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Thread: Playing original vinyl through a DVS system and software

  1. #1
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    Playing original vinyl through a DVS system and software

    I have just started my journey on vinyl and am looking to upgrade my mixer as the one I started with was very basic and old.

    I am considering buying a DVS compatible mixer as the cost of vinyl is stacking up already and it would be great to have the option to play digital files with vinyl.

    The question I have is when you play your digital tracks using the time code vinyl I imagine the BPM and details of the track show up on the laptop interface, but what about when you play an original vinyl..... how does that show up on the software would it also show BPM etc the same way the digital tracks would appear.

    The reason I ask is even tho I am learning to beat match by ear would it also be possible to use the visual of the software to see the BPM of the original vinyl tracks? This may help me pick it up quicker.

    Many thanks

    Matt

  2. #2
    Moderator pete's Avatar
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    Having the BPM before you will not make you a better DJ, and in many cases can make you "pick it up" slower.

    If you are constantly looking at the BPM as your anchor as to if the track is pitched correctly it will trip you up. You'll be so interested in the 0.X percent difference that the screen is showing, that you won't be using your ears enough to align the tracks.

    As long as you can tell that the tracks are in the same ballpark (i.e. will mix together with the pitch controls on your player), then the aid provided by a live BPM meter is minimal. They are constantly juggling an algorithm to estimate the BPM and, by nature, is less "accurate" than the human ear.


    In answer to your question, DVS systems do have ways to calculate BPM, for example Serato has a "BPM tapper", which is about as useful as you would expect.

    Ideally you will move away from using vinyl records and move towards digital over time. The benefits of using the software for performance make using vinyl records a real chore, and real vinyl sounds worse.
    However, you do lose the feel of real records, which in some way is a lot of the enjoyment.
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  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt51091 View Post
    The question I have is when you play your digital tracks using the time code vinyl I imagine the BPM and details of the track show up on the laptop interface, but what about when you play an original vinyl..... how does that show up on the software would it also show BPM etc the same way the digital tracks would appear. Matt
    If you want to play an original vinyl, you will choose whats called the "THRU" option on the software. This basically tells the software to directly feed whatever signal is being picked up by the needle straight through to your output. So to answer your question, no it wont show any BPM or other metadata you are looking for.

    The software analyses digital tracks to come up with the BPM and other metadata. Since your original vinyl is a straight analog signal running through, it does not have the ability to analyze it.

  4. #4
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    Thank you both for your replies, both the exact answers I was looking for! I am in need for a new mixer so I may get myself a DVS compatible mixer now so in the near future I can make the switch, but for now I think il knuckle down and try and master my beat matching manually.

    Thanks once again ��

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