Question for da pro's

[Kraig]

To those that have been spinnin for some time now...

Since I am the FNG (Fuc$%&#ing New Guy) when it comes to spinnin, I am curious to know how you are recording your sets. IE: is it easier to use a Digital Mini-Disc player or what? Rather than hookin up a computer to things that is.

Just curious.

[Special-K]

hook it up to your computer. The sound quality will be much better. The only time i hook my minidisk player up to my mixer is when i want to listen to my new records on the bus to school.

The sound quality might be better on those $600 MD players but i kinda doubt it.

[ƒORM]

Either way works for me.

I've used both direct connect from mixer to the pc and then MD via cable connect to the pc. In my opinion they sound equally fair for most applications. My MD was closer to the 500 range when it first came out so as specialk said it might have some bearing on the final sound. This MD has an optical out which I would eventually like to test.

:y:

[Sean]

I just hook it into my computer, and use Cool Edit to get rid of the line noise. Perfect quality, and easy to cut into tracks for burning.

[cheeseburger]

md is way easier IMO
just plug and play

moving computers is not fun.. i find it a pain in the ass..

if your computer is in the same room its way cheaper to buy a cable.


I prefer MD for a number of reasons..
I can take it anywhere.. review my set on the road
i can record sets anywhere.. just find an extra output and away we go!
45-90 minute wav files are HUGE and take up lots of room


my 2 cents

[Sir_K]

Kraig:

MD all the way man.

If you set your MD player to EP you will degrade the quality to MONO and if you're making a set for CD burning you wont be able to take advantage of the extra length anyway.

Ironically, as for the quality issue, everyone should know that vinyl has the 25% of the fidelity of a CD, so regardless of the minor artifacts you may get on a MD (which has about 80% of the fidelity of a CD) when encoding with the built in ATRAC encoder (the compression algorhythm for MD) the worst that can happen is that the ATRAC will filter out the pops and hisses from the needle because it will figure you dont want to hear them anyway.

Gotta love modern technology :) I've got two MDs.. one component and one portable. Why they arent more popular, I dont know.

[Akeel]

ideally i would like to go straight out digital to digital using the new tascam mixer and have a sound card with optical input or digital right in...i think that would be the most ideal way to go...but so far using rec outputs to my line level 64 bit sound card works fine for me, then i use samplitude to tweak any line noise or hiss, etc.


actually this made me think about something else...has anyone tried recording directly to an mp3 player, live or at home? i know there are a few out there that could work, but has anyone tried it?

[Wood]

i use both... md is great if you wanna record a set at the club, or wherever, or just wanna record some tunes to listen to in the 'phones.
if i'm recording a mix for CD, i'll drop it straight on to my comp. my decks are set up right next to it so it's no hassle, then i can burn it right away without having to bounce it from the mD onto the comp. but i believe sir k is correct, the sound quality isn't an issue if you're recording from vinyl in the first place.

[Dj_K2]

Im not pro but if your good with those hipnotik boys you can do a mix there & they will filter it out for ya & make it sound nice, they may charge ya like a couple bukcs though!

[patticus]

im a lil' annoyed w/ my comp cuz the crappy celeron processor always leaves me w/ glitches in my recording. after about 10, 15 minutes it kicks in.. really brutal.

but for tracksplitting,as sean said, cool edit pro is perfect

[WBJ]

MD definitely has its advantages for being easy to play/listen back anywhere. thats fine if all you want to do is critique your set.
BUT

pc recording allows to manipulate your digital audio(recorded set) either breaking it into seperate tracks, adding samples throughout your mix and other endless editing/effects options
neither system can improve the quality of your sound, as mentioned before vinyl sends a mono signal with tons of audio artifacts.using a pc to record will only prevent the sound quailty from getting worse

[djmarkpaul]

As an alternative to MD you should look into a DAT player, highest quality bit rate for a portable device...catch is they stopped making them so atleast the tapes are cheap but you will only most likely find them in E-bay. The RCA converter add on is like an extra bill or so aswell.

markpaul :384:

[Sir_K]

good words MP. I forgot about the DATs...

Those were really good. 1:1 digital recording, unline 4:1 ATRAC on a MD.

Too bad the electronics industry forgot about them like I did..

:)

[jmzD]

i would hook straight in to your computer, then you have a clean signal, but minidisc does work for when you are on the go (and not haveing a capable laptop)

[Kraig]

Hmmmm... thanks for all your responses everyone. I would totally hook my computer up to my mixer but I am using a laptop for pretty much everything I do. Doesn't really have the horsepower (in my opinion) to do what I need it to do. I think I am gonna be looking at some of those MDP.

Peace.

[automatic]

i use the mini-disc to record my set, i haven't noticed any noticeable sound degradation, although it is always possible that they'd sound "much" better if i went mixer-computer rather than mixer-md-computer. personally i like having the md hard copy. the md rocks for a club setting. just remember to do two things:

set your line levels fairly low. md clips (sound cuts out entirely) if it goes over the max line, and this tens to happen as djs tend to ride the levels and push them higher and higher all night long. plus if you have an MC the vocal line often creates sharp spikes that can leave you with a recording that has lots of gaps in it.

secondly, when you have it all set up for recording, you've pressed record, and you're about to put it down and walk away for 74 minutes, always always always, set it to lock position, so it can't stop recordings. some minidiscs stop and start if they lose signal (ie a quiet breakdown, rewind etc), and some skip or start new tracks if they are faced with excessive vibration/heat.

cheers