Best way to get the top 200

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S

SkyeTrax

New DJ
Nov 10, 2011
4
0
46
Salt Lake City, Utah
Hello Everyone,

I have decided to start djing weddings and am trying to figure out the best way to start my music collection. I have a budget of $1500 to spend on music and wanted to start by getting the top 200. I had originaly planned on buying used cds because I want the best quality but I just dont know if it is realy worth it. Is itunes a better way to go? or will IDJpool have these songs at 320kbps.

Its just that I have invested over $10,000 in the very best equipment and have a hard time thinking that it will be ok to play songs at 256kbps. Can someone please help point me in the right direction.

I know you get what you pay for and this stuff isnt cheap I am ok with that. I just dont know were to start. Thank you for your help
 
Skye, why don't you tell us a little more about yourself. Where you're from, previous experience, even the gear you use, hobbies, whatever. It helps keeps the natives from being too harsh if they know a little bit about you. Other than that, welcome to ODJT, if yuo can get through the inital "hard time" you'll probably get, you'll find we're a good group who are more than willing to help out.
 
Unless you are going to be playing to an audience of audiophiles in a completely 'dead' room with no other noise going on (and certainly not any dancing) so as not to disturb listening-only music which is playing, don't worry about it. No one will ever come up to you and ask you to explain your use of sub-par 256k MP3s.

Personally, I like Amazon's MP3 download site.
 
SkyeTrax said:
Hello Everyone,

I have decided to start djing weddings and am trying to figure out the best way to start my music collection. I have a budget of $1500 to spend on music and wanted to start by getting the top 200. I had originaly planned on buying used cds because I want the best quality but I just dont know if it is realy worth it. Is itunes a better way to go? or will IDJpool have these songs at 320kbps.

Its just that I have invested over $10,000 in the very best equipment and have a hard time thinking that it will be ok to play songs at 256kbps. Can someone please help point me in the right direction.

I know you get what you pay for and this stuff isnt cheap I am ok with that. I just dont know were to start. Thank you for your help
Click to expand...
A couple suggestions. I would buy the CDs and rip them myself. You can buy compilations which will give you the best by various artists all on one CD/Set of CDs. I have never used ITunes and never will. I prefer to have full control of my MP3 Files so I can ID Tag them in my own way. Whenever I do buy MP3s I purchase them from Amazon then extract them from the folder in which it comes.

With proper Processing you can make a 128 Bit Rate MP3 sound like it was ripped at 320. The Record Pools would be my first choice then Subscription Services such as Promo Only, ERG and Prime Cuts will keep you updated on a weekly/monthly basis.
 
OK, I am going to jump into the lion's den on this one and am fully prepared to be skewered for what I am about to say.....guests at a wedding are not going to have any clue or be able to to tell any difference if your stuff is as 256 or 320. Is it nice to have everything the best you can afford? Absolutely....but it is not necessary for guest enjoyment.

My bigger concern would be have you ever done a wedding before? Do you know how to properly lay one out (planning wise) and how to deal with situations that arise when you get off plan (which trust me, YOU WILL at every one you do).

No you said you want to "start" a music collection....what does this mean? Do you already have music that is just not appropriate for weddings? Or do you have nothing but your own personal collection? Weddings are more than just the top 200.

Taking all this into account...here is what my suggestion would be. First off...for weddings...you MUST have edited versions of songs, so if you go to iTunes to buy the songs (which is a good option), be sure to buy the edited versions of everything. You can get the top 200 at iTunes for...well...$200. Then I would look at buying the "Now" series, check out eBay and Amazon to pick all of them up new. Then I would look at getting some "Time Life" collections...you know the ones you see advertised on TV at 3 in the morning. Once again, check ebay and amazon for these....they will give you a good based for some of the older classics you will need to have in your collection.
 
Thanks for the replys a little background on me. I work at canyons ski resort in Park City Utah doing Audio Visual and have been doin AV for about 4 years. I went to Full Sail university in florida and studied recording arts and no I am not happy with the student loans I still have but oh well.

