What to buy to expand into digital DJing

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What to buy to expand into digital DJing
Posted on: 06.06.2013 by Kanisha Hoon
Hi all.

I am rather lost at the moment deciding the best route to follow concerning delving into the world of digital DJing. I have been considering updating my setup for some time and am not sure on the route to take. Any help would be most welcome.

My current setup:
2 CDJ1000 Mk3's - DJM700 - 2 Soundlab Direct Drive DLP3Rs. Albeton 9

Basically I am interested in using a laptop to play my music rather than carting CD's everwhere so it seems Traktor is the way forward? I am really interested in live mixing also, triggering samples over tracks and building up my set this way, so I was looking at the Kontrol X1 and F1. Would this be the best route? Do I need and X1? Should I get 2 F1's?

What ever setup I use I would need to transfer this to ny club I play out at. Some have CDJ2000's, some more primitive.

I already use Albeton to produce and the remix decks on Traktor Scratch 2.5.1 looks like a similar interface. Perhaps you could suggest a better solution?

Any help would be gratefully appreciated

thanks

Mike
Kanisha Hoon
07.06.2013
Originally Posted by joseph321
Hey Mike,
I guess it would make sense to have small controller if thou want to fit them betwixt your gear, so an F1 and an X1 are probably a sensible choice. I'm also trying to get into the remix deck atm and the F1 is the only controller out there that is able to control all its functions. I've tested one lately and though i like the way everything is placed
I couldn't arrange myself with the buttons. You really have to hit them fairly hard and right in the middle, but if you really on want so blend in some stems or raises it should be fine. Still I would really reccomend you getting an X1 for the deck control if you are used to do stuff with your hands and not always use the touchpad since it looks like your checking your emails. I have decided to buy a midifighter for my remix decks - simply because i don't like the squishy buttons on the F1, but I'm sure you could get used to it.

For more tips about why to buy a Kontrol F1 and how to fit it in, I found this really helpful video.


Joseph.

Hi Joseph,

many thanks for te informative reply and the super video. It answered pretty much all of my questions.

I am quite heavy handed when I mix so I guess the trigger problem isn't a problem for me lol. I'm quite excited at the prospect of complete control over 64 samples x 2 and two other decks. I'm glad I watched the video as I now know I need the X1 also, it certainly looks like a good solution to help with control and many other features.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply Joseph.

Mike
Kanisha Hoon
07.06.2013
Originally Posted by InfntlyCr8tve
Hi Mike,

Im curious to know what your goal is ie club use, home DJ, production ect.
It sounds like to me the reason your even looking in this direction is the weight associated with vinyl/Cd's

Cheers!

Never mind i now realize you put this, What ever setup I use I would need to transfer this to ny club I play out at. Some have CDJ2000's, some more primitive.

Me personally, im a huge fan of bridge when using a DVS system, i love ableton but sadly serato's development seems to have been on other stuff lately, totally understandable. theres also a 32/64 bit problem with 9 thats been a big thing though i dont know all the details.

I would really try to decide what software feels best for you.
Traktor and the remix decks are hard to resist, they have great integration imo

As far as x1 vs f1, imo you wont get as much value from x1. The x1 would allow you to do things similar to a dicer, ie hotcue, fx control etc.

As far as the f1 vs mf w/remix deck, That depends on how deep you want to dive into the remix decks. Alot of stuff the f1 can do can be reduplicated on the mf using the remix deck control outside the obvious like individual channel volume control, because i use my remix decks for triggering samples not long prog house mixes i decided to go with the MF because i use a 4 channel mixer, i dont need the extra channel volume control on the unit.

Hope this helps, cheers!

Hi and thanks so much for your informative response. It is an interesting question you raise about just what I am trying to do and I guess the answer is completely live sets from start to finish. I really like the idea of spending lots of time prior to gigs working on the elements and pre organising loops and samples and creating sounds from all manor of things. I am very keen to integrate live instruments also and of course on top of that drop the occasional tune. It does sound quite ambitious but I know it is possible as DJ's like REBOOT do this very thing.

It does seem like the F1 is a good option and I agree that the X1 will help if I am used to actual buttons, which is the case. I've always been slightly dubious about DJ's with their head sin laptops and so the further from this the better really. Also I have a terrible memory for name sof records. The old days with vinyl I was much better with a visual cover for each vinyl, I'm believeing traktor with the artwork for each track will help me here also to remember tunes etc.

Thanks again for such an informative response.

