TWIN DECK MP3/CD PLAYERS

[Baldeagle 0]

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a very very long time - been away. For those who don't know me (pretty much everyone!) I am an ex- 70's DJ now in his mid 50's who was dragged out of retirement to help a local sports club set up a disco for occasional disco's. I have been using my laptop MP3 to provide the music as have their own sound system but no music source. They have asked me to buy a twin CD deck like the Numark or Gemini in case I'm not available with my laptop so they can play CD's. However I have backed up their CD's on to MP3 CDR discs and I think they would be better with a combined twin CD / MP3 deck (that can play MP3 off CDR or even DVD discs like a computer). Has anyone had experience of such equipment and if so what is available and is it any good? Thanks for any help you can give.

Steve

[Gary 0]

Well welcome backum Baldeagle. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/042.gif

 

A few things have changed in the DJing world whilst you've been away from the forum - notablty we've finally found some clarification on the whole grey area of copying CD's, leaving the originals at home and playing from the backups, turning original CD's into MP3 CD's to cut down of numbers of CD's carried about etc...and that biggie...I wanna record my shop-bought CDs onto a harddrive and play them from that rather than carry any CD's whatsoever.

 

Regretably, all of the above fall on the wrong side of legal without the appropriate license. And without the appropriate license, the venue could lose its permission to play any music at any get together, even background/juke-box music, plus the DJ has to pay a 50% surcharge for any licenses bought after the event.

 

Anyway, equipment...Numark and Gemini make some nice dual CD-decks which will play MP3's and of course shop-bought CDs. Its down to preference, but I'd say that Numark has the slight edge in terms of build quality, features etc.

 

Higher up in the MP3 CD-deck market there are various dual and single CD-decks from Denon, which some nice features such as a search for tracks by Artist name or song title, and functions such as blending the start of the next track, over the end of the last track on the SAME CD...eg: play track 5 then track 10 off the same CD, with a few seconds of overlap, rather than the usual few seconds of gap.

[jeffwall 0]

Gary which Denon model had the mp3 search by keying in song title etc? Do you know the average price of it? (Dual deck)

 

cheers

[Baldeagle 0]

Thanks for that Gary.

 

I have read the threads on PPL licences (and note on the survey that no-one has actually bought one yet!) but I am a little confused. Back in the 70's we bought a single PPL licence for any one-off public events like Civic Halls etc. We did not need one for private parties where we were booked by a person who had hired a room or held a party at home. The sports venue I am referring to only has 6 or 7 private events each year for members only (note:- I do it for fun and don't get paid so I'm not a professional DJ). It never has public or open ticket sale events. They obviously have a Local Authority license for music, dancing & alchohol etc. but I'm not sure if they have a PPL licence or even if they need one. Does the VENUE need a PPL licence and/or is it the DJ who is providing the music who needs a license? Bear in mind that on any evening it could be one of the members who takes the role of DJ/MC.

 

Cheers for any help - or point me to where I can find definitive guidance on the rules as I may have to have a meeting with the committee!

[Gary 0]

QUOTE (Jeffwall @ Nov 15 2005, 05:29 PM)

Gary which Denon model had the mp3 search by keying in song title etc? Do you know the average price of it? (Dual deck) cheers

The two dual decks which offer MP3 search by first letter of Song title or first letter of artist name are the DN-D4500 and (more featureds) the DN-D6000.

 

You basically pop your MP3 disc in, full of lovely legal downloaded @ 79p each, MP3s; choose a letter of the alphabet eg: "K" and as you turn the track slector knob, instead of it going thru "Track 1", "Track 2", "Track 3" etc,etc,etc...it'll go "Keep me hanging on", "Killer", "Killing me softly", "Kiss me" - all with artists names etc of whatevers on the disc.

 

I'll let the DJU retailiers give you their prices for these two CD-decks.

[centrestagediscos 0]

another one worth looking at is the tascam cdx1700 just bought one and im really happy with it.

[jeffwall 0]

thanks gary

[Dukesy 0]

Anyone know what the MPCD4 Dual MP3/CD Player is like?

Or the three new American Audio dual format players?

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/533.gif

[crazypole_com 0]

Check out my experience with the CDMIX3 from Numark before considering this product.

 

crazypole_com

[MatDJ 0]

Hi,

I have the Gemini MPX-300 and it is a very nice piece of kit. self explanitary really, it has jog wheels which r useful and it also looks very pretty!

 

Its features are fairly basic but it does display the song names on the diplay for mp3 discs which is very useful!

 

looks good and does a good job!

 

Matt

[superstardeejay 0]

QUOTE

Does the VENUE need a PPL licence and/or is it the DJ who is providing the music who needs a license?

 

In the context of your topic, PPL cannot license the copying of CDs at all, it is not their job!

 

To answer the question, the PPL license is held by the organiser of the event, so in the case of a permanent pub or club, it will be the owner or licensee....any dj's in his employment are ok. Like you say, a private party/reception/bday where only invited guests are present does not need PPL licensing because PPL license any music which is used for 'public performance' and a wedding reception does not constitute this.

 

If you were to hire the local scout hut and charge kids for entry to a disco then you'd need a personal PPL license designed for the event in question.

 

PPL can be easily contacted either online or by phone and they're very helpful and eager to advise on all these matters. They're not like customs & excise....

 

 

It is also worth noting that Karaoke, dancing and singing competitions now come under Public Entertainments (!!!) and venues holding such events must be aware of this.

 

[Corabar Steve 0]

QUOTE (MatDJ @ Jan 19 2006, 09:43 PM)

Hi, I have the Gemini MPX-300 and it is a very nice piece of kit. self explanitary really, it has jog wheels which r useful and it also looks very pretty! Its features are fairly basic but it does display the song names on the diplay for mp3 discs which is very useful! looks good and does a good job! Matt

I've got one of those too (amongst others) Great bit of kit (I use it as one of my 2 main players, I run 4 decks). I haven't tried any mp3 discs in it yet but it's a nice CD player.

[ChrisPointon 0]

QUOTE

In the context of your topic, PPL cannot license the copying of CDs at all, it is not their job!

 

Agreed......but one wonders then, what business it is of theirs to get involved with the introduction of the Digital Dj licence?, after all, that the licence is to cover the process of converting CD (Or vinyl) to another digital format. Surely this is MCPS terrritory?

[Corabar Steve 0]

I know this has probably been posted before, but you can find out what's happening with the licence issue at http://djlicence.org.uk/

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

I was using the denon 4500 last night and its a great cd player, fast well laid out and very well built...

 

worth every penny...