digimixer
Hi Guys
I've tried using an external (USB 1) hard disk and found the data transfer rate far to slow to mix mp3's direct from the disk. Lots of jumping & skipping.
Just wondered if any of you use USB 2 hard disks and if so whether you find the data transfer rates quick enough to mix directly from it?
Thanks!
I've tried using an external (USB 1) hard disk and found the data transfer rate far to slow to mix mp3's direct from the disk. Lots of jumping & skipping.
Just wondered if any of you use USB 2 hard disks and if so whether you find the data transfer rates quick enough to mix directly from it?
Thanks!
geposted Thu 20 Jan 05 @ 11:27 am
yvesmk
hmm, strange.
I was using this approach as well.
Last time I used my laptop for more then 80% of the songs I played, during a 8 hour live gig.
Didn't encounter any skipping or whatever, music went on.
Even was I pulling open some database/search programs...
OK, some times the display was freezing for 10 seconds.... very enoying... but the music kept on playing.
I only had 256 MB memory on the laptop, processor was a Pentium5 2.8Mhz, and 64Mb of shared video memory. So very likely it was due to these specs a bit too low, especially memory wise.
Also I had my USB hard drive hanging on a USB hub, and even that didn't cause any skipping due to split of bandwih.
But I think all connections are USB2, so mabe that can be a difference.
Also I am using the Hercules DJ console, and the sound card from it, So I am not putting an extra effort on the system for the sound rendering, maybe that can make a difference.
I was using this approach as well.
Last time I used my laptop for more then 80% of the songs I played, during a 8 hour live gig.
Didn't encounter any skipping or whatever, music went on.
Even was I pulling open some database/search programs...
OK, some times the display was freezing for 10 seconds.... very enoying... but the music kept on playing.
I only had 256 MB memory on the laptop, processor was a Pentium5 2.8Mhz, and 64Mb of shared video memory. So very likely it was due to these specs a bit too low, especially memory wise.
Also I had my USB hard drive hanging on a USB hub, and even that didn't cause any skipping due to split of bandwih.
But I think all connections are USB2, so mabe that can be a difference.
Also I am using the Hercules DJ console, and the sound card from it, So I am not putting an extra effort on the system for the sound rendering, maybe that can make a difference.
geposted Thu 20 Jan 05 @ 11:45 am
ivar
hello
i do have an external harddisk (usb2)
and it works just like if the mp3 files are on your internal harddisk
ivar
i do have an external harddisk (usb2)
and it works just like if the mp3 files are on your internal harddisk
ivar
geposted Thu 20 Jan 05 @ 12:02 pm
Rune (DJ-In-Norway)
I have ALL my music on external HD (usb2)
In fact, its said to be better than having your music on the same drive as the OS (windows) and the software (virtual dj) - because accessing the music files on external drive dont use the drive that the OS uses to operate (virtual memory)
Donno if this is 100% true... but anyway, using external drive (usb2) works GREAT!! ;)
In fact, its said to be better than having your music on the same drive as the OS (windows) and the software (virtual dj) - because accessing the music files on external drive dont use the drive that the OS uses to operate (virtual memory)
Donno if this is 100% true... but anyway, using external drive (usb2) works GREAT!! ;)
geposted Thu 20 Jan 05 @ 3:18 pm
tonystyles
That makes sense to me. I use an 80GB USB2 HD. Only skipping problem I had was when my Laptop was 256 DDR Ram but now I've upped it to 512K and it's fine.
Most of my music is on the external HD but I do keep Mastermix (remixes & mash ups) & Pro Disc (latest release compilations) on the internal disk. If I'm doing a pub or quiz night I gives me enough choice. For those of you outside the UK that haven't heard of them their website is www.mastermixdj.com Call them and speak to Christine in Sales. Mention my name to her "Tony Styles" and she'll look after you
Tony
Most of my music is on the external HD but I do keep Mastermix (remixes & mash ups) & Pro Disc (latest release compilations) on the internal disk. If I'm doing a pub or quiz night I gives me enough choice. For those of you outside the UK that haven't heard of them their website is www.mastermixdj.com Call them and speak to Christine in Sales. Mention my name to her "Tony Styles" and she'll look after you
Tony
geposted Thu 20 Jan 05 @ 3:43 pm
digimixer
Cool ,thanks for the feedback every one.
