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I take it that your unaware of how epic a failure the Pioneer CDJ 3000 is with the plastic jog wheel spindles. The thermal throttling that you are referring to is a 2019 Mac book specific issue and a cooling pad will take the edge off. I use a Lenovo IBM that I have modded by using a swap disc and every time I boot up go into task Manager and close all the unnecessary programs and .exe files . I use Mixxx and Map all the functions to a custom built Midi controller based on an Ardunio board. Easier and far more reliable other than that I run Ubuntu Studio and Reaper DAW
@@JohannesNielsen what's wrong with the cdj-3000 jog wheels? everyone I have used in the last couple years have worked perfectly. the 4 we have at my work has never had a problem. also the Intel 10th gen cpu's were notorious for excessive heat. thermal throttling is a thing. doesn't matter what computer you're using if it gets too hot it will slow itself down on purpose. cooling fans are not capable of providing deep cooling of the CPU in laptops.. they're simply meant to help with air flow. which will improve the efficiency of the laptops active cooling system.. but they themselves don't lower temperatures.. great that you have Ubuntu on your laptop. Linux used to suck for audio.. still sucks for audio professionals because it still cannot run Pro Tools. not sure what point you're trying to make by just ranting about your own personal computer specs.. doesn't change the fact that your computer will throttle if it gets too hot.. like being outside in the direct sun at a festival. it's called physics man.
Not sure. :/ Might stand for cookin dem jams. Like, you remove the plastic wheel from the top of that scary black kitchen appliance, stick a jar in it, and press the "Play/Pause" button. Jam has never tasted better. Technology has come so far.
backline tech here: this is the actual reason. i've done countless festivals with DJs and i've seen their tech rider every time. 95% use 2 and the other 2 are there for any support acts, plus they're already wired up just in case a cdj goes out and they need a backup.
Another reason I noticed for having four decks in a festival rig is deck orientation. Some DJs like having the mixer [💽🎛💽] in the middle, [🎛💽💽] on the left, [💽💽🎛] or the right. Having four decks split by a mixer in the middle [💽💽🎛💽💽] means that you have all three orientations available with zero re-arranging/cabling. (And of course the ability to do more complex mixing)
@@the1version422 i imagine this could be the case when you wanna scratch with your strong hand.. and a song is already playing on the same side. Disable the crossfader for the playing song and scratch in on the next deck..
Watch the first or second DMC world Championship that Qbert won. He picked up the left Turntable and moved it to the far right in the middle of his set lol. Also there are festivals with 2 compete 4 deck set ups at each stage. I started seeing it way more often after Skrillex b2b 12th planet @ ultra 2012. They killed the mixer at like 45min into the set, Sonny (skrillex) started getting everyone to chant "mixer, mixer"
@@the1version422 tbh i thought it was weird at first too until i played somewhere where they had 3 cdjs and i caught myself only using the side that had 2 of the 3 cdjs cause it was a lot less moving around and turning my head if i didn't have the mixer in the middle and i'm lowkey thinking of using that setup if i ever upgrade from an all in one to seperate mixer and decks
In Techno, dubstep and Drum & Bass DJ culture (im sure other genres as well) its normal people have 2 or 3 tracks playing at the same time. Bass from one track, tops from another then a third one coming in for the transition for example is very common. 3 Decks with 1 for backup is a must.
As a DnB DJ 3 or more is basically essential to my mixing. Double drops are pretty common and then having your next song queued up too requires at least 3
This is very true. I'm totally getting to the limit because I only had money for 2 Players and 1 Mixer. DnB Sets get waaay more dynamic with 3-4 decks.
As a new DJ and long time festival goer, my mind was BLOWN by all the information you just provided. Especially the concept of interpolation. Great great great super high quality content bro 😍
When I first started in 2003, it wasn’t long before I was on 2 turntables, 2 CDJs and my laptop when I did a Women’s music festival for 4 years. Now, I still have 3 CDJs, 1 Controller and 2 Turntables in 2021. It’s not only more fun, it’s just more accessible for creativity when you approach DJing as a musician, like how I tend to do. Great video! Thank you!
