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best equipment to buy?


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EZ man,

before following in everyone elses footsteps:

what genre music do you want to play?

will you want to scratch and cut?

none of the midi controllers or cd players recommended so far will let you do that.

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i always encourage people who are just getting into it to stay away from digital systems eg. controllers/laptop

you really want to master the core fundamental of djing which is beat matching, computers/software can cheat for you by pushing "sync"

if your worried about all your music beingo n your laptop, all you have to do is xfer it to a usb stick and the cdjs read directly from that (youre going to want your tunes on usb anyways because you could be out somewhere and get asked to play, i carry a usb with all my latest stuff on my keyring, 8 or 16 gig usb sticks are dirt cheap these days)

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i would recommend 2x cdjs (usb capable) and a mixer

i was very much into music and knew this would be something i would continue to do for a very long time so i didnt mind spending a bit

currently the best entry level setup (in my opinion) is the pioneer cdj 350 package, brand new its just over $2k

https://www.storedj.com.au/products/PIO-PK-CDJ350-1

this gets you:

2 cdj 350s

1 djm 350

with these cdjs they come with a feature called "BPM Lock", you want to avoid this like the plague as its basically a hardware version of sync

2k is a lot if your just thinking of testing the waters, im not too sure what the going price is second hand for these

another option is the cdj 400s and djm 400

these are the previous model to the 350 and have been around a long while and were regarded very highly, the only difference spec wise between the 400 and the 350 is the 350s have an improved jog wheel (the jog wheel is the outer ring of the platter used for nudging when fine tuning your beatmatching)

again some other members would be able to point you in the right direction for some good second hand 400s

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did an 5 second search on ebay for second hand pioneer cdj 400 package and returned one for about $1500

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Pioneer-DJ-Packa ... 1e6365b5c0

keep in mind thats second hand where as for a little extra you're getting brand new 350s

it sucks, because you dont want to go too cheap and find out you want to upgrade 3 months down the track and spend more money then you would of if you got a decent package, but you dont want to go and spend all this money then find out djing is not for you

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yeah thats why im looking at spending around 1000 to 1500 coz like i love the music djs make and i wanna give it a shot myself by it seems so complicated but looks so easy.

but yeah ill probs look at getting some second hand cdjs and mixer that takes usb. whats the best brand to get aswell?

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check bio on my profile mate.

just noticed tho: you say you like the music djs make.

it's worth noting that making music is what a music producer would do.

DJs play music at parties, clubs etc.

Often the same person will do both but they are very different processes.

DJ is in a room full of dancing nutters, he/she guesses what people want to hear and uses the equipment to blend music to the best of his/her ability so the party keeps rocking. A DJ needs a set up like Gandy mentioned.

Music producer sits in a room at a computer and generates his/her own music with no interruption or distraction. Then distributes this music for DJs to play at parties. A producer can start with ableton software alone and see how things develop.

If it's the sound and not the scene that you are into then you maybe want to consider this.

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check bio on my profile mate.

just noticed tho: you say you like the music djs make.

it's worth noting that making music is what a music producer would do.

DJs play music at parties, clubs etc.

Often the same person will do both but they are very different processes.

DJ is in a room full of dancing nutters, he/she guesses what people want to hear and uses the equipment to blend music to the best of his/her ability so the party keeps rocking. A DJ needs a set up like Gandy mentioned.

Music producer sits in a room at a computer and generates his/her own music with no interruption or distraction. Then distributes this music for DJs to play at parties. A producer can start with ableton software alone and see how things develop.

If it's the sound and not the scene that you are into then you maybe want to consider this.

exact point i was trying to make.

a DJ is a live performer, whereas a producer is the guy/girl who makes the music the DJ plays. You can be both....

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ahh yeahh that makes heaps more sense. so what if i wanna make my own stuff and then be a dj? what sorta stuff am i gunna have to get then?

or should i just start off as a dj and make some money and then buy the equipment to make my own stuff?

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yeah thats why im looking at spending around 1000 to 1500 coz like i love the music djs make and i wanna give it a shot myself by it seems so complicated but looks so easy.

but yeah ill probs look at getting some second hand cdjs and mixer that takes usb. whats the best brand to get aswell?

pioneer are the industry standard for dj gear. so everything you will see in the clubs 9/10 will be all pioneer

just reading your other posts and looks like you make want to look into producing more than mixing?

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ahh yeahh that makes heaps more sense. so what if i wanna make my own stuff and then be a dj? what sorta stuff am i gunna have to get then?

or should i just start off as a dj and make some money and then buy the equipment to make my own stuff?

you can choose either way, whichever you enjoy :) djim hit the nail on the head with the explanation +rep mate

i have very little producing knowledge so will let one of our other members take the floor for that

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its cheaper to make music as a producer using laptop and software than set up as a dj. To start you just need laptop and software plus an external soundcard or midi controller with audio.

the rest of the guys here will dis this but a numark mixtrack pro is the cheapest reliable midi controller which will let you control ableton + act as a soundcard plus will be available for use as a dj controller if you travel that path later. It even comes with it's own DJ software on it but it aint that great. The S4, denon 6000 etc will all do this too but cost about 3 times the price if you're just testing the water.

you can always add kit a bit at a time later on.

have a look at demo for ableton on: http://www.ableton.com/products

but there is also fruity loops, acid pro, or even reason for producers. Logic, Cubase and protools are unneccesary if you are approaching this from step 1 IMO.

but really it's up to you how you start.

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well im gunna buy a laptop soon coz my last one broke so thats my first priority

but then im gunna save up the money and am thinking now of getting some cdjs and mixer and start off with that and if i enjoy it all ill try making some money from partys and shit and when i get the money probs start producing my own stuff

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fair play bruv, even though the set up costs are higher there is much more chance of an income doing gigs than releasing tracks.

there's loads more info on this forum, esp try the mobile dj threads if you are planning to get out and about, but also obviously the beginners techniques etc.

peace to all the real djs.

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