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A time that I thought I would never see has arrived. I am thinking of selling my record collection.

I am running out of vinyl storage space and am considering converting to mp3 format.

Has anyone gone through this process? Most releases now are out on vinyl and mp3. I have always relished the physical format and playing the records, looking at them etc. I see as time goes on my collection will get bigger and eventually someone will, (when I am long gone) chuck them out or send them to a charity shop!!

I have a large collection of early hiphop, funk, rave, techno, acid, dubstep (including early stuff & dmz 1-10).

What are peoples suggestions for recording to mp3, should I buy some specific hardware that does the encoding or rely on the standard inputs on a laptop.

Any suggestions welcome.

Cheers

eskay

don't do it, mate! or else you go to hell! ain't a dj myself, tho - vinyl is the absolute bliss

Never met anyone who has convinced me, or been convinced to do the switch.

Tends to be people who have never owned too much vinyl who use shit mp3 rips. sorry to anyone who does, just aint me.

Just coz your going digital doesn't mean you have to get rid of your vinyl!

Besides, its heard to get really good mp3 rip.

If you gonna use mp3's download then download from bleep coz the quality is really good.

Personally I use torq because it is good value and offers VST support.

If the release is both digital and vinyl buy the digital, if the release is just vinyl then buy the vinyl. Save space and money!

Combination innit

I'm personally getting a bit pissed off hearing sets that have been recorded in tractor no mixing skills required

spose as long as you at least BUY the mp3s you're contributing somthing to the artists/scene as too many people just go for the old soulseek download route.

hold on to your calssic hiphop/funk/techno as that could be your retirement fund in a few years

SHNYDE wrote:I'm personally getting a bit pissed off hearing sets that have been recorded in tractor no mixing skills required

word! thus, not only the music is more and more uselessly worn-out in chupa-chups mixes that are quite ridiculous and do not make any sense (e.g. mixes combining dnb, hiphop, rnb, techno, electro, green day and hatebreed ) komon! this is why dj's function is far more than to push play/pause.

anyway - it's not that digital records should be prohibited, tho - used wisely (!)

SHNYDE wrote:I'm personally getting a bit pissed off hearing sets that have been recorded in tractor no mixing skills required

The only skill Traktor replaces is beatmatching. A Traktor user still needs to master the other aspects of a mix (flow and structure, mixing harmonically, keeping the mix in time, phrasing etc.) to make it sound good. Don't get it twisted.

anyway - beatmatching imho is the basic skill required for djing or isnnit. this is what you start with and may require long time to developed (and is the stumbling block for many dj's)

oyaarss wrote:anyway - beatmatching imho is the basic skill required for djing or isnnit. this is what you start with and may require long time to developed (and is the stumbling block for many dj's)

It's A basic skill, and beatmatching alone won't get you anywhere. I know plenty of people who think learning it is dead easy, as beatmatching in itself is a very straightforward and simple concept. It's when you have to take all the other aspects into account as well that things start to get complicated and the men are seperated from the boys, so to speak.

And anyway, people seem to think that Traktor or Serato is a mixing robot that just needs for you to pick the tunes to play and presto, instant mix. That isn't the case.

ok, i'm not saying that fs, serato, tractors and what else could not be regarded as djing - of course it is (as i wrote previously - "it's not that digital records should be prohibited, tho - used wisely ")

i was speaking about thos cheesy "superstars" who haven't got a single vinyl record, only mp3's (purchased legally whateva) and they consider themselves as dj-superstars. this is where the overall level of musical quality is being reduced .. i think you know what i mean

+ i'm not pointing my finger at anyone personally in this post

It's A basic skill, and beatmatching alone won't get you anywhere

still, i think - one should start with the basics

oyaarss wrote:i was speaking about thos cheesy "superstars" who haven't got a single vinyl record, only mp3's (purchased legally whateva) and they consider themselves as dj-superstars.

Like who?

Sand Leaper wrote:

oyaarss wrote:And anyway, people seem to think that Traktor or Serato is a mixing robot that just needs for you to pick the tunes to play and presto, instant mix. That isn't the case.

init, unless you setup up the speed and cue points in advance then you have to beat match in traktor anyway, which I find considerably harder than decks!

stick to decks. mp3s and cds are generally shit.

it's not making your life harder or simplifying one's mixing technique, it's all abour the result anyway.

my point is - by using digital tools, record-spinning is easier available (!) and thus, the overall quality is being reduced ..

gee, you are tuff, guys!

oyaarss wrote: my point is - by using digital tools, record-spinning is easier available (!) and thus, the overall quality is being reduced ..

Not necessarily. When DJing is so widely available, it makes the competition that much harder. In turn, you have to make all the more of an effort to stand out in order to get gigs.

The crux of this of course all comes down to promoters and who they let onto the decks in the scene. If they let any random who just downloaded Ableton onto their laptop onto the decks, things are obviously gonna go downhill pretty fast.

Sand Leaper wrote:The crux of this of course all comes down to promoters and who they let onto the decks in the scene. If they let any random who just downloaded Ableton onto their laptop onto the decks, things are obviously gonna go downhill pretty fast.

this is quite close to what i was trying to say, tho - why should they (promoters) bother? if the promoter is dj himself, he might turn his attention to this particular aspect. i also organize series of monthly events and i must say that it is surprising how many dj's have turned their backs to vinyl records, preferring fs's, serato's and what not

in the end, it seems to be out to be another discussion of the never-ending series mp3 vs. vinyl ..

im not a dj so i buy loads of mp3s. i listen to music when im on my pc so its really the Practical thing for me to do. But I still buy records when a mp3 is not available and that is very often.

if you're determined to get rid of them i'd skip the mp3s and save everything to AIFF or WAV. put them on DVDs and get a nice booklet to keep them in. and maybe get a particularly good cartridge for recording them. i know someone who uses a Grado cart for backing up.

Don't sell your vinyl, it's worse than selling your soul to the devil, but if you do sell em to me.

Regarding serato you still have to beatmatch but you see the waves of the sound, ie kicks snare etc so you can mix with your eyes and not your ears. That's too easy and not a skill because my little sister and literally anyone else can match two lines 2 geva.