Sold my soul. Hybrid set-up questions/concerns.

[heaps]

Background (Hey, it's my first thread! I think it's relevant to know):
I recently sold my wet dream guitar because it was collecting dust. I've been an electronic producer for roughly 4 years. Recently, I've taken an obsessive interest in live electronic music. From that, I really discovered DJing, and it's fun as hell. I practice non-stop, but found/find my setup limiting (Ableton + Launchpad + MPD26). I played one show with this (Great success!) before switching to Traktor, because I saw more immediate room for improv. I've made some sick 2-deck mappings for the Launchpad (They're meant to replace transport functions and should most effectively be used with an analogue mixer. I plan on posting videos/tsi's).
/rant

I'm turned off by all-in-one's for their general lack of quality and (obviously) modularity. Though, I'd love to be able to fit all of my gear into my lil' Namba. I'm looking into getting a DN-SC2000, and using it in conjunction with a more portable analog mixer (Ecler Nuo 2.0 or maybe a Xone:22). I've seen pictures of analog mixer + X1, but don't fully understand how to set them up.

Connections confuse me, and I find cables annoying. When I played my first show, I had one 1/4" connection out of my soundcard into a PA system.

1. If I used the hybrid setup I mentioned (Audio2DJ, DN-SC2000, Macbook, Ecler Nuo 2.0). I run both channels of the A2DJ (with 2 1/4"-to-RCA cables to separate phono inputs (Ch1 and Ch2 on the mixer). Then I have to use 2 sets of RCA-to-1/4" cables from the mixer's master output into 2 seperate channels on a PA? Can I properly get just one channel from my mixer?



2. What are the chances of this set-up maintaining portability and practicality? I understand DJ's don't often bring their own mixers to clubs (which I aspire to play in).

Thanks, and sorry for my lack of brevity!

[MrPopinjay]

You'll be running the outputs of the audio 2 into the LINE inputs of the mixer, not the phono, that will fuck up your pre-amps. You'll need one 1/4"-to-RCA cables per channel, so for you I guess that's 2.

You'll run one cable out the mixer's master out to the sound system, unless you want to make use of additional monitors etc. The whole point in a mixer is that it mixes multiple signals into one.

I'd just get some crappy cheap mixer with 3 band EQ and the number of channels you want for home use and then make use of the club's mixer when playing out. No point spending hundreds of quid on something that won't leave your bedroom.

Also since you're clearly syncing tracks are you use you want a controller like the DN-SC2000? It's designed to imitate a CDJ and as a result is more suited for beatmatching tracks. To be honest I think your launchpad or even something like the korg nanokontrol would be more suited for what you want to be doing. I mean jog wheels and high res long throw faders are useless to you.

P.S. I'd love to see how you're using the launchpad at the moment.
P.P.S. I just noticed that you have a mpd26. You could quite easily map that as a mixer you know... 6 knobs for 2 channels of EQ, 2 faders for levels and then you're left with a few more faders and pads for effects + transport controls.

[heaps]

P.S. I'd love to see how you're using the launchpad at the moment.
P.P.S. I just noticed that you have a mpd26. You could quite easily map that as a mixer you know... 6 knobs for 2 channels of EQ, 2 faders for levels and then you're left with a few more faders and pads for effects + transport controls.

Thanks for the response, it's all starting to connect.

The reason I want the DN-SC2000 is so that I can scrub through tracks in a more intuitive way than mapping beat jumps to the LP, also I'd like to have better manual control over the tempo so that I have more creative options for switching between songs with relatively drastic tempo changes. I'd also like to be able to learn some minimal scratching, etc. The LP is functional for me, don't get me wrong-- I just need more options.

The more I DJ, the more I revert back to a 2TT's-and a-mixer emulator type setup. It seems more intuitive, but I love the personalized creativity and out-of-the-box noises that digital allows me to pull off. I considered the X1 + a mixer, but I'd rather spend $50 more for a jogwheel, etc.

I've already got the MPD setup as a mixer, but the infinite encoders are crap for EQ's. The only way I can have FX knobs is with a modifier, and it's really glitchy/spastic (the EQ and FX parameters jump around). I haven't found anything spectacular in Traktor's software mixer.

Also, I'd like to eliminate plastic from my setup as much as possible.

As for my LP mapping: I'll see if I can throw a PDF together and upload the .tsi soon, if not make a video.

[MrPopinjay]

Well fair enough, that does make sense so long as you have the funds for it. I gotta admit I do love the control you get with turntables

Well if you did go for the X1's you could remap the endless encoders used for library browsing to work as a jog wheel if all you want to do is fuck with the phase a little for effect reasons. Personally I'd think you would find it hard to scratch on the tiny jog wheels you find on most controllers.

Yeah, anything that doesn't feel nice and firm and click in the middle is a royal pain for EQ. You know there is a soft takeover function right? So they don't jump about, they wait until the knob is in the position of the virtual knob.

Though to be honest if they are endless encoders they shouldn't jump at all... Endless encoders don't work like that. I know the mpd24 had an issue where the endless encoders for some retarded reason worked like standard old knobs and thus made them totally useless for remapping. Maybe the mpd26 has the same issue?

[Filterkat]

i too cant seem to get away from jog wheels. they just feel too natural for me. Having said that, i started on vynil, then moved from CDJ's and now controllers, but for a while i had a controller setup without any jog wheels... it just felt... wrong... so i got another controller with jogs, and although its not quite the same as Vinyl or DVS... it still does the trick.

[heaps]

I mapped the MPD26 encoders as knobs, because I couldn't get them to work properly as encoders (laziness on my part). They work fine that way without modifiers. Infinite encoders are great for dynamic controls (fuch as FX), but for static filters and EQ's they don't cut it (IMO).

I thought about using the encoders on the X1 to seek through tracks, but I don't need carpel tunnel this early in life

[heaps]

Another question popped into my head: Why is it that I need to run 2 cables from the audio 2, if there's really only one sound source? I'm assuming one for each deck.

[Ashigari]

if you run two decks you have two sound sources (songs) so you need two cables. if you run it that way you will mix externally so all EQ, vlume etc are done on the mixer

[heaps]

Oh, well that makes sense. Thanks!

BTW, just ordered my DN-S2000. I'll be borrowing my friends P.O.S. analog mixer with it for now (cheapest Stanton mixer ever made).

I think it'd be cool to get a club gig and only have to bring the DN-S2000, my soundcard, and my laptop. Then I get to take advantage of club standards some (their mixer).

Edit: It wouldn't be considered poor etiquette to unplug the CDJ's at a club to make room for my soundcard inputs, would it?