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List of useful apps for the digital DJ


Steve

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If anyone wants to add to this list, feel free. This is just a few apps that I think people might find useful. I've tried to stick to free programs, but there's one or two that warrant paying for.

 

Tag&Rename

http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm

Price: $29.95

 

The best tag editing software I've used. It has support for all kinds of file types. It can access the web to get track info. You can create tags from file names, copy and paste tags, import album info from Amazon, etc. etc. - the list of features is very comprehensive.

 

Mr Questionman

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Au...estionMan.shtml

Price: Free

 

Mr Questionman can anaylse your digital music files and tell you the average bitrate, the encoder used to create the files, including the specific version of the encoder, and a couple of other bits of info. The official site is down at the moment, but the software can be downloaded via the Softpedia link.

 

LameDropXPd

http://rarewares.org/mp3-lamedrop.php

Price: Free

 

LameDropXPd is a simple drag and drop application for encoding files to MP3. It uses the LAME encoder, which is regarded as the best around, and it can create VBR, CBR or ABR files at bitrates/settings of your choosing. It can also automatically tag files based on the file name.

 

Exact Audio Copy

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

Price: Free

 

EAC is one of the best CD ripping programs around, if not the best. It has superb error correction so you'll get nice glitch free rips, and it has support for AccurateRip. If you download an encoder, it can also be set up to encode and tag files to any format you like. It can be a bit daunting when you first use it, but once it's set up, it can obtain the track info from the web, rip, encode and tag files with a couple of mouse clicks. Try Googling for a guide if you get stuck, cos there are several setup guides out there.

 

LAME 3.97

http://rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php

Price: Free

 

If you're encoding files to MP3 and you're not using LAME, then slap yo'self! Download version 3.97 (the latest stable version) of the encoder and use it along with EAC to rip and encode CDs automatically.

 

FLAC encoder

http://flac.sourceforge.net/

Price: Free

 

FLAC is a lossless encoder that can shrink your WAV files down to around half the size without losing any quality. It can also convert FLAC files back to WAV, again, with no quality loss. Think of it as WinZip for music files. Not many DJ programs support FLAC files at the moment, but it's still a useful program to have for archiving any mixes you make. If you're using Windows, download FLAC Frontend from the link above. It's dead easy to use.

 

Voxengo r8brain

http://www.voxengo.com/product/r8brain/

Price: Free

 

r8brain allows you to convert the sample rate of WAV files. Once I accidentally saved a mix at 32KHz and it wouldn't burn to a CD, so I used this to convert it to 44.1KHz so I could burn it. You might hardly ever use it, but it's still a useful little app to have on your hard drive.

 

CUE Splitter

http://www.shareup.com/CUE_Splitter-download-30218.html

Price: Free

 

CUE Splitter can split an audio file into separate tracks based on the info in a CUE sheet. Simple as that.

 

VSO Inspector

http://www.vso-software.fr/products/inspector/inspector.php

Price: Free

 

This program has several uses. It can give you various pieces of info about any CD/DVD burners you have connected to your PC and it can check for new firmware for them. Installing the latest firmware for your burner will help to ensure good compatibility with the latest media. It can also give you information on discs, including the dye type used, plus it can scan discs for errors, which is useful if you want to do some testing to find the best brand of blank disc and best burn speed for your particular uses.

 

Audacity

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Price: Free

 

Not really up to par with a program like Adobe Audition, but considering it's free, this is a nice program for recording and multitracking.

 

Burrrn

http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Burr...load-19908.html

Price: Free

 

Made by the same people that make Mr Questionman, this is a free disc burning program for Windows. It supports CUE sheets and CD text, and has support for all different file types. Again, the main site is down at the moment, but it's available via the Softpedia link.

 

Acoustica CD/DVD Label Maker

http://www.acoustica.com/cd-label-maker/

Price: $21.95

 

This will be of use to people that have printers that can print straight on to blank discs. It's easy to use and has built in templates for many different printers, along with various custom layouts and disc designs. It's far from essential, but check it out if you like to customise your discs.

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Thanks a mill Steve. I have a question. Do the MP3-Converting programmes support itunes formats? And do the programmes you've upload mainly run on PC or are they also offered for MAC (sorry I'm at work right now, so I can't go scanning through all of your links).

 

I really appreciate this stuff, as it may come in extremely handy!

 

Thanks and hope you're well.

 

O.

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more specifically buy my vinyl!

 

U have vinyl??

 

How 'bout sending me a promo copy :d

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more specifically buy my vinyl!

 

U have vinyl??

 

How 'bout sending me a promo copy :d

 

All you have to do is win the DV competition!

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I use mp3tqag for mp3 tagging.

 

Don't know if it works with other file types but it's free and very flexible.

 

It's a bit heavy going to get in to but worth the effort and there's a lot of help on the forum

 

http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

 

Mixed in Key is also worth a look if you want to key your tunes, it costs a bit though.

 

http://www.mixedinkey.com

 

Rapid Evolution is free and supposed to be quite good

 

http://www.mixshare.com/

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