Is It Worth Starting Now

Vinyl iz great, but a CD iz more practical theze dayz!

A hope vinyl somehow managez to make itz way back.

It iz essentially down to the DJ though.

Peace

*Moved to DJ section*

being the fact that you are into progressive house,turntables are the way to go.alot of that stuff is hard to find on cd(unless you like downloading,witch still is’nt 100%)vinyl to house dj’s is like ham to burger
they need it.i worked at a record shop up until a couple of months ago.all the house stuff was on vinyl,only stuff on cd was the top 40 stuff,and who want’s that.

just my opinion,thanks!

goodluck.

FunkLogik wrote:

The only exception to this is if you downloaded good music off the internet and then burned it to a CD….. In this case, you are a COMPLETE TOOL who, in all likelihood, just screwed one more artist/producer out of his or her hard work by not paying for a track 😉

Unless you do actually pay for the song.

And yes that waz a good starting debate lol!

Peace

When a vinyl record is pressed (recorded), you are getting a direct representation of the actual analog waveform of a piece of music.

When a CD is recorded, it is recorded at a certain "bitrate", which is in most cases 44.1 kHz/second. That means that 44,100 times per second of music, the CD player taking a reading, or "number approximation" of what the original analog waveform looked like. But no matter how many times per second it takes this "reading", the bitrate "approxomation" will never truly represent the actual waveform itself.

It’s the same thing in the visual realm. Let’s say you’re watching a football game on television, and Marvin Harrison is running down the field. Although you can probably get a really good picture of what is going on, it will NEVER be the same as if you were watching him run down the field in person, because your television has a pixel resolution that doesn’t allow you to see EVERYTHING. You won’t see the blades of grass on the cleats, or the clear extention of the reciever’s fingers to catch the pass, as you would see if you were watching it in person and seeing the "actual" thing.

It’s the same thing with digital music. "Pixel resolution" on a television corresponds to "bitrate" on a Compact Disc or mp3 file. By the very nature of the recording, there are things you are going to miss, which in the case of music, is usually warmth in the bass response, the crispness of high percussion, or the full warmth and smoothness of a vocal.

With vinyl, you are listening to the actual analog waveform itself, not it’s digital representation. While vinyl records do in fact wear over time (especially if not taken care of properly), its a tradeoff that I’m willing to make in order to not look like a button-pressing fool

Nothing makes me happier than walking into a DJ booth and seeing absolutely nothing but a pair of Tech 12’s and a Rane/Vestax/A&H 2-channel mixer.

These days, walking into some DJ booths is like walking on board the freaking Starship Enterprise. CD decks with about 40 different useless buttons on them, and I’m looking for the one that will beam all of that sh!t outta the booth.

pete_dj wrote:

CD audio will reproduce all frequencies that the human ear can here, therefore you aren’t really "missing" anything. The sample rate of 44.1KHz will sample everything from 20Hz to 22Khz approx (and the human hearing range is 20Hz to 20KHz) therefore all sounds that are audible to us humans are reproduced.

There is no doubt about what frequencies a CDA file is capable of reproducing, but, many of the adult population struggle to hear the top and bottom end of the capable frequency spectrum, due to various factors. It takes many years for a Mastering Engineer to train their ears to pick out those frequencies. And, as the environment (hopefully) full of bodies will soak up the majority of the top end, why bother to much about the top frequencies being replicated!!! One thing that would be worth considering, is the feel of the lower frequencies through the body. You may not hear a truck passing outside, but you can still ‘feel’ it if your within range, and vinyl tends to produce a better ‘feel’ due to it’s properties.

One thing nobody has mentioned, is it is not un-common to see a clubs sound system(s) bridged to mono. Considering the environment, as mentioned above, then why not move to mono mpeg’s??? Quite a few ‘DJ’s’ are using them apparantly. The downside to ‘lossy’ formats is the sound quality (depending on bitrate) by chopping top and bottom ends.

It’s definately not to late, it’s probably the best time to switch than at any time in recent years. The answer is in what you feel most comfortable with, and how you can do your thing. I’d say, do all three (vinyl, CD, mpeg) if you have the funds to do so.