During the summer here at canyons we have about 38 weddings up at a lodge on the mountain that you take a 15 minite gondola ride to get there. And I am responsible to set up the ceremony sound system along with lights, mics for toasts and any other AV related items that the B&G has ordered. The ceremony sound system is part of there package for having a wedding up there so I have done over 60 ceremonys in the last 2 years.

I have allways loved music and bought my first turtables about 14 years ago. It has just allways been a hobby the main music that interests me is electronic and after so many years and so many thousand of dollars, and after seeing so many wedding here at my work I decided that I wanted to start to dj weddings.

Since february of this year I have spent around $10,000 on the rest of the equipment that I would need to do weddings things like
2 KW122's
2 KW181's
2 K10's
1 new ULXP shure mic combo
1 used ULXP shure mic combo for backup
New ultimate telelock speaker stands and mic stand
1 mackie onix 820 mixer
new MBP used only for weddings
backup MBP that is used at home for every day use
New 64 gig ipod touch
2 terabite external drive
pelican cases for everything
rock and roller cart R12


I allready have techniks 1210's and SL3 and a djm 800 mixer
 
Ok, that helps some. You have seen weddings in action and know the types of things that can happen.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to go through the wedding forums and gig logs on this board. You will be able to get a sense of the type of music you will be playing at weddings. Keep in mind....you are not playing what you want to hear, you are playing what the client wants to hear...and it will be the rare case you will find a client that wants to hear electronica or techno at their wedding.
 
I have made friends with some of the regular dj's that come here to my work and they are willing to let me shadow them and help me get started. I also rent my speakers to them sometimes.

I realize that there is alot more to weddings than just the top 200 and have been taking my time understanding it all but right now I just want to get started on my music collection so that I can start getting to know the songs and how to start mixing them together. I have been into electronic music for most of my life and that is all the music I have right now.
 
Awesome record pool:
www.idjpool.com

Tell him Jynxx sent you as a referral.
(and no, I don't get anything for referring people, but you usually need a referral to join the pool)
 
Thank you all so much,

This info is exactly what I was looking for. All my questions have been answered on this subject and I stopped by amazon and got some NOW cd's, and some classical. Once they arrive I can check those songs off the list and keep going on this.
I am looking into the time life series too are there any must haves anyone can recommend ?

Again thanks for the replys.
 
If you can find them, the Time Life Series, Sounds of the 70s & Sounds of the 80s have a lot of good material.
 
Thought of another series by Entertainment Weekly, those went from the 60's to the mid-90's. Again, if you can find them. They don't have a lot of songs on the them but the songs are all popular tunes.
 
ahoustondj said:
A couple suggestions. I would buy the CDs and rip them myself. You can buy compilations which will give you the best by various artists all on one CD/Set of CDs. I have never used ITunes and never will. I prefer to have full control of my MP3 Files so I can ID Tag them in my own way. Whenever I do buy MP3s I purchase them from Amazon then extract them from the folder in which it comes.

With proper Processing you can make a 128 Bit Rate MP3 sound like it was ripped at 320. The Record Pools would be my first choice then Subscription Services such as Promo Only, ERG and Prime Cuts will keep you updated on a weekly/monthly basis.
Click to expand...

Canute, you can tag media however you want regardless of where it came from - CD, iTunes, Amazon, etc.
 
Canute my only disagreement with your post would be a 128 Bit Rate can not be reassembled to sound like a 320 |Bit Rate no matter what processing. It will not improve above a 128 capability. You can enhance it with processing to sound the best a 128 can but it wont resemble or compare to what the song would have sounded like if it were ripped at 320. Careful what you claim or I will remind you of the B word claims in the past.
 
