The sync button is saving my life & I dont like it!!

[deevey]

He's comparing an entertaining activity with monotonous tasks.

Its entertaining doing it in a scenario where its comfortable too and circumstances permit you to do it as you always do.

Not so entertaining where your job and rep depend on working with an unfamiliar (and from the sounds of it) uncomfortable noise levels in order to mix the way you regularly do....I've seen plenty of Local and Big names alike making a hash of mixing at the likes of festivals/stadiums etc due to crappy monitoring - If your concentrating 50% on the mix, your only giving 50% to the crowd.

One venue I was working in had a 15k Rig for the venue and a 5k rig in the DJ box on stage for monitors due to the sound reflection (it was converted cathedral!).

I reckon the in-ear-monitors are probably your best bet mate, maybe run though a separate headphone amp from the record/booth out so if you want you can use your phones as regular ol' one-ear-off without destroying your hearing.

[MrPopinjay]

Your extensive and well written post gives me a lot to ponder, vox5505, I fear my outlook on life shall never be quite the same again.

[fullenglishpint]

..

epic. post of the year.

[sobi]

I wouldnt say I lack experience. I been DJing for years man. More a case of not bein used to the system. To be fair this is definitely the biggest venue I have played so getting used to the boominess is new to me. Big high ceilings and shit dont help with sound reflection.

As I said... a lack of experience.
Don't take it as a knock man. Unless you're traveling the globe, chances are you have a lack of experience in one way or another. In your case, it's in the scenario you're talking about. Like I said... take a moment out of your set, and just go balls to the wall and forget sync. Get an actual feel for the physical aspect of how your going to do it manually. I'm sure you'll get it fine after a few mixes.

[Bisimoto]

the club where i mix has no monitors,

[decon]

Honestly I find it easier to mix purely in headphones than with headphones and monitors.

You can get ministry of sound branded ER20s? Weird.

Noob question incoming: What does it mean to purely mix in the headphones instead of just headphones and monitors? How is the setup?

[MrPopinjay]

I set both channels to play through the headphones, beatmatch them, take the headphones off and then mix the tracks.

[decon]

I set both channels to play through the headphones, beatmatch them, take the headphones off and then mix the tracks.

Right so... on my VCI-100 SE I've got a knob called MIX and goes from PGM to MST. Mixing in the headphones would be having the MIX knob to MST? (I hear both playing deck, a vol = 100%, b vol = 0%).

[fullenglishpint]

I find it easier with mono split cueing, ie cue on one side and master on the other, but sadly traktor doesn't support that.

[dodge]

Just thought I'd post a little update. Avoided hitting the sync button. All went well. Went b2b with another DJ, as in him on 1 set of decks, me on another simultaneously (no possibility for me to hit sync with his set-up)... all went well. Burnt off a load of CD's, didn't even set up Traktor... all went well. Turned up purely with CD's... all went well. In fact I have been smashing it out. Im loving it! Been playing after some big DJ's too, really happy!!

From now on Im not even bothering with Traktor, it's all about going back to 2 TT's (well, CDJ's) and a mixer for me. Dunno why I didn't do this before. It felt so liberating not having a load of shit to plug in while thousands of people are in front of me. I felt so free and was able to just get back to bare-bones DJing when I didnt have a screen to stare at and a controller to think about.

Dont get me wrong, Im not saying Traktor aint for me any more. I will most definitely be using it for gigs of like 5 hour plus sets with a varied audience. But for like a 2-3 hour set in a nightclub... just being able to rock up and rock out without a load of faffing about is the best feeling!