Brand Spanking New

[rhetski]

Hi everyone

I am a female looking to make my way into the world of DJing.

I have been doing a fair bit of reading about equipment and where I should start and I just wanted to clarify why is everyone so opposed to the use of software/computers instead of cd players?

For me personally, I have started out in the world of mobile DJing and am looking at using my mac purely due the ease of transporting the thousands of tracks I would need in my collection that people might request at parties etc. I know most of you guys will be club DJs and use cds, I just wanted to hear a bit more more about the cons of using a computer and your thoughts on what would be most suitable for what I am looking to achieve.

I have been working for someone else and have done all my jobs so far using some really awful gear, really basic push play kinda stuff and I am definately looking to go out on my own and to progress and do some 'proper' DJing.

I have a start up budget of around $4000 - I already have my macbook pro so I will need everything else - Looking forward to your replies.

[CBG]

A female!!! welcome

But seriously, welcome mate. Ask any question you like.

So do you want to to MIDI based DJing like with loops or DJ of traktor? Or buy decks?

[CBG]

ohh and ppl are opposed (like myself) to computing DJing because it's too easy. But this is only really in reference to Virtual DJ, all other DVS and Live Performance software are widely accepted

[rhetski]

I was looking at getting a Hercules RMX to work in conjunction with Virtual DJ on my Mac

[CBG]

You wont get very far into the world of DJing using Virtual DJing and you cant really do anything more with VDJ than you can with decks.

[ChevChelios]

Maybe start by looking into some high end vestax controllers, that along with traktor would be practical and portable

Oh and welcome

[wazza]

I'm with Chev on this one

I'v got a Vestax vci-100 that I run with mixvibes producer software.....work good & is soild build

but you will need to buy good sound card...

get the Vestax vci-300.....its way better than the 100...& has a sound card in it & comes with free Serato ITCH [ very good software ]

so its easy to set-up....just plug-in & play

got to use the Vestax VCI-300 in N.Z at the start off the year....it was very , very good

& you can get them in LTD pink for the Ladies d.j like you..

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

http://www.pssl.com/vestax-vci-300-usb-controller-w-serato-itch-pink

[djarmed]

Big con to a computer is it can crash. Has happened to paul van dyk.

I've heard positive things about the hercules midi controllers. but if you got 4k go for something a little more classy like vestax. i'd recommend traktor pro for the software. then maybe move onto ableton for a bit more creativity.

welcome by the way.

[Buck_Choi]

with that dosh you could if you wanted to the CDJ 400's or even better the 1000's 2nd hand of course, and then a DVS either traktor or Scratch live. all works great and it still gives you the mobility to have all your music on your laptop

downside to computer djing apart from it being frowned on, it doesnt look as cool 8-]

[rhetski]

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. Has definately given me some food for thought!!

So my $4000 budget has to cover everything! So I'm talking not only my mixer/controller, but also my speakers, stands, lights, headphones, wireless mics and leads and whatever else I may need to complete the set up.

What I am hoping to do is get something simple and practical to start out using, but also has the ability to do more complex stuff as my skills progress.

If any other mobile DJ's out there can suggest what kind of lights and other gear I might want to look at feel free to suggest away!

Thaks again everyone! Really appreciate the help!

[Buck_Choi]

oooo.. you want the whole deal ... hmm yeah you'd go a controller with inbult sound card where you can hookup to traktor or Scratch live. go the one as above.

speakers are pretty expensive, theres a few people here who should know what speakers are good,

read into passive and active speakers.. i 4got but one means it has an inbuilt amp (heavier) and the other means it requires an amp and the other doesnt, and one requires a powersupply and the other one doesnt.. not 100% some one correct me. i created a thread regarding this ill try dig it up for you.

http://ausdjforums.com/modules.php?name ... pic&t=1977

found it :]

[Buck_Choi]

Hey B...

Pasive speakers are powered by a separate amp so you have your amp on under your DJ booth and two cables heading out to your left and right speaker.

Active/powered speakers have an amplifier built into the speaker itself and require a power cable as well as data.

