Witch lap top?

[slightlybent47]

Since my Denon duel cd player has bit the dust I am thinking of going with a lap top for my dj work. I’m looking for one that will run the newer dj programs and have a large hard drive for storage.
Is there a particular model that is geared for this?
What’s best… using the headphone out as a line out or is there one with dedicated line out for audio?
What are some good dj programs that work well?

Edit **** Changed your title ****

[motofreak2772]

I don't know anything about DJing but every time I see them, they have macbook pros. I'm sure you can get by with pretty much anything though, but I would recommend a mbp just for the quality.

[honda400ex2003]

i would look at acer, dell, and toshiba. alienware is my fave and my current laptop but is $$$. just about any i5 processor with 4 or 8 gig of ram would work out well for the most programs nowadays. theres only a couple i5s out but they are both pretty good. something around 2 ghz would work well for you imo. 500 gig hd is a pretty good size, 750 is getting pretty common now too. both would be plenty unless you have hundreds of thousands of songs. I have about 13000 songs in right around 60 gig for comparison.

http://www.intel.com/consumer/products/processors/comparison.htm

start out looking in your price range at best buy and such and see what you find that you like the look of and see what the specs are on it.

7 runs decent with 4 gig of ram running a couple of bigger programs at a time. a music program isnt any different than a office type program unless you are doing serious editing of multiple songs and running multiple programs at a time. most are no bigger than a photoshop suite or excel and ppt.

just my .02 though,
steve

[440racer66]

if your seroius about what you do get the mac book pro. a few of my friends have em. and they make my gateway that im typing on feel like a blaster and there on 450s ha to put it into quad terms.

[honda400ex2003]

lol you just need to get rid of that gateway thats all. lol

j/k
steve

[YFZ-FoFiddy-TC]

Any laptop that has "grammar for NOOBS". ;-)

[madsmokey12]

Originally posted by honda400ex2003
i would look at acer, dell, and toshiba. alienware is my fave and my current laptop but is $$$.
steve

i have a Alienware desktop computer it's a great computer never had any problems payed $5k for it.. but i also have a Mac Book Pro Best Computer i ever bought! ever since i bought this mac book pro i haven't even touched my Alienware not once! For DJing i would recommend getting a mac book pro there is a reason why every single Professional DJ has a Mac and not a PC.. Now if your gonna use it for gaming go with a Alienware or a dell both are made by the same company.. but i highly recommend a MAC!

[slightlybent47]

Ok thanks
I’ll have to start doing some research and your ideas are part of that.
Thanks for the info.
Anyone else have any good ideas?

I don’t do a lot of fancy mixing when I dj, just looping too extend a song or beat mixing witch I can do on my mixer. Basically it will just be used for play back and it will be great to have all my music available without carrying hundreds of cd’s.
I have about 200 gigs of music but the lap top doesn’t need that much storage because I have several portable 500 gig hard drives I can use for storage.

Are there deferent quality sound cards that can be used like with a desk top or are they just basic or standard sound cards?

I’m not a gamer so I don’t need that kind of possessing power and I don’t know if the jd programs that are out there need a great deal of speed. That’s why I’m asking.

[YFZ-FoFiddy-TC]

Where does the fairy tale spell caster come in to play in any of these sentences?

[MX MaNiAc 06]

I just got a new Sony and i really like it. It was 500 something. I swear my 17" HP i got 4 years ago was 1000. Im thinking lap tops are cheaper due to iPhones, iPads and all the other malarchy they have now.

[honda400ex2003]

Originally posted by madsmokey12
i have a Alienware desktop computer it's a great computer never had any problems payed $5k for it.. but i also have a Mac Book Pro Best Computer i ever bought! ever since i bought this mac book pro i haven't even touched my Alienware not once! For DJing i would recommend getting a mac book pro there is a reason why every single Professional DJ has a Mac and not a PC.. Now if your gonna use it for gaming go with a Alienware or a dell both are made by the same company.. but i highly recommend a MAC!

i got my m17x r3 a couple of months back. Its the best computer ive ever seen. fastest computer i have ever been on and runs flawlessly. the lights are a cool effect also :devil:

steve
Specs on my alienware: :D :D :D

[crownandmonster]

Plain and simple- No windows based computer is stable enough to be used as a tool for you to make money. I have windows products and they work fine, but what happens when you are doing a gig and windows randomly decideds to pitch a fit and you have to shut down and quit playing music so you can reboot? Not gonna look good on your part. If money and your reputation are on the line buy a Mac.