Got my new laptop coming in March (current laptop only has USB 1) once i have that i'll invest in a USB2 Hard disk!
Got my new laptop coming in March (current laptop only has USB 1) once i have that i'll invest in a USB2 Hard disk!
geposted Thu 20 Jan 05 @ 3:43 pm
Rune (DJ-In-Norway)
You should have usb2 ports as well, for best operation.
If your laptop dont have this build in, you can by a cardbus usb2 card. They are really cheap, and give you full usb2 speed, that is many many many times faster than usb1 ;)
If your laptop dont have this build in, you can by a cardbus usb2 card. They are really cheap, and give you full usb2 speed, that is many many many times faster than usb1 ;)
geposted Thu 20 Jan 05 @ 3:51 pm
anewsome
I've used a USB2 hard drive connected to a USB1 bus (which reduces the speed to USB1) for all of my music files exclusively on one of my laptops and I've never had a skip or a break in music. Not once. The data sustainable data rate of USB1 is 1.5MB/s (12Mb/s). Even when you account for protocol overhead, if you 192Kb/s encoded mp3s, you should be able stream 6 or 7 mp3s simultaneously from a USB1 hard drive and not get a single skip due to the USB bus saturation. Now if you have other things on that USB bus (like your soundcard), the 1.5MB/s bandwidth of course will be shared. But I can defintely say that a USB1 hard drive should be fast enough for using with VDJ, with a USB sound card attached also. USB2 raises the data rate considerably. Debatable how much of the stated 480Mb/s you can actually get out of a USB2 bus. My guess, no where near that - not sustainable at least.
geposted Thu 20 Jan 05 @ 5:59 pm
apopsisdj
I agree, i also used a usb2 drive to a usb 1 ports, it was slow only when browsing big folders
(with many files), but no problems in playback.
anewsome, can you remind me the difference between Mb and MB ? (megabytes/bites)
(with many files), but no problems in playback.
anewsome, can you remind me the difference between Mb and MB ? (megabytes/bites)
geposted Thu 20 Jan 05 @ 9:09 pm
dj_psychic
It should not matter if the song comes from a USB1 or USB2 drive.
Only with loading / analyzing the song it would matter how much times it takes.
But once the song is loaded its in the systems memory so there should be no skipping/lag etc. Make sure you check the skipping posts.
Only with loading / analyzing the song it would matter how much times it takes.
But once the song is loaded its in the systems memory so there should be no skipping/lag etc. Make sure you check the skipping posts.
geposted Thu 20 Jan 05 @ 9:24 pm
jacobedf
I think external usb drive is the only way to go. First of all, this makes your music library independent of your laptop - which will be a lifesaver if your laptop bites it. It also makes it easy for you to transition VDJ from an old laptop to a new one (and that time will come my friends). The key is to keep a backup copy of your VDJ database on the external drive. That way, if your laptop crashes, you don't have to analyze, cue, or beatmap your tracks all over again. I use USB v1.1 ports with a USB v2.0 external drive and it works great. If you get skipping, it because you need more RAM. Its always about the RAM!
geposted Tue 08 Feb 05 @ 3:53 pm
anewsome
apopsis, sorry I missed your post asking for clarification on MB vs. Mb. A Megabyte (MB) is 1024*1204 BYTES. A "BYTE" is generally the smallest quantity of data to be concerned with on a PC, as at least a single byte is needed to represent anything useful. Having said that, there are 8 BITS in a byte. For each of these smallest pieces of information (byte), there are 8 bits - which are basically binary 0's and 1's which make up the byte.
You'll often see bandwidth numbers, transfer times, DSL speed, modem speed or anything really, expressed with the lowercase "b", Like Kbps or Mbps. This means kilobits per second or megabits per second. Which is basically 8 times whatever ever ther Kilo Bytes per second or Mega Bytes per second would be. Since they are expressing the number in bits, it is 8 times MORE. Makes it sound impressive, which is why they do it.
