u/greggioia

I bought 2 Ortofon DJ-S styli, thinking I was buying a pair of replacements for my MKII cartridges. I did not realize until yesterday, when I went to replace my current pair, that I'd bought the wrong ones. They are a different size, and I can't use them. I bought them on June 7th, and it turns out I only had until July 10th to return them.

They cost $146, and are still new, but I'm open to taking a little less than that. Please respond or DM if you'd like to buy these.

These are what I have:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LBQ2KMW

They are brand new. One hasn't been opened yet, the other only long enough for me to realize it was the wrong size.

EDIT: Amazon customer service made an exception and will accept the return. One of the many reasons I use Amazon for just about anything I can. :)

This is my first time using Ape Labs, and my lights arrived today.

6 Neon Pix Tube Lights
4 Marvel Pix Wash
Connect 2.0

1. Can anyone suggest methods for mounting or displaying the lights? They don't seem like they'll be as effective sitting on the floor as if they are on something. The tubes especially seem like they should be at different heights.
2. Are there any tutorials or setup guides online? I've looked and found nothing. The Apelabs site has manuals, but they offer very little in the way of explanation, or any "how to."

I've been talking with some other established mobile DJs about the difficulty and cost of attending DJ conferences and expos, and we started talking about creating a mobile mobile expo, something akin to Lollapalooza back in the day.

I'd love to gauge interest in this. If a small 1- or 2-day conference came to a city near you, would you consider attending? Why or why not? And, what would you most like to see happen at such an event? What topics would you like to learn about? Please share anything you'd like to hear about or see happen at such a show.

We think the biggest positive, outside of saving on travel costs, will be the chance to network with a large group of DJs in your own area, which is seldom the case when you have to travel to Las Vegas or Atlantic City for one of these.

Currently, we're looking at the following cities as potential stops on the tour, which we anticipate taking place from mid-January to early February.

Baltimore
Richmond
Charlotte
Atlanta
Birmingham
Austin
Oklahoma City
Nashville
Louisville
Cincinnati
Columbus

We're open to other cities/routes, though we want to avoid cities that have existing shows so as not to detract from their offering.

I'm exhibiting at a bridal show this weekend, and want to send a pre-show email out to the attendees this week. I plan to let them know where I'll be, what I'm bringing, etc.

Has anyone here sent such an email in the past? If so, any advice on what worked, or what didn't? Or any advice in general? Thanks!

I've been offered free all-access passes to DJ X in Atlantic City next month. I know nothing about this show. Will anyone else here be attending?

Can anyone share some honest feedback? I'm debating whether it's worth the flight from Texas + the hotel cost.

I attended MEX in Las Vegas in 2024 and felt it was a waste of time and money.

I currently use the Blue and Orange Ortofon Concorde DJ cartridges. I've never found a more stable cart for scratching. I believe they track at least as well as the Shure M44-7, and sound better. BUT I'm told that for DVS usage, the Digital is the way to go. Since I move back and forth between real vinyl and DVS during my sets, I'm considering getting the Scratch.

For anyone who has used both:

How much better is the Digital with DVS

vs.

How much better is the Scratch with real vinyl?

I've posted a couple times in r/Turntablists without luck, but perhaps I should be asking here.

I've been using Serato DVS since about 2004. I started with Scratch Live, and have used various combinations of gear. I've used the SL-1 and SL-2, and various mixers. For a long time I used Technics 1200 MK2s. Currently I'm using Reloop 8000 MK2s and Rane Seventy-Two MKII, with Ortofon Concorde MK2 DJ cartridges and a 2023 MacBook Pro with an M2 chip and 32GB of RAM, running Sequoia 15.7.7 and Serato DJ Pro 4.0.7.

The problems I have now are problems I have always had, with every mixer, turntable, laptop, whatever configuration.

The main issue: when I play in a loud environment, the cue point drastically drifts. I line it up where I want it, and I can watch in real time as the waveform slowly moves past it. I can rectify this to an extent by adjusting the noise sensitivity, but even if I max it at -24 (at which point scratching and juggling becomes effectively impossible), the drift is still there. At -72, which is where you ideally want it for scratching, the drift is significant, and beat juggling becomes impossible because the cue point is moving.

