Had a laptop crash mid-set at a club in San Miguel and it changed my whole backup approach

I used to just bring my main laptop and a USB stick with a few tracks, but during a gig at Mala Vida last month, my DAW froze and I had to restart while the crowd stood there staring. Now I carry a second laptop with the full set synced and I check all my cables before plugging in. Anyone else here dump their old setup after a live failure?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthewh283d ago

Kill the power cycle test first thing when you get to the booth... saved me more than once when someone else's dodgy extension cord tried to wreck my night.

emeryfox3d ago

My Pioneer XDJ setup glitched on me during a set at a college party back in 2018 and it took me months to trust gear again. I ended up switching to all Denon players in my home setup just to feel like I had control back. The power cycle test matthewh28 mentioned is smart, but what about sound card drivers? Ive had two different laptops freeze because the audio driver decided to update itself mid-set and that was a whole different kind of nightmare. You sync your full set across two laptops, but do you also keep a separate install of your OS and drivers on the backup? That saved me once when my main machine caught a virus from a venue USB. Just wondering if youve ever had software act up even when the hardware seemed fine.