Tubidy – MP3 format has been around for a while and it is used for various purposes. It allows people to listen to music with the easiest method through their portable devices. However, if you are a DJ, you might want to know more about Utilizing MP3s for DJing: Tips and Tricks for Digital DJs because it is said that MP3 is not the most suitable music format for DJing. Is it true?
Do Not Play MP3 on a PA System
Why should you not play MP3 on a PA system? In this circumstance, you need to learn more about The Evolution of MP3: A Journey Through Its History to understand that MP3 is a boomer audio format. There was a time when you had to spend a lot of money to buy a hard drive with a tiny capacity. The MP3 format was great during this kind of situation because the MP3 file is light.
However, the hard drive is not super expensive any longer. You can get one with a massive capacity for a good deal. That is why you do not have to stick to the light music format any longer since you can store large music files easily to ensure better quality.
Train Your Ears to Hear What Is Lost on an MP3
If you still want to know more about Utilizing MP3s for DJing: Tips and Tricks for Digital DJs, the very first important thing to do is to train your ears to hear what is lost in MP3 music. How can you do this training? First things first, you need to eliminate the mono signal so you can listen to the sides only.
One thing that can be noticed easily is the watery pixelated sound, especially when there are noisy full-frequency sounds, such as reverbs. If you are familiar with what video algorithms do when showing confetti or snow, the same problem goes with the MP3 algorithm.
Level Your Song to -1 dB
Sometimes you do not have any choice but to use MP3 format because you are a producer who has to distribute a song to streaming services. In this circumstance, you have to do something with your song level. Instead of keeping it at 0 dB, you should level your song to -1 dB.
Why should you adjust the noise level of your song? The volume of your song can have little spikes generated by the encoding and it will distort 0 dB. The spikes will clip or even go over 0 dB, after all. The issue can be ameliorated somewhat by leveling the song to -1 dB.
Use Aiff or FLAC Format Instead
If MP3 is not a recommended choice for DJing, what format should you use for this purpose? Is wav format a great option for DJing? It is recommended to use Aiff or FLAC format instead to get the best DJing result.
Both formats are even better than WAV format because they have ID3 tags that cannot be found on was format. With id3 tags, your DJ software can add some things to the tags, such as key information and cue points. Those functions must be super useful when you try to move or rebuild your library in DJing.
MP3 format might be the audio format that is universally compatible and has a good enough balance between quality and size. It can also hold metadata and album art. However, some people say that a 320kbps MP3 and a WAV file are different in sound.
Pay Attention to Your Digital to Analog Converters
You want to get the best sound quality of your set for DJing. In this circumstance, you need to pay attention to the most important thing which is the digital to analog converters. They are used to turn your music files into actual physical footage information that will be delivered to the PA system.
It is necessary to only turn the digital signal into the analog one once if you want to avoid too much encoding and decoding. In case you are using CDJs, the digital outputs on the CDJ must be used to transfer audio to the mixer. You should not use the analog RCA outputs because the mixer will turn the analog signal back into the digital one for mixing before it will be converted again for output to a PA system.
Too much encoding and decoding process will affect the sound quality, particularly if you use a lossy file format, such as MP3 format. You should not use a cheap controller with low quality on a PA system. For better results, you can use a built-in sound card on a Pioneer mixer while CDs can be used for controlling Serato.
Now you know more about Utilizing MP3s for DJing: Tips and Tricks for Digital DJs, but if it is possible, you might want to use other better formats that are not the lossy ones for DJing.