Digital Music Files - Digital music files have the same advantages as CDs and none of the disadvantages. They take up little space and are more portable than other media. A single hard drive can hold approximately 15,000 to 25,000 MP3 files. One hard drive can hold your entire music collection and give you instantaneous access to any
song. Your song list can be generated automatically and printed or used online. Your music can be easily backed up and used on more than one computer. MP3s that are encoded right and played back through high fidelity hardware are almost indistinguishable from CD sound. Forget about lost or damaged CDs, CD skipping, and poor quality tapes. A digital system can produce equal sound quality and unrivaled ease of use.

CD Support - DJ RAK PCs include one hard drive and two CD drives. You can mix from an assortment of sources – all music files (such as MP3, and WAV) and both CD drives. With the two CD drives, you are able to mix from CDs, CDs and MP3s, or just MP3s.

Music Play Lists - You can create as many preset play lists as you need either before or during a DJ job. These play lists can be used over and over again and can be modified as your music selection increases and tastes change. With this feature, you can make music sets of any length and for any type of venue. Also, printing a play list
from a set of digital files can be done automatically.

DJ, KJ, and VJ with one box - With a digital system you can do all of these with one box because the different work is done by software. There are specific hardware requirements to perform each. A DJ needs advanced mixing features and a sound card with multiple sound channels. A KJ or VJ needs two video outputs to drive two monitors or
a monitor and a TV. CD, CD+G, and DVD disks? Digital audio, Karaoke, and Video file formats? One digital system can read them all. Your digital system can be ordered with these features or upgraded later when you need them.

Advanced DJ Features - Instant Music Start, Cue Point Insertion, Automatic Beat Matching, Looping and Sampling, Pitch Change and Pitch Bend. Automatic Gain Control, Program Equalization, Master Tempo, and Special Effects like Flanging, Echo, Chorus, and Scratching are among the many features offered by DJ Software like Visiosonic's PCDJ and others. DJ RAK systems will run any of the software packages so you can choose the one you like best.

Weight - A digital system weighs less than the CDs DJs are carrying now. Also the weight doesn't increase as you add more music to your repertoire.

Security - With a digital system, you have security from loss because
your MP3s can be backed up. If your equipment is lost or stolen, you
simply restore the MP3s on your new system.

Theft - No more missing CDs. Your music is securely stored in your
system and your CDs are securely stored at home.

Control - With a digital system you have complete control over the
music. No one can remove, make copies, or install new music without
your permission. No one can play anything except what you have
installed on the machine.


Next On Page 2: A Rack Mount System Is Superior To A Laptop

A Rack Mount System is Superior to a Laptop

Most DJ systems consist of a rack and rack mount hardware, which increases the reliability, protects your investment, and simplifies and decreases the time to setup and tear down. DJ RAK PCs are built to the same high quality standards as other rack mount gear to provide years of trouble free operation. You wouldn't show up with consumer stereo equipment or a portable CD player and for the same reason, you should use a rack mount computer not a laptop. A rack mount system has many advantageous over using laptops for DJing.

If you are using a laptop, your DJ system will eventually consist of the laptop, and numerous external add-ons such as an external sound box, an external hard drive, an external MP3 controller, and an external hub to connect everything together. Add-ons exacerbate the problem because none of these boxes fit in your rack and you will have
cables running everywhere.

Lower Cost of ownership - A DJ RAK system can be upgraded and enhanced easily and inexpensively because it is built with desktop PC components. If need be, it can be repaired or upgraded at any computer or electronic store because it is built with industry standard parts. Both laptops and lunchbox computers are built using proprietary parts and can only be serviced by the manufacturer. Regular PC components have always had a cost advantage (because of the large numbers sold) over proprietary systems and will provide more expansion and upgrade options and a lower cost of ownership.

