Well, I'm in love with Atomix. I want to start doing gigs with it, but lugging around my 50 pound PC case and 19in monitor to do it isnt quite realistic. So....I have a few questions regading laptop use.
1. Can I somehow upgrade a laptop's soundcard to a 3D card for monitor use?
2. Do most clubs have an existing sound system that would support using a laptop?
3. How about using a mixer w/ a laptop?
4. If anyone is currently doing gigs with Atomix on a laptop, I'd love to hear about it.
Thanks in advance!
Sean Kethcart
DJ Goner
(although I like that people who have gone digital are using EJ now, pretty cool.)
1. Can I somehow upgrade a laptop's soundcard to a 3D card for monitor use?
2. Do most clubs have an existing sound system that would support using a laptop?
3. How about using a mixer w/ a laptop?
4. If anyone is currently doing gigs with Atomix on a laptop, I'd love to hear about it.
Thanks in advance!
Sean Kethcart
DJ Goner
(although I like that people who have gone digital are using EJ now, pretty cool.)
Posted Wed 11 Jul 01 @ 4:49 am
1) not really, changing bits and pieces for laptops can be an expensive affair. Also soundcards in a laptop ain't all that and you might notice c,rackling sounds when you pump up the sound coming out of your laptop. I use a compaq armada 1750 laptop and the sound from that is fantastic. I noticed a hell of a lot of diffe rence with newer compaq laptops so beware and always ensure you have the latest drivers for your machine.
2) The output of your laptop will be a 3.5mm jack which you can buy a small converter which converts that into 2 phono jacks (the type that looks like the back from your ordinary cd player), most, if not all will have these connections that will allow you to plug in.
3) I use a mixer as well, mainly because of mic input
4) I've been using atomix (demo) for the last coupla of months and its the biz that I've now recently purchase the full product - I also use it with another application that I've written which helps me be clever about what tracks need to be played - hand in hand they work very well together. I'm really looking forward to the next release.
2) The output of your laptop will be a 3.5mm jack which you can buy a small converter which converts that into 2 phono jacks (the type that looks like the back from your ordinary cd player), most, if not all will have these connections that will allow you to plug in.
3) I use a mixer as well, mainly because of mic input
4) I've been using atomix (demo) for the last coupla of months and its the biz that I've now recently purchase the full product - I also use it with another application that I've written which helps me be clever about what tracks need to be played - hand in hand they work very well together. I'm really looking forward to the next release.
Posted Wed 11 Jul 01 @ 12:27 pm
atomix_monkee
.
Posted Wed 11 Jul 01 @ 12:30 pm
Let me ask another question then. What are my options if I use a laptop to be able to monitor the second deck? Can I add a second soundcard? How about latency between the two? I know I tried 2 soundcards with my PC and the latency on the monitor was awful, and only got worse as the track played. I switched to a 3D soundcard to eliminate that problem. But what about w/ laptops? I guess my problem is that being a college student, I'm on a seriously tight budget. I'm looking for the cheapest way to start doing live gigs w/ Atomix. The way it's looking I might just have to buy a smaller case for my PC and lug it around to gigs. I can almost see people's faces when they see thier DJ clickin' a mouse instead of scatchin' some vinyl....
Peace
DJ Goner
Peace
DJ Goner
Posted Wed 11 Jul 01 @ 6:32 pm
atomix_monkee
Personally, I reckon you're stuffed with a laptop. You only really have one out put so it's limited unless you wanna spend some serious wonga to get it working the sweet.
i.e you would probably have to buy a PCMCIA sound card. I have not tried this so am not sure about latency and all that.
I also have another setup with a pc that I use and the monitor was used just to hear the start of the next track to cue it right.
I use 2 soundblaster awe64 gold cards and this works well.
The sound coming from he monitor(headphones) was okay but not awful. When mixing in the next track, then the sound does not get altered.
When people come upto me for requests and things they're always amazed that it's all coming out from a pc rather than the decks. nuff respect..
i.e you would probably have to buy a PCMCIA sound card. I have not tried this so am not sure about latency and all that.
I also have another setup with a pc that I use and the monitor was used just to hear the start of the next track to cue it right.
I use 2 soundblaster awe64 gold cards and this works well.
The sound coming from he monitor(headphones) was okay but not awful. When mixing in the next track, then the sound does not get altered.
When people come upto me for requests and things they're always amazed that it's all coming out from a pc rather than the decks. nuff respect..
Posted Thu 12 Jul 01 @ 1:46 pm
Damocles
Core wrote in the technical forum :
"Your audio out jack is a stereo output. Essentially all you need to do, is split the output into two separate channels, one of which will be active, and the other one could be used for PFL.
The configuration in Atomix sound config should be as follows: in the left pane, select ONE sound card, and in the right pane, select a speaker+phones icon, or the mixer, if you use one. When configured this way, atomix plays each deck in mono, so if you connect a stereo headphones to your audio out, and put the crossfader in the middle, you will hear one track playing in your right ear, and another one in your left.
Your audio out is a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack. A standard RCA-to-3.5mm has a 3.5mm mail connector on one end, and two mail connectors (black and red - left and right) on the other. Essentially, black plays your A deck, and red plays your B deck (or vice versa).
Most amplifiers, like mixers or stereo systems, have RCA female inputs. There are usually two connectors for each channel, but apparently if you connect only one connector, the system automatically converts the feed to stereo and sends it to all speakers. However, there are cords available on the market that allow you to split one RCA mail into two. Eventually you get 3.5 mm that connects to your laptop, and on the other end one black and one red, each of which you connect to a SEPARATE channel on the mixer. The black and red can be optionally split into two pairs.
