Pioneer DJ Software

Monkey Do

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http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=15316

Pioneer_SVJ-DL01.jpg


Pioneer's DJS software (SVJ-DL01) was designed for professional and amateur DJs to enable full-scale DJ play on a PC. The software offers the same playability and functionality as the company's Pro DJ products, using a PC instead of two CDJ turntables and a DJ mixer.
 
Mmm.

Interesting.

I'd have to give it a whirl first though.

Not sure about the auto-beatmatch idea in general. I (or other DJs) can detect the "sweet spot" a lot better than an automated system IMO. If the auto-beatmatch system can be disabled, I'd be happier.

A demo version would be useful.

I think I'd also prefer a hardware interface. Using a keyboard and/or mouse for nudging might be difficult.

You'd still probably have to connect to a mixer in a club - especially if they're set up for vinyl. I'd still have to use a mixer since I use keyboards for effects.

I also wonder how much this would cost?
 
Purusha said:
Mmm.


I think I'd also prefer a hardware interface. Using a keyboard and/or mouse for nudging might be difficult.

i think that this is the only thing that could persuade me to use software. i would still have to use a mixer for the gains too.

it was a big enough wrench for me to leave vinyl behind, cos i thought (and still think) that using cdjs just removes the dj a level from the music... so going to laptop dj'ing would be too much for me (even with a hardware interface). also, standing/sitting behind a computer to mix is not so much difference from being behind a computer all day at work, kind of takes the romance out of it for me. so if this ever became standard i think i'd rather give up (stop cheering at the back, and the front :Wink3:)

just my very humble opinion :Smile3:
 
Personally I still think all these software soultions that try to emulate 2 decks + Mixer have it wrong to be honest - why use software to emulate a hardware interface (I mean it's never going to have the same feel is it?) when software gives you infinitely more possibiities for doing things in a way that suit the interface.
 
I know what you mean - a radical design re-think.

One of the problems (IMO) with using a PC/Mac (whatever) for this job is that there are too many extraneous buttons to press and too much potential for hitting the wrong thing. I quite often hit the wrong virtual button with my mouse when I'm doing simple stuff like word processing!

People are a bit more forgiving of cock-ups when you're playing live, but I'm not sure how forgiving they'd be if you're DJing and things go wrong in this way. There's an expectation that DJ major cock-ups ar e few and far between, and even when they do happen, recovery is quite quick.

For example, if a CD starts skipping on me, I normally whip the incoming track to the intro (ditching the cue point) and intro fade it. If software starts doing strange stuff, what do I do - wait 2 minutes for a reboot?
 
I do mix with software though (Mixmeister Pro 6) which uses a timeline interface rather than psuedo-decks - gives a lot more scope for stepping outside the limitations of hardware but you are right, if it cocks up (it's running on windows after all) then bad luck although I've not had any major cock ups yet...well apart from the time I forgot that I had been dicking about and set the performance and preview channel to the same output meaning that I had to mix the entire set visually and hope for the best...
 
I have kind-of the same feellng about using a PC as Lurk. I'm sat at a VDU all day.

Having something physical there to manipulate (ooer) gives me a warm feeling (double ooer).

The jog-wheel would be hard to do in software I think. I reckon the only way to do that job is via an external hardware controller.

Once you start using external hardware though, you (well me at least) start thinking - well, wouldn't a dedicated hardware setup be more reliable?
 
I am definitely interested in these software solutions though and am keeping tabs on them...
 
There must be a million ways but I'm not a software developer, what I'm getting at is that unless you gear the interface to the things that software does well rather than trying to copy the way hardware works then you might as well mix with hardware.

In Mixmeister Pro you can zoom right in on the waveform and nudge it with the mouse though...
 
I was actually asking how *you* do it now with the software you have.

The sweet spot isnt' something you can see - it's definitely only something you can hear.

I'll try and explain the sweet spot (in case you're not sure what I mean).

Aligning 2 tracks on the exact start of the kick drum doesn't necessarily mean that the kicks will sound right together. They could have different *shapes* in terms of attack and decay times and also the higher frequency *click* pulse you often get on dance kicks. They might also have slightly different grooves, with the other percussion pushed or pulled a bit. The only way to properly know whether you have the alignment right for the sweet spot is to listen to the tracks together. It's then very much a case of feedback and adjustment. That fine adjustment is what concerns me with software solutions. Does that make some sense?
 
BTW - I only recently started using the phrase "sweet spot" when discussing mixing with (warning: name drop) Steve Hillage.

We were discussing the finer points of beat matching and he echoed what I was talking about with the phrase "sweet spot". I didn't have a name for it before that...
 
yep that makes sense ..... and is the main reason I have ditched trying to use ableton to mix tracks ......

the best way i found to do this was zooming right in to find the correct cue point on the waveform ... then nudging manually at the smallest increment to try and find the sweet spot ....... my conclusion was that you had to pick the best sounding option ... rather than the perfect one ......

On several occasions after 1/2 hour of trying I came to the conclusion I was wasting my time ..... much easier to let your brain make that judgement call via headphones than try to do it graphically on screen (imo - with abelton anyway!)

I will however continue to have a play with whatever turns up !! Sonner or later they will grasp it .....
 
Yeah my point though is you are tied to this idea of a jogwheel as the only solution for fine adjustment - all you are doing though in reality is slightly adjusting the phase of the waveforms, why would software not be able to do this? And perhaps more accurately than a jogwheel.

Really the software vs hardware argument comes down to which suits your style and which compromises you want to make, for there are compromises with any solution.
 
do you mix "live" with the software you use MD ? i.e. - drag and drop the track you have decided to mix in and then get it in phase with the other one ...? (only just started looking into to "software mixing")

or is it a pre-determined thing ..... this was my major grumble with ableton ..... I was having to spend 1/2 work to get one mix sounding right .... back peddling really ..... if there is away to do it "live" then I havn't found it yet !! he h !
 
I don't actually think it's a vs. argument as such.

I'm just interested in whatever solutions there are for this stuff.

The advantage of the jog wheel type mechanism is that you can be as coarse or fine as you like with alignment. I guess you could *drag* with the mouse to achieve similar, but a rotary dial seems the better way to do this - to my mind at any rate. i.e. there's a reason why some pots on a mixer are rotary and some are linear - again, if you know what I mean?

:Wink3:
 
jamez_23 said:
or is it a pre-determined thing ..... this was my major grumble with ableton ..... I was having to spend 1/2 work to get one mix sounding right .... back peddling really ..... if there is away to do it "live" then I havn't found it yet !! he h !

That was my issue with Live too (and also for the pre-mentioned semi-famous artist, it's where the sweet spot issue came up in conversation).

I'd effectively have to set up a pre-determined full set before-hand, making sure that each pair of tracks were manually aligned.
 
I haven't tried any software packages yet to be honest.

Am I right in saying that the NI solution is a hardware & software combined system?
 
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