question about using laptop, dvs, cdj, controllers, etc...

[blackfoxbb]

a lot have been told about lap top crashing as a downside to use it, so this thread is directed to those who use laptops.

if your hardware (controler, cdj, whatever) fail, are you ready to keep playing only with your laptop? do you map you keyboard and practice to use it?

just curious.

[Jason Cerna]

my laptop never crashes with my audio software. years ago, i got scratch live to freeze up but it was user error, not the computers fault.

imo, if a laptop crashes with the software you are using, your laptop isn't setup correctly or for some reason you are running into heat related problems. not really an issue for apple platforms. all the djs i know who are on windows machines have their laptops optimized for dj work, never heard of them complaining about crashing.

the only backup i have is for my controllers. if for some reason both of them go down, i use my custom TouchOSC templates on my iPhone.

[silentsounds]

I've read from a lot of people who carry an iPod or phone and connect it to the main system should their laptops crash.

It's hard to imagine just the controller failing.

[Jason Cerna]

in the years i've been playing the only thing i've run into as far as killing the music for a period of time is a power failure of some sort in the venue.

[Schreiber]

I have a few pre-recorded mixes on both my Mac & my Droid, so if the controller dies, I still have those two to back it up. Obviously, I'd prefer to do it live, but it's a hell of a lot better than just, "Oh, sorry guys. No more music."

[Adzm00]

imo, if a laptop crashes with the software you are using, your laptop isn't setup correctly or for some reason you are running into heat related problems.

Unless it has a hissy fit. Computers like those, even macs.

I've seen plenty of computers die or just not respond correctly.

[Phil Noize]

I did have a locking up problem. I tracked it down to faulty RAM and replaced it. Both my laptops run flawlessly now.

I always have a CD copy of one of my sets in a CD deck ready to play ... you never know, your hard drive could fail.

[de.j.l]

If you have any laptop issues , you will know about them before you do your first gig.

[Incognito]

I have done repairs on computers as well as custom gaming rig builds for people, what I have noticed with the DJs who I did work on their computers for is they all had the same issues. They used their same laptop that is used for DJing as their main computers & as such they had a lot of downloaded garbage (spyware, ad-ware, viruses, pop-ups, loaded with porn & other useless junk), once the laptops where given clean installs (what I do now is convince them to spend the extra cash to upgrade to SSD) of the latest operating systems, all Windows updates installed, keeping the laptop to bare basic installed programs & dedicated for DJ use only. What I found was the same people who wrote off laptops & where about to switch on over to Mac now sing praises for the laptop they owned the whole time.

Another issue is to be sure your laptop meets the required spec of the given DJ program since I have seen people trying to use old beat up laptops that don'y even come close to reaching spec & then go out & buy a brand new Mac. These are the same ones who now swear off laptops as garbage even after I tried to make them understand the laptops they had where simply not up to spec. More times then not when it comes down to a laptop it's either faulty memory, requires a fresh install of windows after being corrupted from too much downloaded garbage or it simply doesn't meet the required spec.

I used to use Virtual DJ for real small wedding type gigs or small family functions but I now use Serato Itch as my main rig as I retire my CDJ decks & mixer, the laptop I use runs Serato flawless without issue.

[jazzyj]

If the controller completely failed altogether - no I don't guess I'm prepared for that. But if the software for the controller fails - I'm fine as I carry (now that I bought a macbook pro) 2 extra laptops with me, both loaded with either itunes or traktor pro 2 and the drive is external (carry one backup for that as well) and also a SDK memory card that flip from pc to pc that has all the OMG must play/event music for gigs (think weddings). The Traktor S4 would still work in Channel D as a "live" input for my iphone as well (which again I carry all the OMG must play songs on).

So are we thinking we need a controller/sound card back up? like if the Traktor S4 just completely fails, maybe I should have a M-Audio or something similar as backup so i connect direct from iPhone/laptop to speakers (with M-Audio in between)? Probably not a bad idea.. hmm.

[Phil Noize]

If my controller failed, I could just switch to using the mouse & keys. It's not ideal, and I'd hate it compared to using my controller, but it would get me through a night with basic controls.

[Incognito]

If you have something like a Denon DN-MC6000 & the midi features failed on it then you can fall back on the ability to use the controller as a standard analog mixer then run off of an MP3 player or keep something like Virtual DJ as back up on your computer so you can run your laptop through the Denon DN-MC6000 (using it as a mixer, not a controller).