dpawson
Hey folks...
So my use case is almost surely different than most of you. I've never "really" DJ'ed, and doubt I ever will. But I occasionally have fun just playing around at home for my own amusement, or to mix songs together and record for my later listening. I've been using VirtualDJ Home Free for this, but I'm thinking of buying a Numark Mixtrack to heighten this experience. It would be the first mixer I owned since a Gemini in the mid-80's, so should be fun :-) A few questions:
- It seems like on either the Mixtrack or Mixtrack Pro, it will come with either VirtualDJ LE or Serato LE, depending on when the particular controller was manufactured/packaged? Given my experience with VirtualDJ, I'd probably rather stick with that path, but it looks like it will be increasingly difficult to find one that is bundled with VirtualDJ LE. If I am going to end up buying VirtualDJ Pro anyway, how much of a discount are we really talking about for the upgrade? If it isn't much, it may not be worth me bending over backwards trying to find a Numark that is bundled with VirtualDJ. I realize the discount might vary based on the actual controller/mixer product, but I don't even know what order of magnitude discount we're talking about.
- It looks to me like there are two different VirtualDJ Pro versions, Basic and Full, with a very large difference in price, and I don't entirely appreciate the difference. Is there anything missing from VirtualDJ Pro Basic that I might need, based on my planned usage?
- Stupid question, and not even really a VirtualDJ question: I had been assuming I'd buy a Mixtrack Pro rather than just a Mixtrack, just to keep things simple. But the price difference really is pretty significant to get the built in sound out in the Pro. This is making me realize I don't 100% understand the configuration someone would build without the sound out in the controller. If you buy a Mixtrack, and not a Mixtrack Pro, how would I typically configure things for my playing-around-at-home-shenanigans? How would I typically configure things if I ever did want to actually DJ an event?
Thanks in advance for helping with my newbie questions.
So my use case is almost surely different than most of you. I've never "really" DJ'ed, and doubt I ever will. But I occasionally have fun just playing around at home for my own amusement, or to mix songs together and record for my later listening. I've been using VirtualDJ Home Free for this, but I'm thinking of buying a Numark Mixtrack to heighten this experience. It would be the first mixer I owned since a Gemini in the mid-80's, so should be fun :-) A few questions:
- It seems like on either the Mixtrack or Mixtrack Pro, it will come with either VirtualDJ LE or Serato LE, depending on when the particular controller was manufactured/packaged? Given my experience with VirtualDJ, I'd probably rather stick with that path, but it looks like it will be increasingly difficult to find one that is bundled with VirtualDJ LE. If I am going to end up buying VirtualDJ Pro anyway, how much of a discount are we really talking about for the upgrade? If it isn't much, it may not be worth me bending over backwards trying to find a Numark that is bundled with VirtualDJ. I realize the discount might vary based on the actual controller/mixer product, but I don't even know what order of magnitude discount we're talking about.
- It looks to me like there are two different VirtualDJ Pro versions, Basic and Full, with a very large difference in price, and I don't entirely appreciate the difference. Is there anything missing from VirtualDJ Pro Basic that I might need, based on my planned usage?
- Stupid question, and not even really a VirtualDJ question: I had been assuming I'd buy a Mixtrack Pro rather than just a Mixtrack, just to keep things simple. But the price difference really is pretty significant to get the built in sound out in the Pro. This is making me realize I don't 100% understand the configuration someone would build without the sound out in the controller. If you buy a Mixtrack, and not a Mixtrack Pro, how would I typically configure things for my playing-around-at-home-shenanigans? How would I typically configure things if I ever did want to actually DJ an event?
Thanks in advance for helping with my newbie questions.
Inviato Mon 30 Dec 13 @ 9:18 pm
PhantomDeejay
dpawson wrote :
If I am going to end up buying VirtualDJ Pro anyway, how much of a discount are we really talking about for the upgrade? If it isn't much, it may not be worth me bending over backwards trying to find a Numark that is bundled with VirtualDJ. I realize the discount might vary based on the actual controller/mixer product, but I don't even know what order of magnitude discount we're talking about.
It's 50% for the Mixtrack PRO and 33% for the "plain" Mixtrack
dpawson wrote :
- It looks to me like there are two different VirtualDJ Pro versions, Basic and Full, with a very large difference in price, and I don't entirely appreciate the difference. Is there anything missing from VirtualDJ Pro Basic that I might need, based on my planned usage?
