Laptop V Hdd Controller

[DJTREV 0]

Hate to bring this up again but......

Using a laptop as I understand it,you have your software,preferably a external hard disc (thats assuming you dont download all your tracks to the laptop or is that the recommended way),a external sound card all going through your mixer.

Now with the HDDC you still need the laptop but the software is bundled in with the HD.I am assuming you still need the ext. soundcard and the ext hard disc.

Now comes the question.(you see TEEZ,even us old'uns have to get advise cause we cant get our heads round all this techie stuff;and believe me I'm old!!)

While being able to perform with the laptop setup it seems that by adding the HDDC I have just put another piece of equipment in the chain to do the same job.

It seems that most of the argument surrounding these setups centres around the fact that the laptop can break down but surely with the HDDC using the same laptop doesn't the same thing apply.

Or am I missing something?

[Dream Catchers 0]

An HDC is a stand alone piece of kit.

You simply plug your external (HD/Pen/CD) into it. No need for a laptop, no need for extra sound cards.

They are basically the same as a twin CD deck but for use with hard drives instead.

 

Jim

[DJTREV 0]

Yes as I understood it the HDDC was a stand alone piece of kit but all the ones I have seen demoed have had a laptop showing software either Trakter or PCDJ with your playlists.

[bigMCben 0]

Here's the Denon HD2500 with two audio outputs (one for each side) to take directy to your mixer. No laptop required.

 

http://www.pbsounds.co.uk/productimages/DN-HD2500.jpg

[Dream Catchers 0]

Ahh...

You are talking about a DAC that interfaces with PCDJ or Traktor etc.

 

They just give the the ability to control the software with the regular button interface that you are used to rather than use a mouse or keyboard.

 

With the cost of laptop, souncard and controller, I think the better value is the HDC. Less to go wrong too.

 

Have a look at Cortex, Denon and Numark.

 

Jim

[DJTREV 0]

But the display seems to be small,whereas on the laptop it appears that you can see more of your playlists/tracks/artists.

[bigMCben 0]

But then how big is a screen on an I-pod? The Denon's screen is small but it has all the information you need. Why not try it and see how it feels for you.

[Teez 0]

Hi DJTrev, yes you're right, it's good not be the only one asking questions!!

 

I bought a Pioneer MEP 7000 and part of the setup was installing DJS (hate it, the library menu is dark, small and restricted) on the laptop then connecting it to the player. The connection gave me the option of making the Pioneer become the sound card and the laptop purely the slave.

 

When unplugged the laptop soundcard kicks in again.

 

I'm guessing this is the best solution and avoiding any additional processes between the disk and the player.

 

IMHO

 

Teez

[MintyDave 0]

Anything can break down unfortunately but what do you do. My ideal setup which i am saving for is a pair of denon dns 1200s which are cd players, hdd controllers and software controllers. That way i would have pleanty of options with the laptop being primary playback with a usb memory stick as back up and cd if i feel like doing things the hard way (sorry cd users)

 

considering all this my amp will probably go at a gig.

 

The market lacks a choice of 19" controllers which will act as software controller and hdd controller but time will tell.

 

The Pioneer mep does everything but i think you need the cd drawer connected to gain access to hard drives as i think the usb slot is on the cd drawer- is this right Teez?

[Teez 0]

Yes, that is correct.

 

The MEP has two USB slots. One at the back which is mainly to be used with your principal hard drive to plug in during setup. When in a flight case it's difficult to get to so you don't want to be spending too much time plugging and unpluging.

 

The other USB is at the front and works perfectly for a USB stick (great for tailor made playlists, guest appearances etc.) Or you could get the latest 128 gig USB stick (the ones under £300 are Chinese fakes) and forget the laptop.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-DataTrave...576&sr=8-46

 

I think I've seen someone rig the control unit only (YouTube) for the MEP but I dont think it's worth the hassle. I bought it for many reasons but the CD+G option is excellent. Fade in and fade out CD+G graphics on screen then fade across to CD/MP3 is not totally necessary but it's good to have that flexibility.

 

So I now have through one control unit the option to use ... music files on laptop, music files on external hard drive, music files on large USB storage, CD's, CD+G

 

It doesn't stop you from playing cr@p music though :ouch:

 

Teez