Just because it was repeated many times, I need to step in and clarify that "audio upscaling" is not a thing. What the CDJ does is internally process your audio at 96khz 32-bit float. This is great in a DAW like Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic where you're mixing anywhere from 8 to 100+ tracks with dozens of sensitive FX like compression and reverb, each one introducing a tiny bit of noise that adds up. But here, the CDJ is only playing one track with time-stretch & pitch-shift, so any perceived improvement will be extremely subtle. Worse still, once the audio leaves your CDJ, it either goes out the RCAs with 115db SNR (roughly 19 bits), or the digital coax output (20 bits). This is the same output as the CDJ-1000 from over 20 years ago. There are many reasons to like the CDJ-3000, but "upscaling" is not one of them.
Yeah, that "upscaling" thing is clearly just marketing bullshit. And a lot people are falling for this. Upsampling is still very real. This is required to perform non-lineair operations without introducing aliasing. The amount of fx is not really relevant. With lineair operations, upsampling doesn't add any benefit. Usually upsampling will be 2, 4 or even more times the samplerate. So, a 44.1kHz source is likely to be oversampled to 88.1kHz.
@@chordandjocks He means he'll have 2 decks playing simultaneously (two drops playing at once) and then uses the 3rd deck to transition into a new song.
Yes, I remember what Armin taught me and yes 2 CDJ for back up, but great in depth knowledge, it’s amazing how technology has changed in DJ world 🌎 it’s incredible, I just upgraded to DDJ 400 it’s amazing bit of kit
Coming from the early days of dance music. The 3 turntable was also and mainly used for acapellas and sound effects records overlaying to what you were playing or as a filler between mixes.
You're a good explainer. I don't dance, go to clubs, or listen to EDM, but I've seen Krafty Kuts with multiple CDJs, was only mildly curious, but your videos are so damned interesting, I ended up sitting around for 20 minutes listening to you talk about it anyway.
@@dorsetengineering I understand, I'm definitely getting into the digital realm Which to me is super easy and actually is cheating when it comes to DJ'ING. But, I'm still keeping my technique 1210s for life. The techniques just don't break - Just your back!!
well done, coming from a skratch head, finally understand. earned this sub. wow, always wondered about what the club/ dj scene is in the midwest, especially coming from the bay (daly city/ peninsula area - the mecca of skratching)
I use a 4 deck setup primarily for adding effects and making better transitions, but I also some times get 4 songs rolling together but more of a rare thing.
great video! both educational and enjoyable! production quality is on point, presentation skills there, your hand motions and clear speech and writing really help! thank you for the work you have clearly put into your craft :)
I've been DJing for almost 30 years and have played at festivals. Spot on, and I learned some additional reasons of the 4 deck setup and really interesting information as to why festivals nowadays will probably always lean towards the industry standard CDJ3000s and DJM if not for consistency for artists for production and sound quality.
@@lilaclazaI used to. But I've started playing more Bass House, Drum and Bass,Indie Dance and Melodic House. Not all on the same set lol but I had been making tech house and I'm trying to step away from that. Therefore I would like to start remixing and creating bass house and Indie Dance.
Great review going way back! I have a question for which I have never found a good response. Is it possible to have your music library on a external disk for Serato DJ and also use it for RekordBox DJ? I also heard Mixed in Key 10 allows cue points to be used in both programs. Would this work? I value your opinion
Thanks man for this! I was always curious to why that was the standard set up for festivals. And I saw you gave James Hype a s/o. He def gets busy with all four decks!
Great educational video. I guess I should start learning CDJs. Been using 1200s since I started DJing. And yes, please let us know how to grab an XMG in the States. Thanks for the info. Cheers.
