Vinyl vs Digital - Which do you buy?

[MARK ANXIOUS]

about 6 months ago i forced myself to record all my vinyl into the computer and play a whole set of cd's. and then i suddenly realised holy shit, i'm not having to worry about that pissed up twat at the front bouncing too much. it was a revalation. since then i've played lots and lots of complete cd sets. that walking on eggshells feeling when the decks are badly set up completely goes and i'm alot less drained at the end of a set. more time for dancing and enjoying the music! also these days, lots of ppl play cd sets and they tend to put their cd case on the decks and i'm noticing they are sometimes pressing against the needle. ie more deck problems if you then play vinyl. not only that, sound crew just arent paying attention to setting up decks properly anymore (not that they always did), cause more and more ppl are on cd's.

and that's only half the pluses of playing a set of cd's. sound wise (and believe me, i have analyzed this like a cunt on stick) the pitching up and down of cd's is much more digital and sounds more clinical than doing it via the analog medium of a vinyl and a technics 1210. so to get round this, i've been recording the vinyl onto cd at approxiamately the pitch i would be playing them at a club. this way, the clinic sound of cd pitching up is not there. ok, well to go one better i've now started remastering all the pitched up vinyls so the freq ranges are back in the correct places. phew, it's a damn hard job and it now takes me a full day longer to get ready for a set, but the result is entirely worth it. sound wise, my set is the shit, it can't be any better imho. i am super happy with the result. i could never have got this type of perfection with vinyl, plus i can do some nice sneaky edits in ableton and make some exclusive mixes of the tracks. i just feel more creative and focused than ever.

ok so you might say that's that. good job! well actually it's not. and what's made it like that is the odd person coming up to me playing cd's and saying 'play vinyl, you cunt!'. to the point that even my own girlfriend chrissi tells me 'mark, it just looks shit, you wanna see someone playing vinyl'. so off i went on youtube armed with a glass of vino and sure enough, a dj playing vinyl looks damn good. cd's look awful. then there's the morality of the fact i've bought vinyl for the past 20 years and now, it looks like i'm not supporting it (when in fact i'm still buying as much vinyl as i ever did, only it's not looking that way cause i'm recording to cd). vinyl is such a special medium. without it, i would be screwed. i don't want it to disappear.

so now, i'm onto another mission. in the next few weeks i'm going to start using a virtual turntable system with timecoded vinyl. now, if the decks are set up good (which is becoming less and less), i will force myself to play vinyl (or at least try to consider it more than i have been the last 6 months). if not, i will then set up this system. if it's too dangerous, gonna destroy my equipment or impractical, then we swap to cd's. that way, we get the best of both worlds, 66% of the time, the performance looks good, 66% of the time the sound quality is spot on, and 33% of the time i look shit playing cd's. Much better imho than the way I've been doing the last 6 months.

Well this is just my thoughts and experiences. PS I voted option 3 ;)

[DJ Becka]

about 6 months ago i forced myself to record all my vinyl into the computer and play a whole set of cd's. and then i suddenly realised holy shit, i'm not having to worry about that pissed up twat at the front bouncing too much. it was a revalation. since then i've played lots and lots of complete cd sets. that walking on eggshells feeling when the decks are badly set up completely goes and i'm alot less drained at the end of a set. more time for dancing and enjoying the music! also these days, lots of ppl play cd sets and they tend to put their cd case on the decks and i'm noticing they are sometimes pressing against the needle. ie more deck problems if you then play vinyl. not only that, sound crew just arent paying attention to setting up decks properly anymore (not that they always did), cause more and more ppl are on cd's.

and that's only half the pluses of playing a set of cd's. sound wise (and believe me, i have analyzed this like a cunt on stick) the pitching up and down of cd's is much more digital and sounds more clinical than doing it via the analog medium of a vinyl and a technics 1210. so to get round this, i've been recording the vinyl onto cd at approxiamately the pitch i would be playing them at a club. this way, the clinic sound of cd pitching up is not there. ok, well to go one better i've now started remastering all the pitched up vinyls so the freq ranges are back in the correct places. phew, it's a damn hard job and it now takes me a full day longer to get ready for a set, but the result is entirely worth it. sound wise, my set is the shit, it can't be any better imho. i am super happy with the result. i could never have got this type of perfection with vinyl, plus i can do some nice sneaky edits in ableton and make some exclusive mixes of the tracks. i just feel more creative and focused than ever.

