Seriously considering selling everything…

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Seriously considering selling everything…

Well…almost everything.

Tell me if I’m insane.

I don’t want to get into a controller vs. old-school debate, because I do respect what controllers provide people. But after a couple years, I’m starting to really think it’s not for me. I don’t spin at home at all anymore, mostly because I hate setting and editing beat grids.

Seriously…I hate beat grids. I hate them worse than Bruce Willis hates mayonaise. I’ve finally gotten to the point where it’s worth the money just to have my pitch faders back.

Anyway, the short-term goal would be to get my old vestax repaired or replaced (with an Empath or another Vestax of some kind), sell my xone, controllers, and sound cards, find a pair of used 1200s, find a used SL1…and stop.

Why SSL as opposed to TSP? Vinyl scroll. The one thing I’d actually want an X1 to do with TSP, SSL does with vinyl. I’ve bought and sold it twice, and I still think it wins the DVS arena unless you’re doing a lot of controllerist shit that doesn’t appeal to me. If I want hot cues or loops, I’ll use doubles.

Long term, I’d probably want to add an MPC 1000, Octatrack, or MC-909 (or something like it). I’d use Maschine except that it can’t control tempo more precisely than full BPM adjustments. And eventually, I’d like to just have a pair of CDJs and a pair of 1200s and kick the laptop out of the booth entirely. I suppose I could map two knobs on Maschine’s midi mode to Ableton and use that just as a more precise clock…but that seems really overkill.

And, no, I don’t plan on using Rekordbox beat grids either.

The funny thing is that I’d essentially be going straight back to the setup I started spinning on, after years of experimentation, plus a groove box as my 3rd deck instead of the loads of other things I tried (which ranged from a 3rd 1210 to a full Ableton Live rig).

Realistically, I’d probably not bother bringing the DVS out anywhere. Controlling a DVS with CDs is stupid, and while a lot of the places I’d spin have turntables, it would be easier to just bring USB keys and a groove box…plus a few pieces of vinyl just 'cuz why not.

I said it once before, but sync is literally killing my love of DJing. And it’s not because it’s cheating or too easy…I don’t buy into that crap at all. It’s because setting beat grids fucking sucks.

I never want to set another beat grid in my life.

Thoughts?

2

Do it. Name of the game is having fun and you aren’t having fun.

Out of curiosity what do you use the groove box for? 3 rd deck with your own loops?

3

Sure man why not, if you’re not enjoying it on traktor then make a switch. If you’re not enjoying it I don’t really see the point of doing anything unless you DJ for a living.

I have to say I don’t really understand the fuss some people have with setting beat grids since traktor auto gridding works 90% of the time and when it doesn’t I can delete the grid and fix it in under 10 seconds while DJing.

4

I’d do it man. I don’t have the same enjoyment on any controller than I do on turntables or even CDJ’s. I also enjoy the streamline approach to SSL much more. I just got a Tascam XS-8 on ebay for 150.00 bucks and 1200’s can be found cheap. Same for an SL1 box (but I’d probably dish out and get an SL2). It’s small investment and you can always add the X1 to your set up for loops, and SSL effects which aren’t half bad.

5

Actually you probably hate beatgrids since you use small deck mode to DJ with and can’t see them. I mix in normal deck mode unless I am using DVS and feel like beatmatching then I don’t want to see waveforms or anything. When I load a track into normal view I can instantly see if a beatgrid is off and it is quick to fix it, I guess you can’t tell in small deck view and would have to switch to another layout just to get access to the beatgrid menu and edit it so I could see why that is annoying and you set your beatgrids beforehand. For my workflow there is no reason to even really bother.

I definitely have more fun mixing with DVS so I can see why you want to switch, and I kind of liked SSL for pure DVS a little better than traktor.

6

Wait hold up “Bruce Willis hates mayonaise”

His elderly years are gona suck without a cucumber mayo sammich for afternoon tea :stuck_out_tongue:

In regards to ya post though.

I would say to do what ever brings happiness and enjoyment to you. It is really an easy answer. Well unless $ is an issue. If in which case it is then find a way to make it enjoyable, otherwise you will end up resenting it all together like an old ex girlfriend.

7

Yes. You should. There’s just something about two turntables and a mixer pretty much beats anything else out there. There is nothing in between you in the music, which is probably the best part of it all.

8

It’s not your job - it’s your hobby. You have hobbies because they make you happy. Do what makes you happy.

