Preferred file format for DJing

nagyember · Post by **nagyember** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:30 am

Hi!

I plan to use Ableton mainly for DJing, and I heard different things about preferred file formats. A friend of mine told me that Ableton kinda renders (?) a temporary wave file from any compressed type when used, so it's not worth storing my music as mp3s. Since I use a laptop, where file size is crucial (I know I know i know quality is crucial as well) I should know what file type(s) to prefer as a DJ.
( tried to search this Forum, but couldn't find any relevant... If this issue has already been discussed, please drop me a link.)

Thanks in advance

Nixon · Post by **Nixon** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:47 am

true, ableton converts mp3's in waves before it actually uses it. They are in your decoding cache folder, wich you can "cleanup" (remove all non-referenced converted files) in preferences. I recommend you do this regularly if you watch out for you HDD space.
I now convert all mp3's in advance to waves, so I have a clear overview of my files.

DJ VAKIS · Post by **DJ VAKIS** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:55 am

waves have better quality

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:08 am

as i am on a Mac AIFF or Waves. absolut no mp3s for me, not even on an ipod

Nixon · Post by **Nixon** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:12 am

as i am on a Mac AIFF or Waves. absolut no mp3s for me, not even on an ipod

can you hear the difference on an ipod??? even at 320??

Cryptic UK · Post by **Cryptic UK** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:18 am

AAC sound quality is much better than mp3s and over all sounds good and also takes up very little space.

you guys using aiff or wav how many hard drives do you have because if i had my whole music collection in aiff or wav i would have a ridiculous amount.

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:26 am

nixon wrote:

can you hear the difference on an ipod??? even at 320??

NO! not on an ipod, especially not with the original ipod headphones, they suck!

but i hate mp3s and don't see the point of having them at all, a 320kbs file is pretty much the same size as an AIFF or Wave, so why having all those different file types flying around? apples Ipods take full Files, and if i give a friend a tune or take it to a large system for playback, i have quality... all the way!

i only use mp3s if i have to mail someone very quaickly a tune for quick listening / checking. song / arrangement, etc. otherwise for me mp3s are a no go.

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:30 am

cryptic UK wrote:

you guys using aiff or wav how many hard drives do you have because if i had my whole music collection in aiff or wav i would have a ridiculous amount.

i have 3 drives right now, one system and two large audio drives and about to purchase another audio drive. (i do all my back-ups on quality DVDs (tayo yuden or verbatim super AZO) for longtime storage)

nagyember · Post by **nagyember** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:26 pm

Guys, I'm convinced.

Of course, wav is the quality, and these digital download sites seem to accept this. For only 50 cent more, you can get the wav version... (1,49$ for 320kbps mp3, 1,99$ for the wav). Quite nice.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:58 pm

a 320kbs file is pretty much the same size as an AIFF or Wave

you're smoking crack, I call bullshit!

Nixon · Post by **Nixon** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 2:14 pm

I think that if the wav is 70 mb, the 320 mp3 will be 10-15mb I think

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 2:16 pm

I think that if the wav is 70 mb, the 320 mp3 will be 10-15mb I think

that's a far cry from half

SubFunk · Post by **SubFunk** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 2:40 pm

my apologies!

despite the non use of any kind of mp3s from my side...
(sorry that i never paid any attention to the actual size of the mp3 file, only to the sound, and here are the short comings)

here are the figures:

i took a 16bit 44.1khz AIFF file with the size of 54.6mb

and converted it with peak5 to a 320kbs 16bit mp3 file size: 12.6mb

if storage is from concern, fine. it's not a subject in my case.
i prefer sound over saved cheap HD space.

cheers

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 2:46 pm

Stereo 16bit 44.1KHz AIFFs/WAVs are about 10MB/min.

That's over 10,000 stereo track-minutes, or almost 3,500 3-minute stereo tracks on a 100GB drive, which is small by today's standards. Many laptops have even larger internal drives, and small external drives have never been cheaper.

IMO, no need to waste time with MP3s or any other compression scheme and the associated encoding, decoding, and potential quality loss issues.

5dots · Post by **5dots** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 2:49 pm

Since I don't like the idea of playing out with an external drive (seems WAY too risky to me), storage is a big issue. I have a few wavs, from before Live allowed mp3s, but mostly I use mp3s. They're almost all at least 192kbs, with a good number substantially higher. Though I'll be honest - there's a few that are lower (though I don't think anything's lower than 160). But the thing is - nobody can tell the difference. I'm certainly not slagging anyone who wants to be certain that everything's quality; I can understand that. But for the most part, sound quality has much more to do with the system that you're on, and in most clubs, no one's going to notice the difference between 192, 320, and wav.

Though if I were really concerned about quality and space, I'd use flac since Live 6 will be supporting it.