Bedroom DJ using MP3s

Zascar

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f133/why-flac-better-451369/

electrogrimey

So this guy's posted the exact same paragraph about this theory on at least 3 different forums/blogs, and there's no other evidence to support it...Not a tough decision.

Edit: Posted here, here, and here, at least. Just put the first sentence into google, and you get pages of the same paragraph posted on random forums. Definite troll, trying to post often enough to make his theory an internet fact.

jtsuited

Zascar wrote: »

So if FLAC is so much better, why is mp3 the defacto standard my a mile? How come more sites don't offer/push FLAC more?

de facto standard where? in digital djing?
cost. and flac is used a lot in the pro-audio world for transporting files (classical music especially). It's still not a consumer thing really.

Come on now lads let's not go nuts here. Flac is great (actually i did a project on Flac years ago in college) and it's a pity it didn't take off like mp3 (basically down to who owns the patents on either format).

If you had some vinyl to rip, flac's yer only man. But it still takes up a lot of space like Wav.

Before everyone gets their knickers is a twist, just get things in perspective.

If you put the emphasis on audiophile quality, then vinyl and 24 bit wav should be your standard. Along with serious D/A and A/D converters etc., and an awesome sound system and great sounding room.

If you're into convenience, 320 mp3 is a great tradeoff.

Zascar

Sory I was not debating the difference in quality at all - I'm 100% in agreement, I was just wondering why it was not more popular with consumers etc - but you've answered me above, cheers. Kinda like VHS vs Betamax thing...

electrogrimey

Zascar wrote: »

Sory I was not debating the difference in quality at all - I'm 100% in agreement, I was just wondering why it was not more popular with consumers etc - but you've answered me above, cheers. Kinda like VHS vs Betamax thing...

Could just be that the average person downloading something from iTunes doesn't really care, and that they've never even heard of FLAC. Most people don't have amazing soundsystems at home that will show up the difference.

jtsuited

Zascar wrote: »

Sory I was not debating the difference in quality at all - I'm 100% in agreement, I was just wondering why it was not more popular with consumers etc - but you've answered me above, cheers. Kinda like VHS vs Betamax thing...

ah yeah it's a bit of a pity the way certain formats don't become de facto standard in audio.

if you've ever heard of ambisonics you'll know what i'm talking about. basically it boils down to....

if it's a bunch of universities developing a format, the format is going to be the best by an absolute mile but will not make it into the consumer arena.

if it's philips/sony/toshiba/panasonic developing the standard, it's most likely going to be crap but will be the de facto consumer standard.

milltown

xdeletiax wrote: »

Hearing the difference now isn't the reason to encode to FLAC. FLAC uses lossless compression, while MP3 is 'lossy'. What this means is that for each year the MP3 sits on your hard drive, it will lose roughly 12kbps, assuming you have SATA - it's about 15kbps on IDE, but only 7kbps on SCSI, due to rotational velocidensity. You don't want to know how much worse it is on CD-ROM or other optical media.
I started collecting MP3s in about 2001, and if I try to play any of the tracks I downloaded back then, even the stuff I grabbed at 320kbps, they just sound like crap. The bass is terrible, the midrange...well don't get me started. Some of those albums have degraded down to 32 or even 16kbps. FLAC rips from the same period still sound great, even if they weren't stored correctly, in a cool, dry place. Seriously, stick to FLAC, you may not be able to hear the difference now, but in a year or two, you'll be glad you did.

Late entry for post of the year!

Zascar

milltown wrote: »

Late entry for post of the year!

Quick, someone post it in After Hours!

milltown

That head-fi discussion is brilliant!

Loved this one:

Head-fi wrote:

Besides, you forgot to account for centripetal force throwing the bits out to the edges of the disc. That compresses your music further.

From now on I'm only burning discs at 1x. I ain't nobody's fool.

xdeletiax

electrogrimey wrote: »

So this guy's posted the exact same paragraph about this theory on at least 3 different forums/blogs, and there's no other evidence to support it...Not a tough decision.

Edit: Posted here, here, and here, at least. Just put the first sentence into google, and you get pages of the same paragraph posted on random forums. Definite troll, trying to post often enough to make his theory an internet fact.

hey, i read that quote on ED and copypasted it here to see if anyone would take the bait. cheers zascar & electro.

tman

What this means is that for each year the MP3 sits on your hard drive, it will lose roughly 12kbps, assuming you have SATA – it’s about 15kbps on IDE, but only 7kbps on SCSI, due to rotational velocidensity. You don’t want to know how much worse it is on CD-ROM or other optical media.

