*.mp3, *.wav, and Vinyl: Which format do you use to mix and why?

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-- *.mp3, *.wav, and Vinyl: Which format do you use to mix and why?
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Posted by stealthman on Apr-13-2009 12:54:

Sure, mp3's are small in size, yet they still retain an above average level of quality, .wav however is the monster of audio digital formats, and Vinyl, well.. is just simply cool to watch and sounds nice.

On a side note, DJ'ing is a hobby that I thoroughly enjoy, however I am quite confused with the decision between investing in Turntables or CDJ's. Is it worth carrying vinyl's around just for their sound quality and coolness? Is the digital format a wiser solution to recording mixes and general DJ'ing?

What do you guys think?

Posted by basilisk on Apr-13-2009 14:04:

MP3s might be small... but who is lacking for disk space? Why accept a loss of quality when a terabyte hard drive costs about $100?

Vinyl might be cool... and I don't begrudge anyone still working with it... but it seems crazy to start with it in 2009.

Posted by Chimney on Apr-13-2009 14:12:

mp3s. People don't hear jack difference anyway.

Posted by SYSTEM-J on Apr-13-2009 14:45:

Unless you're a purist you should invest in a digital turntable so you can buy vinyl and rip the tracks as digital files, then burn them or use software. If you stick to vinyl you miss out on a lot of new tracks and if you stick to digital/CDs you miss out on a lot of older tracks.

Posted by stealthman on Apr-13-2009 14:57:

So new tracks don't come out on Vinyl anymore?

Posted by SYSTEM-J on Apr-13-2009 15:00:

quote:
Originally posted by stealthman
So new tracks don't come out on Vinyl anymore?

They can, but a lot of them don't. Pressing and distributing vinyl costs money, which drives down profits. An increasing percentage of tracks are only released digitally.

Posted by nefardec on Apr-13-2009 15:01:

I buy both mp3s and vinyl. I don't buy wavs because they are unwieldy, large files, and I don't hear enough sound difference to merit paying the extra $$.

I only buy vinyl from vinyl-only labels and for out-of-press material.

Posted by djkopernikus on Apr-13-2009 15:44:

Mp3's and burning them into cdr. I use also vinyls, but i buy only rare ones.

Posted by Zak McKracken on Apr-13-2009 16:23:

mp3 sounds good enough for me if its well mixed and bitrate is 320. lower than that and treble starts making noise and bass just sounds thin but at 320 its good enough for me im not that picky anymore.

Posted by ReclusNdangrmnt on Apr-13-2009 16:30:

Unless your mixes are passed out as .WAVs then there isn't really much point to getting them. I get the 320 .mp3s

Posted by Mr.Mystery on Apr-13-2009 17:28:

Buy mp3, get nothing.

Posted by Adam420 on Apr-13-2009 17:32:

If you are asking this then you probably won't benefit from vinyl much. Only reason to go vinyl is if you're finding yourself wanting a lot of tracks that are vinyl-only. There are some very good ones actually but that largely depends on the genre. If you don't find yourself in this situation then don't bother, unless you're going for a vinyl-DVS combo.

Posted by Shudder on Apr-13-2009 22:56:

quote:
Originally posted by nefardec
I buy both mp3s and vinyl. I don't buy wavs because they are unwieldy, large files, and I don't hear enough sound difference to merit paying the extra $$.

I only buy vinyl from vinyl-only labels and for out-of-press material.

pretty much

Posted by Blake_Jarrell on Apr-13-2009 23:11:

8 Track Tape

so I can play my dad's old Rush - Tom Sawyer tape on a Funktion One sound system

sounds so good

Posted by Omega_Blue on Apr-13-2009 23:19:

quote:
Originally posted by Blake_Jarrell
8 Track Tape

so I can play my dad's old Rush - Tom Sawyer tape on a Funktion One sound system

sounds so good

pfft, it's all about reel to reel baby

i got my grandpa's old swing band on reel to reel in all of its sheer monophonic glory

Posted by Teezdalien on Apr-14-2009 00:26:

Posted by enydo on Apr-14-2009 00:47:

I buy mp3 because I can't justify the cost of .wav. I'm planning on eventually getting a pair of Tech 12's and getting myself setup with Traktor or something, at that point, or maybe even sooner than that, I'll start collecting vinyl as well.

Posted by Trance-Canada on Apr-14-2009 01:33:

usually 320kbps mp3, or flac.

Posted by Floorfiller on Apr-14-2009 01:34:

i decided when i finally got my turntables that I was just going to go into the record store dig around and buy what i like. i don't want to get too caught up in trying to own this track or that track because it's too expensive trying to buy stuff offline personally. i know i don't live in a great record city like detroit or new york, but that also means i can probably find some gems that aren't snatched up. i'm sure if i ever got to a point where i wanted to play out i'd get more mp3s though...i just buy music for me right now and keep it eclectic

Posted by orTof�nChiLd on Apr-14-2009 01:49:

I use wavs because i want to hear every single detail while i'm in the mix. i don't want lost data. Also about the crowd not hearing the difference, thats them. Oh well

Posted by Teezdalien on Apr-14-2009 02:00:

quote:
Originally posted by Floorfiller
i just buy music for me right now and keep it eclectic

That's really all I've ever done when buying music apart from buying some here and and there for the g/f.

Posted by weymouth on Apr-14-2009 04:54:

I bought my decks back in '03 and I am constantly kicking myself for not going CDJ back then. It's just too expensive for me to order vinyl on the net with the shipping costs/exchange rate anymore.

Posted by Leon on Apr-14-2009 07:43:

quote:
Originally posted by weymouth
I bought my decks back in '03 and I am constantly kicking myself for not going CDJ back then. It's just too expensive for me to order vinyl on the net with the shipping costs/exchange rate anymore.

uh, timecode?

Posted by LoveHate on Apr-14-2009 09:36:

started collecting vinyl way before i ever had decks.

but mp3s all the way.

Posted by david.michael on Apr-14-2009 12:29:

Mp3 for the most part, because I can never decide the best way to burn and organize CDs, and I like having my entire music collection present.

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