Starting off

munky_boy

So over the last few months ive realy been geting into djing,ive only been playing house parties but you have to start somewhere i supose.At the moment im just using my laptop and virtual dj but every so often it crashes,which is never good.So im thinking of geting myself some turn tables and i was just wondering if i would be better off getin cd or a vinyl set,and how much i should be looking at spending for a starter kit.Thanks in advance lads.

DarkJager

Hi Munky Boy. The turntables you should buy are all down to how much you are willing to learn. Vinyl mixing is a lot harder than using CD turntables because there is no auto cue functions and the success of the mix is really down to how good you are. Personally I prefer vinyl as it feels good to get a mix nailed, I'd feel kind of cheated if I was using CDJ's As for a starter kit, I'm not too sure on prices for CDJ turntables, but I started out with a set of Kam direct drive turntables, and this cost me about 300 ~. Its nothing fancy at all but is solid enough to get you started. Hope this helps.

Single Malt

Not to mention that vinyl looks cooler, and piracy ain't an issue. Its too easy to burn an entire library of tunes to cd. But it does nothing for the industry, as like it or not, its pretty niche (its rare a proper 12" release makes waves in popular charts), and as such needs the support of dj's. Also, if you are good on vinyl, then picking up cd mixing will be as easy as taking candy from a baby (which I do not in any way condone)

DJ_Spider

+1 Single Malt. Although I use mp3's I ensure they are legal. I have a couple of friends back in the UK who have fallen foul of the copyright laws. It is getting really difficult there now as you have to have a liscence for all your songs and have to show the PRS proof that you obtained them legally.

But to the OP, vinyl makes you look more like a real DJ, but digital is the future. In fact DJ Sasha says he is now going totally digital and has had a cutom built laptop made for him. Good luck and remember, practice makes perfect! :cool:

DarkJager

DJ_Spider wrote: »

+1 Single Malt. Although I use mp3's I ensure they are legal. I have a couple of friends back in the UK who have fallen foul of the copyright laws. It is getting really difficult there now as you have to have a liscence for all your songs and have to show the PRS proof that you obtained them legally.

But to the OP, vinyl makes you look more like a real DJ, but digital is the future. In fact DJ Sasha says he is now going totally digital and has had a cutom built laptop made for him. Good luck and remember, practice makes perfect! :cool:

Vinyl will never die out. I don't buy into this whole "digital" thing, there's just no real skill needed. Sure you have to learn the ins and out of the program you are using but its still just "click a few buttons here, set this track to play here" and voila, you've got a mix. For me, it just takes all the fun out of it. The only real hinderence to vinyl DJ'ing is of course the learning curve (beatmatching, harmony mixing etc) and the fact that there is a serious lack of good vinyl shops in Ireland.

Scubadevils

DarkJager wrote: »

Vinyl will never die out. I don't buy into this whole "digital" thing, there's just no real skill needed. Sure you have to learn the ins and out of the program you are using but its still just "click a few buttons here, set this track to play here" and voila, you've got a mix. For me, it just takes all the fun out of it. The only real hinderence to vinyl DJ'ing is of course the learning curve (beatmatching, harmony mixing etc) and the fact that there is a serious lack of good vinyl shops in Ireland.

I have never tried mixing with digital equipment but it has to still involve skill/creativity, the important parts are tune selection, programming and arrangement at the end of the day which has just been made easier I suppose with technology.

I have only ever mixed with vinyl and probably wouldn't change that, mainly because I love vinyl and enjoy the whole mix process and 'touch and feel' of it etc. I think if I was starting now though I would go either CD or MP3 as those options weren't there when I started. Vinyl is very expensive and not as easy to get hold of, but I would suspect much more rewarding when you do... I have always loved the hunt for new/old tunes over the years. Dublin is quite good for vinyl at the moment (in limited shops) but I would much prefer buying online now... a lot cheaper (especially with the weak £ at the moment) and you can listen to almost full tracks on the likes of boomkat...

www.boomkat.com

www.warpmart.com (these guys are brilliant to deal with)

As was mentioned in another thread recently, go and buy these two books -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Night-DJ-Saved-Life/dp/0755313984/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211317141&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-DJ-Properly-Science-Playing/dp/0593058119/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1211317141&sr=8-1

They are both excellent books that I wish had been around when I started.

deevey

Personally for turntables I would go with a set of Stanton, gemini or Numark Direct drive turntables as a base setup + probably a Numark,stanton, Vestax or Ecler (if you can afford it) mixer, the vestax 06-pro is under 300 euro now which is a nice deal (it was 600 real money pounds a few years back!) .. sound is great from it

2 channel with basic Bass, Mid, Treble, Gain control with decent sound quality and not too many toys (kills or effects) .. generally the ones with the toys break easy or sound crap)

Decent headphones !! .. I got a set of sony V6's .. which have been studio standard for 15+ years, loud, comfortable, amazing sound ... much better than the newer sony "DJ series" methinks, and you should be able to pick up a new set up for around 50-60 euro on ebay.

