OK guys, bear with me here.

I've been playing around with the notion of going digital. Or at the very least doing my stuff from a PC/Laptop.

I've been roadtesting various software packages, namely SAM Party DJ and PCDJ. In terms of functionality and what i do, the AM package is far more friendly to use. It sounds great through the PC external speakers, as does the PCDJ (blue), but when I rig it up via mixer and amp, it sounds, well, er crap!

Distortion all over the place, with levels just crap. Of the tracks I've been using, I downloaded MP3Gain and levellled them all out, but still sounds garbage.

Silly question, but would an external sound card make all the difference here? I'm not too worried about cueing (get off my back, before you start) as the software works well for my purposes, so opinions required on the card question. Will I hear a difference? I hope so, cos' right now, it's awful.

ben

Turn the PC output down a bit (ie 2/3rd of max). It normally has a fairly high output level, and can clip the input of the amp.

I'll assume your source material is ok (ie self-ripped CD's, or high-quality downloads). If possible, try headphones on your PC, this should give you better sound reproduction than external PC speakers (unless they are really good ones!)

Hope this helps,

Jason

Thanks Jason.

Yes, all tracks are ripped CD's and a few purchased mp3's to try it out.

With a bit of trial and error, things are improving, but it still does not sound as good as my decks.

I'm using the speaker output jack socket on the PC in question through a mixer and a fiddle around with the levels is improving the sound.

PC I'm using is more than OK for the job, so I'm still posing the question relating to an external sound card ; would it make a difference?

Ben

Are you plugging into the correct channel in your mixer?

Sounds like you are plugging into a gram/phono or mic input.

That or there is a x decibel gain switch pressed in or a gain dial riding too high.

Check it out.

It should not distort and won't if set-up OK.

An external soundcard will give you better sound quality than an on-board one (price-depending, ie/ not a cheap £10 one).

Hi Ben I use computer and i find that if you use 2 seperate inputs to your mixer instead of using the stereo channel it soundsclearer and is more manageable to EQ.

Hope this helps

Paul

Getting there. OK, here's the set-up so far.

Amp to Mixer
Mixer to PC Channel 1 Phono

Ben

you should have 2 phonos l+r inti mixer then small stereo jack into laptop or soundcard.


Paul

hi, i had this once and it turned out i had used a stereo to stereo jack into a mono input , or was it the other way round, anyway changing the way i went into the mixer sorted it out.

check the jack you are using is compatible with the input. sounds too simple i know but thats what solved my distortion honest.

i know use a stereo jack to twin phono output from laptop and all ok,i also use a ground loop isolater inline in the lead try that also.

Yup, that's the way I've got it. Red to Red, Black to Black into soundcard output on back of PC. After playing around with various levels, I'm getting there.

Popped into my local dj superstore this morning and listened to the guys play PCDJ Red through the headphone socket from their laptop via an amp and mixer and it sounded just brilliant.

Ben

Wendy made an important point, which might have slipped passed unnoticed.



Does your laptop sound any better through the amp/mixer/speakers etc if you run the laptop from its battery for a few minutes, rather than the mains power? If so, then you'll need to get a Ground Loop Isolation unit (£20+) it'll get rid of all but the worst earth/ground loop related earth hum.



The other thing to consider is that the sound cards/chips inside many laptops where simply not designed for hi-fi/disco quality output- after all, you dont need a superb sound card to get the Windows start up sound to sound ok through a 2cm speaker. Much better external sound cards for laptop/DJ play can be found from around £50-60, and even better ones are found inside some of the newer rack mount professional DJ controllers, if you were looking at eventually moving away from double-clicking and mousing to play tracks etc.

...and moving from your nice 15" colour TFT to a 3" mono LCD and searching for tracks using a game-boy style keypad...

I totally forgot about the ground problem - I had this too with my HP Laptop (fixed with an isolator). The ITX based PC doesn't have this problem nor does a Dell Laptop I've got kicking around.

As a test, unplug the laptop from the mains (ie battery powered). If the problem goes away, you need an isolator.

Jason

Most of the professional hard drive controllers allow the users own choice of normal USB QWERTY keyboards.



When laptop users upgrade to a 19inch rack mount controller for their existing software package eg: PCDJ etc, they still get to keep the lappys TFT display and infact some packages allow them to resize the programs search window to maximum, and remove the half of the screen (usually the top) which was simply pretending to be an on-screen 19inch rack controller in the first place.

Thanks troops. All good advice. I'm not using the laptop yet. Tower PC with plenty RAM and disc space.

There is no hum, just, from time to time, bloody awful sound!

Downloaded PCDJ as a trial too, but same effect.

There is no hum, just, from time to time, bloody awful sound!

this bloody awful sound as you call it is it like a modem type sound when a computer dials up?
If so it is picking up interference and a ground loop isolator will cure this.

Paul

Another thing to check is to make sure the PC is outputting the sound with 'flat' EQ. The soundcard drivers sometimes have an 'eq' window for enhancing the sound through the PC speakers (with settings like Superbass, Pseudosurround, Spatial, SRS etc) which will sound hideous if driven into a 'proper' sound system. Look in control panel or click on any dedicated icon to check.

I also second the suggestion of lowering the volume a little..either in windows Audio Mixer or again through any dedicated soundcard panel. Many soundcards have a large enough output on the mini jack to directly drive small passive speakers..obviously way too high for a line input on a sound system.

Just wondering is your PC connected to phono rather than line Phono is for turntables and line is for cd computers and most other inputs so just check you are not in a phono input
Hope this helps
Peter

OK folks, back again. Determined to make this digital thing work.

Need some advice again, and this time it's a really daft question.

I've now got great sound - external sound card did the trick, but to get the sound I'm after I need to bypass the mixer and go straight to the amp. Trouble is, I've now lost any mic !

Going bacl thru' the mixer, even with the sound card, makes the sound all crap again!

How do I use the mike!!!

The sound card is a UCA202.

Help!

I had the same problems and played around for a while but in the end i purchased the Numark dmc2 and Numark cm200usb mixer which has a built in soundcard as well as several mic inputs. Everything now works spot on and sound is great from mic and music it also lets me record vioce which is a bonus. I use Numark Cue 5 / Virtual Dj5.

Thanks for your reply.

I don't want to make that kind of purchase I'm afraid. Ach well, 2 months of trial and error and its back to wheels of steel. Anyone want to buy a (very) new soundcard??!?