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Cheapest way to do some digital DJing
Darkewolfe
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Alright, saw DJ Hero at the store last night. Amusingly, Best Buy set up two real turntable sales stands next to the game. The most amusing part was that the DJ Hero Collector's edition is $200, one of the real set-ups was $200 and the super high-end one was $400. I almost feel like the guy setting up the display was trying to say something.
I remember back in high school and college, I had a buddy who loved spinning vinyl. He wasn't an accomplished DJ by any means, mostly he just did it for fun. Sometimes he'd invite me over and let me play at the turntables, and I learned some of the most basic concepts required to see why someone would really enjoy doing that as a hobby.
That Best Buy setup got me wanting to play some more. I don't think that I will dedicate the time necessary to become particularly good at mixing or spinning. I definitely don't have the space to start collecting vinyl, so I'm looking at strictly playing with digital sources. I figure there have to be some cheap ($200 or less) ways to decently set myself up to play in my home office and annoy the girlfriend while indulging my DJ fantasies. Does anyone have any recommendations (other than just playing with the trial for Fruityloops) on approaching this somewhat realistically?
Thanks!
I remember back in high school and college, I had a buddy who loved spinning vinyl. He wasn't an accomplished DJ by any means, mostly he just did it for fun. Sometimes he'd invite me over and let me play at the turntables, and I learned some of the most basic concepts required to see why someone would really enjoy doing that as a hobby.
That Best Buy setup got me wanting to play some more. I don't think that I will dedicate the time necessary to become particularly good at mixing or spinning. I definitely don't have the space to start collecting vinyl, so I'm looking at strictly playing with digital sources. I figure there have to be some cheap ($200 or less) ways to decently set myself up to play in my home office and annoy the girlfriend while indulging my DJ fantasies. Does anyone have any recommendations (other than just playing with the trial for Fruityloops) on approaching this somewhat realistically?
Thanks!
What is this I don't even.
Darkewolfe on
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I don't DJ personally, so I can't suggest products, but here's the sort of thing I'm talking about:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--GMNCDM3600
Most websites like zzounds or musiciansfriend will have a DJ section that lets you browse and read reviews. You can typically just google search the model and see what other publications are saying about such a device, as well.
If you pick up a turntable, though, especially one for playing with digital music, I assume you will probably not get software to go with it? That could add up pretty quickly in cost.
Thanks for the forums advice. I'll check those out later to see if I can get more opinions, especially if they aren't forthcoming here.
3 / 5 people in my house DJ, including myself.
I was partial to vinyl, my setup cost around $800 - $900 if I remember (decks, mixer, needles)
Things have moved digital since I kind of stopped (it's a very expensive hobby, and I have too many expensive hobbies). So expect at a minimum to STILL buy decks (turntables or CD turntables - $300 to $500 each) AND a mixer ($50 - $500 depending on what you want) AND needles AND now software (Traktor Pro is $600 or $700). You'll also need a laptop powerful enough to run Traktor that you can take with you to gigs, and the preferred system is OSX so you're looking at getting a macbook pro ($$$).
This is why I sold all my gear and bought a motorcycle instead.
Of course if you're looking for something easy there are options like Eggy pointed out.
I'm just speaking from a strictly "pro" point of view.
Your best bet is to buy some used decks (either NuMark TTx or Technics 1200+, everything else is garbage- technologically the TTx one are far superior but Technics are the industry standard) and a cheap mixer. Do not scrimp on needles. Get Shure Whitelabels at least.
I sold my entire setup for $600. That setup was 2x Numark TTX1, 2x Whitelabels, and some junky mixer I got for free from a friend.
I'd look on craiglist /etc. for people selling their whole setup. That's where you're going to find the best deal and you will be fine with used equipment.
Also, vinyl is expensive. I have 2 milk crates full still, which probably represent a few hundred dollars of records.
So.... good luck.
I wouldn't go any lower than the pro equipment because you're going to be sacrificing a lot of quality, especially with the vinyl setups. Cheap turntables are worthless for a number of reasons. However there might be digital setups that are "okay" for less than you'll pay for a used CDJ800.
Edito - Also look for all this stuff used, it's silly to pay retail for equipment that's been on the market 5 - 20 years.
What exactly are you trying to do?
Mix electronic music? Scratch? Crossfade top 40?
The setups for each of these are going to be different.
A) scratch
C) loop
D) give you visible feedback
Cheap CD turntables won't do any of these things, except maybe loop.
For instance, taking a look at what Eggy linked to, it doesn't play MP3's, DOES do some looping, may give some visible feedback, but will not allow you to scratch- the dial on the top is only for speeding up and slowing down the track, according to the tech specs. It would be perfect if you were DJing a party and just needed to transition between some songs without any beat matching or scratching.
