1: System Requirements and Setup

1.1 System Requirements
BinkyToy is a Mac-only application. You will need a G3 or G4, with Mac OS 8.5-9.2.2 or OSX, Jaguar and above with at least a 500 MHz G3 and 256 MBytes RAM.

BinkyToy can work with or without turntables. Without turntables you can still do some nifty multiple sound file playback with effects processing and mixing on the fly. You could find yourself using BinkyToy for sound mangling/manipulation even when you're not hooked up to your turntables, which is a great way to generate material for future sessions with the turntables.

1.2. Audio Hardware Requirements

To use BinkyToy with a single turntable your Mac must be equipped with stereo audio input capable of sampling at a rate of 44.1 kHz. This audio input could be the built-in Mac audio hardware, or an external ASIO*-compliant audio converter (OS9), or an external CoreAudio-compliant converter (OSX). To use BinkyToy with more than one turntable, you will need an external hardware audio interface, which will use either firewire or USB connectors, PCI (for desktop computers), or PCMCIA (for laptop computers) cards. There are numerous manufacturers and options available. The most important factor in choosing one will be the number or inputs and outputs you need.

To use BinkyToy with two turntables to control your audio, you will need 4 inputs. (two stereo pairs) in your audio interface(DAC). To use the two audio groups that BinkyToy provides (and which will enable you to mix with your DJ mixer as if you had two turntables), you will need 4 outputs (two stereo pairs).

If you are using a turntable, you will need a phono preamp to amplify its signal, unless the outputs are already line-level. Almost any stereo phono preamp will work fine, but a high-quality turntablist phono cartridge is recommended.

You will need a mixer that can handle the outputs (though some audio interfaces will allow you to mix in the interface). If you are already mixing turntables analog-style, the DJ mixer you already use will most likely do just fine, provided it has switchable phono/line-level inputs. Using the mixer you already have will ease your transition to virtual scratching (as you'll be able to use your crossfader, etc., as you are used to doing).

1.3 Setup

1.3.1 Setup your Computer:

Install the Software. This basically just consists of downloading the software from mspinky.com/download, etc.

OS9: Put the ASIO* drivers that came with your audio interface hardware in the “ASIO drivers” folder in the same folder on your hard drive where you have copied the BinkyToy application. You need to turn Virtual Memory OFF (if you already use audio applications you probably already have it off). Go to your Control Panels (under the apple menu in the upper left of your Finder) and select “Memory” from the Control Panels submenu. There you should see the Virtual Memory on/off switch.

OSX: Install the CoreAudio drivers for you audio interface.

1.3.2. Setup your Equipment:

As detailed in “Requirements” above, for a scratch-style setup you'll need an audio interface (DAC), phono preamp(s) (unless your turntable(s) has(have) line-level outputs), your turntable(s) and a mixer. See Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1: MsPinky setup with two turntables.

For OS9, your audio interface's ASIO* drivers should be in the Ms Pinky “ASIO Drivers” folder. For OSX, you must install CoreAudio drivers for you device. Connect your turntable(s) to your preamp(s) and your preamp(s) to the inputs for your audio interface (2 inputs per turntable). Connect the outputs of your audio interface to your mixer (two outputs per turntable). Also note that even if you have only one turntable but have four outputs, that you may still wish to connect these. This is because you may still want to use the 2 stereo output channels BinkyToy provides.