Purpose of 320kbps for analog DJing?

[regretfullySaid]

Really just mentioned FLAC because it seems to be ignored by people who ask about compressed audio.
And it does compress well at the highest setting but seriously, why the fuck would you bother with compressed music unless there is absolutely no other alternative? Or for effect

[ttilberg]

Lol.

Sorry you were destroyed for asking that question, for all the flaming that happened, people could have just said "Google it" and left it at that, or just ignored the question entirely. Or as some have been in recent posts, provide insightful comments. At the same time, asking about MP3 bitrate is about as exciting red meat troll bait as asking "what OS should I use," or "what laptop should I buy?" (please don't ask those questions )

My personal preference is to play nothing lower than 320, and sometimes I'll buy the .WAV of tracks I know are killer, and wan't to absolutely have maximum impact. People often state that "HD Space is so cheap! buy .WAV!" but there is also the extra $$$ associated with buying higher quality music. And maybe you don't want to use an external HD for holding your music. And maybe you have a massive sample library installed on your laptop, because you use it for production too... etc etc.

In short, you were flamed because everyone's situation is very different. Depending on what you are doing with your DJing career, the additional cost, and other factors might influence your choice. If you are happy with what you are doing, great. Realize that there will always be room for improvement in every aspect of your rig. No one starts out megaboss. Some are easier to affect than others, but you've gotta start somewhere right?

If you are playing for house parties, or some small/medium venues, 320 should always at least get you by, but what these guys are saying about a "statement of your quality" definitely holds true.

Another thing that is almost as important as high quality files, is to find an external soundcard if you don't already have one. A decent super super cheap option is the NI Audio 2.

Also, quick note:
Some tracks are encoded as Variable BitRate. 192 VBR sounds quite better than 192 constant BR. What ShadX said about the encoder used also makes a big splash. The biggest hint truly is "If it sounds like junk, trash it immediately."

[regretfullySaid]

I actually put in a FR for Live to do that for me ! I need to get one for work:p

[Tone Deft]

the knowledge the OP seeks can be found without going to strangers on the interweb to qualify what sounds good. do some work.



yes, 128kbps mp3s are what you should always DJ with but always pan them hard left and bounce to mono. you should ALWAYS use compression, EQ and reverb on everything all the time.

/thread

[Scyence]

Aite everyone, thanks again for all the info. Means a lot. Thanks to all the haters as well; it's makes me keep going. Honestly, I have learned a lot about the kbps in this entire rage thread and I appreciate it; regardless of your opinions of me and my question.

[Tone Deft]

man, you're completely enabled to tackle this stuff and come back being the guy that can say "I did this and I heard that. this matters, that doesn't matter so much, that sucks, this is pretty good." then when your friends want to TALK about what you should do you can get them to step off your nuts because you DID the exercise AND you're the one getting paid to DJ, they're sitting around talking.

[regretfullySaid]

Code: Select all

yes, 128kbps mp3s are what you should always DJ with but always pan them hard left and bounce to mono. you should ALWAYS use compression, EQ and reverb on everything all the time.

Dude wtf are you giving out free industry secrets for, that's like breaking the magicians code

[Tone Deft]

Monday morning slip up. damnit, I'm already on double secret probation with the AES Masons. let's just let this thread die.

[3dot...]

FLAC or STFU...

[Tone Deft]

FLAC or STFU...

Free Lossless Audio Codec

or

Sound Transfer File Utility?

[boderekstits]

there is no reason anyone should ever ever DJ with anything other than 320 or Lossless. If I go see you DJ at a club, and you are blasting 192 mp3's down my ear, you shouldn't be behind the decks. Period.

[smutek]

If I go see you post on the Ableton forum, and you are bumping year old threads to be a dick, then fuck you. Get the fuck outta here with that bullshit.

Agreed.

[boderekstits]

edited for a less dickhead response. sorry, I get fired up about this subject.

[Evengy]

i play nothing below 320kbps and since a few days i buy .flac only. atm im testing to use flac directly or using the live encoded .wav files for performance reasons. any suggestions?

the link shows the cut-off while compressing with different bit rates
http://www.whatinterviewprep.com/prepar ... -analysis/

i hope mp3 will die! die die die NOW!

[ze2be]

Flac all the way.

CD quality, but almost half size. Plus you get cower and proper tags.

20 years pro dj experience here. My own tracks I play 24bit/44.1khz
I play arround the globe on "top of the line" PAs like Fuction One. And I
would not dare to play any lesser audio quality then 16/44.1
If you are a pro, in the sence you get payed at popular venues and you
have fans that perhaps have traveled a long way to here you,
being a pro means you dont want to risk letting the audience down
in any way you can. Double backups, triple cables etc. You give your best.

I use Traktor. If you use CDs you dont need to bother with Flac.
Since Traktor can play Flac, and since I only have a 256 gb SSD,
it makes sence to save some storage. That, and you usually get
cower graphics taged for you, if you buy/download Flac.

I wish Beatport and other bigies would sell ready made Flacs.
They only sell wav and mp3s, so I have to convert wavs to Flac.
Often the cower graphics on Beatport is shity quality, so I have to
google search or go through discogs to get readable/usable cowers.
And the most painfull part is having to load every single cower, one
by one inside Traktor.