DJ Setup

dovemouse · Post by **dovemouse** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 10:18 am

I'm just getting into using Live as DJ software and i'm thinking of buying some equipment to make the experience a little more natural.

First of i'm getting a Maya 44 sound interface with 4 output channels.
I also have a monome for triggering the tracks.
The next thing im having trouble deciding.

I have the choice of buying a tradtional DJ mixer and send the seperate track outputs to the respective channels on the mixer. This means i can use the computer as the turntable as it were and then the mixer can do everything.
Or get M-Audio's X-Session Pro and assign stuff to midi al inside ableton.
Or forget about the mixer and assign faders and stuff on the monome.
They all have their perks.

1) With the Dj mixer can easily listen to cues and use the EQs etc.
2) With MIDI everything is happening on the laptop and i have a few buttons and knobs to play with effects etc. I can still use cueing but it would take a little setting up.
3) The idea of doing a complete DJ set with a monome and no need for a laptop is awesome but the resolution of the sliders and crossfader would be terrible.

I'm also looking for some monitors, i'm a student so im super low on cash atm.I was looking at the Alesis 520s but if someone can suggest something cheaper but still fairl decent, go for it

Anyone got any thoughts.
Thanks a lot.

parisapartment · Post by **parisapartment** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:48 pm

The 520's are a great choice in my opinion ad would go looking at anything considering your budget. Nice.

thoffir · Post by **thoffir** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:46 pm

keep monome, get xsession pro if you want to mix within ableton and few f/x is enough for you (using some monome keys you can setup more than on just xsession). buy a card to have cue posibility.

after you buy xsession start saving on korg zero4 mixer. korg also includes midi controller and 8in/16out card so you saving a lot of money as you are geting 3 devices in one via one cable into your computer. plus amazing resampling/routing posibilities. no single analog in has to be used! if you can stick with few effects xsession wil be enough, thats the only of its drawbacks.

those two devices represents best money:value and not touching keyboard/mouse ratio. i own both and use only as two separate configurations.

i was able to create decent mapping on xsession pro which i bought earlier, only after playing with for few hours - i can give you some hints if you want.

ps. the only missing midi mapping so far in ableton is to walk left/right through tracks on the session view - which can be fixed by external midi software.

dovemouse · Post by **dovemouse** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:16 pm

thanks a lot for the help. i think i'll go for the x-session as i'll be able to assign sliders and stuff to whatever i want. what's the build quality like on it? does it feel like it'll last?
That korg zero 4 sounds well tasty but it looks way out of my price range, definately a future investment.

Im still waiting for my student loan to come through so until then i can't really do anything!

Atomikat · Post by **Atomikat** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:41 am

My "Dj" set up consists of Laptop (Macbook Pro),soundcard (RME Multiface),an external HD (LaCie 320Gb) and a Midi controller (UC33e), that's it. Live is my mixer,effects unit,instrument,sound destroyer, e-mail checking machine (just kidding...

) ...I can Cue (I really don't need to do it). Why do you want to carry a mixer to the show? all clubs in the world have a mixer.

dovemouse · Post by **dovemouse** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:56 am

Okay cool, i don't really need a mixer a such just a midi controller but the x-session pro is nice because it has a crossfader. The rest of the controls on there i will probably assign to effects and stuff.
I reckon ill have some effects going on on my monome, eight sliders (four for each 'deck'). If you can think of a better controller in the same price range as the x-session give me a shout.

Patch · Post by **Patch** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 11:29 am

Crossfaders are for scratching. There is absolutely no need for a midi controller with a cross fader. You're better off with a controller like the BCR2000 - at least then you unlikely to run out of knobs! (To me, the new x-session is just a midi recreation of a standard dj mixer... Far too toy like for my liking...)

dovemouse · Post by **dovemouse** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:32 pm

I wouldn't say that crossfaders are soley for scratching. There isn't really an advantage of a crossfader over a standard slider or knob (when using midi) apart from user friendliness so having a crossfader just seems really intuitive.
The BCR2000 looks good but with all those knobs it would be easy to loose track of which does what.
The layout of the x-session pro is much nicer (in my opinion) because there is a clear divide between the two 'decks' which is preferable for DJ sets.
An extra £40 isn't too bad for all those extra controls though.
Let me know what you think.

zumba · Post by **zumba** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:20 pm

when i dj with Live at a gig
I ALWAYS use an external mixer and send multiple channels out from my soundcard (MOTU ultralite) - I do this because i find it simpler, cleaner and sounds way better in the mix... also i can use the headphone cue system on the mixer which is fater and easier for me than the one in Ableton... Also the Eq's on a DJ mixer are way more intuitive and reliable than using the ones on a midi controler.... Although LIVE's eqs do rock and i will sometimes use them anyway with the mouse/trackpad for additional filtering etc...
I use my UC33 more for live shows... or if there is no dj mixer available and then i assign the master channel to the crossfader... cause yes a crossfader ROCKS for ALL types of mixing....

Gear wise... there is no better controller i have seen then the Zero 4/8 and would love one of them.... but until i start getting paying gigs (ie. real money) I will stick with the gear i have....

good luck...
s;]

zumba · Post by **zumba** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:20 pm

ooops posted that twice.....

dovemouse · Post by **dovemouse** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:28 am

Thanks!
I know exactly what you mean about the cueing, ableton live seems to be a bit unituitive when it comes to that.
I think what im going to do is get the x-session pro and an oxygen 8 and i should have enough controls to play around with.
Then in a year or so, i'll look into getting a uc33 or bcr2000

Or...bite the bullet and get a bcr2000 now...
I guess i'll have to see how much of my student loan will be left over after living expenses!

Patch · Post by **Patch** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:42 am

I love my UC-33e. Love it. But I've heard good things about the BCR2000 too.

dovemouse · Post by **dovemouse** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:18 pm

Yeah, i like the idea of having a few sliders but the bcr2000 is cheaper and there's more controls. Probably means its not quite as well built but i might try it out somewhere.

UglyT · Post by **UglyT** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 11:00 am

Hi

I use a Novation Remote Zero SL for DJing. All the features I could ever want, and no mapping required - it does it all for you for every instrument, all FX etc.
As for a crossfader, I have a massive rotary controller on my soundcard, which I map to the crossfader. I then use this not for crossfading between tracks in the usual way, but I set up a Send & Return on the B side of the crossfader with delay and some other FX.
This then allows me to dial in the FX using the crossfader for any master output, and can be used to great effect when I'm playing live.
I use Ableton when DJing as more of a live remix tool, rather than a straight up two channel mixer - I could never do what I do on Ableton using an external mixer as sometimes I have at least 5 or 6 channels playing single bar loops with FX etc.

dovemouse · Post by **dovemouse** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 12:29 pm

Cool, i think i get what you're saying about the send/recieves. I think im gonna go for the bcr2000 and assign a knob as a crossfader.
Yeah its great as a remix tool. You can get all the warping done and then go wild!