk ebay.

[LmnLm3]

i got mine 120usd idk what the exchange rate is like these days. I remember it was steady at 2.25usd for 1gbp not so hot anymore though :-/

[zestoi]

i got mine 120usd idk what the exchange rate is like these days. I remember it was steady at 2.25usd for 1gbp not so hot anymore though :-/

google says that thats equal to 75gbp so about the same. things always seem to be a bit/lot cheaper in the usa anyway

can't ever really lose much money on that price. i can't see how they could go below 2/3 of that in a loooong long time - unless some new super uber technology comes along that renders all midi devices obsolete - which is doubtfull.