Mike
Kanisha Hoon
07.06.2013
Originally Posted by NoizeImpact
NI's Audio 6 + X1 = Best way for you to go digital

You can play on any device you get with the timecode cd's.
If your club has 400's, 900's or 2000's ---> Only bring your laptop + X1 + some usb cables. (No sound card needed because HID on the cdj's)

I suggest you first learn to work with the basic functions in Traktor. Once you understand all off them, add an F1 for spicing your mix up
Hi mate,

many thanks for the reply, much appreciated. Yes if only every club had a CDJ400, 900 or 2000 life would be simpler lol. I have heard bad things about the Audio6 rather than the Audio10, latency problems etc? I do quite like the idea of 4 decks simultaneously also. More food for thought. Thanks again mate.
Kanisha Hoon
06.06.2013		Hi all.

I am rather lost at the moment deciding the best route to follow concerning delving into the world of digital DJing. I have been considering updating my setup for some time and am not sure on the route to take. Any help would be most welcome.

My current setup:
2 CDJ1000 Mk3's - DJM700 - 2 Soundlab Direct Drive DLP3Rs. Albeton 9

Basically I am interested in using a laptop to play my music rather than carting CD's everwhere so it seems Traktor is the way forward? I am really interested in live mixing also, triggering samples over tracks and building up my set this way, so I was looking at the Kontrol X1 and F1. Would this be the best route? Do I need and X1? Should I get 2 F1's?

What ever setup I use I would need to transfer this to ny club I play out at. Some have CDJ2000's, some more primitive.

I already use Albeton to produce and the remix decks on Traktor Scratch 2.5.1 looks like a similar interface. Perhaps you could suggest a better solution?

Any help would be gratefully appreciated

thanks

Mike
Gwyn Niederstadt
07.06.2013		oh live sets, fun fun fun. So lets just believe that your current assets we'll spinkle in around your idea of the live set.
I, like you, dont enjoy as much straight up djing but diving deeper to make a production right there live

I'll share some of my personal rigs to get the brainstorm flowing.

So I use a Rig that look similar to this

Audio, Ableton, focusrite saffire pro, turntable with berhinger phono pre amp, yamaha mg102c mixer and last but not least a KP mini and some PA's

Controllers, 3d, apc40, custom made touch OSC system and maschine if im feeling froggy : P

So the question becomes what the heck can you do with that?

Let me tell ya, Ableton, running several vst's, maschine included
routed audio via firewire to the focusrite, a/d conversion to mixer
turntable routed to mixer and a/d via splitter
Now i can not only sample my turntable but also play live straight threw via my mixer.

Now on the mixer end, throw a FX unit on the send receive, enter the KPmini
you now have FX on anything digital and analog : P

I could go on and on but you can see here theres so many different ways to believe about this. I personally switch up my set constantly, after a while i started to dial stuff in because i better understood how to achieve my goals

Lastly the APC40's great for clip launching in ableton but i mean im sure you know how flexible the mapping system is so to each their own.

I hope i didn't get to much into a DJ rant and this helps!

cheers
Kanisha Hoon
07.06.2013		Thanks again folks for the informative responses. Great community and glad I joined

Mike
Kanisha Hoon
07.06.2013
Originally Posted by joseph321
Hey Mike,
I guess it would make sense to have small controller if thou want to fit them betwixt your gear, so an F1 and an X1 are probably a sensible choice. I'm also trying to get into the remix deck atm and the F1 is the only controller out there that is able to control all its functions. I've tested one lately and though i like the way everything is placed
I couldn't arrange myself with the buttons. You really have to hit them fairly hard and right in the middle, but if you really on want so blend in some stems or raises it should be fine. Still I would really reccomend you getting an X1 for the deck control if you are used to do stuff with your hands and not always use the touchpad since it looks like your checking your emails. I have decided to buy a midifighter for my remix decks - simply because i don't like the squishy buttons on the F1, but I'm sure you could get used to it.

For more tips about why to buy a Kontrol F1 and how to fit it in, I found this really helpful video.


Joseph.

Hi Joseph,

many thanks for te informative reply and the super video. It answered pretty much all of my questions.

I am quite heavy handed when I mix so I guess the trigger problem isn't a problem for me lol. I'm quite excited at the prospect of complete control over 64 samples x 2 and two other decks. I'm glad I watched the video as I now know I need the X1 also, it certainly looks like a good solution to help with control and many other features.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply Joseph.

Mike
Kanisha Hoon
07.06.2013
Originally Posted by InfntlyCr8tve
Hi Mike,

Im curious to know what your goal is ie club use, home DJ, production ect.
It sounds like to me the reason your even looking in this direction is the weight associated with vinyl/Cd's

Cheers!

Never mind i now realize you put this, What ever setup I use I would need to transfer this to ny club I play out at. Some have CDJ2000's, some more primitive.

Me personally, im a huge fan of bridge when using a DVS system, i love ableton but sadly serato's development seems to have been on other stuff lately, totally understandable. theres also a 32/64 bit problem with 9 thats been a big thing though i dont know all the details.