Ah jesus, that just gave me a genuine belly laugh. That has to be a troll. nobody could really be that stupid... Could they?:p

Vitamin C

Don't get the Hercules MP3 E2 anyway - no internal soundcard. Found that out the hard way.

I have an Xponent and wouldn't swap it for anything. It's a bit pricey and bigger than the others but the good thing about it is that if you're a beginner there's piles of pro video tutorials FREE on the Torq website:

http://www.torq-dj.com/videos.php

Their forum moderators are really helpful too, you just need to ignore all the eejits and time wasters on them.

Vitamin C

I just noticed this up for sale on gumtree:

http://www.gumtree.ie/dublin/91/51437791.html

ianuss

[HTML]I just noticed this up for sale on gumtree:

http://www.gumtree.ie/dublin/91/51437791.htm[/HTML]l

Right, I'm a total noob at this but I'm lookin to get started. Is it the case that all I would need is this and a decent laptop?

milltown

Basically, yes.
Do a bit of research and see if you think the Torq software is what you want though. Traktor pro seems to be the industry/club standard software and Zascar had a bit of grief getting it mapped to the Xponent to his satisfaction. Keep an eye on adverts.ie too, there's regularly controllers for sale there too. Just be aware that some are complete packages, i.e. a MIDI controller and sound interface, whereas others are just controllers and you'd be looking at another €100ish for a decent soundcard.

You won't have to go back too far through this forum to find a few good discussions on the subject, and there's a sticky full of newbie advice at the top of the forum.

ianuss

milltown wrote: »

Basically, yes.
Do a bit of research and see if you think the Torq software is what you want though. Traktor pro seems to be the industry/club standard software and Zascar had a bit of grief getting it mapped to the Xponent to his satisfaction. Keep an eye on adverts.ie too, there's regularly controllers for sale there too. Just be aware that some are complete packages, i.e. a MIDI controller and sound interface, whereas others are just controllers and you'd be looking at another €100ish for a decent soundcard.

You won't have to go back too far through this forum to find a few good discussions on the subject, and there's a sticky full of newbie advice at the top of the forum.

Cheers, much appreciated. I've spent the afternoon sifting through this and other threads just trying to get my bearings and I think I'm up to speed. I just want to see exactly what it is I need to get started etc.

So, just to summarise, if I can be a pain in the arse and ask what's possibly a dumb question here.......... Suppose I buy the xponent, then I will need to purchase either Torque or Traktor, whichever I prefer. Then I buy a decent soundcard and I'm good to go?

ED E

ianuss wrote: »

Cheers, much appreciated. I've spent the afternoon sifting through this and other threads just trying to get my bearings and I think I'm up to speed. I just want to see exactly what it is I need to get started etc.

So, just to summarise, if I can be a pain in the arse and ask what's possibly a dumb question here.......... Suppose I buy the xponent, then I will need to purchase either Torque or Traktor, whichever I prefer. Then I buy a decent soundcard and I'm good to go?

This is worth a read: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/TorqXponent.html

Its got its own soundcard, so thats sorted. Also, its sold with Torq 1.5. If you buy it and a pair of headphones you're sorted:)

milltown

Check with the seller but as far as I'm aware the Xponent comes with the Torq software (just make sure the license can be transferred if the s/w has been registered/activated). Also, the Xponent is one of the controllers that has the soundcard built in. Others, off the top of my head are Hercules DJ console Mk2 and RMX, Numark Total Control and Behringer BCD 2000 and 3000 (bad reports about the 2000 abound though).

You'll normally get some form of software with a controller, albeit maybe a trial/lite/LE version. I think Torq is unique to the Xponent or M-Audio gear. Otherwise you'll generally find some version of Traktor or Virtual DJ included. I think trial versions of both can be downloaded (legally) so you can get a taste, even before you buy a controller.

Any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

ianuss

Thanks again lads, I'm really glad I stumbled upon this site. I've had a look at that Torq xponent unit and it looks like a nice piece of kit and sounds like it's exactly what I need. I've sourced one from the US, brand new for €385 (including delivery). Seems like a good price?

Zascar

You'll prob get stung for import tax on the way in which is 20%. I did when I got my vci - but thankfully they marked the price on the box down to half so I saved some cash