Both have pros and cons.

Passive speakers only require one cable each but if the amp and speakers are mismatched in terms of power, one may damage the other.

Powered speakers are a lot heavier and require a power cable/source. But generally the amp and speaker are matched to provide the best quality sound. They also cost more.

would personally reccommend going for passive speakers in order to seperate components, i.e., if the amp blows, you can hire another and still use your speakers rather than losing an amp and a speaker if an active speaker blows.

You'll find that most clubs and permanent installs use passive speakers for this reason. I beleive this also allows you to get much more powerful amplifiers as they can be alot larger if they do not need to fit in the back of a speaker cabinet.

That being said, as Sourceraver has pointed out there are some very good active speakers, I personally love using mackie SRM1500 or 1800 powered subwoofers. However, cheaper 18 inch passive subwoofers coupled with a powerful amplifier and an appropriate crossover system can also sound very good at a lower cost.

Also, active speakers will of course take up a smaller space and therefore be easier to transport.

One example: JB Hifi sell Audioline PA Speakers. Their 15 inch active model with a built in amp, in my opinion, sounds no where near as good as the 15 inch passive model with my peavey 8.5C amplifier.

[SourceRaver]

$4000 isnt much for a complete set up. Make sure you check E-bay and Gumtree for second hand gear and also look out for folks selling their whole dj package.

Given your budget, the RMX is the way to go. make sure you have an I-pod plugged in as well just in case your computer has any problems. I'd recommend the following:

2 X 12 inch powered speakers (ie Mackie, JBL Eons etc) and stands

1 X Push up lighting stand

1 X Hallucination lighting effect (very verstatile for gigs)

2 X Misc lighting effects (LED for longer lasting lamps)

1 X Smoke machine (with timer if you can afford it)

1 X Headphones (Pioneer, Sony, Technics etc)

[Buck_Choi]

just for comparing,

http://www.djwarehouse.com.au/shop-by-b ... bwodIj7owg

the jpl speakres.

lighting i think you'd check

http://www.lightsounds.com.au/

and of course www.ebay.com.au and www.gumtree.com.au

[SourceRaver]

If I was doing it all again I'd buy a couple of CDJ400s and a simple mixer that way you can:

1) Play songs direct from USB

2) Play CDs

3) Use the CDJs as controllers for Virtual DJ in much the same way you would use the RMX. You simply connect each CDJ to your computer via a USB cord and then the output from each is sent to the mixer via a couple of RCA cables. You can then drag and drop songs on your desktop (or from I-tunes) into the virtual DJ deck and use the CDJ to cue and beatmatch the tune. Blending the tunes is done using your mixer.

The last option also allows the computer to do the beatmatching for you but at least your practising all the other skills of a traditional Dj.

[DjNikko]

oh i just noticed spanking in the title and thought i should mention it

[Buck_Choi]

get a bin like SourceRaver thats awesome, i want one!

[Skank]

cdj400's FTW

[Buck_Choi]

cdj 400s may be out of the question due to the budget and the other things such as the speakers lighting etc.

[pill]

Just out of interest, what state are you in, and what kind of price bracket are you are looking at targeting for your services, and also what scene (i.e. weddings vs 18ths, etc). Just to give us some kind of idea what you will need for your gigs (weddings pay very well and you could do them easily with the set of gear below).

I'm always buying and selling gear in perth so I might be able to help you out. Also, I'm in contact with a couple of chinese manufacturers for lighting and wireless mics, I'd be happy to pass on bulk purchase prices to you.

