Sep 17, 2003 07:19 PM
5080 Views
(Updated Sep 17, 2003 10:09 PM)
This is 1 great software for a beginner DJ looking for some info about what he/she needs to start & what are the options, or a pro DJ searching for a DJ software which can do the same tasks as the hardware equipment. DSS stands for Discotheque Sound System. DSS DJ is a professional, live mixing software especially developed to use & experiment DJ techniques without turntables, dual CD player or other DJ equipment.
It's a powerful & user friendly beat mixing software & also an audioplayer. This software has more features compared to the regular DJ hardware equipments.
Features:
GENERAL
Highly intuitive user interface.
Skin support.
Skin Designer (utility for skin editing & creation).
Keyboard shortcuts.
Sound engine with latency setup & external mixer support.
Supports multi-channel audio cards (with WDM drivers).
SPLIT mode for simple stereo soundcards.
Dual soundcard output support.
DECKS
2 decks fully independent with native support for MP3, WAV & CDDA.
True-instant cues - 8 CUE points (auto-cue, fine search).
Pitch control (+/-24%) with Master Tempo, bend & slow reset.
Beat accurate cue setting & cue triggering (fade in/fade out points).
Real vinyl simulation (scratch, bend, spin, reverse play, brake, start).
DSP effects with loadable plugins.
3 bands equalizer with kills.
Cut-off filters - cut low/high frequencies gradually.
Real-time waveform display used to scratch, to spin & to fine tune cue points.
Waveform display markers for loops, cue points & beats (beat grid).
Beats offset (sync) display.
Precise automatic BPM counter on the fly, for ALL genres.
Automatic one-click BEAT MATCHING & synchronization.
Beat-aware loop engine on the fly, with snap to beat, loop resizing & moving.
SONGS MANAGER
Advanced songs manager with categories for song database.
Browsable & sortable song database.
Fast search engine supporting sub strings.
Drag'n'drop between cases & for decks loading.
Drag'n'drop of songs/folders from Windows Explorer.
Enhanced playlist management & track marking options.
Song pre-listening before loading.
ID3v2 support (MP3 tag).
Played songs history.
MIXER
Professional 2 channel DJ mixer with crossfader.
3-band equalizer faders.
VU-meters for decks & master output.
Real-time monitor (headphones) support with cue-pgm mix & preview.
Volume/gain, mute, punch-in.
Oversampling & advanced interpolation for professional sound quality.
Userless auto-DJ mode with beat-matching.
PRODUCTION
Live recording of ur mix into WAVE files (to make ur own CDs).
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Price: $59.00
Available @ https://myxoft.com (DSS DJ Main Site)
For Sound Effect plugins, Support, Tutorial & User-Guide (User Manual).... visit the DSS DJ main site
FREE Demo version (fully functional for only 30 minutes) available @ https://myxoft.com & https://download.com
DSS DJ works only on Windows 98/Me/2000/XP. Linux or Mac versions of DSS DJ are not available.
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Some INFO for Beginner DJ's:
Pitch & Bend functions:
Pitch modifies the playing speed of a song. The bend function causes a speeding up or slowing down effect, very useful when u want to beat-match 2 songs.
BPM (Beats Per Minute) & How beat mixing works
Dance music has a synthesized rhythm. Because of this regular rhythm each track will have a specific number of beats per minute (BPM). The beat mixing is possible because of this regular rhythm & is done by equalizing the speeds of 2 songs (using pitch) & overlapping the beats (using sync or bend).
Latency
Latency means the delay between a requested command (like cue, play, bend) & the moment when the soundcard reacts on it. These latencies are related to the soundcard drivers.
Cue Point
A cue point records a position in a song so when u want to mix or skip some parts of a song it allows u to start from that position.
Db Meter
This array of LED's shows the decibel level coming from the mixer. If the level gets too high then this can cause damage so u will need to turn the gain or master volume down a little. If u want more volume then turn up the amp or stereo.
Gain
This basically means power. The more gain the more power u send. If u have ever tried to mix 2 records & 1 of the records seems a lot quieter than the other u can use the gain to give it a bit more power. The same if the record is too loud. Find out how much your system can take before u crank it too high.
Rotary Kills
When feeling more confident about beatmatching, u can use the rotary kills on the mixer to fine tune ur mixes. Usually there are 3 knobs, The bottom 1 is bass - low, middle is mid range & top is high (treble). U can also use these for effects when playing live for instance u can create a sweeping pattern with the bass control or completely knock out the mid range.
Input Selector
This is where u select what the input sources are whether it's Phono, Line or Mic. Usually these are set to Phono but if u have any recording devices then u can set the channels to Line. Channel 1 is usually set to Mic, if u have one.
Talkover
This button just basically lowers the volume allowing u to talk over the mic. When u press it again the volume will return to it's original state.
Channel Faders
Basically a posh word for volume control. The higher they go the louder it goes.
Crossfader
The crossfader is what u use to switch between 1 channel & the other. It is used mainly with scratch DJ's. U use the crossfader when mixing to fade 1 channel to the other.
Beat Indicators
The beat indicators are 2 small LED's that blink on every beat. These can be useful for beatmatching but are sometimes deceiving.
Pan
This knob will allow u to pan between the left speaker & right speaker. Not the most useful thing but sometimes used for effects.
Mixing Techniques:
Beat mixing: DJ matches the beat of the the new song to 1 already playing (methods to do this include changing of record playback and adjusting timing). When the beats of different pieces of music, the DJ does crossfade to the new song. This is a very normal DJ technique & there are manu variations of this used (eg: keeping 2 songs playing a the same time for some time etc.)
Slam: When a piece of music is ending, u change to a new piece of music with sam BPM. When the first piece of music ends, u do a quick change. The idea is to have feeling that the first beats of a new song continue the earlier song without that the songs will play at the same time.
Radio fade: U fade the music that is going out at any place in the song. The fading music can be heard on the background when the new song starts.
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