Back when I used virtual DJ, I would use 4 decks to make crazy mashups or essentially use a DVS like a DAW. It was really fun and you can still do it with any 4+ deck system
Great video 👍👍👍👍 People tend to jump to conclusions when they see certain things that they aren’t used to seeing. Like you mentioned the RCA cables not hooked up. As a spectator how does one know if HID mode or the Digital connections are being used? Honestly sets can be prerecorded, rehearsed, etc. I imagine top performers have a physical or mental playlist to put on a stellar show. Thanks again 👍
What you need to understand, is that a star DJ (Let's say Carl Cox) has a very specific set-up with special routings. They even have tour manager hooking up their set-up before. It's not like they will wait for the other DJ to let one CDJ available at the end of the set and plug their USB key at the last minute. A guy like Sasha will have RMX 1000s at the end of every single CDJs, some CDJs will be routed to a laptop, some not. They will not take the chance that the DJ before change stuff, switch channels, leave an FX or a cross fader on and try to figure out what is going on.... I, for instance, will use one channel specifically for browsing tracks. So sometimes you will see the set-up of one DJ and the other will play on another set-up.
Modular dj setups are modular for a reason. The reason why almost nobody uses laptops or controlers at festivals, and why modular units are used is very simple. It all comes down to repeatable performance and efficiency. Repeatable performance, muscle memory ect. - where you as a DJ turn up anywhere and you know exactly how everything is laid out, where it all is, and what your options are during your performance, or if something goes wrong. Efficiency - if your laptop dies, or a part of your cheap all in one dies, your set is over, unless you have an entire 2nd system configured as a tracking backup. With modular setup, a cdj or even a mixer can be compelty removed and replaced without any interuption to the set. With big fees being paid to draw big crowds to make big money to cover big costs, any down time has a huge effect on promoters. If one act is delayed by a few minuets, this has a knock on effect down the entire timetable, which effects every dj on a bill after the initial incident. Festivals have hard licencing deadlines on when music must stop being broadcast, so time over-runs are huge contractual issues. A full modular kit provides redundancy, a standard platform, options to troubleshoot, and caters for multiple djs at the same time if needed. Additional players can be used to run intros, allow incoming tour managers to load their artists music prior to start, and via prolink, can be remote started from FOH so the intro can begin before the DJ is on-stage. The addition of 2 more prolink devices allow csjs to be physically located at the foh, and the ability for one cdj to track another one, so that the audio has redundant backup. If there is an issue, audio can be switched instantly to the tracking unit, so nobody will even know that something has gone wrong. Prolink features are fully accessible from foh, allowing crew to reset mixer controls, pitch controls or any other features remotely, so their artist doesn't walk up and start their show with some filter accidently left on. Its also possible to automate a set by scripting control commands, which make repeating complicated technical operations not even possible by humans to be done remotely if needed. Controlers and laptops are toys for people who want to get into djing at a sub-professional level, where they might need huge music libraries to cater for hours of all kinds of music.
Recently started playing with 4 decks and it's a game changer, if for no other reason than being able to load up several tracks ahead so you're not frantically searching later on. But god it's really fun to be able to always have two tracks playing
Great content. I was interested in purchasing a CDJ-3000. In this video you indicate the maximum operating temperature is 150F. I just spoke with my sales rep and he indicated that on page 83 of the CDJ-3000 manual, it says 95F. I just verified this. The manual says 35C which converts to 95F. What is the source of your information? I am not trying to be confrontational, I just want to make sure I understand this parameter as I live in the South where we experience temps greater than 95F many times in the summer.
Nah I have worked backlining and am an audio operator by profession. It really comes down to it being way easier to just have the same gear for everyone. It keeps rental company's from having to stock 50 different controllers. Everybody can use cdjs. And some djs specify 3 or 4 cdjs in their rider so the table they get has probably already 4 decks on them, so why remove one or two? Vinyl can be a mess on huge sound systems if they are not setup perfectly. Having showcontrol mode can be a huge sweat saver sometimes. Audio quality is not really a problem as long as we get digital signal that hasn't been converted to often, is less then at least 48khz or comes from an mp3.
