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DJ Sacha

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Posts posted by DJ Sacha

  3. I've Been Stupid With My Laptop...

    in Digital D.J'ing Discussion

    Posted

    Thanks for that McCardle....proffessional as ever.

     

    Haven't got the patience myself!!

     

    Anybody in South Yorks with the ability...I will renumerate of course....my risk!!

     

    Has anyone checked whether the charger is the issue?

     

    Also, the make and model of the laptop?

     

    Laptops are built to be break/fix and repairers including dell normally make a guess on what the issue is...sometimes they get it right but other times they get it wrong. This is ok if you have something like dell's 3 year warrenty plan, but if you don't...well trying to fix it may cost you more then a new laptop!

     

    Start with the simplest then work from there. You need to discount the charger out of the frame, after that it'll be the battery and so on. Do not authorise expensive board replacements until you mega sure that the charger and battery are not the issue.

     

     

  4. Setting Up Early & Leaving Your Gear

    in D.J and Karaoke Chat

    Posted

    Yes I've come across this with my band/DJ setup i.e. we need you to be setup and out of the venue by 3pm. Trouble is that I don't think our MU insurance covers us for gear left unattended. In the event I have always stayed behind to keep an eye on stuff!

     

    In fact last night we gigged in Bristol and were required to be setup before 6pm which we were. We all stayed and everyone but me retired to the hotel room. I walked out of the venue to have a smoke only to come back and find some kid beating the hell out my drums with the stupid parent stood their laughing?? I soon ejected the oink - in the most diplomatic fashion of course!

     

    It's a risk, but not one I feel that is worth taking.

  5. Will There Always Be Demand For Mobile Discos?

    in D.J and Karaoke Chat

    Posted · Edited by DJ Sacha

    I'm in a band as well, and business on the band front has never been as busy....

     

    I agree with this too. And we too are busy. 3 years ago we made the decision to move away from pubs and clubs and concentrate on weddings and corporate type gigs. This has turned out to be the best move we ever made. We offer Band and DJ and 99% of our clients snap this up with the other 1% opting for the truly terrible £50 DJ.

     

    Demand for our services is quite high and I'm guessing this is down to the type people we target. Over the past year we have found ourselves playing less at hotels are more for landowners in huge marquees in a fields they own. These people seem to be resistant to the "Credit Crunch" and gladly pay if they want you. Just about all our gigs are word of mouth from previous gigs.

     

    So, will there always be demand for mobile discos? Yes, just like they'll always be a demand for live music, however; it all depends on your target client type. Get in with the rich landowners and you'll never be short of work, food...etc etc LOL!

     

    Over the years we've met some scrooges who book us as band only and then at the gig DEMAND to plug in their laptop to our PA to provide "background music". As always the answer is no! It is these type of people that are a threat - luckily there is not many of them around. But we have to say "no" to these people because if they get away with it once then word soon spreads around - we use the equipment insuarance, PLI and PAT as our reason for not allowing non-band equipment to be plugged into our mixer.

     

    P.S. We charge a heck of a lot more then £450 - it's usually around the £1100 area with the odd client pleading us to drop to £950...but that is very occasionally.

  6. V1300

    in HD DJ Controllers

    Posted · Edited by DJ Sacha

    Well both devices - Laptop and MP3 controller - achieve the same desired result. Yes I accept that they're many things you can do on a laptop but the same can be said for the controllers. I opted for my D2 purely becuase a) a cannot afford 2 DECENT laptops and b) it's nice to have everything in one case.

     

    My D2 has skiped or paused up at times - due to opening a corrupt WAV file and for browsing through files without building the library. Luckily this was only when I was learning to use it in my house and both occasions were my fault. I agree that dedicated kit should not be prone to failiure like this BUT it is us - the consumer - that are real testers. It's only when these products get released in the market that the faults etc get identified.

     

    I'm just glad that manufacturers such as Numark are keen to iron out the bugs with their firmware releases. But I do accept that they seem to choose to ignore other issues - such as the ones identified and posted on the their forums. But mind you, some of the problems do seem to be down to ignorance or a lack of detail in the reference manuals from Numark - their manuals are suprisingly light on information!

  7. D2 Director Problem

    in HD DJ Controllers

    Posted

    Hi,

     

    I know this thread is quite old but I'll add my 2 cents...

