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Forum: General Discussion

Topic: Well dang it........ - Page: 2
djjohnnyrox wrote :
but when I can show up with my iPad and my akai amx and do a show just as well as I can with my MacBook Pro and a larger controller , it just makes sense


Sorry, I can't understand/follow that mentality.
Yes, being portable and not having to carry a lot matters.
But there's just a point at which going too "small" starts to limit your abilities.
A small controller that "fits on your backpack" is certainly more limiting in several aspects than a bigger one in the middle category. I won't even go at the larger ones or the "all-in-ones"
Same rule applies for your "computer"
Your computer can be the CDJ, the XDJ, the Prime, a Windows laptop, a Macbook, or an iPhone/iPad
Each one of these has it's pros and cons.
You have to weight in what you gain and what you loose by switching to each one of these and decide where you want to stick. Personally I find that with an iPhone/iPad I loose much more than I gain compared with a laptop.

Yes, the kind of gigs you do and the places you show up also matter.
Even Laidback Luke wouldn't dare to show up in a premium club with just his Reloop Mixtour and an iPhone.
Still different needs, will dictate different usage.

Not all DJ's want to go "as little" or "as small" as possible.

Also, in the era of Social Media, newer generations of DJ's try to "fake it" more than ever.
I don't mean to fake the art. But they constantly feel the need to provide visual cues for their Instagram feed and Tik Tok. They end up faking messing with the controls of their gear ALL THE F* TIME! And I'm talking even about DJ's that DO know how to mix and they're actually good at it!
Now I can't imagine how those newer DJ's would look/behave in front of an iPhone and an Akai AMX..

Yes, I'm an old person now by many metrics.
But I try to keep my mind open and not judge an industry based on my personal preferences/desires.
iPhones and iPads will find their place in the booths. But don't rush to judge that laptops will die, or that iPhones/iPads will dominate the industry.
At least not in the foreseeable future!
 
I agree, sometimes it seems people get caught up in the hype and swept away by the ideas of the technology.

Those old enough may remember the first wave of DJ hardware that allowed you to connect a phone or tablet.... Numark's various iDJ models. Maybe you remember Pioneer going down the video route with their DVJs and mixers that could handle video. Where are they now?

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. 🤔
 
As said before, iPhones and iPads will have their niche (and yes it's cool to DJ with them and it's the hype bubble right now) but they are still computers (and at the moment severly underpowered and restricted in some regards) - saying computers would just disappear shows misunderstanding of that.

Remember the aim of DJing is to play music the best you can for the audience. How you do that really shouldn't matter.
Tbh all major steps in change of technology for DJing still appears today depending on circumstance (vinyl, CDS, timecode, controllers, standalones), and they all had the same comment (the later one would "kill" the earlier one), and it never happened in any of the cases.
 
Got it fully licensed and it works flawlessly.
 
Everything that all of you have said makes sense. In the 40+ years I've been doing this Ive gone from playing out 5 nights a week to 5 nights a year.... Ive gone from hauling crates of records to cases of cd's to a laptop. I use my ipad for the few shows I do which are usually small venue events. Its almost 2 years since i did my last large nightclub show and yes i used my laptop. I had a few reasons playlists work flow and software wasn't as easy to use . I think most of that is going to change with this new addition to ipad djing. Im not going to talk about or hype another companies product, I will say they did some things that make things alot easier to use an ipad or phone to dj

It was an amazing run for me The one thing I always did and will continue to do is embrace what is new and upcoming.
 
It's not that they don't see the value, I'm pretty sure that the devs see the market for it (they'll probably make the app soon), but it's not something that makes or breaks the offering.

Currently if you use those devices you either have to have a different, and smaller library, connect everything (then you basically have an underpowered laptop), or use streaming services (which you don't control 100%), and you still end up with a lesser experience currently, and that forces you to use it either as a backup to an actual laptop (which means it isn't a replacement) or at home. The key (and difference) is it's currently a lesser experience - all progressions before had clear improvement across the board with almost no fallbacks, especially with the medium changes - if and when that changes (storage becomes larger, either on device or remotely, processing power gets better so that virtually everything runs the same as a laptop, all controllers are supported), then the conversation changes, but we aren't there yet.
 
Since I got VDJ in 2008 I've tried many alternatives both software and standalone. I'm someone who always wants to push forward and embrace new technologies but nothing has come close to VDJ and a decent well prepared laptop.

My experiences with standalone both Denon, Rane and Pioneer were less than stellar and far far more hassle to achieve less. Also their support and bug fixing was absolutely terrible.

I've got to the point now where I'm extremely happy with the setups I have and there's no point wasting time and effort on other solutions.
 
I have DJay Pro armed and ready with a USB stick on my phone at every wedding in the event that my computer takes a crap during a gig. Having a free version of Serato is worth considering of my use. I also, use Djay Pro to play my DJ songs on automix in my headphones when I'm just out walking around. Gives me ideas for new mixes when I'm passively listening.

I'd like for VDJ to have an option, but VDJ has made my life better with all of the amazing improvements this year. I imagine Atomix isn't really developing a phone app.
 
I've still got a copy of Serato's Pyro app on my phone, and (just checked) it still works.

FYI it's an auto mixing app from 2016. iOS only of course 😍
 
 
He seems more critical of the idea of DJing from a phone than the app itself, which is understandable. Of course there are limits compared to using a laptop or standalone system.
 
An good application for VDJ with a specific skin on iOS would be Zumba classes. Instructors typically use iPhones. They use playlists and manually start and stop their songs. Using something like automix would work great for them. They could prepare loops so that when a song ends, it pauses while playing at a reduced level the current song loop. Just press "start next song", or "start next 2 songs", to mix them in and carry on until the next pause. It can be done currently with a laptop, but many of them don't even own one.

I don't see a future for VDJ if iOS support is not possible. I personnaly now buy solutions that can work both in iOS, MacOS and Windows. Even if the solution is partial, like Ableton Note being a subset of Albleton Live, the flexibility is important to me. I am not leaving VDJ now, but I doubt I'd choose it now if starting from scratch. I guess VDJ Remote being available on iOS can be somewhat reassuring for a prospective buyer.
 
Zumba Instructors are not DJs - that is a niche use case not the default.

You're opinion on iOS is yours and we respect it, but we don't have to agree with it.

iOS is a platform choice (just like Serato not releasing on Android at the moment, and no platforms other than MIXXX being available on Linux) - they'll probably make it, but it doesn't break the offering (and not making it immediately will not hurt the offering).

Phone use, as for right now, will just be a backup, and there are many valid reasons for this (latency for example, is one), laptop use continues to be the main use for anyone who wants serious access to all features of the software (that goes for all platforms) and input flexibility it brings (which is what open format/freestyle DJs require).
 
Yan Duval wrote :
An good application for VDJ with a specific skin on iOS would be Zumba classes. Instructors typically use iPhones. ....


and they can do pretty much everything you mentioned just by getting the VirtualDJ app and controlling it remotely.