Comments on: How do YOU mix- Inside or outside?

By: Ale P

Ale P — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:49:36 +0000

Outside.

Because I re mapped every mixer control on the controller for fxs and beatjumps. I would need a bigger controller with more buttons and knobs.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 05:30:21 +0000

First of all, I obsess over perfect mixes. I have a VCI-100 and as soon as I discovered Traktor’s Native Mix feature, I believe it is the single greatest argument for internal mixes. The only thing better IMO would be to have motor faders and rotary encoders with led light rings. But unless the manufacturers can magically make these items appear for the same price at the VCI, forget about it.

By: Ean Golden

Ean Golden — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 05:27:28 +0000

Your welcome Proteus, how did you get my firmware update?

I am doign some arcade button mods to sell right now- so yes there may be a chance I can do some more for other people. its takes about 5-6 hours of work though so its not that easy to do it right. My current method is much more pro than the first attempt.

By: Proteus Kim

Proteus Kim — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:51:21 +0000

Ean,
I am currently living in Tokyo and spin mostly techno/house. I have just purchased a black VCI-100 I did ur firmware update but want to purchase your Ean Golden faceplates so that I can see what I’m doing.
also, if i mail my vci-100 to you can you do the arcade button mod as well? I of course will pay whatever the cost is.
Also, I was torn between the VCI-300 and 100. in the end decided on the 100 but thinking back, if i can route the 300 to my korg zero 4 with dedicated channels then i would definitely go that route.
any advice?
you rock Ean.

proteus kim

By: Martin 418

Martin 418 — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:05:55 +0000

Inside at home, Outside away using the faderfox Dx2. Best of both worlds?

By: John Gilmour

John Gilmour — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:34:47 +0000

Inside the box- mostly because there are so many ways to enhance the sound out of your laptop that are portable. I’m biased since I develop things like this so don’t listen to anything I say until you see one in action. But trust me - you can get a much nicer soundcard than a firefox to output into a club system as the firefox was made for DAW’s in studios and is not designed for club acoustics and PA’s.

Inside the box is more predictable. You know what you are dealing with every time. Nothing is worse than getting to a club and finding the last guy moved everything around and feeling disoriented.

Recording is a big deal. IMHO I have never heard a great sounding External mixer outside of the old UREI 1620’s and Bozaks..though I am sure the valve A & H must be pretty good. call me old school but they had a eq curve which was the inverse of the combination of transfer function of many dance clubs acoustics and PA speakers.. Those mixers were far from flat in frequency response. What is really needed is a great outboard parametric EQ that can emulate those older mixers sonic signature that has a built in limiter. In the digital domain it is far easier to do room correction accurately Look at the older TACT EQ which did a great job. You just have to spec the EQ to do what you want it to do. Not just flat… flat sucks as does compression.

IMHO many of the great sound systems that were designed by people who really knew what they were doing in the 1970’s and 80’s are gone. So many clubs have been redone and the older crews that originally knew acoustic theory seem to be mostly gone. Unfortunately- on the East Coast many of them died of AIDS- and the get “kicked in the chest lower midbass” is gone.

So it may take a person like Richard Long to design something that would truly be applicable to most situations.

Certainly designing an physical stand that can hoover without wobbleing or somehow be able to work into existing club layouts would be welcome.

Starting with a clean audio signal with the EQ quantified in the digital domain is a step in the right direction. BUT the output of these eq’s should be done in the analog domain for good sound. For instance in car audio McIntosh uses digital presets with analog filters so you have the best of both worlds. IMHO it is a great step for DJ’s who can make EQ presets and execute them immediately.

The only way to mix outside is to accept that every clubs mixer is going to sound different.

Also never use the output from a laptop…..ever…. always go through a better gain stage or do the conversion outside of the laptop.

By: Chris Wright

Chris Wright — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:34:03 +0000

Let me paraphrase Aerosmith and say “mixing is a journey not a destination” it doesn’t make a big difference one way or the other in most cases so I mix from where it’s convenient. Personally I mix from where the source is coming from first in the signal chain because the least trips through A/D converters the better it is on the sound quality. If you know how to mix and master it’ll sound good either way and if you don’t hope I don’t have to hear it.

By: Minimal DJ

Minimal DJ — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:15:47 +0000

i own both the black japanese vci-100 and a xone92 and switched to inside mixing a few weeks ago, as the new rubber pots really have the edge over the old silver vci-100 - they are smooth and grippable.

i only use the external mixer for preamp in order not to hit the digital ceiling, but my ECHO AUDIOFIREs outputs combined with traktors xone92 emulation sound VERY, VERY professional on large sound systems. better than 2 1210s!

i can recommend the black vci to ANYONE who wasnt 100% satisfied with the silver one - get one while they last (from japan) !