As you mentioned, a "press play" system works fine for weddings which is why companies such as mobydisc can operate by giving their dj a jukebox and a set of speakers and telling them to press play, pocketing a few hundred and paying their dj $20 an hour. A $4k investment should easily get you in the game. I'd personally break it up like this:

$200 - PPCA License (yearly)

$800 - Public Liability Insurance (yearly)

$500 - Set of cheap, passive P.A. speakers (such as audioline ALPA15 from jb hifi, you can upgrade these later)

$80 - JB Hifi Speaker Stands

$700 - Behringer EPX3000 Switch Mode Amplifier (much lighter than standard amplifiers)

$330 - Virtual DJ Pro with Mac Support (cheaper versions are PC only - you can save $100 here if you can use boot camp)

$350 - Behringer BCD3000 Midi Controller (could spend alot more money here but really should start off cheap, this will do the job for now and when you have $2k to drop on cdj400s or 1k to drop on a numark/vestax controller you can do so)

$90 - instandt lighting stand

$220 x 2 - ACME Stormbird effects lights (classic effects light, plug and play non-dmx way to start out)

$110 - Cables, etc (you can make most of them, eg speakon leads, yourself at half of RRP if you have registered trade cards through altronics, etc. Again, happy to help if you are in perth area or are willing to pay postage).

Which comes to $3600, and leaves you $400 to drop on your first splash of music. You'll know what songs are most popular and i'm sure you'll be willing to expand your collection based on personal requests from all of your clients.

My personal reccommendation for that is bigpondmusic.com which varies between $1.40 and $2.60 a track and is all MP3 and DRM free. You'll have to use itunes and beatport for rarer tracks though.

Any extra gear (super-huge lighting setups, subwoofers, etc) I would just rent for the night for now, as that gear should be all you'd need for the standard mobile DJ gig.

The prices I mentioned are mostly based on WA stuff so if you want to know what suppliers to use, just ask we're all here to help!

P.S. I'm interested to see how other people would budget this!

Double PS - I know i might cop a bit of flack for the equipment in this post from club DJs but it's a very different story when you have to carry all of your gear around twice a weekend every week and set up/pack down at ridiculous hours!

EDIT: I see I have forgotten headphones and wireless mics in this. I would suggest just using cheap headphones to start with - $50 should do the trick, ebay "DJ headphones" or similar. you can get better ones down the track. And those imported wireless microphones go for about $200 for a pair of Phase Lock Loop UHFs and receiver.

[JonnyB]

ok well the reason why most people are oposed to it is because, in most cases, using more technology is widely accepted and more so encouraged, but with djing i think its kind of the oposite, the more analog and awat from the digital age you get, the better.

the main reason i hav a problem with it is, not so much having a problem with it, but not understanding why you wouldnt want to use cdj's or more so vinyl in th first place, its so much finner anyway./ thats just my view, i dont actually have a problem with people using it. i just never personaly would.

For $4000 are you looking to include a speaker set up in that?

[djarmed]

i see it in the way of how versatile you are.

e.g. you start on software it beatmatches for you and you generally (use that term loosely) can do a half descent mix without having to concentrate so much on your tracks skipping out as the software keeps them perfectly aligned most of the time.

Now with cd or vinyl you have to learn to beatmatch which takes time, sometimes months and months before you can put something together that doesn't sound like your trying to make some new weapon for the government that destroys peoples ears.

But if you practise with vinyl or cd decks then like i said above you become alot more versatile. you can walk into a club and be confident in your beatmatching not relying on software to do it for you. The other thing is i have not seen many clubs embrace the computer dj software era yet and im sure they will at some stage but will prob be quite a while.

Basically if you ever want to play in clubs get some decks and learn to beatmatch first.

Look at it this way if you learn to drive on a automatic car (dj software) you generally will suck ass in a manual (vinyl or cd decks).

But if you learn manual first (vinyl or cd decks) you will do fine on an auto (dj software).

Cause anyone can drive an auto!!! hahaha

[CBG]

gd analogy. and if you dont know how to drive a manual, theres heaps jobs you cant do.

[Buck_Choi]

+rep to pill very detailed

[ill_spector]

pill +rep

perhaps wait for cdj 350 combo to come out,

and combine with recordbox on your mac

cheap lighting rig + 2nd had speaker setup

practice, do a few small gigs

build up collection get licences etc BAM!

but since your starting out ide get the 350's and practice for a while, learn the gear in and out, build up your music collection and get good.

save your money or the rest of the gear later once you have the skillz then go mobile or whatever.