Good luck.

i’d say its never too late to DJ. 17 isnt old too old tho.

I’m a pro DJ, and I must say, now i’m on CDJs, I do NOT miss lugging around heavy vinyl!! Also, what no-one mentioned with the quality debate, is thateven if you had a great vinyl, audiophile decks and carts etc, its still getting pounded through a club system, and a chain is only as strong as the weakest link!

For a working DJ, CDs are far more practical, and a high quality CD recording is just as good as vinyl in a club, only you have more control, so can do more with it.

I would recommend learning to DJ on vinyl, as it will improve your sensitivity when DJing.

I exclusively use a set of CD decks when I mix, and occasionally I’ll get get some grief. Some snob will come up to me and be all "hmmmph REAL DJs don’t use CD players." I’ll admit, I can look funny with my 19-inch contraption, but when I throw down and people start dancing, I swear nobody can tell the difference. I’ll have no truck with that kind of purism anyway. I’m a masher.

I stuck with CDs because I could buy a lot of vinyl labels I liked digitally on Bleep, Beatport, and Itunes then burn a bunch of new purchases to a CD. They were also good when I wanted to play my own boots and remixes. Cd burner = $200. Vinyl Cutter = $1000. CDs are also easier to track down. For the stuff that gets the requests, I just have to walk into a Best Buy (or HMV if you’re in the UK). I do have a pair of tech-12s, I just didn’t care for the feel of vinyl. I like the control and range I get with my Pioneers.

But as one probably gathers, vinyl, CDs, and digital each has its benefits and if you can afford it, they aren’t mutually exclusive. As you make your way, save your money to make additions to your arsenal. Then get the best of all worlds.

Some good online (also hardhouse – hardstyle) stores for vinyl:

– toffmusic.com
– http://www.midtownshop.nl
– http://www.freaky.nl
– http://www.sector-1.com

All specialised in trance, hardhouse, hardcore, hardstyle, jumpstyle, techno, club,…

id reccomend just using serato so you dont have to worry about buying all music you need to catch up on then you can choose wether your going to choose cds or turntables…

[quote quote="FunkLogik":3hn2na3m]OK, how’s this for starting a debate:

Vinyl is the ONLY way you can be called a true "disc jockey". Real, original music is really only found on vinyl. Top 40 "hip pop" and mainstream trance are about the only sh!t you will find on CD’s that is really worth anything (OK, cd guys, feel free to flame here).

Secondly, no matter how hard the digital world can try, it will NEVER sound as full, as rich, or as good as a vinyl recording will. Ever. Anybody who knows how digital bitrates work knows that a collection of bits trying to mimic an analog wave will mathematically NEVER sound as good as the original analog wave itself.

And finally, you just look like a total tool standing behind a mixer pressing pitch bend buttons while "digi-scratching" a 4 inch plastic disc that’s supposed to represent a vinyl record.

In summary, no matter what your taste, be it (real) hip hop, breakbeat, house, drum n bass, etc, you will ALWAYS find more original, better produced stuff on vinyl than you will on CD. The selection is just no comparison between the formats. Besides which, if it’s on a production CD, there’s a good chance the money-hungry, artist-fvcking RIAA had some hand in ripping off the artist who made the music. And why support those guys?

The only exception to this is if you downloaded good music off the internet and then burned it to a CD….. In this case, you are a COMPLETE TOOL who, in all likelihood, just screwed one more artist/producer out of his or her hard work by not paying for a track 😉

You grab the baby back ribs, I’ll grab the BBQ grill, and let the flaming begin. [/quote:3hn2na3m]

the only thing i’ll agree with you is that the selection of dnb tunes is better with vinyl, the rest of all your points are completely wrong…. at least for drum & bass. there’s really only a few big dj’s that actually get dubplates cut, too expensive… especially since they don’t last long.

I was stuck in the same dilema, I started on cdjs, due to the practicality and availability of the tunes im into, I then went and bought to turntables and practiced on them, i feel i can beat match more acurately now. One problem i have is that i live in Ireland and availability of stuff i like is limited(I ordered one record in September and am still waiting). Any song i can find i vynil i purchase, I would stongly recommend buying a set of turntables, lots of +’s which are listed above.