Sound card + mixer

Hey guys. Am starting to get into laptop-dj'ing.

Thinking of purchasing one of these midi-controller-mixers with assignable buttons:

The behringer bcd 2000 http://www.midweststereo.com/catalog/Screen=PROD&Store_Code=midweststereo&Product_Code=BEHBCD2000

or the x-session

http://www.nusystems.co.uk/product/Evolution.X-Session.UC17

And I am wondering if I will get any lag with the assignable midi buttons or the scratching/other important dj stuff. I have a crappy dell soundcard - will that be an issue? Or will I have to get something like an indigo sound card:

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/CardBus/IndigoDJ/index.php

Will I still get a bit of latency with one of those? Or will it be virtually realtime.

Thanks in advance.

p.s. thinking of using htese with traktor.

If you're at all serious about scratching you might not be happy with the results of using a laptop to run your audio. That behringer mixer/controller is a joke if you want to scratch. Bottom line is, you need a record player or something extreemly similar in feel to cut at a level above mediocre. They have hardware and software that will allow you to use real records on your record players to control and scratch MP3s on your laptop. I'm most familiar with serato scratch, which is considered to the best interface by many. What you get is a slight disconect in your scratches. Its barely noticable, which is great, but it does have an affect. It won't be noticable to your average listener, and if you aren't a highly technical scratcher you probably won't notice it either. Where it comes into play is when your phrasing and timing get to a point where extreme accuracy matters. In those cases it can be frustrating for scratching. If you plan on learning with one of these scratch simulators you're going to be at a disadvantage developmentally, especially if its not final scratch or serato. Scratching one of those pads is way different than scratching a record.

For mixing, its not an issue.

For building any kind of unique collection of samples and songs, you're at an extreme disadvantage without vinyl. Most of the good stuff only came out on wax and has not been reissued or squashed into MP3.

Your internal soundcard should work but it will sound like {censored} compared to a good soundcard.

Unless you're really good right now and have some digging experience under your belt I think that laptop mixing is just going to hinder your progression and originality. Most of the big name djs in the industry use these programs to prevent the need to carry around crates of records (which entails extra work, risk of theft, ruining rare records, etc.). But these are people who came up with cutting and mixing vinyl and they almost always say they'd prefer the real thing if it didn't entail carrying around a zillion records on tour.

Anyway, I know you probably don't care but I just want to plug the real thing. To me its like choosing to have sex with a plastic doll rather than a real female. The doll might be okay when the lady is out of town but otherwise its not as good.

Thanks alot for the reply. It sorta opened my eyes.

I cannot afford finalscratch, as my sound card (m-audio usb) was quite a lot. I bought the xsession pro , just for mixing. It seemed like the cheapest solution.

On beginning to DJ - yes this is the very first time for me. I will see where it takes me. If I do decide I like it, I will probably invest in finalscratch or serato.

I already have about 10,000 mp3's of house/trip hop, and I think quite alot o that is good. I think you can still get some great vinyl stuff on mp3, even if it is [underground].

I don't think I will need to scratch at this stage. Mabye just a few baby scratches... but we'll have to see.

If I do get into scratching, I will most certainly purchase serato or finalscratch. I probably won't bother with records... but who knows? I'm only 13, so there's alot of room to grow.

Cheers, and thanks a lot for the advice, friend.

Cool. A lot of this depends on where you want to go with the DJ thing. If you're just trying to mix greatest hits then go with the cheapest thing you can get. If you're looking to produce your own sample-based music or learn how to scratch then you're going to need to invest in quality equipment and build a unique collection of samples.

One of the big things that a lot of young DJs overlook is that your collection of music is very important. Its not how big your collection is, its what's in it, and more importantnly, how well you know it. The 10,000 MP3s that you have is probably the same 10,000 MP3 that every other kid has. And because you didn't work to get those 10,000 MP3s you don't appreciate them the same way as if you had to hunt them all down individually (and pay for them.) Most of these types of DJs have 10,000 MP3s but they don't even know what they have or know what's good. This is because they didn't work to get them. Buying records is something that fosters development as a DJ. You have to hunt down your music piece by piece, and this means that you know and appreciate almost every record in your collection. When you go buy records you come home and listen to each one and you learn as you go. You get to know the cover art, who is playing on what record, the labels, who produced it, where to look for sounds in the grooves. When I'm looking for drum sounds, I know which records to look for because I know my records. When you download 10,000 mp3s you don't listen to all of them, they are just a file on a computer that has limited information and poor sound quality. Finding good drum sounds will take you forever. You can always use the drum sounds off some sample CD but that means that your sounds won't be unique (you'll be using the same played-out stuff as all the other guys). Records are unique because you have to track them down and you're going to find stuff that is unique to your geographical location and personal tastes and selections. The music DJ Shadow used to put together Entroducing didn't come from MP3s, and you won't find most of it on MP3, or CD today. A lot of it came about because he got his records at a particular record store. You don't find a lot of stuff like that on MP3. What you tend to find on MP3 is the greatest hits.

If you want to learn how to mix and scratch you can't beat the hand's on experience of having two real turntables (that play real records) and a mixer. Its expensive, but that's a good thing because it invests you in the art. You have to build a collection from scratch and learn how all the real equipment works. This is difficult, but you learn and develop along the way and in the end you're more likely to have a unique sound and style. Most of these kids spinning MP3 aren't unique and they have no skills because they don't have that foundation of record collecting and learning to mix and scratch the hard way. If you decide you want to get serious about producing or scratching I'd get into records early. Then when you've learned the ropes you might look into getting final scratch or another emulator. Remember, when you're dealing with records, that's the real thing. Its analogue sound. When you put your hand of the record and scratch it, that's the real sound the needle makes going over the grooves of the record. The best way to learn is to learn the real thing, not a simulation of the real thing.

Its something to think about anyway.

Peace.

Hey man, I'm 16, and I use Virtual DJ 4, which I think is a pretty sweet program. I'm looking at getting a good pair of tables eventually and probably stepping up to something like Serato Scratch Live. But if wanna just mix and you have a soundcard, something like Virtual DJ mite work for u instead of Traktor.