You really need something with the functionality of the CDJ 800 even if you don't get a CDJ 800. That means the ability to loop, play MP3's, give you visible feedback on the CD / track you're playing with, and most importantly allow you to manipulate the CD like it was a regular vinyl turntable.
As far as a mixer you need something with a loose crossfader. I can't tell you much about that though since I DJ electronic.
Technics, Numark, Denon, etc. all make similar models though I have no experience with them.
Hopefully someone else will be able to chime in with cheaper alternative to the pro equipment for you.
I'd start with the 20 Day free trial of virtual DJ and see if you like it before you spend a ton of money on DJ stuff. The worst case scenario there is you downloaded a trial and not liked it. It'll at least give you a little bit of an idea so you don't walk into it blindly.
There's a review and comparison of different DJ software here
I did some with vinyl a while ago, and I haven't messed around with any of the mp3 djing, though. It helps to be really into whatever music you are djing because really 90 percent of DJing is listening to music.
The setup would probably cost a lot more than 200 bucks though... Unfortunately I've just seen it used at a buddy's place so I'm not sure what stuff is just part of his studio and what parts are from Serato.
I know from being interested in turntablism that most serious turntablists put tape and marks on their records so they can find everything they need as fast as possible, so making custom stuff for yourself isn't that weird. I will echo above that the biggest difference between the cheap stuff and the more pro stuff is the "fancy" part of DJing, namely the stuff that takes you from being just a DJ to being more of a turntablist.
Also, one serious advantage to starting with hardware is the resale value. Not only could you get something for less on eBay, but you could also likely sell it yourself if you play with it for a month and decide it's not for you -- or you want something better.
Alrighty so you want to spin digital with your MP3s eh? You've got some options my friend. Some expensive, some not as expensive but still pricey.
For starters you will want a laptop. Desktops are usable for this, but a laptop makes life sooo much easier. Especially if you go balls out with the setup you get.
To mix MP3s though you really have 3 options.
1) download the software and try mixing with just your pc/laptop. This can be achieved using software like Virtual DJ(meh), Serato Scratch Live(good), Traktor Pro(best but hella pricey). Not having a controller though will severely limit how well you can do this. It's hard enough mixing on an actual deck, let alone using KBAM.
2) You can get a vinyl setup, and use Scratch Live and an SL box to convert a vinyl setup into a digital setup. This can be EXTREMELY expensive. You'll want some numark turntables or Technic 1200s(the best), needles, and a solid mixer(denon, numark, vestax, etc, etc). This works really really well, and keeps that vinyl feeling while allowing you to mix not only MP3s, but vinyl if you want, and CDs if you get the gear. It's the most flexible option, but also by far the more cost prohibitive.
3) And the last solution, which is personally my favorite, is an actual midi controller itself. This is the setup I use, and for the price it can't be beat. I use a Vestax VCI-300 in conjunction with my macbook pro and Serato Itch(Scratch live made for specific midi controllers)
With this setup I can mix any MP3 on my laptop, and control all my mixing via a USB powered midi controller. It has all the features of a standard vinyl deck(eq balance, cross faders, volume faders, pitch faders, scratch capability), as well as a few other toys you can't get on vinyl decks(custom cue point manipulation in the songs, massive pitch fading far more than most if not all vinyl decks), and Serato is already issuing a patch to Itch to include a large effects library, support for multiple decks rather than just 2, and support for the various add ons the controller manufacturers are putting out(Such as the VFX-1 effects pad from Vestax). All itch compatible controllers all have a built in sound card capable of extremely high quality sound. So you don't need to buy an external sound card like you would with other controllers. They also come pre-configured out of the box to function with itch, so you don't need to define every button and knob in the software. Which is both good and bad. Good because it works out of the box the way you'd expect it too, bad because you can't configure custom setups to do all sorts of crazy shit like you can in traktor.
And if you already have a laptop/pc you can get a VCI-300 with the software(itch comes standard) for anywhere between 600-900 bucks.
There are several other non-itch specific controllers you can get(the VCI-100 from vestax is very popular, as are some of the numark controllers), but keep in mind you will have to configure the software to make the controllers work. Which can be a huge pain in the ass. Fortunately you can find some of the more popular configs online.
One of those configs comes from a rather great website that focuses entirely on digital dj'ing. I'd recommend you check the site out, read some of the articles, and use their resources to determine which direction you'd like to go before buying a deck. the site is www.djtechtools.com. It's run by an extremely talented guy by the name of Ean Golden. He's also a rather friendly chap. Had the pleasure of talking to him a few times. Very nice guy, extremely knowledgeable too.
Anywho if you got any questions fire away. If I can't answer it I'm sure either someone on here or on DJTT can answer it for you.
