I have 50,000 songs - FWIW

To many ads? Support ODJT and see no ads!
All of this is well and good Rick, but even with 30,000 songs on an external hard drive I can still have any given song searched for and playing in a fraction of the time it would have taken me to even locate the case that a particular song may be in when I was using disc much less get the disc out and cue up the requested song! and I had a alpa-numro book which I listed all my songs in!

I love Rockit!:sqbiggrin:

How fast do you really have to be?
 
Well, I do defrag regularly and turn off indexing...

Based on this it sounds like the best thing I can do for my system performance now (aside from buying a better machine... but who wants to go to THAT trouble for improved performance!) is to simply start compiling that list of most/top-played's and store them on my internal HD and keep the external for odd-ball requests, themed stuff, etc.

Thanks!
 
Sounds To Go said:
So in summary we have:

A) An argument in defense of a conservatively-sized and well-maintained library to handle the majority of events

B) No *REAL* argument against simply sitting on more than you need.

This is of course assuming you are digital. The pitfalls of more than you need are readily apparent and from what I can see only worth considering if you are still disc-based.
Click to expand...

Being digital simply means you're not carrying the CDs everywhere - you still have to store them. Every day they age their value drops - save but a handful. (The day after Michael Jackson died I managed to sell half a dozen of his used CDs for the full retail price! :) )

As for the computer, I'm an advocate of using the weakest machine needed to do the job. By that, I mean using the earliest and least resource intensive solution. The more advanced your technology the harder and more costly it is to find a ready replacement in a pinch.

Since there are computers everywhere nowadays - I'm always conscious of compatibility and how easy it is to move from one machine to another. Moving UP always seems to be easier than trying to move DOWN.

Rick's input has further inspired me to trim the "fat" off my drives. I like the analogy of "the burden your computer must carry."
 
Proformance said:
Rick's input has further inspired me to trim the "fat" off my drives. I like the analogy of "the burden your computer must carry."
Click to expand...

But to his point, it's only an issue if you're trying to run your main performance off the external or the same drive being used for your all the "excess."

If you're running "Bob's 5K" on you internal and performing from that, then there is no drawback whatsoever to keeping as much as you want on an external for oddball searches/requests, etc as long as you are maintenance-minded and keep things clean, etc.

So far all I've heard is if you know how to maintain a system, browse efficiently, and use the tools at your disposal software and otherwise, the size of the digital library isn't really an issue. Of course 20k will pose more of a system drag than 5k, but whether or not said drag constitutes an actual detriment to performance depends on a number of other factors - user error and ignorance perhaps the largest factors! :)
 
When I decided to go digital I purchased 4 HP Compaq 610s on Ebay for less than $500, these were "off lease" business machines, one of the four was dropped and came back to me in pieces, one recently gave up the screen (i could still use an external monitor and use it but wasn't worth it to me to fix it) The other two have been clicking along just fine!

My new HP is a consumer model and I only hope I can get half the service from it as I have gotten from the used purchases!
 
Sounds To Go said:
But to his point, it's only an issue if you're trying to run your main performance off the external or the same drive being used for your performance library.

If you're running "Bob's 5K" on you internal and performing from that, then there is no drawback whatsoever to keeping as much as you want on an external for oddball searches/requests, etc as long as you are maintenance-minded and keep things clean, etc.
Click to expand...

That woudln't be my work style. I want the full mobile library in one location and always external. If the computer dies I want to plug my drive into the next machine and keep going. If the drive dies I want to connect the backup drive and again, keep going.
 
Sounds To Go said:
Assuming you want to keep them:)

I do like your point though re keeping the technology/machine used as simple and easily replaceable as possible.
Click to expand...

Bob's got a great point there -- you should be able to walk into any Walmart, and walk out with a machine to replace your broken one, in a pinch.


Here's something I do, that may be of help to some...

My master music drive has a gazillion songs on it, and I have many dupes of that drive (I like redundancy). On it, I have a folder called (not surprisingly) CoreLibrary. In that folder, resides my 2000 track core library of songs.

Since I keep my core library on the internal of any computer I'm using, I can simply replace the computer, copy over the CoreLibrary folder, and I'm up and running in a few minutes, on a completely stock, off the shelf computer.


One other tip -- always use the same folder hierarchy on all drives that hold your music. My master has one root folder, called MP3 -- everything else is under that. If you maintain the same hierarchy across all backup and working drives, it's simple to swap out drives :)
 
Sounds To Go said:
Nah, I lost them in a fire. So I use the backups that I am legally allowed to keep. :sqwink:

After all, why allow "backups" if you're never allowed to use them!
Click to expand...

I suppose you lost the purchase receipts in that same fire...?? :sqembarrassed:

LOL. When SoundChoice comes calling throw some tupperware on the barbecue and then hand them the puddle of plastic!
 
There are many album tracks from yesteryear that were not hits but people do request and remember , now people at home have access to a massive library of songs from the net, ipods etc etc they too expect you as a music service provider to be able to have track x from album y from 1978 by artist z instantly

I actually have a broad band dongle and a second laptop and connect to a UK certified Legal Dedicated DJ music download site that has a reasonable selection of WAV (note WAV so.. quality sound not rubbish rate mp3) files for download , so if i don't have the song i can legally down load the request at the gig. with the second laptop i can then check and verify the download before playing it.

I see this as the future of DJing for functions with hosts having most songs... as you say 5000 will cover most peoples choices but with a massive virtual library available at the touch of a button.with wireless internet connections getting faster and with more and better coverage and with speeds increasing , i can see a time in the future where maybe everything is streamed and you don't have any media with you only back up and you could then realistically brag of having access to 200,0000 tracks or whatever the ridiculous number maybe the future is scary but this is a realistic future projection imho

As a karaoke host i am amazed by hosts who tell me they could host a show with a 1000 carefully chosen tracks as people always sing the same stuff ..well my singers don't!! last night i had ten new and different songs sang that i had never been asked for before. As karaoke is my core business i spend a fortune on discs and my singers do appreciate the investment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back