Dell Laptop + SDHC Card + AQ Dragonfly red = well prepared for DJ-ing?

[DuckToller]

Hi all,

 

I am invited to DJ on the 50 Anniversary of an old friend (younger than me ;-).

Having done the last DJ-set about 15 years ago, I am contemplating if my choice of equipment does make sense, and which DJ software for WIN7 I should use?

 

Basically I will use an I5 Dell Laptop (WIN7) and a 64 GB SDHC card with RB flac as source, HP via HP out and Digital out via USB to AQ Dragonfly red with output directly to the mixing board or the power amp.

I could have the music also on the SSD, but I was thinking it might be better on the SDcard.

I will create some playlists for the afternoon and dinner time, and have some genre type playlists ready for the dance floor in the evening. In my experience that works only half the way, adjustments to the guest taste are always necessary, more often in the beginning than in the end.

 

I was testing CuteDJ today, but was not overly enthusiastic about the software ... as importing the files to the player and fading in and out from the 2 decks had been not at all smooth using a mouse or a touchpad.

 

Any experiences and suggestions, which DJ software might be a good and easy to use amateurish DJ set up ? Any clever ideas about improving the setup?

 

Thanxs in advance

 

Tom

[17629v2]

You won't need the Dragonfly. You'll never hear the difference in sound quality. Most mixers today have dac's in them already, anyway. If you're not going to be mixing, I don't see the need for DJ software. Just make some playlists and use something like Foobar or iTunes.

[DuckToller]

Thank you,

Itunes never, ..., i am about to find out about the board next week, hopefully with good surprises. The Dell does not have any sound card, therefore the Dragonfly as it anyway travels with me. Foobar or jriver were considered as options

Cheers, Tom

[17629v2]

Thank you,

Itunes never, ..., i am about to find out about the board next week, hopefully with good surprises. The Dell does not have any sound card, therefore the Dragonfly as it anyway travels with me. Foobar or jriver were considered as options

Cheers, Tom

 

Unless its a really weird model, your Dell should have a sound card. It just doesn't offer a digital out. You can confirm this by testing the headphone jack. If you get music, run a cable from the headphone jack to the mixer.

 

If you are going to use regular playback software, download a free music player called Clementine. Its what iTunes should be. Very powerful and full featured without the cost or complexity of Foobar or jriver. If you give it a try, I'm pretty sure you'll use it.

[DuckToller]

Thank you for the Clementine advise, i'll check that out in the evening. According to the sound card, I should have written: only a basic or no advanced sound card - as that was intended to be expressed.

In my ears with HP the sound via dragonfly is much better than with the HP jack.

Cheers Tom

[17629v2]

Thank you for the Clementine advise, i'll check that out in the evening. According to the sound card, I should have written: only a basic or no advanced sound card - as that was intended to be expressed.

In my ears with HP the sound via dragonfly is much better than with the HP jack.

Cheers Tom

 

I agree. But going through the mixer may neutralize the AQ's benefits. Actually, if you get it from Best Buy, it can be returned.

[DuckToller]

Hi,

I did check out Clementine, and while it may be very good in the Apple eco system, it has some. deficits under Windows.

Appreciated much the German webpage, but finally ruled it out for the reason of lacking a pre hear capability for HP out and no manual fading in and out of the songs. I might use it for the playlist game in the afternoon and for dinner, but for the dj set i may look elsewhere.

Just installed mixxx and android universal remote server on the Dell for remote access via phone or tablet. Foobar is an serious option too, but first I need to find out more about dragonfly/foobar issue.

Cheers, Tom

[DuckToller]

Just finished my 6 h DJ set, finally I had decided to take Foobar2000 as a music Player, as it is comfortable to load playlists and most important it sounded so much better in wasapi output to the Dragonfly than MIXXX, the DJ software. Even the owner of the DJ tec service was impressed about the clarity of the FLAC files and the sound of the usb output. He compared it also to the earphone out, which we both found intriguengly bad in comparison .

I found for me the best practise for Foobar had been to use the Everything search tool to find the track to play and copy it directly in the playlist.

Cheers TV