Edit: and looking for a decent digital rig for sub 200 bucks may be asking a bit much. With the majority of controllers you will have to buy extra stuff. Whether that be the software, an external sound card, or what have you. DJ'ing is by no means a cheap hobby, and I can't in all honesty say trying to spend less than 200 bucks is reasonable. It may be do-able, but it will most likely be extremely difficult. At least to do it on a decent level. Not to mention it's like any other hobby. Addictive. You will want to buy more gear. You'll see something cool online that someone has done using something like say a Korg Nanopad, or a controller you don't have, and you will want to buy it. The desire to want to do better and one-up everyone else is massive with this hobby.
Hey no problem. I'm always down to talk shop. I started off doing vinyl DJ'ing, but quickly moved into the digital realm when I saw just how much more flexible it really is. A lot of top artists are going the digital route too. DJ AM kind of kicked that off by being a huge serato enthusiast.
If you have any questions feel free to PM me or whatever. I'll help you as best I can
Honestly, here's what I would do now since you're kind of iffy on it. I'm going to go on the assumption that since you're interested in DJing that you're really into music.
1. Spend that money that you were going to spend on a good set of headphones.
2. Find some shovelware dj sofware or some free trials and see if it's something you can get into.
3. If you like it, buy/upgrade your software/controllers.
4. If you don't like it, you have some nice headphones to enjoy your music on.
colour me interested in that setup- i was thinking of making a switch to some CD decks, after a long time using vinyl, but now you have me seriously considering this option!
Dumb question, though- are those jog wheels motorised, to give the feeling of being a spinning platter, so you can pitch bend by dragging? Obviously it wouldn't be a dealbreaker either way, just curious...
On the VCI-300 no they aren't motorized. Numark has an Itch controller called the NS-7 that is motorized. However you can pitch bend with the jog wheels. See they're touch sensitive. You touch the black part while you have the scratch button enabled and the wheel will glow red on the outside indicating you can now scratch. Whereas if you just rotate the jog wheel by putting your finger on the outside of the wheel(or disabling the scratch button for that respective deck) you can pitch bend by touching anywhere on the wheel.
I know I could look up minimum spec.
Itch with the Vestax says:
But video gaming tells me that just meeting the minimum specs without exceeding them can be extremely frustrating.
I'll also reiterate what others have said: If you want to get in to this it is best to make an investment on equipment. If you have any conviction of DJing (even just fooling around for fun or for friends) a year from now you'll be kicking yourself for buying those $100 belt driven tables!
For a digital setup (MP3s, CDs and USB) the best bang for your buck is the Pioneer CDJ400s - Its like they took the 800, made it better, and then lowered the cost! You really wont need 1000s unless you are planning some club dates.
After that you'll need a mixer and Pioneer does a great job too - DJM400 is what I enjoy, just 2 channels, effects and other fun toys. Rane mixers are also fantastic (ie expensive) but I feel with a mixer if you can even just get some simple 2 channel with EQ fades and a cross fader that's all you need to start.
Unfortunately this simple set up can cost you around ~$1600 retail, but it is very worth it - I haven't done a gig in over a year but I still enjoy having the solid equipment knowing that it will last me for a very long time.
Sony MDR-V500DJ headphones are a solid choice for headphones - I've used $200 DJ headphones and they were uncomfortable and broke easily! These are $70 and you'll have no qualms throwing them in your bag when you travel.
Be careful when getting into DJing! It soon leads to the much more expensive "I want to produce music" bug....but that's for another thread!
Also if you plan to spin DnB dont tell your basshead friends that you'll be spinning CDs, they may merc you!
I would highly recommend against using a netbook. And a 2ghz proc would be a little light in my opinion. There's a lot of background audio processing going on, as well as a massive amount of USB communications. So you're processor will be very key to this whole thing. If you can swing it, I would highly recommend a macbook. I don't want to dive into the whole Mac vs PC argument, because it's not neccesary. Going strickly off of my own experience, a macbook is much more reliable for this kind of use than a PC is. I've had windows laptops randomly take a shit during a live set, which is something my macbook has never done.
Look for a used macbook within the last few generations and you'll be fine. You don't need top of the line for this, and if you want a PC I'd recommend at least a single core 3ghz+, but a dual core would be preferable. Like I said there's a lot of audio processing going on, and when you start throwing in the mass quantities of USB communications you can tax a CPU pretty hard. You wont need anything like you would for A/V processing, because we're just dealing stricly wth audio and for the most part it's all playback. So a decently powerful CPU, a good chunk of ram(1.5-2gb preferably), and a sizeable hard drive will do you fine
http://www.numark.com/idj2
Hey there's nothing wrong with an ipod mixer. They can be kind of fun