You can see a comparison chart on the following page: http://www.virtualdj.com/products/comparison.html
But, to answer your question, PRO Basic DOES NOT offer any way of external control besides your keyboard & mouse.
dpawson wrote :
- Stupid question, and not even really a VirtualDJ question: I had been assuming I'd buy a Mixtrack Pro rather than just a Mixtrack, just to keep things simple. But the price difference really is pretty significant to get the built in sound out in the Pro. This is making me realize I don't 100% understand the configuration someone would build without the sound out in the controller. If you buy a Mixtrack, and not a Mixtrack Pro, how would I typically configure things for my playing-around-at-home-shenanigans? How would I typically configure things if I ever did want to actually DJ an event?
If you buy the "plain" Mixtrack then you will need a separate soundcard with 2 stereo outputs in order to be able to use the software correctly. This can be your PC's on-board soundcard (any 5.1 or 7.1 soundcard will do) or a dedicated professional grade soundcard like Numark DJ IO. In this case you connect one of the stereo outputs to your amplifier (or self-powered speakers) and the other one to your headphones.
Inviato Mon 30 Dec 13 @ 11:45 pm
dpawson
I'm glad I asked. The second point is clearly huge, and wasn't obvious to me when I looked at that chart earlier. I now imagine it would be the line item called "MIDI/HID Controller/Mixer Support". Thanks very much. Sorta painful. At $300, it would cost substantially more than the controller itself. At $100, even with no discount, I could stomach it. Now it sounds like I'd have to find one that shipped with LE just to bring the price down to like $150, which is still more than I'd figured I'd spend. Ouch.
Regarding sound output, that is sort of what I figured. I currently do my messing around on a Mac Mini, which is not necessarily well suited to such a configuration, so yeah... I think I'm looking at probably wanting a Pro mixtrack. While I'm at it, asking stupid questions and all, I'm realizing I'm a bit confused about something else. So you hook up your mixtrack pro with one output going to your sound output, and the other going to headphones. How do you select what you hear in the headphone output? Back in the days when I had my hardware Gemini mixer, the headphone out had a knob that selected which input (or the overall mixed output) was played to the headphones. But I don't remember seeing such a control on the Mixtrack Pro.
EDIT: oh, oh. Think I found it. Do you press the Cue button for the desired track to send it to the headphone output? And the Cue Mix knob lets you blend the overall output into the cue'd output for the headphones (or not)?
Thanks for your patience...
Regarding sound output, that is sort of what I figured. I currently do my messing around on a Mac Mini, which is not necessarily well suited to such a configuration, so yeah... I think I'm looking at probably wanting a Pro mixtrack. While I'm at it, asking stupid questions and all, I'm realizing I'm a bit confused about something else. So you hook up your mixtrack pro with one output going to your sound output, and the other going to headphones. How do you select what you hear in the headphone output? Back in the days when I had my hardware Gemini mixer, the headphone out had a knob that selected which input (or the overall mixed output) was played to the headphones. But I don't remember seeing such a control on the Mixtrack Pro.
EDIT: oh, oh. Think I found it. Do you press the Cue button for the desired track to send it to the headphone output? And the Cue Mix knob lets you blend the overall output into the cue'd output for the headphones (or not)?
Thanks for your patience...
Inviato Tue 31 Dec 13 @ 2:42 pm
Support staff
The fact that Virtual Basic is for mouse and keyboard use only is clearly stated on its product purchase page: http://www.virtualdj.com/products/basic.html
Inviato Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 12:12 pm
groovindj
dpawson wrote :
more than I'd figured I'd spend. Ouch.
It's not really an "ouch" when you consider that once you've bought the full VDJ Pro, you've got it for life - regardless of what hardware you may upgrade to in the future. The forthcoming VDJ 8 will be a free upgrade, as will versions beyond that.
It's professional software. The Mixtrack/Pro is aimed at beginners and/or home users, maybe semi pro at best - hence the s/w costs more.
Like most things, quality costs more!
Inviato Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 12:23 pm
dpawson
dpawson wrote :
more than I'd figured I'd spend. Ouch.
It's not really an "ouch" when you consider that once you've bought the full VDJ Pro, you've got it for life - regardless of what hardware you may upgrade to in the future. The forthcoming VDJ 8 will be a free upgrade, as will versions beyond that.
It's professional software. The Mixtrack/Pro is aimed at beginners and/or home users, maybe semi pro at best - hence the s/w costs more.
Like most things, quality costs more!
It's not really an "ouch" when you consider that once you've bought the full VDJ Pro, you've got it for life - regardless of what hardware you may upgrade to in the future. The forthcoming VDJ 8 will be a free upgrade, as will versions beyond that.
It's professional software. The Mixtrack/Pro is aimed at beginners and/or home users, maybe semi pro at best - hence the s/w costs more.