I have anti-drift checked, but I notice no difference whether it's on or off. I believe sticker lock is for use with a specific control record that I don't use, but just in case I've tried with it both on and off, and notice no difference.

I also notice that when using DVS the audio quality is significantly worse than when I use my Pioneer DDJ-1000. I have high quality audio files that sound crisp and clean when played on the DDJ-1000, but the same files sound a lot worse when played via DVS.

If anyone knows why this is the case, or has any suggestions as to how to fix it, I'd love to hear it. I have seen many DJs scratching smoothly and effectively using Serato DVS, so I know it is possible, but I've never been able to dial anything in on mine to make it work to the point where I'm comfortable performing with Serato. I use it when I absolutely have to, but use vinyl records instead most of the time.

I used Android from its inception, until January of last year. Even after a year and a half, there are a few things my Android did that I can't seem to make my iPhone do. I've searched many times, but found no answers. Maybe someone here knows how to help me with any/all of the following?

1. My email is never suggested as I type. When I text someone, or if I am filling out a form online, and need to include my email, I have to type the entire thing. No matter how much of it I type, it's never one of the autofill suggestions. My email starts with the letter G, and on Android, any time I'd type g, that would be the first autofill to pop up. It was so easy to hit g, then tap my email and be done with it.

2. I used to have a shortcut on my home-screen that I could tap, and maps would open, my home address would be the destination, and navigation would begin. One tap. I know it seems like a minor thing, but the best I can manage on my iPhone is to tap a shortcut, wait for maps to open, and then tap a second time to start navigation. I know, that isn't a big deal, but when I'm driving, I'd rather tap the phone once and be done with it.

3. I use voice-to-text a LOT. Any time I text or email, I prefer to tap the mic button, say what I need to say, and send. I don't know why, but my iPhone ALWAYS begins my text/email with a lowercase letter. It knows what to capitalize after that, but no setting I've found has made the phone start with a capital. As an example, here is what a voice-to-text message will look like:

this is an example of my problem. As you can see, it got everything correct other than the first letter of any message. Why is this? How do I fix it? It does this every time, in every app.

4. Quick voice search function: another thing I used *constantly* on my Android was a shortcut I set up on my home-screen that opened Google search and turned on my microphone. I would tap it, and within a split second I could speak "who was king of England in 1311," or whatever I wanted to know. I've found no equivalent on the iPhone. I can tap the microphone on the lock screen, which *seems* to start a search, but it rarely works. I don't know why, but it always lets me speak, and shows what I said on the screen, but it never searches. It just stays there, with my question in front of me, never answering it. I can also open browser, tap the mic, say whatever, and hit enter, but that is waaaay slower than the quick tap and talk solution I am used to.

I posted about a week ago asking about this, and a number of people chimed in, but no one had a solution. I wonder if anyone in this group is able to scratch using Serato DJ Pro.

I have experimented with my settings since posting. Even if the platter is off and the needles are not in the groove, when i have noise sensitivity set at -72, the lowest setting, the waveform gradually drifts and I can hear a crackle through the speakers. If I touch the tonearm or cartridge the crackle is louder.

I can eliminate this by increasing the noise sensitivity, but then scratching becomes less precise. At the far other end, -24, the waveform still drifts, but far less, though at that point scratching is impossible anyway, so even if there were no drift, it wouldn't matter.

I've experienced this on every setup in every venue in the 20+ years I've use Serato, which is why I've never switched over to scratching with it and still use real vinyl. I would LOVE to know there is a solution. If anyone here uses Serato DJ Pro and DVS, I would love to know what vinyl you use, and how you have your settings set.

I've searched several times over the years and never found any answers.

I use Serato DVS. At home, or in any quiet environment, it works fine. When I'm playing somewhere loud, after I cue up a track the waveform slowly drifts, and the cue point moves. Initially I'll have the downbeat lined up with the record at 12:00, but by the time I'm ready to play the song, the downbeat has moved, and is no longer aligned with the point where the sticker is.

It's most noticeable when I'm scratching or beat juggling, as the cue point is slowly moving, so I cannot accurately bring the record to the point where I want it to be.

Is there a solution for this?