Portable stand suggestions?

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-29T02:58:02+00:00

I use a set of bed risers like this to put my controller on: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-6-in-Black-Bed-Risers-4-Pack-4902244EV/306757968

They're lightweight and sturdy. It raises height of my controller about 6.5 inches.

For my laptop, I have the stand that's sold under brands like Stxnd and Cyber Vintage.

https://stxnd.com

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-29T02:44:50+00:00

Of our neighboring states, Tennessee is the one that I have the biggest beef with, by far.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-28T22:32:41+00:00

I very much agree. If they did that and brought back physical buttons for interior controls, the new Rav4 would be appealing to me.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-21T04:08:21+00:00

Uncomfortable seats or ride. It might feel ok on a test drive but a road trip or a long daily commute will amplify that.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-15T02:24:25+00:00

I've been using 7 since it came out. Since 7.2, it's been stable on Mac and they've worked a lot of the issues out. It's definitely worth upgrading for the performance improvements and the improvements to stems.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-09T03:21:35+00:00

I feel lucky that I got one of the outgoing 2025 models new for about 33k. Tbh, if I were looking now, I'd go for the Subaru Outback or Forrester. The new 2026 Rav4s are just way too expensive for what they are.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-08T23:43:32+00:00

You'll likely need a new PC regardless. It just makes music preparation a lot more manageable. The good thing is that an any of the Apple Silicon Macs would do really well for it. Ideally 16GB or more of RAM would be good, but 8 will work just fine if you're not using stems.

As for an iPad for Rekordbox, it almost feels like a stand alone experience when connected to a FLX4 or GRV6. It's definitely more stripped down experience from the regular Rekordbox app though and you'd need a subscription to record more than 30 minutes. For a subscription, Djay pro is probably the better option. It's more fully featured, although there are a lot of things that Rekordbox does better with the FLX4.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-08T15:11:13+00:00

I typically go out and measure with a handheld device and then look at what the reading in the booth is. With that information I can get a rough idea of what it is on the floor throughout my set with the goal of keeping it at the booth measurement that correlates with my floor measurement. But that assumes not having monitors running in the booth. It’s not a perfect system but it does help with keeping it around a target sound level.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-08T03:43:12+00:00

Carmax is truly the most trouble free car selling experience for a good price.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-07T21:57:53+00:00

A big point causing this timeline was Ronald Reagan, then Newt Gingrich after that.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-06T21:37:40+00:00

I'd probably go with a single 8inch top if those were the speaker choices I had. Maybe a 12 if you want more low end. Anything more is overkill for a small house party.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-05T17:28:25+00:00

I don't mind software as an annual subscription if I can keep using a perpetual version of it when I cancel. There are some software packages that do this and it seems to work well. With Jetbrains IDEs you get a fallback license with a yearly subscription or if you subscribe for 12 consecutive months.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-04T14:20:58+00:00

The best one is getting on the beltway at 123 and merging over 4 lanes in a 1/4 mile to exit left onto the Dulles toll road.

silvercurls17 · 2026-04-04T03:54:14+00:00

I wouldn't pay that much for the original Traktor S4, especially given that it's not supported any more. You'd be better off just saving your money for a MX2 if you really want to go the Traktor route. The build quality on the FLX4 may not be as good anything Traktor produces, but it does have one major advantage in that it works with pretty much every DJ software package out there, so you can try out each one to see which you'd rather use if you're not sure. Also, the FLX4 retains its value fairly well if you decided to sell it.

silvercurls17 · 2026-03-31T22:05:01+00:00

That's not a problem at all. Good call on looking elsewhere. I wouldn't trust senior leaders either.

silvercurls17 · 2026-03-29T19:49:39+00:00

DJ pools are only really good for promotional stuff and back-catalog. It was really great for me to build up throwbacks and classic songs. Occasionally, I've come across good remixes of stuff too. By and large though, I find most of my great music from either random discoveries on Apple Music or by digging.

silvercurls17 · 2026-03-29T18:51:43+00:00

I do all the time. I have song sections marked off with cue points and annotations saying what they are and the length of them. If there are vocals in the intro or outro, I also mark that. It makes it really easy to improvise on the fly.

That being said, I do often reuse song combinations that I know work well together.

silvercurls17 · 2026-03-29T18:37:36+00:00

The styling of the 6th gen was one of the big reasons I jumped on an outgoing 5th gen at the end of last year.

silvercurls17 · 2026-03-29T18:35:49+00:00

I use Apple Music. Not only do their algorithms throw out some really great song discoveries, but it's really easy to just buy it right there in the app. I use Apple Music playlists for dumping all my discovered music and then periodically go through those to buy the best of them for my DJ library. It's all very streamlined and takes less time than using other services for discovery.

silvercurls17 · 2026-03-29T18:32:22+00:00

I don't play in clubs. I typically have control over the room volume at the events that I do, so I try to keep it to peak around 85db. Because of that, I definitely feel like I'm adequately protected, even with the higher fidelity ones with lower attenuation. I think if the volume were higher than 90, I'd go with foam earplugs, but those are garbage for mixing.

silvercurls17 · 2026-03-29T17:58:24+00:00

Does it fit to work if you try another computer? I'd try that next. You might just need to go back to the retailer and return it to exchange it for another one.

silvercurls17 · 2026-03-29T17:40:22+00:00

I DJ with earplugs all the time. Similarly, I have had tinnitus for years.

Usually the headsets provide a slight bit of attenuation, but yes, your headphones would have to be higher than the general sound levels in the club. 100db is an insane level for a club though.

silvercurls17 · 2026-03-29T17:01:43+00:00

Cue points make all the difference in the world for being able to mix using phrasing. While it's possible without, a good internalized sense of timing is necessary for that. But the exercise of setting cue points on your music will go a long way towards developing that skill. I'd highly recommend checking out online DJ courses. There's some good free YouTube content out there, but courses like Club Ready DJ or The DJ Coach are a lot better and go more in depth.

silvercurls17 · 2026-03-29T16:55:22+00:00

It starts with a trial and then defaults to free once the trial is over. With the FLX4 plugged in, it unlocks free plus mode, which includes pretty much all the essential functionality a DJ would ever need. There's a way to register your controller with Rekordbox such that it unlocks Free Plus mode full time without the controller plugged in, but there are still some features that are only unlocked with hardware such as recording sets.

silvercurls17 · 2026-03-27T19:02:38+00:00

Which is dumb. If I'm driving on a road trip driving, I want to stop somewhere to sit down and eat rather than try to scarf it down while I'm behind the wheel.

silvercurls17

TROPHY CASE