How trite

[apothecary]

Well, I have been messin' around on my friends 1200s for a lil' while now and I want to buy my own decks!

I don't have the massive vinyl collection my friend does (all my music is digital), so I will probably go for cdjs.

Not really willing to spend $5000 on a decent pair of Pioneer cdjs and mixer, but American Audio do much cheaper versions like $2000 for probably a bit less quality but still 4 chan mixer you know does digital scratchin 2.0 and all that jazz.

I understand Pioneer is the industry standard but I figure it'll be a long time if ever before I'm playing on someone elses decks in a situation where it's an issue.

So what do all the other wanna be djs have to say on the issue?

[chilli]

What kind of stuff do you want to do with them? Do you want to scratch or just mix and beat juggle?

[apothecary]

A bit of everything I guess. I listen to a lot of hiphop and rap so I like the ability to scratch.

[Evil Genius]

Hey Apo, at the moment i´m selling my Hip Hop Vinyl Collection. I prefer working with CD´s because everything is so easy. Vinyl is cool and i love having a great record on vinyl but it takes too long if you want to work with vinyl. Just let me know if you need a particular Hip Hop LP.

There is a lot of great DJ Software available but i´m not very up to date. I usually use Emagic Logic to produce Hip Hop Tracks. Btw, an MPC is a really cool thing for making own Beats. If i were in your shoes, i wouldnt buy a Turntable but a very good CD Set. But as i said, i dont know which one is the best at the moment as i make almost everything with software. One thing is for sure, with the great amount of freely downloadable music, i wouldnt go for Vinyl again. Vinyl is classic but if you really want to make music, it´s too slow and too hard to handle. There are even some very cheap CD Scratchers available. I recently saw one for about 200$. bye Eg

[tonic]

I've got 1200's!!! Best turntables ever!! I also have two American Audio cdjs I was wanting to sell. Will do you a good price if interested apoth.

PM me for more details.

[chilli]

I do not know a whole lot about CDJ's, but something I have found to be true with regular turntables and in fact any audio gear is that it is often worth holding out until you can afford something that is better quality with more features because if you really get into it, you will quickly grow frustrated with the limitations and problems of entry level gear, and if you buy better gear to start off with you will be more likely to get into it as it will be a more rewarding experience. I don't think I explained that very well, but I hope you get what I mean.

Cheap brand or entry level CDJ's are renowned for being crap for scratching... another solution to consider would be something like Serato Scratch or M-Audio Torq, which are software/hardware combos that let you use regular vinyl turntables (in conjunction with timecoded records) or CDJ's to control audio files on your computer. This way, you get the feel of vinyl, and you get the option of using vinyl records but can also access your digital audio collection.

*edit* By the way, why is this message called "how trite," and what kind of HipHop do you like?

Edited August 14, 2007 by IllegalBrain

[simon_marklar]

i know friends have gotten a setup of pioneer cdj200's plus mixer for about 1200-1800 bucks i think... i think that was on special. all you really need is two pioneer cdj 200's and a djm 400 (thats the starter mixer) i'll ask them where they got theirs from

http://www.djwarehouse.com.au/cat/index.cg...oduct_id=206521

has cdj 100's + a dodgey behringer mixer for uner 1500., but behringer is of dubious quality.

http://www.djwarehouse.com.au/cat/index.cg...oduct_id=206525

is what i would recommend but i'd say without all the junk like a coffin case the price would come down a bit. Search around, see what you can find. unless you're transporting you dont really need a coffin case...

i would not recommend any other brand cdjs...

Edited August 16, 2007 by simon_marklar

[apothecary]

Well thanks for the advice everyone.

I ended up on the good side of a deal, two secondhand Pioneer 800's for 750 each.

I am undecided as yet on mixer, but supposedly Numark DXM60 or whatever is the most popular/sturdiest/feature rich mixer for beginners, so I will probably go with one of them.

[apothecary]

*edit* By the way, why is this message called "how trite," and what kind of HipHop do you like?

'Cos everyone and their dog wants to be a dj!

I listen to a lot of NYC hiphop, Mos Def being my favourite.

[Evil Genius]

Hi Apothecary, sounds good if they arent too usedl! I once had some Numark mixers and they ve been ok. It was some one from the 900er Series. Nothing special but it was good for the beginning! bye Eg

[incognito]

awesome apoth!!! good luck with it man and i really look forward to hearing something u have created, with ur diverse musical interests, astounding mathematical brain and of course ur interests in everything esoteric/psychadelic and more, not to mention ur bonzer good looks should make for some potential kick ass music!!!! i for one am hanging out and would like to propose myself as ur first groupie.

[El Barto]

IMO its best(easy/ongoingly-cheap) to just use a laptop as all you home entertainment systems in one

[Hagakure]

start checking out ebay.

see what pops up and read reviews and ask around.

were some decks that sold last week at about half their RRP

mos def, talib qweli etc are awesome.

you heard of big l? dead now but put out some amazing stuff.

[apothecary]

ebay is almost always dominated by one UK seller. The price you see doesn't include postage lol.

It seems the best spot for pickin up second hand decks is ITM forums, they've got a subforum just for this reason lol.

[Endrogen]

mmm i guess i'm i bit late, but i would've recommended the vestax vci-100, i've still keot my decks but the things you can do with a dj midi controller and laptop are pretty awesome.

http://www.vestax.com/v/products/players/vci100.html

[apothecary]

I've decided that my DJ name is going to be "DJ Rabbi", "The most Kosher DJ in town".

I plan to play at discos and barmitzvahs.

Oi vey!

-Sina the arab jew DJ

[occidentalis]

Mazel Tov, Sina ;).

[Hagakure]

mmm i guess i'm i bit late, but i would've recommended the vestax vci-100, i've still keot my decks but the things you can do with a dj midi controller and laptop are pretty awesome.

http://www.vestax.com/v/products/players/vci100.html

top recommendation endrogen

scoped this one out for a while after your recommendation and finally got one yesterday

its a pretty fun piece of gear.

using traktor 3 LE that was packaged with it but have tried a demo of traktor 3 and am tempted to get it for its looping abilities and a few other little features.

have you tried it out with traktor or with ableton live or something?

[Endrogen]

have you tried it out with traktor or with ableton live or something?

I use this

http://djdecks.be/

its compatible with any time-code vinyl, and also works natively with the vci-100... checkout the demo, for the price its tough to beat. also checkout the forums as there are a few skins available since the default is pretty bland..

[Hagakure]

that dj decks program is pretty good. better effects and many more cool features.

but whats the deal with the jogwheels? with traktor i can get heaps good control and handle a song like vinyl. on djdecks you spin it back and the song spins back in a really jerky manner. have i set it up correctly? seems like it might be trying to pitch shift at the same time as spinning back. any tips?

[Endrogen]

yeh, ive seen how good traktor is at emulating vinyl, ive never tried to setup djdecks like that but i assume its probably only as good as a pitch shift.. you can try the sensitivity settings in the midi options

Edited October 1, 2007 by Endrogen