FWIW, I don’t understand the emphasis you’re placing on beat gridding. I’ve probably gridded about 100 of the 4000ish songs in my active directory, and it’s never been an issue. Use the grid to get you close, finger it in the rest of the way manually. If you see that your track analysis is off, tap a new tempo and you’re done.

It doesn’t need to be a big part of your preparation - especially if you’re DJing for fun.

9

Go for it if you feel it will bring the fun back.

10

Wait for maschine update for a more precise bpm…you know its coming.

11

Me either. I usually tweak the grid ever so slightly the first time I load the track and am previewing it, and thats it. Takes probably 5 seconds tops.

12

If that’s where your heart is, then go for it.

Hm, TSP has this on both sides of the record as you may already be aware.
edit - I guess the kicker here is the two zones for track scrolling and crate scrolling in SSL?

13

i absolutely understand that, and wouldn’t do anything other than you ;o)

i bought an X1 controller to sneak into the DVS thing and try it out and get used to it, … and LOL i HATED this fucking beatgridding so much, like you ^^

so i beatgridded 20 songs, tried to play them and found out that i want to play tracks after 2-3 songs that i not mentioned before (i NEVER done any premade set, i tried often but i never made it, at the latest when i am at the party, i always play tracks out of my collection i not prepared for this evening) which is kinda fucking retard without a jog and a pitchfader ^^

so i give the DVS another try with an denon sc2000 which has these two features, and when “the feeling” is not there also, i go back to my CDJ’s ;o)

14

i ditched abelton and traktor because i felt similarly, and now i play on cdj’s. beat-matching by ear and playing on cd’s is pretty satisfying. With my cdj-900s and a djm-900 i have almost all the basic looping and and effects of traktor plus it is a way more hands on and organic way to mix.

15

this does the trick for me, sometimes i have no idea how many bpm’s the tracks have i am mixing together at this moment but i do ;o)

i ride the pitch fader hard and suddenly it matches, having no idea at which bpm i am at the moment but nobody cares either ^^

16

100% agree with this. I did the same. Went traktor, went back to cdjs. I hated beatgridding all the time, and whatever. I just wanna download a track and go play it without worrying it could be way off.

17

do it. I too was at that point where it just doesn’t feel right and I didn’t know exactly what is was. Bought some turntables and scratch and never looked back. Although I’ve got 2 X1’s for hybrid stuff like cue points and looping, but that’s all the controllerism I’m doing.

18

Auto-griding has never worked for me. Not once. Neither did Live’s auto-warping. Either Traktor and Ableton both hate me or my ears are better than yours…or something else is going on. Even if it gets the BPM spot on (Traktor does that better than Ableton) it never finds the first downbeat correctly.

And I’m not that attached to small view. I have the full view available with 1 keystroke. I’m not willing to look at the laptop for that long or touch it while I’m playing. When I’m in my room, it feels weird. When I play out, it also looks weird, and too much of this game is about appearances.

Besides, the whole point of Sync is supposed to be because it saves time, right? That doesn’t save time.

Mostly for production.

For DJing, I use it to write drum parts and fills on the spot for in-track transitions or breakdowns that I don’t want to entirely skip but don’t want to lose energy with either.

There were videos of Ritchie Hawtin and Dubfire using Maschine at some expo/gig thing somewhere. Basically…I do that, except I started doing it before I knew they were and they’re better at it than me because they’ve been producing and working with groove boxes a lot longer.

I’ve also used it to just load songs that aren’t quite done yet and play them, jumping through scenes and playing fills.

Maschne isn’t quite as powerful as Ableton for this, but what it lacks in power it seems to make up for in speed (of some things). But an Octatrack or MPC would work just as well and not need a computer for when I play out.

No, I did not know that. If that’s the case, then it’s going to come down to how customizable the SSL GUI is. I’ve decided I don’t care about Traktor’s midi clock, since that would require me to still set beat grids. If I use Maschine, it’ll be hosted in Live with ATC on a 3rd turntable…and I guess that really depends on how Maschine reacts to ATC. I probably won’t know how that works until I get a chance to try it.

Whichever UI I can get closer to just being a browser is the one I’m going to use, and SSL has a serious bump if it still has the cover art browser from a few versions ago.

Thanks for the words of advice, everyone. I’m going to record a mix tonight just to make sure, and if I’m not very impressed, expect to see most of the equipment in my sig up for sale this weekend (You’d have to pry my HD25s out of my cold, dead fingers…and Maschine is sticking around)
19

might be interested in one of your x1s…

20

Yeah, like alot have said above, if you’re not happy doing it, dont do it. Hobbys are to keep you sane, so it needs to be the thing that can always put you in a better mood. Just my opinion though