     

    When I first got my D2 I copied my CD based stuff using EAC to my WD drive. All MP3s are sampled at a VBR of up to 320Kbits.

     

    At first I had 400 files per folder on a FAT32 drive. When I copied the songs from the File browser selection I too found that the current track playing would stutter or even stop. Now bear in mind that this was before I built the library. Songs also took about 5 seconds to load.

     

    Now when I built the Library I found that songs took about a second to load and that there was now stuttering or stops. So it seems that the indexing does work very well! I do not use the File browser on the D2 but just stick to the Search, Album, Artist etc etc. I also ensure that the drive isn't fragmented either.

     

    Also, we have to bear in mind that the D2 is an I/O device just like any other computer. It may run Linux but it is just as prone to bottlenecks and memory faults too - as with MS Windows. Numark has obviously used Linux because of the licensing costs and the modular architecture of the OS. BUT that doesn't mean to say that it is rock solid! It isn't!

     

    The fact that us D2 owners introduce an unknown variable to the equation - USB Hard Drive - increases the risk of problems. Numark cannot possibly test this device with ALL USB HDs. So what happens if your usb HD hangs or takes too long scouring the platters looking for the MP3 data of the song you are trying to load. How does the D2 handle that?

     

    If you imagine a queue of programs - one of them being the next part of your currently playing MP3 data - is waiting to be executed by the D2 CPU and the program being executed at the time - now a process - is your load-up of the next track. Now if that load-up process takes too long, or simply fails then the D2 must either wait until the process finishes or execute an error-correction program. The end result being that the programs in the queue waiting to be executed are delayed - the real world result is a momentary lock up of the devices I/O - the song playing pauses.

     

    This is acceptable on PCs and laptops at home or in an office. But in critical useage such as what we do it can be a pain in the ar$e. However, it is the nature of the beast. I suspect that the D2 is single processor unit - having 2 processors, one for each track controller would probably make life eaisier but would most likely increase costs too - if they were still producing it.

     

    So in my opinion the D2 is a great unit and has revolutionised my DJ-ing BUT at the end of the day it is computer and is prone to all things that annoy us - Linux or not.

     

    As with a computer, I have learnt not repeat actions that I have not received a response to on the D2. For instance, if I press the button to load a track and I don't get a response I have learnt that it is futile to keep pressing it multiple times. The multiple inputs will be executed once the I/O becomes responsive - this results in the same Program building up in memory and being executed by the CPU. The risk here is that the limited memory of the unit will be saturated and the CPU will be overwhelmed...the end result is pauses, stops etc in the music being played!

     

    It's not perfect but the D2 it's a damn sight better at what it does then my laptop running Windows. If you can understand that this unit is not a CD Player but a computer and suffers from the same annoyances then you should be ok. In order to get the best out of the unit one has to understand:

     

    * Programs & Processes - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_(computing)

    * CPU Architecture - Andrew S Tanenbaum has written fantastic books on this

    * FAT File system - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table

     

    Finally, a lot of people are requesting that the D2 is made compatible or can wite to NTFS formatted drives. Well as I stated earlier the D2 uses the Linux OS. NTFS is a microsoft file system that can be found on NT4, 2000, XP and Vista. It is a file system that utilises file system Access Control Lists that enables administrators to control file and folder access. This is determined by a Windows user account or group membership of a Windows Group. Seeing as the D2 is neither a Windows user account or a member of a default windows group on the file system's ACL then writing to an NTFS drive will be impossible...

     

    However, what MIGHT work is that if one reformats their drive as NTFS, removes the default users and groups in the ACL and then add the EVERYONE group with FULL CONTROL. This may allow the D2 to write to the drive.

     

    Crikey I've really blabbed on!

  8. Numark Cm100 Failed Pat Test

    in Techie Talk

    Posted

    Hi all,

     

    I know this is the wrong forum but I am unable to post in the techie forum - most likely due to my low post count.

     

    My band had all its gear PAT tested yesterday and as I'm the drummer/DJ my DJ rig was tested too. Currently I own a Numark D2 Director with a Numark CM100 mixer. The D2 Director passed the PAT test - well its power adaptor did - but the CM100 failed for not having an earth.

