Dubstep, cd-j's, and quality control?

hiddensound · Post by **hiddensound** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 9:06 pm

this has been on my mind for a while now, don't know if its been raised here before, not gonna look

But this is just for the sake of discussion.

Do you think CDJ's have had, and will have, a huge part in watering down the quality of dubstep?

Personally, I've kind of made a vow to only mix (maybe very very few exceptions) dubstep on vinyl cause I beleive it sounds the best that way and the tunes sound the way they are intended. Quality control also. Nice fat warm bass, great clean sounding drums, etc.. I mean everything sounds better. I think theres also less emphasis on a proper mixdown that many just don't do when just making mp3s and passin em out.

I saw Pinch play out, all his tracks cut to dub, sounding amazing! Lately when I hear people playin dubstep from almost strictly cd-js', I'm just kind of

Don't really care if your playin dubs, i'd rather hear somethin thats already been released if its gonna sound a lot better. Maybe its the way people are eq'ing their mixes with cd-js... another possibility.

All I'm saying is that if we don't put more focus on sound quality, i think the respectability of the genre will stagnate and just become watered down.

what do you think?

south3rn · Post by **south3rn** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 9:24 pm

Vinyl and dubs.

There's just something personally gratifying
about seeing the wheels of steal turning, the needle
on the groove, and the massive bassfilled sounds being
pumped out. . . . esp on big rigs.

It's just a bit more aesthetically pleasing
on a personal level.

It was immensely refreshing to see Joe Nice in
Houston dropping plate after plate after plate of
that smelly acetate goodness.

Not knocking the software or cdj peeps cos I've seen
some peeps rock a party/show that way as well.

Esp considering travel habits or personal preferences
of touring djs and it not being as expensive for headz that
jus don't have the ends to blow on vinyl/cut plates.

To each their own ya know?

The only situation where I would even think about playing
a cd is if I simply did not have enough time or extra loot to get
the tune cut and it DEMANDED to be heard!

<-gideon-> · Post by **<-gideon->** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 9:32 pm

I think its not the cdjs as much as the tunes that people play, some people will play anything they can, good or bad quality just because they have the ability to, if the tune is mixed down good then cdjs are a good thing to have because they bring shit out that most people might not ever hear otherwise.

hiddensound · Post by **hiddensound** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 9:33 pm

yeah I definitely agree with you on that. Sometimes you just can't wait to play that one track out if you know it's gonna go off

<-gideon-> · Post by **<-gideon->** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 9:47 pm

fo sho

ramadanman · Post by **ramadanman** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 10:17 pm

if i could afford to cut dubs i would

but i cant

...so i dont.

hiddensound · Post by **hiddensound** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 10:37 pm

yeah I wish I just had the cutting machine at my house

you got some badass tunes Ramadanman,

hope some of those hit wax!

pangaea · Post by **pangaea** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:03 pm

As Mr Ramadanman says, only a certain few can cut dubs - the ones who dj regularly and can afford to or just people who have lots of cash. And yes, they're mastered and sound lovely. But a) people can get too caught up in sound quality and forget to enjoy the music for what it is (I've seen many a person skank out to a CD-R

) and b) the 'scene' comprising of the lesser-known DJs and producers is built on cheap media for promotion and playing out...which is only a good thing to keep dubstep interesting.

I think people will cut dubs or master CDs properly whenever possible. Although I reckon the importance of dubplates in dubstep is overemphasised.

djshiva · Post by **djshiva** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:46 pm

i don't care what the format is as long as the DJ knows how to put the tunes together. i have heard plenty of DJs (in MANY genres) whose dependence on having the exclusive cuts outweighs their abilities to DJ. couldn't be more boring.

plus, digital technology brings an egalitarian angle to counteract the exclusivity of dubplate culture, and i am all for that.

samsupa · Post by **samsupa** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:55 pm

If I could cut dubs I would but I'd rather play a hot tune in my arsenal then not. I do try to work the EQs on the mixer to get maximum sound quality.

south3rn · Post by **south3rn** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:06 am

sapphic_beats wrote:i don't care what the format is as long as the DJ knows how to put the tunes together. i have heard plenty of DJs (in MANY genres) whose dependence on having the exclusive cuts outweighs their abilities to DJ. couldn't be more boring.

plus, digital technology brings an egalitarian angle to counteract the exclusivity of dubplate culture, and i am all for that.