If you use a mixer it's easy. When I go to a party, I have only my laptop, and a simple RCA-to-3.5mm cord, and nothing else. I used to have an additional USB sound card, but it had terrible sound and was out of sync with my primary card, besides, it made the whole system a bit bulky and difficult to set up.
If you don't have a mixer, it's a bit more complicated. after you connect the black RCA to an amplifier and a speaker system, the red RCA has to be somehow fed into the headphones. After a couple of hours of shopping in electronics stores, I've found a set of connectors which converts a mono mail RCA into a stereo female 3.5mm, where I could plug my headphones.
If you use one soundcard your minimal investment could be as low as 2 dollars for an RCA cord. If you buy an additional USB soundcard, it'll cost you at least sixty bucks, plus shipping.
Pros:
Cheap, easy to set up, same sound quality and level on both channels.
Cons:
The sound is mono.
As far as I understand, when atomix is used in such a configuration, it does not mutilate the track by playing only the left or only the right part of it, but somehow converts stereo to mono without losing any sound. When used in a club, people won't ever notice the difference because the speakers are too far apart from each other. Besides, this is exactly the reason why most of the mixers are mono.
HTH
"
"Your audio out jack is a stereo output. Essentially all you need to do, is split the output into two separate channels, one of which will be active, and the other one could be used for PFL.
The configuration in Atomix sound config should be as follows: in the left pane, select ONE sound card, and in the right pane, select a speaker+phones icon, or the mixer, if you use one. When configured this way, atomix plays each deck in mono, so if you connect a stereo headphones to your audio out, and put the crossfader in the middle, you will hear one track playing in your right ear, and another one in your left.
Your audio out is a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack. A standard RCA-to-3.5mm has a 3.5mm mail connector on one end, and two mail connectors (black and red - left and right) on the other. Essentially, black plays your A deck, and red plays your B deck (or vice versa).
Most amplifiers, like mixers or stereo systems, have RCA female inputs. There are usually two connectors for each channel, but apparently if you connect only one connector, the system automatically converts the feed to stereo and sends it to all speakers. However, there are cords available on the market that allow you to split one RCA mail into two. Eventually you get 3.5 mm that connects to your laptop, and on the other end one black and one red, each of which you connect to a SEPARATE channel on the mixer. The black and red can be optionally split into two pairs.
If you use a mixer it's easy. When I go to a party, I have only my laptop, and a simple RCA-to-3.5mm cord, and nothing else. I used to have an additional USB sound card, but it had terrible sound and was out of sync with my primary card, besides, it made the whole system a bit bulky and difficult to set up.
If you don't have a mixer, it's a bit more complicated. after you connect the black RCA to an amplifier and a speaker system, the red RCA has to be somehow fed into the headphones. After a couple of hours of shopping in electronics stores, I've found a set of connectors which converts a mono mail RCA into a stereo female 3.5mm, where I could plug my headphones.
If you use one soundcard your minimal investment could be as low as 2 dollars for an RCA cord. If you buy an additional USB soundcard, it'll cost you at least sixty bucks, plus shipping.
Pros:
Cheap, easy to set up, same sound quality and level on both channels.
Cons:
The sound is mono.
As far as I understand, when atomix is used in such a configuration, it does not mutilate the track by playing only the left or only the right part of it, but somehow converts stereo to mono without losing any sound. When used in a club, people won't ever notice the difference because the speakers are too far apart from each other. Besides, this is exactly the reason why most of the mixers are mono.
HTH
"
Posted Thu 12 Jul 01 @ 2:19 pm
core
I'm doing gigs with my laptop all the time.
It's the best solution.
Cheers,
Core.
It's the best solution.
Cheers,
Core.
Posted Thu 12 Jul 01 @ 8:57 pm
atomix_adamsc75
All my gigs I have done with a laptop, the crowd dont seem to mind. As long as the music keeps on coming and you keep the crowd pumped up they're not worried what you are playing on! I must say I would like to try a gig with my desktop and two sound cards, but just havent gotten around to it....a laptop is so much easier. You do have to invest sometime in your music and getting to know it well, but I'm sure any decent dj does that anyway!?!?
Later
Adam
Later
Adam
Posted Fri 13 Jul 01 @ 8:35 pm
Wow thank you guys immensely, you've help a ton. I think I'm going to try a laptop/mixer combo and see how that goes. I'll keep you posted!
The Goner
The Goner
Posted Sun 15 Jul 01 @ 9:43 am
dj2nv
My desktop is a mini-tower,
I have a 3D soundcard (Soundblaster Live!), i have my first gig ever on saturday and im taking me 10Kg Destkop and 18Kg 17inch monitor, and im playing using atomix..
I use the setup where i have a 3D sound card and an external mixer...
My mixer is now a Behringer DX500, which has 3 band EQ's on each channel, plus kills for each band of the eq's, plus gain on every channel, Plus a 12second sampler.....
its a mad mixer, and a rule of thumb... NEVER BUY A OMNITRONIC MIXER, they suck...
.::DJ2NV::.
I have a 3D soundcard (Soundblaster Live!), i have my first gig ever on saturday and im taking me 10Kg Destkop and 18Kg 17inch monitor, and im playing using atomix..
I use the setup where i have a 3D sound card and an external mixer...
My mixer is now a Behringer DX500, which has 3 band EQ's on each channel, plus kills for each band of the eq's, plus gain on every channel, Plus a 12second sampler.....
its a mad mixer, and a rule of thumb... NEVER BUY A OMNITRONIC MIXER, they suck...
.::DJ2NV::.
Posted Mon 16 Jul 01 @ 10:23 am
DJ Rick
I bought a Sony Viao. It has a firewire plug. Add an external hard drive, and you can carry tens of thousands of songs. Mine is an AMD 800. Performs beautifully.
Posted Fri 27 Jul 01 @ 1:52 am