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View Full Version : DJ Session using Linux: Success!



Nano
November 3rd, 2008, 10:08 AM
I've been asked to play some music last evening at a party and, being my first experience, I had no idea about which DJ mixing software I could run in Linux.

My first thought was to virtualize a WinXP and run some software from there but then I asked in the forum (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=961276) and I've been told to use Mixxx.

I had some problems at the beginning since it doesn't seem able to use PulseAudio, so I directly used OSS.
Despite that, the session was a success.
Of course I brought a normal laptop, which had a unique Line OUT, which means I couldn't use headphones to sync with the next track, but the BMP sync feature worked pretty well.

I had all my music at home, in a server, so I mounted over ssh the folder containing it and I played it directly from there.

Once again, no need to use Windows :)

Phreaker
November 3rd, 2008, 10:19 AM
Wow, good for Ubuntu!
How does the software compare to commercial ones?

OffHand
November 3rd, 2008, 10:52 AM
Nice! I am gonna give it a try if I have time although it couldn't replace Ableton Live.

Nano
November 3rd, 2008, 11:48 AM
Wow, good for Ubuntu!
How does the software compare to commercial ones?

I wish I could tell you but, as I said, it was my first experience ever.

Mixxx isn't the most advanced software but it does its job.
I'm sure that if I had 2 sound exits the performance would have been better since I could have listened in advance the next track but, even like this, the result was good and people liked it.

The features I liked the most are the BPM (bit per minute) sync, the clean cross fade, the discrete flanger effect, the handy equalizer and the visual spectrum thanks to which I could at least see where the intros of the tracks end and start playing from there.

What I didn't like was the absence of PulseAudio connector, the tracks library which didn't work as expected and the interface which is a bit too old-fashioned.

Still, the experience was more than acceptable.

Nano
November 3rd, 2008, 11:49 AM
Oh, I forgot to mention.
There's another good one mixing software but it uses Jack and tried to avoid that since Jack gave me some headaches in the past.

OffHand
November 3rd, 2008, 01:21 PM
The features I liked the most are the BPM (bit per minute) sync
You must be a true geek! It's beats per minute ;)

Nano
November 3rd, 2008, 03:36 PM
You must be a true geek! It's beats per minute ;)

LOL, I don't know if to laugh or be worried about my geekness!

perlluver
November 3rd, 2008, 03:52 PM
I used Linux to DJ also, I just used Rhytmbox and Banshee, both open, and swapped between them. It all worked fine until the genius (father-in-law) the professional DJ, messed with the light bars, and took out the power to everything. :lolflag: But after I saw mixxx, I told him about that and he seems to like it, so I will let you know.

lordmyth
November 4th, 2008, 10:26 PM
you should try to run jack again :)
once you know how it works and how to set it up it's easy
look for some guides explaining how to set it up

Nano
November 5th, 2008, 10:38 AM
I'll give it a chance in the near future, for sure.

billgoldberg
November 5th, 2008, 03:33 PM
I'll give it a try right now.

billgoldberg
November 5th, 2008, 05:02 PM
It's great, I just played with it a bit.

You do have to disable compiz fusion and it only works with OSS, not with ALSA nor PulseAudio.

diskotek
November 5th, 2008, 05:13 PM
Nice! I am gonna give it a try if I have time although it couldn't replace Ableton Live.

i can conpare mixxx with native instruments traktor v.2 till v.3:
mixxx had a big developments since a year. however it's not fully featured as traktor it's good enough. i think they would work on effects/beat jumping for next releases. and maybe they should solve pulse audio/alsa problems.

good: now it supports midi-controllers and time-coded plates etc... however i didn mapped my controler yet :(

if you want to see how good it is you should use an external soundcard (like m-audio ones). beat analyser works nice, beat matching is also cool, fader options is nice. so it's great for amateurs & semi professionals.

i'm already waiting for their next release... exciting!!!

billgoldberg
November 5th, 2008, 05:35 PM
Just letting you know that the version in the Intrepid version is already outdated.