While I'm on the topic, I'll also point out that hard drive manufacturers have long had a fetish for duping customers by stating their drives size in "million byte" increments. Which is not the same as a MegaByte. A million bytes looks like this - 1,000,000 bytes. While a MegaByte remember is 1024*1024, which equals = 1,048,576. Looks like they are shorting you quite a few bytes. This, and formating overhead is why you never see anywhere near 250GB of usable space on a 250GB drive. It's rigged against you from the start.
You'll often see bandwidth numbers, transfer times, DSL speed, modem speed or anything really, expressed with the lowercase "b", Like Kbps or Mbps. This means kilobits per second or megabits per second. Which is basically 8 times whatever ever ther Kilo Bytes per second or Mega Bytes per second would be. Since they are expressing the number in bits, it is 8 times MORE. Makes it sound impressive, which is why they do it.
While I'm on the topic, I'll also point out that hard drive manufacturers have long had a fetish for duping customers by stating their drives size in "million byte" increments. Which is not the same as a MegaByte. A million bytes looks like this - 1,000,000 bytes. While a MegaByte remember is 1024*1024, which equals = 1,048,576. Looks like they are shorting you quite a few bytes. This, and formating overhead is why you never see anywhere near 250GB of usable space on a 250GB drive. It's rigged against you from the start.
geposted Wed 09 Feb 05 @ 10:56 am
Killabee44
I recomend you go with an external firewire enclosure for your hardrive. The firewire will use less cpu cycles which will in turn cause less chance for skipping. Get yourself a firewire card for your laptop and youll be set. Also, Seagate hardrives are great and come with a 5 year warranty.
As far as usb1 vs usb2 go, I believe that the difference is bandwith (hooking up more than one item into the usb port, or daisy chaining them). Speed wise for one item should not be much different.
killabee44
As far as usb1 vs usb2 go, I believe that the difference is bandwith (hooking up more than one item into the usb port, or daisy chaining them). Speed wise for one item should not be much different.
killabee44
geposted Thu 10 Feb 05 @ 1:55 am
anewsome
Stated bandwidth for USB 1 is 11Mb per second I believe and USB 2 is 480Mb per second. Of course neither will get anywhere near that sustainable and both will use a whole bunch of CPU cycles when pushing the bandwidth hard. Firewire can get a real 400Mb/s sustainable with almost no noticeble CPU usage. This is why ieee1394 (firewire) is used for digital video. You can't afford to drop frames or lose bandwidth capacity when delivering video. Luckily, a 192Kb mp3 file uses exactly that much bandwith to be read from the drive and played in realtime, 192Kb/s which is a mere fraction of the available bandwidth of a USB 1 port. Now I think that VDJ does read in the entire file at once anyway, so the bandwidth of the USB1 is really irrelevant once the file is read into memory.
geposted Thu 10 Feb 05 @ 2:58 am
DJ Rick
I've been using firewire for years...
Seems to work great!
Seems to work great!
geposted Thu 10 Feb 05 @ 7:40 am
moramax
i've this configuration:
toshiba A60-105 pentium iv 2800
512mb ram
maya44 usb
hd external usb
dac2 external controller
I confirm that hd whith usb2 work fine, but with my configuration i found a problem
If I plug the hdd on the laptop usb port when i load a song sometimes i hear a crackle or noise from speakers. I solved this problem whith a usb2 pcmcia card. Now i plug dac2 and maya44 in the laptop port and hd in the pcmcia port.
No more cracks and pops and skip.I suggest to use power supply (5v) for the external
usb hdd adapter or buy a external adapter with the power supply indipendent.
toshiba A60-105 pentium iv 2800
512mb ram
maya44 usb
hd external usb
dac2 external controller
I confirm that hd whith usb2 work fine, but with my configuration i found a problem
If I plug the hdd on the laptop usb port when i load a song sometimes i hear a crackle or noise from speakers. I solved this problem whith a usb2 pcmcia card. Now i plug dac2 and maya44 in the laptop port and hd in the pcmcia port.
No more cracks and pops and skip.I suggest to use power supply (5v) for the external
usb hdd adapter or buy a external adapter with the power supply indipendent.
geposted Mon 14 Feb 05 @ 5:13 pm