Agreed.

hiddensound · Post by **hiddensound** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 2:36 am

yep sapphic beats is right.

cd-j's give pretty much everyone the chance and ability to play dubs/exclusives.. etc.. thats a great thing and how it should be. I know I use it a lot... its necesary these days.

I guess in the end its all about selection. and eq'ing

damn i should have known that already

downngoing · Post by **downngoing** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:29 am

Skillz on the wheelz f'real.
Cant stand it when a dj downloads an mp3 of something and plays it on a big system.

sounds like anus and the artist dont get a cut... imho

...If it is your tune then more power to you.
whatevr means neccesary to crowd test and so forth.

Also if it IS your tune then you would'nt play a crappy MP3 version of it either =]

product · Post by **product** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 4:37 am

I've rocked Final Scratch out live before and no one seemed to mind. The sound was spot on too.

tru_g · Post by **tru_g** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:50 pm

I mix Dubstep on my CD decks, and i agree MP3 will never have a touch on vinyl, but i never play tunes which are low quality mp3, they either have to be VBR (Variable Bit Rate) or 320kbps otherwise ill use AAC or .ogg

unit · Post by **unit** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:55 pm

I use serato and honestly, i can sense a SMALL difference inbetween whats on actual vinyl record, or an mp3 or wav.

when ever possible i use wav.....

the difference between cds and dubs is the mastering. if the producer would spend the 50 bucks and take thier tune to a mastering house before putting up a 320 or wav, it will sound VERY close to what you would here if you got a dub cut.

must people who cut dubs are also the ones doing the mastering. Out here Oscar from Turnstyle has been doing this shit for years..
we have taken him tunes, hes mastered them for us, weve cut dubs and used his mastered cds, and they sound the same on a big system.

as far as the dubplate culture in dubstep. i think there are a LOT of talented producers in this scene, i mean hell, look at our audio section here.. we have outstanding talent willing to give their work away for free, just so people have a good time and hear good music...this isnt a scene where labels are going out and buying tunes just to get releases under their belt so producers have a little bit harder of a change to get things release. for a lot of producers, this is the only way to get stuff heard right now..

that says a lot for the people that respect this scene...

999 · Post by **999** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:26 am

South3rn wrote:The only situation where I would even think about playing
a cd is if I simply did not have enough time or extra loot to get
the tune cut and it DEMANDED to be heard!

sooooouthern plaaaaaates. i can smell it.

vinyl is king and thats forever stone engraved. i have a distaste for compact disc players, but i dont hate.

CDs can sound bunk on big systems,.... but sometimes you wouldnt know the difference.

i dont have the ear enough yet to pick out a difference in live sound when using FS or serato, so rock it. the possiblities with something like serato is too profound to ignore.

furiouz · Post by **furiouz** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:52 am

Vinyl forever baby! Hate mixing CDs.

dreadnought · Post by **dreadnought** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 11:32 am

cdjs ant a bad thing at all. but if a dj is only using them and not using vinyl at all, is rather cheap lazy n tacky. nowt better then havin a good tune on vinyl rarther then mp3.., but if its the only way to get the tune. then why not?

as where as your own tunes

test it out first before you get it cut.
so the only way is on cd

thinking · Post by **thinking** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 12:17 pm

one thing to remember about cutting dubs is that the quality control - If a DJ only plays off dub it means they've got to commit at least £20-30 to gettin it cut, which itself is an indicator of how good they think the tune is.

When you've got a CDJ and CDRs cost a few pence, it's easy to drop a tune just cos it's new/unreleased even if it ain't that hot (go on, admit it, you've done it too).

There's a lot of free 320 mp3s handed out on this forum, and with people attaching importance to having exclusive/unreleased tunes, I can see the motivation for DLing and playing such tunes even if the quality isn't always that good. Certainly I listen to a lot of the free tunes given away on here and I personally have only heard a few which I think are good enough to play out.

I dunno if you see what I'm getting at but in one way, the cutting of dubplates acts as quality control for unreleased tunage.

Also, I personally cannot abide by calling unreleased tunes 'dubs'. It ain't a dub until it's a dubplate.

Dubstep, cd-j's, and quality control?

Dubstep, cd-j's, and quality control?

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