     

    I called my local DJ store - DJ Supplies in Kidderminster - to ask them if this was a common issue. They said that the mixer could be double insulated and if it were they'd be a "square within a square" symbol at the back by the power input. Well I checked last night and there isn't. However, I did notice somethings that were odd for what I thought was a UK spec product:

     

    * the AC input spec is 115/230v

    * the unit is certified to CAN/CSA STD

    * the warnings etc are in English and French.

     

    Now I'm of the opinion that this CM100 was sourced from another zone - either North America or Europe or wherever uses the 2 pin mains plug. The unit also has an external ground too. My dad - who is an electrician - has opened the unit up and confirmed that there is no earth and that 2 pins on the IEC chassis are not connected to anything. He needs to identify the correct earth pin with his meter before doing anything else - sorry for being vague but if he typed this he would explain that better then me!

     

    I purchased the unit from an online UK supplier and I'm just wondering if it is possible that they have been flogging non-UK spec kit. I know that it's not an issue and I don't intend to go moaning at them but not having a mains earth is a bit scary as I always have a mic connected to the unit. I also remember that when I bought the unit - 2 years ago - it came with a mains 2 pin plug to IEC.

     

    Where I work - in IT - we order in a lot of Cisco switches for our datacentres - now because the UK distributor takes so long we normally end up with euro-zone switches that are supplied by the likes of Misco or Insight. They're also happen to be cheaper then the UK supplied units. I'm just wondering if this is the same scenario as with mixers etc.

     

    Finally, could the lack of earth explain the following issues:

     

    * Low quiet hum through the PA when the mixer is on

    * totally obvious loud hum when a light is connected to the BNC socket on the mixer...

     

    or am I talking complete rubbish!

     

    Your thoughts would be appreciated.

     

    DJ Sacha

     

     

     

    Update

     

     

     

    My dad has connected up the earth from the earth IEC pin to the chassis of the mixer. The low hum has now gone and the obvious hum when the BNC light is connected has now gone too. Also the "tingle" sensation - I didn't mention this before - when touching the case and something else electrical has also gone too.

     

    I always seemed to get a "tingle" off the case if my arm rested against it whilst touching my Dell laptop touchpad. The case being what the D2 and CM100 are racked in - obviously felt this when everything was powered on.

     

     

  10. Hi all...newbie here!!

    in Introduce Yourself Here

    Posted

    Hi all,

     

    Newbie alert!!!

     

    I'm a DJ that DJ's with the cover band that I play the drums for...the cover band I play in is located at www.thebsharps.com We play at weddings and corporate do etc etc. The disco side of things is a new edition to the band package but it doesn't half make a difference to the service we provide! People who book us are well chuffed that they can get a band and disco all in one enquiry!

     

    Anyway less babbling from me...so a big HI to all

     

    DJ Sacha

  11. Bands

    in D.J and Karaoke Chat

    Posted

    Hi all - I joined a while back but this is my first post!!! I've decided to post on this thread as I'm a drummer in a Cover Band.

     

    The cover band I'm in provides a DJ option for a disco as well the live band, this way we don't have any problems with DJs. I DJ when the band is not on stage and then jump back onto the drums when the band is back on. This setup is great as we can offer a complete package to customers, be incharge of the whole show, and at least part of the package is going to get people up dancing...oh and we charge more money too!

     

    This band and the previous band used to tolerate DJs in the past; believe me we came across some right toerags over the years i.e. mixing into the end of the band song at the end of a set, playing tracks we were going to play (even tho they had our set), setting up in the wrong area, and them being in a huff cos' we got to the venue before them! Now we don't have this problem...well that's a lie because we did have one incident with a DJ last week in London who was not happy about the room we left him on the stage! Well as a gesture of good will we allowed him to connect to our desk and use our Mackie active tops and subs to play his music - he was well pleased!!! And I got on with him like a house on fire...even to the point of him getting me drinks while I was drumming and vice-versa for him DJ-ing.

     

    The thing I notice is people arrive stressed to gigs - DJs and band members. I find that if you let 'em cool down for 30 minutes and keep out their way then eventually a compromise or solution will be found. Most important thing is to keep your frustrations out of view of the customers...that goes for DJs and band members alike!

     

    Cheers

     

    Speak soon!!

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