Of course all assuming you dont want to splash out on Technics or vestax , dont buy technics or vestax new!.. but you can get bargains as I did on adverts.ie or B&S.. 120 Euro for a technics in perfect Working Order :-O

Don't touch KAM .. they dont have decent torque and "floppy" feeling platters .. american DJ are knock offs of KAM. applies to older kam BDX / DDX series .. i dont know what the newer ones are like

Seeing as you have a laptop maybe look at getting a Digital Vinyl System like final Scratch / serato or even mixvibes (mix vibes being the cheapest but not the best of the bunch).

This will give you the tactile feel of vinyl mixing while still enabling you to use your MP3's and downloads through your laptop.

While you said your laptop is crashing there is probably a simple reason for it ... a secondry install on a second partition for audio only (no other software) would possibly sort it out.

This above will give you the tactile feel of vinyl mixing while still enabling you to use your MP3's and downloads...

..I hate using most CD players except the Numark CDX or Denon ones with the rotating platter.

Else a controller for the laptop like xponant or kontrol-dj instead of the above .. which is what I'm using .. I think it gives better musical flexibility not to mention portability over CD's or Vinyl - just my Opinon.

But to the OP, vinyl makes you look more like a real DJ, but digital is the future. In fact DJ Sasha says he is now going totally digital and has had a cutom built laptop made for him.

How often do you get to see into most DJ boxes / stages these days.. looking cool to groupies =isn't what we are at now is it .. hehe ?

"The Maven" Custom built Mixer/midi controller that he designed ! and he went totally digital a good few years ago playing off an Imac with ableton live.

Paul van Dyke recently went 100 digital too .. as he said "The other day I was wondering, what did I actually do once the record was playing? Wait for eight minutes to mix in the next one? How boring.”"

.. can't agree more

Vinyl will never die out. I don't buy into this whole "digital" thing, there's just no real skill needed.

Living under a rock the past 10 years ? Serato / Final Scratch / Mixvibes / Deckadance ? all vinyl control solutions.. don't forget.. xponant, VCI 100 etc as Midi control surfaces for DJ'ing ... and if you want to get the best out of the systems you need to start learning more than a pitch fader and start stop !

Sure you have to learn the ins and out of the program you are using but its still just "click a few buttons here, set this track to play here" and voila, you've got a mix.

...you can do the same with vinyl bar the beatmatching (and yes i've seen DJ's do it!.. press start and begin xfade)

.. theres less skill required if your lazy, more skill needed if you actually want to put in the effort .. same as DJ'ing of any sort really, my guess is the OP is looking to learn.

For me, it just takes all the fun out of it. The only real hinderence to vinyl DJ'ing is of course the learning curve (beatmatching, harmony mixing etc)

No offence but there really is no curve really unless you mean scratching ?... harmony mixing still applies (to a greater extent even) on digital .. as you are able to control the harmonies ..

Regardless of which system you use you still need to know what sounds good together .. and where to drop it.

If your tone deaf on either vinyl or Digital you will still sound like sh!te

and the fact that there is a serious lack of good vinyl shops in Ireland.

I spent my fortunes in the past on vinyl ..picking and choosing as many records a week I could afford .. the price of vinyl is nuts (do you really want the 3 other mixes you'll never play?) , and most stuff is getting released digitally via beatport or other sites at under a 8th the price of a vinyl.. thats 8 times the music or a saving off the cost whichever way you want to look at it.

I love playing vinyl (its easier drunk than digital .. don't let that put you off) but the outlay of turntables .. and even DVS system when i'm at the stage of wanting to DJ with Ableton Live doesn't make sense

Sorry for the rant .. late .... tired ... un-nostalgic.. and bitter that record shops raped me of all my beer money about 8 years ! .. I still love all my old vinyl classics and wont give them up for anything, but if I had the software and hardware options back then as I do now, things would be done a hullofalot differently.

Just a thought . but as this question comes up fairly often .. would it not be an idea to sticky something detailing the options of whats out there regards dj solutions e.g. What Turntables / Software / Soundcards / Controllers etc ?

Oh and vinyl will never die cause it sounds better

seannash

listen man,cdjs are the only way to go.
people saying vinyl will never die out and to some extent thats true but most record lables arent pressing vinyl anymore.its all mp3 downloads.
as for it being harder on vinyl because of no auto cue,thats ridiculous.how hard is it to find the begining of the record,cmon now!!!!!
besides some tracks dont start on the first beat so auto cue is useless in these situations which is why most cdjs djs dont rely on it.
plus theres the cost factor.2 euros for a track or 10 euros for a track.
ive used vinyl for years and moved to cdjs 4 years ago,the majority of professional djs use cds these days simply because thats how they get there music.
asd for sasha.he doesnt hacve a custom laptop it a custom controller(midi controller) but thats neither here nor there.
honestly dont buy vinyl turntables,you simply wont be able to get the music you want on vinyl and also its cheaper thn vinyl.it doesnt make you less of a dj

seannash

oh and if you decide turntables get technics.simply because if you show up to a club and thay actually have turntables theyll more than likely be technics so you ll be familiar with them.
on the cd route go for pioneer cdj 1000s for the same reasons as above,there the industry standard