You were the one who brought it up. That for you a DJ using CDs is obsolete. A DJ can be a computer DJ and still suck.What does this have to do with back up equipment
You were the one who brought it up. That for you a DJ using CDs is obsolete. A DJ can be a computer DJ and still suck.What does this have to do with back up equipment
I don't.It's 2024. I feel bad for anyone still using CD players.
I have been moderating DJ gear forums for 20 years. I have seen relatively little change in the average audio skill level over the years. What has changed is that today's gear is more integrated. Controllers and mixers are all-in-one, speakers have built in amps and processing and you no longer needed external playback sources. This means fewer interconnects are needed and thus fewer opportunities for screwing things up. A DJ can get further into the business with the limited audio knowledge they have. Back in the day, I would get a steady stream of phone calls from DJ's that were at gigs and had problems they couldn't troubleshoot. Most of the time it was something stupid like a setting (including power on/off) or cable connections to an external crossover. Now the only connections are PC to the controller via USB and then controller to the powered speaker.The technical troubleshooting skills of today's DJs is absolutely abysmal. Their knowledge of basic audio fundamentals and sound principles is almost non-existent. I say that while fully aware that some people feign ignorance for the benefit of passing responsibility onto others - but, that's only a tiny fraction of it.
By and large, your average mobile DJ today, knows less about how to connect audio equipment than the average 10th grader of the 1980's. Today's DJs are good with bluetooth and a 3.5mm stereo jack and yet, even the latter casues quite a few issues.
That means the decline isn't visible - but it has declined. It has not been a steady state through the tech revolution. I have event support contracts for local school auditorium/theaters and get to work with students all the time. These are kids at the age where you and I would have been installing audio in our first car, or stereos in our dorm rooms or home. None of that exists anymore - it's all on a phone or tablet feeding earbuds or a Bluetooth speaker.I have been moderating DJ gear forums for 20 years. I have seen relatively little change in the average audio skill level over the years. What has changed is that today's gear is more integrated. Controllers and mixers are all-in-one, speakers have built in amps and processing and you no longer needed external playback sources. This means fewer interconnects are needed and thus fewer opportunities for screwing things up. A DJ can get further into the business with the limited audio knowledge they have. Back in the day, I would get a steady stream of phone calls from DJ's that were at gigs and had problems they couldn't troubleshoot. Most of the time it was something stupid like a setting (including power on/off) or cable connections to an external crossover. Now the only connections are PC to the controller via USB and then controller to the powered speaker.
Sad but true....High schools had metal shop, wood shop, automotive shop, ham radio clubs, etc. These days they worry too much about splinters to offer classes that really teach you anything hands on.
There is none of that in the schools today, and hasn't been since the late 1980s. All of it was removed and replaced with theater and "performing arts" which likely explains the proliferation of narcissism in today's society. Without all the education and emphasis on performing arts Facebook would likely never have caught on.High schools had metal shop, wood shop, automotive shop, ham radio clubs, etc. These days they worry too much about splinters to offer classes that really teach you anything hands on.
It's worse than that. It really is the fundamental difference between indoctrination and education. Today schools instruct kids on what to learn (acceptability), while the latter and historical method was to teach kids how to learn (life long skill.)These days they worry too much about splinters to offer classes that really teach you anything hands on.
I hope my 5 year old grandson in 12 years or so will realize that a 4 year college degree and the immense loan debt it brings is not the way to go but instead a trade like these may be a smarter alternative.If you want training in any kind of industrial arts today you have to attend a technical high school and the number and size of those in any school district is very small and always far below the demand. Many kids who apply never get in because the space is so limited. We all know that plumbers and carpenters charge substantial fees for their labor - and that is a departure from our parents and grandparents era. That is a direct result of so few people having any clue about how plumbing, electrical, or any kind of construction is actually done, as well as a societal shift in expectation that every facet of life comes with concierge service.
If things don't change soon it won't matter. He'll be paying for other people's student loan debt while he himself never gets to attend college.
?How many carry backup gear to events? I ask this question because a friend of mine has 2 Denon DN MC 6000 controllers and leaves one of them home. I'm one of the guys that pushed him in the direction to become a computer DJ. He was using CD's at one point. Once he saw how much easier it is being a computer DJ he eventually made the switch. He was still carrying CD's in books at events until he became completely sold on being a computer DJ.
I asked him if he regrets becoming a computer DJ? He has no regrets. As long as I'm a DJ, I will stick with the switch being a computer DJ.
Now if it wasn't for being able to use CD's when I first came back, I could have never been back as a DJ. Again I love being a computer DJ. I don't knock any DJ that uses CD's. If it works for them, they get the job done and they do a good job then that's all that counts.
For me I live having my music on a portable HD. No more carrying CD books to events anymore. Those books were pretty heavy. Especially carrying more than one at a time.
My friend told me once he had an issue with a dual CD player where one side stopped working properly and he went to his vehicle to get a backup to finish the event. He said the crowd didn't know there was an issue.