Great video, as always. Would you care to elaborate more on audio improvement in cdj3000? I mean I can imagine it would work with mp3 but is it even possible to improve the quality of wav file? Sounds like cheap standalone speakers and home audio system back in the days. They also had an audio chip that change audio so it would be more pleasant to the listener but that was kinda cheap trick
No prob! It's a process of interpolation. It's analogous to how there is tech that can upscale a 1080p video to 4K, and make it look 4K. It's a process of filtering and predicting pixels based on the available information. Check out Topaz Labs if you're interested in that. For audio, what that means is, there is enough information in a 44.1khz sample rate to predict what the waveform will be for 96khz. It fills the open gaps of the audio sample with what the computer predicts is an intermediate point. The result is a higher resolution sample rate. The CDJ-3000 can do this in real time with any audio. Whether it's an MP3 or a WAV file. The results are apparent when you're listening through high quality studio monitors or on a large system. I used to believe you can't really tell the difference between 44.1khz and anything above. But it does become apparent, especially when time stretching the audio with Master Tempo aka Key Lock. There's more resolution to work with, and the result is tighter and more accurate. You don't get the muffled kicks or softening of the snare attacks.
@@priyonjoni DSP guy here. Your explanation is close but not exact. When upsampling you don't gain information. Actually the information is exactly the same as with 48 kHz since audio above 20kHz is pointless, we just can't perceive it. What you get though is higher time resolution which has advantages when using pitch effects or playback speed shifts. Depending on how both of them are implemented you may get really good or somewhat "old school" sound. Also you have advantages with non-linear effects like distortion. If not properly upsampled, you would get spectral foldback at Nyquist frequency and that can sound rather strange. In theory you could use all that techniques in software, too but as you correctly stated: a PC has a lot more to do any may be unstable (esp. on Windows - my own experience). Coupled with a good interface you would get good sound, too. Traktor is for instance way better with pitch shifting than something like Mixxx. In practice nice, specialized hardware is always better, since it's purpose built and allows for lower latency.
I use Pioneer DDJ controllers almost exclusively (im not rich or important enough for CDJs yet). Some of them access to four decks. You switch between the 4 & control them on the two main decks. So far the only time I have gone over two decks is to mix in a loop or sound bite. Also possibly to use the stems function in virtual dj to create an acapella on the third deck and drop it In for a mash-up. Yeah I know Im using Virtual DJ. I get a lot of hate about that. I really wanted to use locally produced software like Serato over anything else but VDJ works natively with all my other gear. I use my Novation Launchpad for example to launch samples, loops and beats within a song. IDK. I feel like I should be using Serato cause of the CDJ thing. (They all seem to run with Serato or Rekordbox) But maybe its just the peer pressure getting to me.
i am saving up for that Laptop but i live in USA, i hope i can find one, was wondering if a apple is just as good? my older dell laptop is pretty good, the person who sold it to me tuned it best he could for DJing but it does crash rarely , traktor and VDJ crash on me even traktor 3, and DJ pro, and even rekordbox i have all of them except serato, i never wanted to use it cause i started out on Rekordbox. so it just feels and looks weird to me, haha , so if i did a real gig i would just use my CDJ's i guess so i realized now i am stuck with that untill i upgrade the laptop.
Not sure about 4 channel, but my favorite multi channel mixer for its crossfader and butter smooth channel faders is actually the DJM-V10. I know it sounds insane being such a huge mixer, but I love cutting on it.
and that's why i love dnb the mixing/beat matching is standard and 4 decks setup is also pretty standard there are some 2 deck djs but ya the thing is we like the search the next song also because most dnb tracks aren't that long and in my latested track there are 2 combos that make use off 3 tracks and the thing you said about laptops, just use a beefy cpu and only use that laptop for music the chances of falling and thermaltrottle is so low nowadays but i get your point that a cdj setup is safer
How does one become familiar with the base music, in order to know you want to mix it? What are the typical logistics of the performance of the original music? Is it usually a band of a few pieces working in a studio? An individual using a synth?