Jon Tuck said:
Canute my only disagreement with your post would be a 128 Bit Rate can not be reassembled to sound like a 320 |Bit Rate no matter what processing. It will not improve above a 128 capability. You can enhance it with processing to sound the best a 128 can but it wont resemble or compare to what the song would have sounded like if it were ripped at 320. Careful what you claim or I will remind you of the B word claims in the past.
Click to expand...
I would dare you to tell the difference. I never said the two are exactly alike, what I said was "With proper Processing you can make a 128 Bit Rate MP3 sound like it was ripped at 320". Everything counts the quality of source as well as gear. You can have a 320 bit rate mp3 that can sound like shyt on a crappy system and you can also have a 128 bit rate mp3 that can sound great and a quality system.
Just like singers voices, a good mix engineer can make a crappy voice sound great with the correct mix and processing etc.
 
No it wont sound like it was ripped at 320. It will merely sound the best a 128 could possibly sound. I do realize the difference for a good rip or bad rip 128 or even a 320. The source has the most to do with that. A poorly recorded piece of vinyl ripped at 320 often will sound less dynamic than a first cut vinyl piece recorded to 64 bit.
 
Canute,
Some time ago I decided to test that. I saved a couple of my WAV files to 128 and 320. Without processing the difference was notorious at mid volume if you went higher the sound became annoying from the 128 kbps file. So I ran the file through Sony Sound Forge and adjusted lows, mids and highs and saved 320 kbps. The file got bigger the sound was improved but the highs at higher volumes were not smooth, it was like listening to Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson spitting out junk. The 320 kbps file with no processing sounded smooth up on top. So, while you can aff fluff to the file it does not mean the result will be good for your ears.
 
All I can say is that I am not making things up. I use a lot of processing for my outgoing signals and I do have a few MP3 ripped for 128 and they sound fine. On another note, when I rip vinyl. I first rip them to CDA then to MP3s. I use a Denon Converter/Recorder Paid about $600.00 for it about ten years ago. All my vinyl are pristine with no dust or fingerprints. The Stylus on my Technics cost about $150.00 each, audiophile quality.
 
So in essence your saying that your 128 bit songs sound the best they possibly can. There is also one other factor in compression most dont seem to get. Take it down to 128 from original you lose X amount. In the process a ten piece band verssus a sol piano reduced as such will sound different from one to the other cause you are multiplying the compression for multiple instruments versus only one. Thats why some old albums with a simple guitar and singer can actually sound acceptable at 64 or 128. A full stage band, orchestra or electronic offering will sound hollow in compare.
 
Canute, I've spent the same amount on my Ortofon cartridges and turntables and I've redone a part of my collection of LP's and singles that are not available in CD's. I've always taken extreme care of my records even while at parties. The tracks are converted to WAV in Sound Forge and if there is a click or crackle to it it's taken care of. Once the files are saved to WAV I burn multiple DVD's for archive purposes and the vinyl is stored in perfect conditions. Then I get to work converting the files to 320 CBR files. As Jon said to reduce file size things get compressed and some of it is lost. 128 takes too much out of them and at loud volumes you'll notice their shortcomings. With 320 CBR you lose some of it but it's the best compromise in quality and while a lot of people will not be paying attention to it, I do pay attention to that and it bothers me so I always look and listen to the best.

As I've stated in other threads some of the mastering done in today's music just suck donkey nuts, so I have to do a whole bunch of adjustments to the files before the WAV file is finished and then convert to mp3.

Look at it this way a T Speed rated tire is rated to go up to 118 MPH while Y Speed rated tires are designed to go up to 186+ MPH. They are both tires with belts, rubber, water venting grooves, etc. However a T rated tire at 150 MPH is not going to last more than a couple of miles before it starts disintegrating as heat and pressure builds up. It's not designed to do that speed. The Y tire is designed for that and has more belts, stronger belts, different thread design, etc.

So how does this compare a 128 CBR file will be ok for background music, low volumes, etc. but when you put a strain on that file when increasing volume the results are not good. 128 files were ok when hard drives were uber expensive and for people listening to them in avg. quality earbuds on the iPods. For events where loud music is needed and people need to feel the oomph and crisp highs 320 is king.
 
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