I would really try to decide what software feels best for you.
Traktor and the remix decks are hard to resist, they have great integration imo

As far as x1 vs f1, imo you wont get as much value from x1. The x1 would allow you to do things similar to a dicer, ie hotcue, fx control etc.

As far as the f1 vs mf w/remix deck, That depends on how deep you want to dive into the remix decks. Alot of stuff the f1 can do can be reduplicated on the mf using the remix deck control outside the obvious like individual channel volume control, because i use my remix decks for triggering samples not long prog house mixes i decided to go with the MF because i use a 4 channel mixer, i dont need the extra channel volume control on the unit.

Hope this helps, cheers!

Hi and thanks so much for your informative response. It is an interesting question you raise about just what I am trying to do and I guess the answer is completely live sets from start to finish. I really like the idea of spending lots of time prior to gigs working on the elements and pre organising loops and samples and creating sounds from all manor of things. I am very keen to integrate live instruments also and of course on top of that drop the occasional tune. It does sound quite ambitious but I know it is possible as DJ's like REBOOT do this very thing.

It does seem like the F1 is a good option and I agree that the X1 will help if I am used to actual buttons, which is the case. I've always been slightly dubious about DJ's with their head sin laptops and so the further from this the better really. Also I have a terrible memory for name sof records. The old days with vinyl I was much better with a visual cover for each vinyl, I'm believeing traktor with the artwork for each track will help me here also to remember tunes etc.

Thanks again for such an informative response.

Mike
Kanisha Hoon
07.06.2013
Originally Posted by NoizeImpact
NI's Audio 6 + X1 = Best way for you to go digital

You can play on any device you get with the timecode cd's.
If your club has 400's, 900's or 2000's ---> Only bring your laptop + X1 + some usb cables. (No sound card needed because HID on the cdj's)

I suggest you first learn to work with the basic functions in Traktor. Once you understand all off them, add an F1 for spicing your mix up
Hi mate,

many thanks for the reply, much appreciated. Yes if only every club had a CDJ400, 900 or 2000 life would be simpler lol. I have heard bad things about the Audio6 rather than the Audio10, latency problems etc? I do quite like the idea of 4 decks simultaneously also. More food for thought. Thanks again mate.
Gwyn Niederstadt
06.06.2013		Hi Mike,

Im curious to know what your goal is ie club use, home DJ, production ect.
It sounds like to me the reason your even looking in this direction is the weight associated with vinyl/Cd's

Cheers!

Never mind i now realize you put this, What ever setup I use I would need to transfer this to ny club I play out at. Some have CDJ2000's, some more primitive.

Me personally, im a huge fan of bridge when using a DVS system, i love ableton but sadly serato's development seems to have been on other stuff lately, totally understandable. theres also a 32/64 bit problem with 9 thats been a big thing though i dont know all the details.

I would really try to decide what software feels best for you.
Traktor and the remix decks are hard to resist, they have great integration imo

As far as x1 vs f1, imo you wont get as much value from x1. The x1 would allow you to do things similar to a dicer, ie hotcue, fx control etc.

As far as the f1 vs mf w/remix deck, That depends on how deep you want to dive into the remix decks. Alot of stuff the f1 can do can be reduplicated on the mf using the remix deck control outside the obvious like individual channel volume control, because i use my remix decks for triggering samples not long prog house mixes i decided to go with the MF because i use a 4 channel mixer, i dont need the extra channel volume control on the unit.

Hope this helps, cheers!
Janella Gripe
06.06.2013		NI's Audio 6 + X1 = Best way for you to go digital

You can play on any device you get with the timecode cd's.
If your club has 400's, 900's or 2000's ---> Only bring your laptop + X1 + some usb cables. (No sound card needed because HID on the cdj's)

I suggest you first learn to work with the basic functions in Traktor. Once you understand all off them, add an F1 for spicing your mix up
Lesli Parady
07.06.2013		Hey Mike,
I guess it would make sense to have small controller if thou want to fit them betwixt your gear, so an F1 and an X1 are probably a sensible choice. I'm also trying to get into the remix deck atm and the F1 is the only controller out there that is able to control all its functions. I've tested one lately and though i like the way everything is placed
I couldn't arrange myself with the buttons. You really have to hit them fairly hard and right in the middle, but if you really on want so blend in some stems or raises it should be fine. Still I would really reccomend you getting an X1 for the deck control if you are used to do stuff with your hands and not always use the touchpad since it looks like your checking your emails. I have decided to buy a midifighter for my remix decks - simply because i don't like the squishy buttons on the F1, but I'm sure you could get used to it.

For more tips about why to buy a Kontrol F1 and how to fit it in, I found this really helpful video.


Joseph.

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