[madsmokey12]

Originally posted by crownandmonster
Plain and simple- No windows based computer is stable enough to be used as a tool for you to make money. I have windows products and they work fine, but what happens when you are doing a gig and windows randomly decideds to pitch a fit and you have to shut down and quit playing music so you can reboot? Not gonna look good on your part. If money and your reputation are on the line buy a Mac.

X2

[buck440]

i got a compaq? from walmart. it was like $250? it's pretty nice really. big keyboard, large16_17" screen for porno, software isn't that bad either. battery goes **** after like a year. beleive me, it can handle the plethora of viruses you'll get from massive amounts of porn you look up and still run like a champ.

[440racer66]

Originally posted by buck440
i got a compaq? from walmart. it was like $250? it's pretty nice really. big keyboard, large16_17" screen for porno, software isn't that bad either. battery goes **** after like a year. beleive me, it can handle the plethora of viruses you'll get from massive amounts of porn you look up and still run like a champ.



hahahah i hear that.

[YFZ-FoFiddy-TC]

Originally posted by buck440
i got a compaq? from walmart. it was like $250? it's pretty nice really. big keyboard, large16_17" screen for porno, software isn't that bad either. battery goes **** after like a year. beleive me, it can handle the plethora of viruses you'll get from massive amounts of porn you look up and still run like a champ.

You're my hero.

[MX MaNiAc 06]

Originally posted by YFZ-FoFiddy-TC
You're my hero.

Word.

[slightlybent47]

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll keep looking at them and do some more research. In the mean time I think I’ll take the Denon in and see if it can be fixed. It has been a great player and is stable no mater how hard I push the subs. I want to be able to do it the old way until I get used to using a lap top and I can use the player as a back up.

[TGW_400ex]

Originally posted by crownandmonster
Plain and simple- No windows based computer is stable enough to be used as a tool for you to make money. I have windows products and they work fine, but what happens when you are doing a gig and windows randomly decideds to pitch a fit and you have to shut down and quit playing music so you can reboot? Not gonna look good on your part. If money and your reputation are on the line buy a Mac.

I'm pretty sure most businesses use Windows and make money? :huh

[slightlybent47]

Originally posted by TGW_400ex
I'm pretty sure most businesses use Windows and make money? :huh

Yeah I don’t know what’s up with that. I’ve used windows for years with very few problems. That’s why you always have a back up.lol

[crownandmonster]

Originally posted by TGW_400ex
I'm pretty sure most businesses use Windows and make money? :huh


Its also not going to hurt most businesses (money or reputation) if they do have to take 10 minutes and reboot when windows throws a hissy fit. He is using it for a DJ business and shutting down for 10 minutes in the middle of someones high school prom or someones wedding will very likely ruin his reputation of being a good reliable DJ. He can use whatever he wants, he asked for opinions and mine is for him to buy a Mac for what he is using it for. Don't turn this into a Mac VS Windows, Chevy VS Ford war. I only own and use windows products, but you better believe if my reputation is on the line I will buy a Mac. Period.

[slightlybent47]

Being good at what I do is not just playing music. I have a back up for almost every contingency. I always take extra amps, mikes, and I always have several cd players
and a tuner and tape deck, just in case. And I always have everything ready to go incase I have something go wrong. The trick is to play it off and have fun with a mistake as long as it’s just a moment till I get something done to fix it.
basically I have 2 system’s set up and ready to go at all times unless it’s a gig I do for free or on the cheap. Then I just use a basic set up with no back up.
Equipment has gotten so good these days that you can sound great with just a basic set up and break downs are rare.
I’ve used an ipod a few times when someone has a song they want to hear and I don’t have it.
I got most of my music from friends sharing with me. I have several portable hard drives and I will trade my music for there collection. Works out great because it’s not illegal.lol
I’d like to have both a cd player and a lap top to work with so I can learn a deferent format and stay currant with what’s going on.

[crownandmonster]

10-4 buddy... Basic setups are different for everybody, To us a simple setup is dragging in a couple lights, smoke machine and maybe the laser. For sound we usually setup- 2 cabs with dual 15's for mains and 2 cabs with dual 18's for subs.

We never use cd's every thing is done on the lap top, but we buy all of our music..every once in a while we will use a ipod.

[slightlybent47]

Don’t get me wrong……I’ve bought my fair share of tapes, lp’s and cd’s over the years.
I use my pc at the house and leave all the cd’s in there road cases so I do have some experience with it.
But having a lap top with a nice size hard drive would increase my library exponentially and I could leave most of the cd stuff in the trailer at most gigs except for a few for a back up. I have a bunch of cd’s I burned that are already mixed but I can’t customize to fit a particular gig like I could with a lap top.

