liquidsounddistortion
Well i know i see alot of beginers and even some exp users asking about moving to a hardware dj mixer, so i thought id post my thoughts about why i moved away from using one.
Ive still got 3 hardware mixers at home here, vestax pmc05 scratch mixer, korg koass mixer and a pioneer djm500, so ive got the abilty to use a few various styles of hardware mixing control for atomix, not to mention i have a custom 4 output soundcard that uses a single usb connection and usb controler. Im not trying to show off or anything but just want to establish that ive got a pretty top of the line setup for external mixing. The thing is however that I find myself not using that gear for atomix anymore. Will spending some time traveling with jsut my laptop i began using atomix with just the mouse and shortcut keys and then i found i could mix as well using that method as i could with a hardware mixer. For me hardware always made since, i started on turntables and it was just what i was used to. After having the tricrosser control of most atomix skins and the loop buttons right at my fingertips i felt like i was missing out with my hardware mixers. Now having level meters and a real crossfader plus easy blend cueing is missed, i think the extra desk space, the ability to record my mixes directly to the hard drive and the trifading is really stuff thats to good to pass up. not to mention not needing to have the expensive of multiout soundcards. I still do think it would be cool to have an external tricrossfader module via midi, but i dont see much need for external mixers anymore. Definatly try each way out and do whats best for your needs, but if your just under the impresson you should get a hardware mixer because it will make you a better or "real" dj, definatly think again
Ive still got 3 hardware mixers at home here, vestax pmc05 scratch mixer, korg koass mixer and a pioneer djm500, so ive got the abilty to use a few various styles of hardware mixing control for atomix, not to mention i have a custom 4 output soundcard that uses a single usb connection and usb controler. Im not trying to show off or anything but just want to establish that ive got a pretty top of the line setup for external mixing. The thing is however that I find myself not using that gear for atomix anymore. Will spending some time traveling with jsut my laptop i began using atomix with just the mouse and shortcut keys and then i found i could mix as well using that method as i could with a hardware mixer. For me hardware always made since, i started on turntables and it was just what i was used to. After having the tricrosser control of most atomix skins and the loop buttons right at my fingertips i felt like i was missing out with my hardware mixers. Now having level meters and a real crossfader plus easy blend cueing is missed, i think the extra desk space, the ability to record my mixes directly to the hard drive and the trifading is really stuff thats to good to pass up. not to mention not needing to have the expensive of multiout soundcards. I still do think it would be cool to have an external tricrossfader module via midi, but i dont see much need for external mixers anymore. Definatly try each way out and do whats best for your needs, but if your just under the impresson you should get a hardware mixer because it will make you a better or "real" dj, definatly think again
geposted Tue 16 Jul 02 @ 6:32 pm
stuxxx
I Agree it sounds great but in the real world what happens ?
When you get a crash or lock up (not that i've had one recently)
I use an external mixer with a denon dual cd unit
so if i do get any problems there is always a cd with a variety of suitable tracks that i can always fall back on !
Also very useful if you wanna mix in a third track, although you will have to beat match it manually..
Atomix is brilliant, i use it out live on average three times a week, but you'd look a right prat if one day your harddisk goes down !!!
Atomix now does 75% of the work for me, leaving me free to enjoy the evening more !!! its a tool but to do the job properly dont totally rely on it !!
Happy mixing
STU
geposted Tue 16 Jul 02 @ 7:18 pm
doc
I can agree with you on some things however, when you look like you have more equipment and more knobs along with more to do, it seems better when you play in the club.
geposted Tue 16 Jul 02 @ 7:35 pm
liquidsounddistortion
I have to agree that it does "look" cooler, but ive really found that ive been able to get past that mental hangup. When i started dj'ing even once i beatmatched a track i would keep my headphones and kinda subconsciencously try to make it look like i was doing something still, like minor eq adjustments that do no good etc so it looked like i wasnt just standing there between mixes. Some people say the visual stuff is part of dj'ing and gets the crowd into it, but for me, once i got to see Sasha and Digweed up close and how they blew everyone away even though they basically just stood there and mixed when they needed to. I mean those guys are good enough they can beatmatch most anything in a few seconds and they didnt feel the need to jump around and "fake it" so to speak. I spent time now thinking about how i want to mix the next track in, what to play etc. I think it makes me a better dj overall opposed to trying to make a subpar mix decsion look as hard as possible.
But yes it is nice to have a backup cd player or something, im finding though that everyone ive played they have a set of decks and cd players already, what i do now is just plug into the mixing deck they have on one channel, and since im doing the mixng on atomix, it doesnt matter if the mixer has the type of eq, kills, faders or cueing that im used to since im always playing on what i know.
But yes it is nice to have a backup cd player or something, im finding though that everyone ive played they have a set of decks and cd players already, what i do now is just plug into the mixing deck they have on one channel, and since im doing the mixng on atomix, it doesnt matter if the mixer has the type of eq, kills, faders or cueing that im used to since im always playing on what i know.
geposted Tue 16 Jul 02 @ 7:58 pm
Damocles
It sounded bad every time I used Atomix built in EQs instead of an external mixer... And I know some other users who experimented that too.
geposted Tue 16 Jul 02 @ 9:24 pm
liquidsounddistortion
yes i do agree that the EQ doesnt sound that great for boosting any sounds, but i generally try to use it only to take away part of the sound, and for that i havent noticed any problems. There actually is an external mixer made by redsound, the infader, that i would use if i could find one ever but they seem always out of stock. It has 3 crossfaders on it just like mixing with the atomix skins. As i said it all just depends on preference but i find that using the trifader approach in the software lets me mix alot smoother and more creatively than using a hardware mixer even though yes there are some drawbacks as well. Also the fact i can record each mix directly i find to be such a great tool. If i had another computer to record onto then maybe it wouldnt matter so much.
Im not trying to make an argurment that one method is better but just wanted to share my thoughts and let people know that its isnt like an absolute rule that its better to use a hardware mixer
Im not trying to make an argurment that one method is better but just wanted to share my thoughts and let people know that its isnt like an absolute rule that its better to use a hardware mixer
geposted Tue 16 Jul 02 @ 10:18 pm