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Forum: General Discussion

Topic: Can someone address these mixing issues?

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Hi everyone,

I'm using Virtual DJ Home Free from the app store. I've used Virtual DJ since 2009 and I haven't progressed all too much with it. But, have been mixing for radio with it, mixing podcasts. Can someone please address these errors I have when listening to a final mix? Would appreciate it.

-Little clicks or pops in the recorded mix during silence of a song (even HQ 320kbps songs).
-What are recommended levels to get a crisp, clear sounding mix with all the quiet parts loud? I have Gain at 0, HIGH at 5oclock, MED at 1oclock, and LOW at 3oclock. Should I use Pro Tools to adjust my final max after for these settings?
-Transitioning between songs seems to lower the volume slightly when the dial is in the middle. Do DJ's typically turn the gain up until finished with a song transition/crossfade?
-What are the best preferences, performance settings and options to make sure my mix is good for airplay?

I'm very concerned with audio quality, all songs in 320kbps, anything else to make sure of? Quality of songs sounds worse when using Virtual DJ.

Here is an one mix i did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REOMaQh1ooQ

Thanks,
 
Inviato Sat 31 Oct 15 @ 3:27 pm
The quiet parts should not be loud. They're quiet parts!

Ideally all your EQs should be flat/zero (12 o'clock). If you're seriously mixing everything with the high EQ turned right up, then either the files you're playing are very low quality (but you say they're 320k) or the equipment you're listening on (speakers?) is faulty or not of a high enough standard.
 
Hmm, nope. They are all 320kbps audio, no issues with them otherwise. I think I just notice very little things that bother me. I'm used to listening to podcasts that so obviously have been edited in post to bring up levels and adjust volume and increase the energy of the mix that I'm looking to do just that.

I don't like the quiet parts to be quiet, personally. Much like on radio, compressors and other specs would equalize the volume.
 
That's some pretty radical EQ'ing there. A really nice subtly 'touch' for a more natural sounding process would be a BBE (or the like) sonic maximizer. When you crank the EQ's up, you're adding serious boost as well; anything latent in the signal gets boosted to the 'front' of the mix too. These things can come from having your equipment on the same electrical circuit as a fridge or pump, anything with a quick deep draw when it fires up. Even something as simple as adding a power conditioner to your rig may help filter out irregularities in your electrical supply which may in turn adversely affect your sound quality. I've been there!

I know from doing a lot of DJ gigs in rural or remote locations with older or 'not so good' electrical service that my PC and mixer and amps would often pick up weird hums and crackles, these pretty much disappeared when I added an ART power conditioner into my rig.
 
The thing is - the vast majority of dance music released now (and for some years) has already been compressed/maximized to death either by the producer or by the label or mastering house. There realy shouldn't be any need for the DJ to compress it further. All a DJ needs to do is make sure each track is playing at the correct level and the balance between it and the tracks before & after is good.
 
groovindj wrote :
The thing is - the vast majority of dance music released now (and for some years) has already been compressed/maximized to death


^ This.
 
Thank you for the input everyone. I feel accustum to listening to music so compressed because when I was younger I loved the crisp, clear, radio sound accompanied when recording a song off radio onto cassette or CD, and same goes for when listening to my favorite podcasts. I can't explain it, all the quiet parts (in deep house/melodic trance) are brought up to one level and really make for an eargasm, ha.

So, I'll do my mix over and set levels to 12 o clock for HIGH, MED, & LOW, but what do you think about adjusting these levels when transitioning/crossfading from one song to the next to ramp up the energy of a mix?? Or should I just look to mp3gain for this?
 
mp3gain would not be my first choice when having prior in keeping a certain dynamic in your track.
mp3gain uses a average value to align the track level, regardless to the structure of original track.
if you want to edit/ increase the qualtity of your tracks ( actually no need to edit any tracks that are purchased ).
personally i would prefer Platinum Notes.
 
mp3gain uses the replaygain algorithm, which calculates a single gain for the entire track. It therefore doesn't modify dynamics.
It's also not very useful, as vdj already has a similar auto-gain algorithm.

(See my explanation in this topic
 
Okay, got it.

Yes, i'd like to count on the VDJ auto-gain, but after playing a set, song after song seems has auto-gain self adjusting from 0 to 8 sometimes (a full half turn), which leads me to believe I can't count on it or the mix will get louder. But, I will try again and refer to that thread.
 
By default gainSliderIncludesAutoGain is set to yes, in which case the slider should always be at 12'o clock to have auto-gain correctly applied.
If you load a song that you did not load or analyze before the gain is not calculated again, so you may see the gain moving until the track is fully loaded, after which the final gain value is known.
If you already started playing the track, you may have to manually move the gain to 12'o clock to make sure it is applied correctly.

Another possibility is that the autoGain settings is set to Auto+Remember, in which case it may be a value you used the last time you played the song.
It is recommended to out autoGain to Auto to make it easier.
 


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