My big set up is 4 EV eliminator duel 15”s for tops and 2 duel 18 EV MTL 1X horn loaded sub scoops and 2 single 18’s I built and loaded wit with Carvin’s.
Then I use a pair of Yamaha 12’ monitors so I can hear what everyone else hears when I’m stuck behind the main’s.
The small set up is the monitors and the carvin subs with no monitors.

Amps consist of 2 EV eliminator 1200 watt amps that run the tops and a Yorkville 6020 4000 watt amp for driving the subs.
I use a Mackie 1400i for the monitors and I have 2 more Mackie’s for back ups and for more monitors for when I mix for bands.

Then I have a Denon duel cd player (being repaired) and a cheap Gemini single disk player. Then there is the duel tape deck I use as well.

Eq’s are 2 dbx 1231’s and an EV crossover.

For bands I break out the Mackie 24-4 buss mixer and a few more monitors and a bank of Eq’s and fx’s and compressors. For dj work I use a Pioneer DJM 3000.
Everything is balanced XLR so it’s supper quiet.
And it’s all run through 2 Monster Pro 3500 power conditioners.
I have lights and fog machine as well.

It’s not top of the line equipment but its not bad.

[crownandmonster]

Its not all about spending money though..It's making what you have sound good. Clean and crisp with no distortion. All our stuff is Behringer- good sound and not the most expensive out there.

[slightlybent47]

Sorry to rag on your choice of equipment but I’ve used some Behringer stuff before. Sorry but that’s very low end equipment and I didn’t like anything about there products at all. Very cheaply built and sound quality is horrific. You may have been able to get good results with there stuff but I had no luck.
I tried several of there mixers, EQ’s and fx units and quickly returned it as soon as I realized how crappy there stuff really is. If I wanted to rent my stuff out I would use Behringer or Carvin just because it would be cheap to replace something if it got broken.
Carvin has some nice looking crap as well, I tried some of there stuff and sent it all back also.
In my opinion EV, JBL, EAW, Mackie and Youkville are the only equipment worth having.
Now I did rent some Yorkville elite speekers for a gig and one of them caught fire in the middle of a set.lol that was interesting and kinda funny.
Besides I do sound for some good bands and they require there sound man to use good reliable equipment.
I’d like to up gread my mixer with an Allen & Heath unit but there kinda pricy.
Most of my stuff is EV and I can say without a doubt it was well worth the extra cost.
I have never had a problem with any of there equipment and it always sounds incredible.
I did smoke my horns one time but that was my fault, I just pushed them to hard.lol

Again sorry for ragging on Behringer but I can’t say I like there stuff at all. JMO

[crownandmonster]

Rag on it all you want man! Doesn't hurt my feelings. My amps and speakers are behringer. my mixers and FX are all different. All I will say is there are 3 other DJs in the area that live and breathe JBL Their setups sound like complete trash. They have twice sometimes three times as much money invested and We can blow them out of the water. They also are priced very steeply for all the expensvie equipment they have.. high price and bad quality = no gigs. We can charge about $150 dollars less for a gig and draw a bigger crowd with better sound. Its all about the set up. I'm serious when I say there is no distortion what so ever and they are way more crisp and clean than anyone around here.

We have kicked the crap outta our system for a hair over 2 years now. Its all working perfect. So why spend they extra money on those brands when they present me with nothing more than I have. JMO

[slightlybent47]

That’s a good point and your write about one thing, when you say making the best out of what you have. But perhaps the people in your area that are using JBL have no clue as to how to run sound. Just because they can’t seem to make it sound good doesn’t mean the equipment isn’t worth the money. It’s like anything else, just because you can afford it doesn’t mean you will be any better with it.

If you’re that good with low end equipment then just think how much better you could be if you had better equipment.
Get your hands on some better equipment and run it for awhile and I’m sure you will agree.
Since you’re getting good sound with low end stuff then it may be you have a good ear and have a talent for being a good sound engineer.

I have never seen a pro sound company use anything but great gear and Behringer has never been on the list.

[slightlybent47]

Oh and when I say clean, I’m not just talking about the quality of the sound coming from the speekers. I am also talking about when you have your system powered up and the volume set to maximum level with no music being played. There is no sound coming from the speekers. No hiss no hum, just dead silence. Even with hundreds of lights going off on stage and live mikes and 50-60 pieces of equipment all chained together.

I’ll put it this way.
I noticed in your sig you have a ex with a bunch of mods done to it.
Was that ex as fast before you did the mods? Did they help?
Same principle here.