A few beginner questions

Wells

New Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2010
Hello dnb forum this is my first post here and I have a few things I want to clear up after spending around 3 weeks mixing. Thanks in advance!

I'm beginning to get the hang of beatmatching quite well and can often get it matched within 20 secs max, i've noticed that alot of records seem to be the same bpm or nearly, requiring only a slight adjustment on the pitch to match or even no movement at all! I know we joke alot about dnb being the same tempo but is this normal? or is it just a coincidence in my relatively small collection of tunes. (Playing vinyl and have only around 20 tunes atm.)

Second question is how to record my mixes onto the computer as I want to analyse them after, it is hard to tell how good a transition sounds with an ear in the cans. From what i've read so far, I can record from the tape output on my amp into my line in on the computer, is this correct? There is no record output on the mixer. Is a sound card absolutely required for recording? and if so, what is the best budget option?

My system has slightly bad sound quality, it cannot handle bass very well and cannot handle a very busy mix even though I think it has quite good quality speakers. Is this lack of quality more likely to be due to the mixer, the styli, or the amp?

My setup is 2 sl-1200s with stanton 500 styli, I fear that they are a bit old and probly starting to wear. The tables are hooked into a basic djm 950 by numark. a basic mixer but it does its job, is it effecting my sound quality negatively?

The mixer feeds into an obscure JVC Rx - 505VL amp, I think this is the main problem, can someone confirm my suspicion. I have searched for it on the google and it only comes up on dodgey Czech and russian auction sites, I have no idea what it was doing in my attic.

If the amp is the main thing affecting the sound, what is a good budget amp to start with looking maybe the <£50 range.

sorry for the long post but these are things i wanted to get sorted so thank you for any good answers =)
 
I know we joke alot about dnb being the same tempo but is this normal? or is it just a coincidence in my relatively small collection of tunes. (Playing vinyl and have only around 20 tunes atm.)

It's not a coincidence, a lot of dnb does fall in the same range.

Second question is how to record my mixes onto the computer as I want to analyse them after, it is hard to tell how good a transition sounds with an ear in the cans. From what i've read so far, I can record from the tape output on my amp into my line in on the computer, is this correct? There is no record output on the mixer. Is a sound card absolutely required for recording? and if so, what is the best budget option?

Yes you can use your amp's tape output into your computer. A soundcard is absolutely necessary but I've never seen a computer without one.

My system has slightly bad sound quality, it cannot handle bass very well and cannot handle a very busy mix even though I think it has quite good quality speakers. Is this lack of quality more likely to be due to the mixer, the styli, or the amp?

My setup is 2 sl-1200s with stanton 500 styli, I fear that they are a bit old and probly starting to wear. The tables are hooked into a basic djm 950 by numark. a basic mixer but it does its job, is it effecting my sound quality negatively?

The mixer feeds into an obscure JVC Rx - 505VL amp, I think this is the main problem, can someone confirm my suspicion. I have searched for it on the google and it only comes up on dodgey Czech and russian auction sites, I have no idea what it was doing in my attic.

If the amp is the main thing affecting the sound, what is a good budget amp to start with looking maybe the <£50 range.

Your stylii are the weakest point in the chain. Replace those (with better carts if possible) and go from there. The Numark DM950 will probably be ok because it's a simple design without much to colour the sound, except for the preamps. I've never heard of that amp but JVC are normally ok too.
 
Ok thanks for the answers.

Whats the best way to clean a stylus by the way, and what is a good budget styli/cartridge combo?
 
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