What type of DJ software
should I use?
The vast
majority of DJ's usually fall into three groups; the
wedding/party DJ, the club DJ, and the radio jocks.
This
site is mainly devoted to the wedding/party jocks, since
radio jocks tend to use specialized software, and a lot
of club jocks will insist upon nothing but vinyl.
So, how
do you go about selecting a software package to use for
weddings and parties? Try them all first! Most will
resemble a dual deck CD player, along with the area for
the track listings (usually called the library or record
case). Then you usually have a mixer, EQ section, and in
some cases effects sections.
One of
the most important issues you should consider, is
whether the software package you like can output it's
decks to different sound cards (USB, PCI, etc.). Many
DJ's prefer running the separate decks to their regular
mixer, which has many advantages over using the mixer
portion of the software itself. This will give you the
ability to cue up a track much easier, and with much
less overhead on the computer's CPU, which is doing many
other things.
If you
try to do everything on the PC - dual decks running,
decks being cued, effects and what not, you are going to
run into problems in most cases. These usually rear
their ugly head in the forms of sound drops, skipping,
etc. Many people will tell you their software can do
everything at once, and they are correct to a point,
most packages can and will do all at once, but at what
expense to your reputation?
If you
go see a pro band playing, you do not normally see them
using a single mixing console with everything built in,
they usually have racks and racks worth of equipment,
each dedicated to a particular task. The same is true of
pro DJ's.
For a
simple gig, you can usually get away with a software
package going either to a small mixer, or to powered
speakers like JBL Eons or Mackies. If you want to get
fancy, you will want to run your computer and software
to a good mixer, with amps, effects, proper balanced mic
inputs, etc.
So why
use software you say?
Easy,
and that's the answer! Software makes your life much
easier, in that you do not have to carry loads of CD or
vinyl with you to a gig. Finding a track takes
milliseconds if your software package has a good search
function, and most have an automix function, which comes
in handy when nature calls, or you want to interact with
the crowd.
Remember
one thing; If you ask too much out of an individual
piece of equipment in your lineup, you are asking for
trouble on the dance floor, and that applies to software
as well. The software runs on a computer, with an
operating system that is designed to do many things
pretty well at the same time, but not designed to do one
thing exceptionally well.
Windows
(the OS in question), was not designed for DJ use, it
was designed for business use. You can probably already
see the dilemma here. When you choose your software,
test it out well, and make sure it will always run the
way you want it to. Reliability in front of your
audience should be of primary concern, followed by
features. It doesn't matter how many features you have,
if the software isn't working, they are all useless.
Check
out our menu link for DJ Mixing Software, and that will
give you a good guide as to the testing we have done.