Just a rant. Costs of DJing.
Just a rant. Costs of DJing. Posted on: 02.09.2012 by Jamila Citino About a year ago I put down $600 to get a Kontrol S2 when it first came out. As a retired DJ which focus was "bedroom DJing", it was a bit on the high side, but what the hell. Now a year out and I am jonsing for the feel of vinyl again, but damn it will cost a small fortune.For starters trying to dig up SL1200s again is a challenge, at least to find quality units. $500-750 for a descent unit and hope you don't have to repair it. Then if I were to switch over to SSL (from Traktor) I would need to get a SL2. $500 for that. Dicers? $100 there Finally a Rane DVS. TTM56 as a intro unit. $700-800 for that Oh if I wanted to take it up a notch, bump up to The Bridge and Live. $550. So my $600 investment from a year ago jumps up to a minimum of $2300, more realistically $3000. Oh I need a loan. | |
| Jamila Citino 02.09.2012 | Yeah i would agree that if we were still talking about prices circa 1988, it would be much harder to maintain. Although it seemed at the time I spent nearly every last extra dollar I had on music at the time. At the time the thing that saved me were record pools. |
| Margie Pavell 02.09.2012 |
Originally Posted by Hoodless
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| Shay Wyche 02.09.2012 |
Originally Posted by djchriswoods.co.uk
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| Dione Haimes 02.09.2012 |
Originally Posted by keithace
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| Roseanna Signorini 02.09.2012 | All hobbies cost money.... |
| Evia Nitch 02.09.2012 | Buy second hand technics imitation decks. Discover your old joy and discover they are not the real thing. That should give you the mental justification to spend the money on the technics decks |
| Celine Surico 02.09.2012 | Frankly speaking the cost of a cheaper and controller + let's say Traktor or any of the free DJ SW offerings + beatport prices = it's never been cheaper to start DJ:ing assuming you have an unused laptop available and the laptop does not even need to be brand new. It's getting costly if you go into the CDJ or turntable and vinyl world, I agree. Last evening I went around in Campbell to check out the three places that had DJs, all of them used laptops while they seemed to be very busy behind Pioneer CDJ decks -- perception :-). |
| Darren Teboe 02.09.2012 | Have you considered upgrading to Traktor Scratch Pro? Might be less expensive than moving to a different companies DVS. |
| Teresia Janusch 02.09.2012 | What about the days when records were |
| Jamila Citino 02.09.2012 |
Originally Posted by BFLY
J
Originally Posted by BFLY
As for producing, on my last mix I did do a mix of some pre-mixed Ableton tracks along with a live cut of everything (http://www.mixcloud.com/ParisCreativ...remix-project/). Would I call myself a producer, no. But I am trying to make more complex mixes. I did not include the cost of Ableton Live in my bare bones price, but yes I could scale way back on second hand units on the mixer and SL1/SL2, or just stick with Traktor. I am a little bit dissatisfied with the S2 crossfader, but I will be up front and honest, it's been so long since I consistently DJed (going on 13+ years now) that I might just not have it anymore. I do know that the current controller only setup feels a bit lifeless. It's fun, but it's missing something.
Originally Posted by sol*los
Originally Posted by m00n
Originally Posted by sss18734
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| Erica Charvet 03.09.2012 | If just 2-3 thousands bucks frustrates you, just remember that DJ'ing is NOT that expensive of a hobby. You could always take up... knitting? |
| Loreta Altema 03.09.2012 | I don't believe the cost of Dj'ing has risen to be honest.. You have many more options then you ever did before ranging from $50-$5000+.. The real culprit I believe is marketing. They are marketing shit better then ever, and making you "have to have" the newest gear before it even comes out when most peoples setups are more the adequate. I have fallen victim to this myself. |
| Margie Pavell 03.09.2012 | 15 bucks a record? where were you shopping? |
| Wynell Vastbinder 03.09.2012 | Dude!!!! Be glade we're not buying records records anymore. Paying up to $15 for ONE song.....I know 1200s cost is crazy right now, but deals are out there. I missed out on a pair for $300 on craigslist just last week. |
| Lawana Spratlen 02.09.2012 |
Originally Posted by ParisCreative
Just buy a pair of second hand technics, use your s2 as a mixer and a second hand traktor scratch upgrade. Do you produce? if not theres no need for ableton and the bridge, the bridge is overrated anyway its easy to sync ableton to traktor anyway. Theres loads of cheap options if you bide your time and shop around. |
| Julissa Serrone 02.09.2012 | you can do it for much cheaper than that. I've purchased 1200's on Craigslist with Ortofon carts for 500 the pair. A used SL1 is 250.00 (i sold my SL2 for 350.00) and you can use any mixer with your decks. I had a TASCAM X8 (which is an ecler HAK rebadged) for 140.00 brand new on CL. You can find a good Vestax PMC for 250.00 and instead of dicers I'd get a X1 for 150.00 and you're set. You could have a decent home DVS system to enjoy for around 1000 bucks if your patient. but to add to your comments, in general...yeah "real" gear isn't cheap, that's why the entry level has been swarmed by cheap controllers that have led to every kid and his brother saying he's a DJ. |
| Nedra Fresneda 02.09.2012 | A single 1200 in "decent" shape goes for $2000 on this side of the world. It can always be worse mate, much worse. |
| Jamila Citino 02.09.2012 | Thing is I probably the only unit I would probably consider is a DNS3700. I would want the "closest to vinyl" feel I could get. As a hip-hop DJ I am believeing that going CDJ or even the DNS3700 will not get me to where I want. However I am trying not to bias my opinion since I never touched a CDJ or DNS3700. When I DJ'ed with CD's it was with a DN2000F (if I recall correctly). My negatives with Traktor right now are: The CPU/Clipping issue since 2.5 Less than response crossfader for scratching. The "soulless" feel of using the controller to scratch If I use the S2 for just bended mixes with effects, the S2 is a mighty fine unit. For the price it's really awesome. I can do some scratching, but it just seems "off" to me. Sure I can plunk down nearly $4k for CDJ2000, $1500 for used CDJ1000 or new DVS3700, but will it give me the feedback I want? And if I can't get over the S2 crossfader response go with a high performance crossfader and a X1, yet more money. |
| Jason Mcewing 02.09.2012 | Vinyl decks are over-rated, I used them from 2004-2010 and I was so tired of setting serato up in clubs where their decks were in pitiful condition.. which you know means that you bring yours if you want to use them... I just use CDJ1000s with Traktor now.. no calibration needed. Even if you get the itch to buy new gear, don't. |
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