DJ Equipment

[0l0dom0l0]

Right, this was going to wait until after Christmas but I was introduced into someone who was after a DJ who seemed quite interested in the sort of music I play and stuff like that so need to get my act together in the next couple of weeks.

I've done a few 'gigs' at the local pub, nothing major but I wanted the experience in playing for the audience and such as well as mixing live etc when you can't really afford to make any mistakes.

At the moment, I'm using virtual DJ. I've got a sound card with 2 outputs so send the sound from deck 1 down one channel and the sound from deck 2 down the other, then wire these into an external mixer.

Now, I've kinda reached my limit on this really. I'm continually finding I want more hardware control.

So I've reached the point where I need to spend a bit of money on some gear.... So here's my question.

Do I go for a cheap ish usb dj controller like the reloop beatmix for example? Get used to using the hardware, and removing the need for the sync button etc. Have a bash at this for a while, do a few more low end sort of gigs and then spank a load of money on some CDJ's and a mixer?

Or do spend a little bit more on one, say £300 ish?

Or do I just go and buy some CDJ's and have a bash on them?

I mean really my question is, is it acceptable to turn up to a club with virtual dj and a usb dj controller?

I'm a bit stuck really, sorry if this post isn't very informative but hopefully someone will know what I mean!
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CBT Passed: 30/08/2009, Theory Passed: 31/08/2010, Mod 1 Passed: 6/9/2010, Mod 2 Passed: 13/09/2010. Restriction ended 13/09/2012.

Bikes: 2007 Derbi GPR 50, 1998 Yamaha Fazer 600 (written off), 2002 Yamaha Fazer 600, 1994 CBR 600F, 2003 Triumph Daytona 600, Kawasaki ZX6R J1.....Current: 2006 Yamaha FZ6, 1998 Suzuki TL1000R and a Honda VFR 400 NC30.

[unitynotsocri...]

yep its acceptable.One guy I know runs it all off a netbook connected to the net,he can download any punters 'request'.
As regards equipment if you are a musician then get a good external soundcard that doubles up as a 24 bit audio output box.By using 24 bit you'll get a much better sound out of crappy mp3's .
most dj software is reasonably simple and free so unless your a specialist not worth buying special 'dj' interfaces.
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nearly a normal tax paying tosser.......with ferrileness suzi100,cg125,cb125scb100n,cb175,cd100,cj250t,kh250,c15,125 bantam,super 6,rickman gs750,xt500,250rs,dt175,lifan125,dolomite1850,metro,Morris220ld,morrisfg,leyland princess,range rover,corsa,vw camper .now struggling with legs. MORE ORDER = MORE CHAOS

[fire]

Pioneer CDJ's are pretty much industry standard, so thats what you want to aim for. Even a pair of CDJ800mk2 to start off with (£500-600/pair) just to get familer with their platform.

Truth is you can't get to a professional standard without professional equipment.

Aye Clubs are familer with DJ's who use USB controllers, you just have to check ahead with them, mainly for getting your gear hooked into the club system, sometimes it's easier going through the resident mixer if your connections are limited (as they usually are with cheap controllers)

If your serious about DJ'in, splash out. Ambition is just a boundry, dedication and commitment is everything.
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[Mattaria]

I work in a club who regularly hosts world renowned DJ's alongside local acts 7 nights a week, they ALL use CDJ's or vinyl with serato or tracktor. Dj'ing off a laptop is standard now but it's not an invitation to cut corners.

[Mattaria]

I work in a club who regularly hosts world renowned DJ's alongside local acts 7 nights a week, they ALL use CDJ's or vinyl with serato or tracktor. Dj'ing off a laptop is standard now but it's not an invitation to cut corners.

[unitynotsocri...]

thats right.Its easy to cut corners with a laptop/netbook setup.For instance you could set the show up ,turn it on with its music playlists then piss off home and come back later to pack up your gear,
but thats the real art of a dj...being a good host/compare.
unless you love cd's i would'nt bother with a cd dj deck.They are great but a simple netbook and software can easily replace them for a lot less money.
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nearly a normal tax paying tosser.......with ferrileness suzi100,cg125,cb125scb100n,cb175,cd100,cj250t,kh250,c15,125 bantam,super 6,rickman gs750,xt500,250rs,dt175,lifan125,dolomite1850,metro,Morris220ld,morrisfg,leyland princess,range rover,corsa,vw camper .now struggling with legs. MORE ORDER = MORE CHAOS

[0l0dom0l0]

[0l0dom0l0]

And on another note can someone explain the advantages and dis advantages or serato, virtual dj and tracktor?
____________________
CBT Passed: 30/08/2009, Theory Passed: 31/08/2010, Mod 1 Passed: 6/9/2010, Mod 2 Passed: 13/09/2010. Restriction ended 13/09/2012.

Bikes: 2007 Derbi GPR 50, 1998 Yamaha Fazer 600 (written off), 2002 Yamaha Fazer 600, 1994 CBR 600F, 2003 Triumph Daytona 600, Kawasaki ZX6R J1.....Current: 2006 Yamaha FZ6, 1998 Suzuki TL1000R and a Honda VFR 400 NC30.

[fire]

[0l0dom0l0]

Perfect response, answered all my questions... Thank you.

Had a play at recording myself back yesterday as well, quite interesting to listen to it back actually... so will have a play with this as well.
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CBT Passed: 30/08/2009, Theory Passed: 31/08/2010, Mod 1 Passed: 6/9/2010, Mod 2 Passed: 13/09/2010. Restriction ended 13/09/2012.

Bikes: 2007 Derbi GPR 50, 1998 Yamaha Fazer 600 (written off), 2002 Yamaha Fazer 600, 1994 CBR 600F, 2003 Triumph Daytona 600, Kawasaki ZX6R J1.....Current: 2006 Yamaha FZ6, 1998 Suzuki TL1000R and a Honda VFR 400 NC30.

[Shaft]

Why not go the old skool route, get some basic kit and learn how to beat match by ear?

Once you know how to do that, then move on to more techy stuff and be confident that you can use whatever kit you're faced with.

As Fire said, there's a place for effects and techy showoffs, but what the audience really want is choons they can groove to, so just get the farking song on, forget all the 'I'm a tech wizard' bollox, unless you're into competitive DJing.
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[0l0dom0l0]

[hellbound]

We refuse to go down the laptop route as we worry that if the laptop crashes we am just standing there looking stupid.

I personnaly like having 20 seconds left of a track and nothing set up on the other side and feeling the panic rising up from my guts!

https://www.numark.com/product/icdmix3

thats what we use, all our music is MP3's and sometimes the Ipod dock gets used for requests that we might not have.
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May you always see the road rising up to meet you and your enemies defeated in the mirror behind.

[Shaft]

[0l0dom0l0]

[hellbound]

Started with Kam twin CD players witha pioneer 4 channel mixer

Then Upgraded to Stanton twin Mp3 players with the same mixer

Then got the whole thing in one to save space and time in setting up

Also just bought Active speakers so I no longer need an amp either.
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May you always see the road rising up to meet you and your enemies defeated in the mirror behind.

[Marcg868]

Traktor with Stanton ST150 Turntables still. Took me a year to master beatmatching. But then realised even tho i could match the beats i still had to learn how to get two Trance tune to match in Harmony.
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