Virtual DJ

[Mike Butler]

Hi, I'm new to this so please be gentle with me :-)

Could anyone tell me if I can use my Brennan B2 as a music source for Virtual  DJ on my laptop?

My music is saved as FLAC files, which I believe work ok with Virtual DJ,  but  I have no idea how I should connect the two? Is it safe to use a lead with two full size USB's to directly connect my PC to the Brennan.

Or should I copy my Brennan Hard Drive to an external hard drive and do it that way.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

[Daniel Taylor]

The B2 and PC will not communicate via USB connection.

Although I don't know anything about Virtual DJ, I wonder if it can make use of a NAS drive (Network Attached Storage).  The B2 can be setup to make its interna HDD (or SSD) accessible as a NAS drive.  Another possibility might be DLNA, which works similarly to NAS.  It would be helpful to know what all the options are for the Virtual DJ program.

Failing those two suggestions, you can do a backup of your B2's music to a FAT32 formatted USB connected disk, and then connect that to your PC as a USB disk.  It's highly recommended that you do such a full backup, so that you have a copy of your music in case of a hard disk failure.  With hard disks, it's not a matter of IF the disk will fail, it's a matter of WHEN.

[Ray Dion]

I took a look at the Virtual DJ webpages. Never knew that DJs had such a wide variety of choices and equipment. Tells you I don't go to many upscale weddings and fewer night clubs :-)

From the looks of the page, the program is file based. As such I would not see any purpose is transporting the B2 around to provide that. Copying the file to the same drive or drives as your existing would seem to make a lot more sense. I also suspect that the DJ software makes extensive use of tags in the files. The B2 will only add very basic tags when you rip a CD so you would have to add and update those tags to whatever standard for use with Virtual DJ. Choosing to rip those CDs on the computer with dBpoweramp or other software could provide you a substantial step forward. The B2 will accept all the music with the fancy tags but ignores the tags. You do have to copy them into the B2 with the proper directory structure and name convention.

My recommendation would be to put the music on the B2 as FLAC files that you want to play and listen to, leave the DJ stuff on the computer or an attached USB drive. If you use the DJ software to create a new FLAC file, you can add it to the B2. You could add MP3s as well.

I don't know how big your collection is. If it larger than the harddrive in your B2 then you must already manage two locations. The B2 expects a FAT32 formatted drive with a maximum size of 2TB. So that is arbitrary limit on your DJ side. I would obtain a name brand 2TB USB drive (name brand so you don't get a fake) for a complete and safe backup to the B2. Then using the computer (do not allow the computer to "FIX" your FAT32 drive, it will destroy your data) to transfer that to your computer or a larger USB drive. My computer is using 5TB for backups (so I can keep more than one) but I bought a 2TB for B2 use. So if the 5TB breaks I still have a 2TB of the music. If the 2TB breaks I can recreate it from the 5TB. Always a good thing as Daniel says.

You could use the audio output but what sense would that make if you already have a FLAC file? The 15W amplifier is hardly DJ material.

Ray

[Mike Butler]

Thank you for your help guys. I never realised what a can of worms I was opening! 

I have a fat 32 2 TB external drive, so I'm going to back up by B2 to that (500 CD's approx) and see what happens.

Ray, Virtual DJ is amazing! I present a weekly show for a hospital radio station, and whilst I always take along a few CD's in case it falls over during a show, it never has.

Dan, I totally agree about it not being "if" but "when"  a hard disk fails, having had just that experience a few years ago with a laptop that wasn't backed up. 

You live and learn. Sometimes the hard way!

Thanks again both.

Mike