Vinyl vs CD vs Laptop

Ikoda

Ikoda

Well-Known Member
(I'm hoping this won't start a flame war.)

Got into an arguement with a Vinyl lover a couple of weeks back, thought I'd ask the question here...

What are you opinions on Vinyl, CDs and Laptops?
Which one do you think is suited best to the modern club enviroment?
Which do you prefer personally?
 
I would say Vinyl and CD's are both fine but are on their way out. especially as DJ's can turn up now with a USB and stick it in the CDJ's.

I don't really rate laptop DJ's that stand there dragging and dropping files not really doing much. It doesn't create an atmosphere like a hands on DJ does. Serato etc is fine as it's still hands on whilst laptop DJ'ing.
 
wax and cd's are on the way out but I love both. The laptop thing is a joke, they might as well put on a compilation CD.
 
Have used all 3
Started on vinyl in '99 , got a cdj along the way and started using Traktor Scratch around 2008 (laptop + turntables).
To keep it short-
Personally never liked using CDJ's , having used turntables for so long I felt disconnected from the music although much easier to mix on.
I moved to a laptop/turntabe combo as i simply couldnt afford vinyl any more and was interested in the possibilities a laptop gave you whilst having the option to control it the old way through turntables.

My general thoughts now are that I'm not too bothered what people use as long as the end product is good. I have a massive respect for the dj's that still lug big vinyl collections to gigs and can still play a belting set without tarting it up too much. If your gona use traktor and let it do all the syncing for you I would hope that the extra time is used to further the set rather than air punching and Eric Morrillo orgasmo eq'ing. More and more of the top dj's seem to be using laptops with either turntables or cdj's now
 
I aint gona lie, i know sod all about DJ'ing etc etc...but it has become apparent over the last few years, more and more so called 'DJ's' have a tendancy to be using a laptop more often than not.

Does this not, in a roundabout way, contradict DJ'ing ?!

Before i get shot down for maybe a novice comment there - I AM ADMITTING I KNOW SOD ALL ABOUT THE DJ WORLD

I now know what you lot are like :lol:
 
I understand why there has been a shift towards laptops. DJs can carry quite alot of CDs around with them (Judge Jules usually has three cases with him, if memory serves).

Bringing a single laptop, or two memory sticks for the more modern CDJs (CDJ 400 onwards) means not having to cart crap around. Which is what I normally do use.

I'm trying to teach myself how to play on Vinyl, but I don't think I have the patience for it. My turntables are so sensitive... not used to it at all.
 
Sound reproduction:

MP3s = not even worth discussing. It's a great shame these things even exist.

Vinyl = Leagues ahead of CD quality (assuming equipment is good) 180g vinyl = outstanding.

CD = Meh.

Vinyl vs CD?

Not much in it tbh because once you account for the mixer and crap cables etc you're sacrificing quality anyway.

If you want to be an audiophile geek you should ditch the mixer and get a bespoke system.

...

...so go for MP3. Free and takes up less room. :lol:
 
I think people may get confused with the term laptop djing. Its rare that its just someone hunched over a laptop just pressing buttons and not looking at the crowd tho have seen this a couple times and its very uninspiring.

Laptop djing generally can be broken into 2 sections:

DJ software - Traktor / Serato , these hold massive libraries of music and generally emulate turntables/cdj's. Most people will still use a normal mixer. the tracks can be controlled using timecode vinyl/cd therefore its almost exactly the same as traditional djing except with added ability to loop ,sample and add fx. Most dj's will have a midi controller box of some sort to allow them to rarely touch the laptop and makes the whole experience more interctive. The softwares are capable of beat matching all your tracks together but its up to the dj whether they use this. Its pretty essentiall if your gona be mixing parts of 4 tracks simulateously.

Production/Performance Software - Namely Ableton Live but have seen people (a guy called gerald) do sets using Reason too. This is aimed more at producers who have made lots of their own tracks and dont want to dj in the traditional way. It takes alot of preparation but essentially you can have each element of a track (hi hat , bassline , vocal etc) separated out which you can then loop and mix with any other elements. This means you can to a degree perform a track "live" and also make remixes or indeed new tracks on stage. Ableton involves no beatmatching as such as you set your tempo and everything is warped to match so the skill is in crafting the set rather than matching tempo's. Again nearly all dj's using this will use controllers to minimise pressing buttons on the laptop
 
The only real up close memory of any sort of, what i call, 'proper DJ'ing' was watchin my mate mix 2 tunes together with headphone held on one ear and eatting a chocolate cupcake with something else other than chocolate in it :lol:
 
As long as it rocks the dance floor I dont really mind what is being used!

