Accesso rapido:  

Forum: General Discussion

Topic: Switching from windows to apple mac
I am thinking about switching over to an apple mac air 2022 as my DJ computer . The specs are
8GB RAM
256 GB SSD
M2 chip
Has anyone had any experience using a Apple Mac air to DJ on? And will it run Virtual DJ and Sound switch without any glitches, crashes or stuttering
 
Inviato Sat 17 Jun 23 @ 5:49 pm
The M2 will be absolutely fantastic for you. If you can get 16 GB of RAM instead of 8 I'd highly recommend that. But as a power user (and developer for) both Windows and Mac, I choose Mac to DJ on and VirtualDJ runs like a champ on my M1 Max.

I've never used Sound Switch so I can't comment on that though.
 
Inviato Tue 20 Jun 23 @ 7:18 am
VDJ runs fine on the M2. Only issues I had were that MacOS doesn't handle multiple monitors very well and there are compatibility issues with the database if you're using both Windows and Mac for VDJ. I also had some audio stuttering but it seems the variable refresh rate on the Pro screens was the issue but that doesn't apply to the air.

Adion has suggested getting the 16gb RAM for realtime stems 2.0 if you want to use them.
 
Inviato Tue 20 Jun 23 @ 8:32 am
Just to add. I considered the Mac M1 Air last year, but, having only 2 USB-c ports and needing one for mains charging was not practical. I dislike using external hubs after using one over 10 years ago when I was using PCs to DJ with. I use 2 ports one for my Controller and one for my external hard drive. I eventually purchased the 14" M1 MBP mainly for the extra ports and the cooling fan and have been happy with it ever since.

If I had the decision to make now it would be much more difficult because the new 15" Mac M2 Air recently released has a separate Magsafe port for charging freeing up both USB-c ports. Also, there is the Reloop Stand Hub available now for a neat expansion solution. 😉

Reloop Stand Hub
 
Inviato Tue 20 Jun 23 @ 1:35 pm
kradcliffe wrote :
VDJ runs fine on the M2. Only issues I had were that MacOS doesn't handle multiple monitors very well and there are compatibility issues with the database if you're using both Windows and Mac for VDJ. I also had some audio stuttering but it seems the variable refresh rate on the Pro screens was the issue but that doesn't apply to the air.

Adion has suggested getting the 16gb RAM for realtime stems 2.0 if you want to use them.


i'm not planning to use stems as that's not something i use and i don't need to use multi monitors

 
Inviato Wed 21 Jun 23 @ 4:48 pm
kradcliffe wrote :
VDJ runs fine on the M2. Only issues I had were that MacOS doesn't handle multiple monitors very well and there are compatibility issues with the database if you're using both Windows and Mac for VDJ. I also had some audio stuttering but it seems the variable refresh rate on the Pro screens was the issue but that doesn't apply to the air.

Adion has suggested getting the 16gb RAM for realtime stems 2.0 if you want to use them.

Also just to add i'll be using my windows laptop as a prep computer that will do all the downloads and sortation and my macbook will be used to DJ with

 
Inviato Wed 21 Jun 23 @ 4:50 pm
Well you may run in to issues if you're using both Windows and Mac databases.

If you are transferring the DB over remember Windows and Mac use different file structures.

If you're just prepping them on the Windows machine then adding them to the DB on the Mac then that will probably work OK.

I had a host of issues trying to go back and forth between the two operating systems and have found it best to do everything on one or the other.
 
Inviato Wed 21 Jun 23 @ 5:12 pm
I would advise if you're going to use an external hard drive for your music make sure it's formatted exFat then it can read/write on both Mac and PC.

I use a 2tb hard drive formatted exFat with an identical 2tb for backup also formatted exFat. I have no issues moving the drives from one to the other, the database reads and writes on both.
 
Inviato Wed 21 Jun 23 @ 11:57 pm
kradcliffe wrote :
Well you may run in to issues if you're using both Windows and Mac databases.

If you are transferring the DB over remember Windows and Mac use different file structures.

If you're just prepping them on the Windows machine then adding them to the DB on the Mac then that will probably work OK.

if i prep my files outside of the virtual DJ software on my windows PC and then copy them to the Virtual DJ DB on my mac i shouldn't run into any issues there should i?

I had a host of issues trying to go back and forth between the two operating systems and have found it best to do everything on one or the other.
 
Inviato Thu 22 Jun 23 @ 2:24 pm
djles.co.uk wrote :
I would advise if you're going to use an external hard drive for your music make sure it's formatted exFat then it can read/write on both Mac and PC.

I use a 2tb hard drive formatted exFat with an identical 2tb for backup also formatted exFat. I have no issues moving the drives from one to the other, the database reads and writes on both.


The only thing i would need the hard drive for is backup and transferring files between the two computers , but hopefully if i prep my files outside of virtual dj on my windows pc and then transfer them to my mac to use in VDJ that should work without any issues shouldn't it?
 
Inviato Thu 22 Jun 23 @ 2:26 pm
Yes, that would be fine
 
Inviato Thu 22 Jun 23 @ 2:36 pm
ahh good that's perfect
 
Inviato Thu 22 Jun 23 @ 5:41 pm
i forgot to ask this as it's only just dawned on me but will the sound quality improve by using a mac or is the sound quality dependant on what controller i am using
 
Inviato Thu 29 Jun 23 @ 4:25 pm
Whatever your sound output is.
 
Inviato Thu 29 Jun 23 @ 4:43 pm
its a phono output as my contorller is a numark mixtrack pro fx
 
Inviato Thu 29 Jun 23 @ 6:44 pm