starting out with tracktor and setup

hey guys was going to buy 2x pioneer cdj-100s, djm-300 and a headset tomorrow, then came across this site etc. now am feeling that I want to go down the digital route.. but have no idea how to set things up for it. need to know some specs and diagrams of how to set things up with a laptop.

read stuff about the creative sound blaster USB sound cards etc. as well as x-session etc. wasn't sure how all these devices hook up to a laptop and how the head phones get into the picture and how the output of the laptop gets into speakers at any given club. please advise. wish was some diagram somewhere. etc.

 

Check this out first

http://www.finalscratch.com/v3/prod_fs2.shtml#

This route requires analog turntables, but provides you a high quality soundcard (scratchamp) + some midi functions, though I haven't used them myself.

Basically, the turntables go into the L/R of the scratchamp, the outputs of the scratchamp go to the Line inputs of the mixer and the analog phono is passed through (untouched) back to the phono inputs.

Once you've done it a couple of times you can usually get setup in about five minutes. Usually finding power for your laptop and the scratchamp is the thoughest part. Once everything is setup you can seamlessly mix between vinyl and mp3s, or your internal CD for that matter.

One major caveat for windows laptops: There are lots of performance "tweaks" you'll need to make to prevent audio glitching and dropouts. You can find some of these here:

http://www.pcaudiolabs.com/winxp_tweaks.htm

The scratchamp also has a high quality headphone output to preview tracks without engaging a turntable.