I have been djing since 96 so my first love was vinyl and I miss playing it tbh. But space and the cost of it means i only really have classic stuff for my collection on it

CDJ's are a happy medium but I find them too sensitive if im honest plus I have a harder time remembering records without the pretty sleeves to remind me whats what. Plus I dont really use any of the extra features on the CDJ i mix it like I always have with vinyl.

Personally i dont like laptops as you spend too much time looking at a screen when you should be watching the crowd, plus there is a tendency to mess about with music too much imo. If a record is good then why cut it up and loop it just cos you can.

Re sound quality I slightly disagree with Robder.

Vinyl sounds great if its mastered well and is on decent quality Vinyl and will always have that warmth to it but lets not forget that most modern music is made on a laptop in Ableton or Logic so has nothing analogue about it apart from cutting it to vinyl.

CD's can sound great too and if mastered correctly have a greater Dynamic Range than Vinyl does. My home system its totally digital Ie CDJ Digital out into a Mixer that process the signal digitally so it only gets converted once and the less you convert the sound the better it will be.

It sounds just as good as my old analogue set up in fact its probably a truer representation of the music.
 
I have also used all 3, started on a pair of Soudlab belt drives and progressed to CDJ's.

My CDJ's where my pride and joy and i loved them and my DJM600, I have though however sold them in November this year ( got a cracking price) and purchased a Macbook and Traktor Kontrol S4. Gotta say im very impressed. Does everything i want it to and frees me up to loop, add fx and make my set unique something you could never of done with just CDJ's.

I say as a DJ you have to embrace new technology and learn with it, its fun + it keep you one step ahead of the game. With the new cotnroller ssuch as the S4 they are trying to bridge the gap between software mixing (traktor) and program mixing (such as Ableton) as they give you the ability to add sample decks etc,

I havent looked back since ive changed over and im happy i did (although was sad to see my baby's go).

Each to there own but im happy with Traktor (and the free upgrade to Traktor II in April)
 
Christ, you're pressing play on someone else's songs, not creating a masterpiece. It's not an artform. Whack an Ipod on shuffle, who's going to know?:lol:
 
Morbyd said:
Could you please have a word with Ritchie Hawtin?
Click to expand...

Couldnt think of a better example mate.

Fronty I see what you are saying with the loops and stuff and staying on top of the technology but imo its all window dressing. Nothing like that will ever make me excited as hearing great records all night, as long as every mix isnt a train wreak then i can forgive the actual mixing.
 
Mixing can be an art form, though. The time I was most aware of what was being done was when watching Stanton Warriors at Eden of all places. They did play some remixes of well known tunes (Prodigy, Booka Shade, etc), but they also seemed to layer bits of dialogue on top at points IIRC. Maybe there's a limit to what people can do on the hoof, but have a listen to Radioslave's Misch Masch, Sasha's Involver or the second 2 many dj's mix to see how tracks can be blended together. There are instances on those on where more than two tracks are being manipulated at the one time, or you think a track's been dropped only for it to come back later. Certainly on the Radioslave and Sasha mixes, it's about creating an atmosphere, moving through different moods, rather than choosing whatever's bangin'.
 
Buckley said:
Christ, you're pressing play on someone else's songs, not creating a masterpiece. It's not an artform. Whack an Ipod on shuffle, who's going to know?:lol:
Click to expand...

As long as there is a toilet / bookcase for you to kip on who care what the music is right mate :lol:
 
I think a lot of people take maybe a dozen or so records to gigs they might want to scratch or or use for accapellas and stuff, or maybe classics which need to be heard on vinyl, but why should a DJ bust his back or risk some airline nicking his stuff and why go through the hassle? Should we start travelling in stagecoaches again because it's more romantic than being driven in a toyota? The point is, new technology can pretty much do most of what the old could do but with the additional convenience. the problem is the generation of 30/40s who grew up in record shops have a sentimental connection to the art of 'digging' and you simply don't have that online on beatport, juno etc, so in a way people feel digital has devalued music. + certain DJs in hiphop, techno, drum n bass have over years built up big followings on the back of their turntablist skills. So, it is galling for people like that to see some guy turn a computer and press play. However, I think they just need to accept that that is progress and that the whole concept of clubbing is changing, is more slick and less raw than it was and there's nothing you can do about it. Besides, as said above, 95% of punters don't really care and in my case I don't even look at the DJ, do you look at the train driver on a train? exactly...
 
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