Multiple Sound Channels - The system has three high fidelity stereo outputs from the high end soundcard and a single average fidelity stereo output from the onboard soundcard for a total of four stereo outputs. The usual configuration is for the PCDJ or other MP3 player to use the two high fidelity sound channels for the two virtual MP3 players (one for Player A and another for Player B). The third sound channel can be used by another application or as the cueing channel simultaneously for searching and listening to MP3 and other sound files. The fourth is used by Windows.

Sound Quality - This is one of the most important points. The high fidelity soundcard provides superior sound over a laptop sound card or add-on. Most laptops use the Wavetable AC97 chipset for sound generation. This chip set is not high fidelity and produces low quality sound. You will lose dynamic range, stereo imaging, depth, and have high harmonic and inter-modulation distortion, all of which causes listening fatigue. DJ RAK systems are free of this and have a sound quality similar to CDs.

Data Storage - A large laptop hard drive is 40 Gigabytes. A digital DJ will fill that hard drive in a short time and then have to add on an external hard drive. Adding an external drive and an external sound card to the USB bus can create latency and skipping problems because USB does not use DMA and therefore the CPU has to do all of the work. Hard drives should not be used on the USB bus especially if you are outputting your sound on that bus. A DJ RAK system incorporates both larger hard drives and multiple hard drives and provide orders of magnitude more data storage than a laptop.

Multiple CD drives - To mix from CDs, you need two CD drives. Laptops do not have two CD drives.

Multiple Video Outputs - To run Karaoke or Video software you will appreciate having two video outputs. Most laptops do not have the two video outputs or the ability to install a second video card. All DJ RAK systems have two video outs.

System Upgrades - Laptops are limited in upgrades that you can install when your needs change. Software updates and technology improvements are inevitable and will requiring upgrades. You need a system that you can upgrade easily and at a low cost.

Repair Options - The manufacturer can only repair Laptops and lunch box computers. DJ RAK systems are built using only industry standard components so you can upgrade and repair them anywhere and quickly. This is important for long-term use of a digital system.

Performance - Laptops are slower than desktop PCs. They run slow processors to save power, have 4,200 RPM drives, have lower amounts or RAM, and have slower internal buses. Even if your laptop may be adequate today, new software updates always require faster systems and more hard drive space. A DJ RAK system provides high performance and low latency for maximum control over the mix.

USB Peripherals - Having too many peripherals especially the external hard drive and external sound card will cause skipping and interruptions in the music. With USB, the processor has to move all of the data so it must move it in from the hard drive and then output it to the USB sound card. All of this data movement on the single USB bus will cause audible skipping.

Next On Page 3: The Advantages of A DJRak System

The Advantage of a DJ RAK System

DJ RAK PCs are high performance high fidelity PCs. A DJ RAK system is a self-contained system and is housed in one or two combo cases. This system has many advantageous over using laptops for DJing.

Audio Rack Sized - DJ RAK Computers are in short rack mount chassis to fit in your audio rack. Computer racks are deeper than audio racks and most rack mount cases are too deep to fit in your rack. Ours fit!

Reliability - DJ RAK systems are reliable. We use all industry standard and proven hardware and software. DJ RAK computers include plenty of RAM so the system doesn't run short of resources. Options like disk-mirroring uses two hard drives to back each other up, which protects against a hard drive crash. Your system would keep running and be an easy repair with no data loss. We chose Windows 2000 Professional and XP Professional for it's reliable and field proven operation.

Crash proof with Windows 2000 Professional or XP - This operating system does not crash like the earlier DOS based Windows systems, which are Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME. 2000 is the second version of the NT, which is a true multi-tasking 32 bit operating system. XP Home and Pro are

High Performance - DJ RAK systems deliver high performance. The stock systems incorporate a 1.3 Gigahertz for or faster Athlon processor, 256 Meg of RAM, and the hard drives are large (80 Gigabytes or larger and multiple drives) and fast (7,200 RPM). We custom build also.

High Fidelity - This is one of the most important features. DJ RAK systems include two high fidelity stereo sound channels so your mix always sounds it's best. With this system, your MP3s will sound as good as CDs.