ok so you might say that's that. good job! well actually it's not. and what's made it like that is the odd person coming up to me playing cd's and saying 'play vinyl, you cunt!'. to the point that even my own girlfriend chrissi tells me 'mark, it just looks shit, you wanna see someone playing vinyl'. so off i went on youtube armed with a glass of vino and sure enough, a dj playing vinyl looks damn good. cd's look awful. then there's the morality of the fact i've bought vinyl for the past 20 years and now, it looks like i'm not supporting it (when in fact i'm still buying as much vinyl as i ever did, only it's not looking that way cause i'm recording to cd). vinyl is such a special medium. without it, i would be screwed. i don't want it to disappear.

so now, i'm onto another mission. in the next few weeks i'm going to start using a virtual turntable system with timecoded vinyl. now, if the decks are set up good (which is becoming less and less), i will force myself to play vinyl (or at least try to consider it more than i have been the last 6 months). if not, i will then set up this system. if it's too dangerous, gonna destroy my equipment or impractical, then we swap to cd's. that way, we get the best of both worlds, 66% of the time, the performance looks good, 66% of the time the sound quality is spot on, and 33% of the time i look shit playing cd's. Much better imho than the way I've been doing the last 6 months.

Well this is just my thoughts and experiences. PS I voted option 3 ;)

Bloody hell! That's a lot of work to put into playing music. (no one said it was an easy job, btw) But I'm sitting here laughing at this whole process you put yourself through.

Me personally, I like seeing a dj rocking behind a set of decks, rather than a laptop - cdjs, ehhh.....it doesnt bother me so much - but overall, behind the decks, the dj projects a certain vibe and energy to the crowd that you just cannot compare to someone rocking a set on laptops or cdjs. Now, I've had this discussion with people before who seem to think otherwise - they say you can do much more doing an ableton set than you could ever do with decks, but after experiencing doing an ableton set out in public myself, I found it to be really boring.....just point, click, use the occassional efx, blah blah - whoopidee dooooo....I like playing a vinyl (or vinyl-like) medium - I like the feeling I get behind a set of decks.....but that's just ME and my personal preference.....I dont think there's anything anyone could say or do to make me change my mind about what I choose to use for djing. (I use serato scratch, btw....next best thing to vinyl....and I love it)

As for what my purchasing habits are - I purchase both vinyl and digital, but I find more and more less of a reason to buy vinyl nowadays....it just doesnt seem cost effective to me anymore when I can pick and choose the tracks I want from an EP, vs buy the whole thing on vinyl for 9 euros, only to play one track.....

Which brings me to this.....for the diehard people who are purchasing only vinyl - what will you do if vinyl disappears? Would you switch to digital? Or would you hang up your decks and call it a day?

[dubs]

I've started buying some digital but still mostly vinyl. The new cdj's are a dream to mix on but i can't imagine preferring to play on them. I can understand what people say about the options you have with digital and i guess we've only just touched the surface...but I look at what DJ Dave, Cut La Roc, A-Train etc do on the decks and the direct human contact with records - the chance to pull out some freaky cuts or **** them up etc gives me a greater pleasure when playing. Nothing like a full club and a few beers behind you and some nice vinyl to mix it up.

I love working with digital at home and on production. I can't see it ever being better for me in a club.

[TechMouse]

but after experiencing doing an ableton set out in public myself, I found it to be really boring.....just point, click, use the occassional efx, blah blah - whoopidee dooooo....

With respect though Becka, that really doesn't sound like you're pushing Ableton to it's limits at all. As with all performance, if you're getting bored then you could always be doing something else to add to it.

I've seen some people do utterly uninspiring Ableton sets, and then I've seen others totally take it to the next level.

I still love a good old fashioned rinseout on the 1's and 2's. I just think there are people doing great stuff with laptops out there across all the genres. For Techno, have a look at Radial, Raw Hedroom and Dirty Bass. For Electronica / D&B, check out Exile. For Breaks, seek out Splitloop.

[TechMouse]

Just to add some context here, I DJ pretty exclusively with vinyl - occasionally with CDs.

I'm just getting into Ableton but I don't think I'd bother using it as a DJing tool, that feels like a massive waste to me. Live PA all the way I reckon.

[DJ Becka]

Just to add some context here, I DJ pretty exclusively with vinyl - occasionally with CDs.

I'm just getting into Ableton but I don't think I'd bother using it as a DJing tool, that feels like a massive waste to me. Live PA all the way I reckon.