Like most things, quality costs more!
Oh, it isn't an 'ouch' like 'that is so unreasonable'. It is more like, 'Ouch. It is professional software, and I'm most definitely an amateur that just happens to have a few requirements that require professional software. So I'll end up having to pay professional prices to screw around at my desk at home.'
Thanks for the advice. It has been very helpful.
Inviato Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 1:26 pm
groovindj
Well there are various other DJ software options out there......some of which won't cost you a penny because they come packaged with the controller.
Some others are cheaper than VDJ, but you may find that they don't offer quite the same varied feature set that VDJ does.
If you don't need all the bells & whistles, then an LE version of VDJ may well suit you just fine. It will only work with the controller it came with, but you can DJ with it - there are no limitations in the basic functionality of playing music.
Some others are cheaper than VDJ, but you may find that they don't offer quite the same varied feature set that VDJ does.
If you don't need all the bells & whistles, then an LE version of VDJ may well suit you just fine. It will only work with the controller it came with, but you can DJ with it - there are no limitations in the basic functionality of playing music.
Inviato Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 4:52 pm
dpawson
Well there are various other DJ software options out there......some of which won't cost you a penny because they come packaged with the controller.
Some others are cheaper than VDJ, but you may find that they don't offer quite the same varied feature set that VDJ does.
If you don't need all the bells & whistles, then an LE version of VDJ may well suit you just fine. It will only work with the controller it came with, but you can DJ with it - there are no limitations in the basic functionality of playing music.
The requirements that seem to be tripping me up are that I want to use a hardware/MIDI controller, and record the output on my computer. That seems to lead me towards a "full" product not just for VirtualDJ, but for any product I've looked at, including the one that came with the Mixtrack I bought earlier today.
So here is another question. The limited version of the non-VirtualDJ bundled software also won't let me play the output through my computer; I can only hear it via headphones or by hooking up a powered solution to the output jacks. What is VirtualDJ's story on this front? Will the full version of VirtualDJ let me play back through the computer?
Some others are cheaper than VDJ, but you may find that they don't offer quite the same varied feature set that VDJ does.
If you don't need all the bells & whistles, then an LE version of VDJ may well suit you just fine. It will only work with the controller it came with, but you can DJ with it - there are no limitations in the basic functionality of playing music.
The requirements that seem to be tripping me up are that I want to use a hardware/MIDI controller, and record the output on my computer. That seems to lead me towards a "full" product not just for VirtualDJ, but for any product I've looked at, including the one that came with the Mixtrack I bought earlier today.
So here is another question. The limited version of the non-VirtualDJ bundled software also won't let me play the output through my computer; I can only hear it via headphones or by hooking up a powered solution to the output jacks. What is VirtualDJ's story on this front? Will the full version of VirtualDJ let me play back through the computer?
Inviato Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 8:30 pm
dpawson
I actually found an alternate solution that would presumably work for VirtualDJ as well. I was able to run an RCA to mini cable from the output of the controller to the auxiliary input of the Mac. Tada.
Inviato Wed 01 Jan 14 @ 10:39 pm
Support staff
Controllers that come with a built-in sound card are designed and intended to use it for master and headphone output because typically these would be used with powered speakers or connected to a house PA system to DJ with.
When using at home, you should ideally use powered monitor speakers connected to the master output of the controller. A pair of decent studio monitors such as KRK Rokit series will give you best sound quality.
However, if you wish to output the sound through your computer's speakers, then the solution above will work OK and can already be found on our FAQ pages:
http://www.virtualdj.com/wiki/VirtualDJ%20LE%20sound%20through%20computer%20speakers.html
When using at home, you should ideally use powered monitor speakers connected to the master output of the controller. A pair of decent studio monitors such as KRK Rokit series will give you best sound quality.
However, if you wish to output the sound through your computer's speakers, then the solution above will work OK and can already be found on our FAQ pages:
http://www.virtualdj.com/wiki/VirtualDJ%20LE%20sound%20through%20computer%20speakers.html
Inviato Thu 02 Jan 14 @ 6:04 am
steve8473
I've brought wrong product
Inviato Fri 18 Aug 17 @ 10:32 am
PachN
Please contact the support. Only they can help you.
http://virtualdj.com/contact/step2.html
http://virtualdj.com/contact/step2.html
Inviato Fri 18 Aug 17 @ 11:14 am
A Man and His Music
This thread is about upgrades at a discount. That information ca be found herr.. This thread is also 3 years old, which may not seem old to some. However, that information is readily available at the above link.
Locked by AMAHM
Locked by AMAHM
Inviato Sun 20 Aug 17 @ 4:31 am