See, this is where I can see ableton being more useful - using it more as a live pa tool rather than a djing one. Perhaps I am not using it to it's full potential - actually, I am SURE I'm not, but either way, it's just not my personal preference for djing. Call me old fashioned - I just enjoy being behind the decks better. And yes, I've seen people do really cool sets with ableton too, just the same as seeing people doing shitty sets with it. For me, I'll use it for production and stick with the vinyl medium for playing out at gigs.

As it is, I only switched to using Serato a little over a year ago - I was vinyl all the way, as was my attitude towards djs and what they were using to play. It's been a gradual process for me to start to embrace more digital means of doing things.....give a sista a break......I grew up with vinyl - so it's a bit tough to just let it go.....I had to work hard to get to where I am, and now any idiot can be a dj with all the technology that is out there to make it easy for them.

Ok, so this is starting to go in the wrong direction, but I'll briefly touch upon this, since people think I'm completely wrong, and so you can understand why I feel the way I feel about this stuff.

I suppose at the end of the day, it's what's coming out of the speakers that matters, but I think what bothers me the most about people using ableton for djing is that they just seem to look/act bored. I dont stand there and watch the dj the entire time, however, if I am on the dancefloor, I look up and see that the dj looks bored and has one hand in their pocket, it kinda kills the vibe for me. Again, this is just me - if it doesnt bother any of you, that's your perogative....

Anyway, if for some reason, I happen to change my mind in the future in terms of using something other than vinyl for djing, I'll be sure to let you all know ;)

btw, did I mention that I buy both vinyl and digital? Yea....that was the subject of this poll......lol

[TechMouse]

As it is, I only switched to using Serato a little over a year ago - I was vinyl all the way, as was my attitude towards djs and what they were using to play. It's been a gradual process for me to start to embrace more digital means of doing things.....give a sista a break......I grew up with vinyl - so it's a bit tough to just let it go.....

So, just to try and pin this down a little:

You're using Serato anyway, so you're already eschewing rooting around in a record bag in favour of searching on a laptop. So this makes me wonder...

Is it just the mechanical action of getting two pieces of plastic rotating at the correct relative speeds that does it for you?

And if so, why exactly?

I take your point about people looking bored, but I've seen vinyl DJ's look bored before too. Surely that's a shortcoming in the DJ rather than an inherent stumling block of the technology.

Just trying to understand your point of view.

I had to work hard to get to where I am, and now any idiot can be a dj with all the technology that is out there to make it easy for them.

I don't get that angle at all.

Are Americans worse drivers than us Brits because the majority of you use automatic cars? Of course not...

Surely the difference is that people just have to work harder to stand out?

Just like with producing IMHO.

20 years ago, only a few people had access to the technology. Now it's commonplace. You have to be better to make your mark.

[rhythmtech]

20 years ago, only a few people had access to the technology. Now it's commonplace. You have to be better to make your mark.

exactly..

just because someone can produce a track doesnt mean its gonna be good and just because someone can play mp3s doesnt mean they can do it well.

the actual physical concept of playing vinyl is just as simple as mixing mp3 on laptop or cd.. if anyone here cant count to 4 then they're in trouble anyway.

[bushby]

and has one hand in their pocket

When I used to use decks I'd mix with my hand in my pocket. Now I use ableton there's too much going on for me to have my hand in my pocket (unless I'm "under the influence" in which case I might not play quite as many tracks an may have to relax a bit with my hand in my pocket)

I'm the only person on the poll that buys / plays purely digital as well it seems.

[dan the acid man]

mainly buying digital these days, wish i could afford to buy both in same quantaties but i can't.

I have as much fun mixing with ableton as i do with vinyl, as i also try to use more channels with ableton and push things a little further although im still learning.

It is nice to get the old decks out now and again though, had them out for the first time in a year the other week

[wrong]

and then i suddenly realised holy shit, i'm not having to worry about that pissed up twat at the front bouncing too much.

heheh, don't you mean you don't have to worry about YOU bouncing around too much... ;)

i still use vinyl all the way.. exept if i got some new tracks then i'll play em on cd , but never more than 3 or 4 during a set.. I would buy digital if it point blank wasn't available on vinyl, but for me i only feel that i own the track if i have it on vinyl, even cd feels false... thinking of releasing the don't back catalogue as mp3's tho... can't hurt can it.. There's really nothing i've heard that i'd want to buy that exists soley as an mp3 release, but if that changes then of course i'd buy it and incorporate it on a burned cd..

[TechMouse]

There's really nothing i've heard that i'd want to buy that exists soley as an mp3 release

Come now Jerome, what about Digital Distortions or Virus B-23?

Both reasonably up your street I would have thought.