Noob! CDJ's or DVS?
Noob! CDJ's or DVS? Posted on: 07.04.2012 by Giselle Aversano Bit of a noob to DJ'ing. I play guitar and have always bought good gear
as it can be a false economy to buy otherwise, plus the resale value is nowhere near what you bought it for in the first place. I have dabbled with software such as Traktor Pro, Ableton Live, and Serato. Out of the three I prefer Traktor Pro for mixing tracks. However, that is all I have been able to do using only a mouse, keyboard, and midi keyboard. So, I'm looking to purchase some hardware. I am clear in my mind that I will not buy a midi controller - period. That leaves either CDJ's or turntables. I am finding it difficult working out exactly what I want and how much it will cost. On the one hand I could buy two turntables, a mixer, and then the traktor DVS package. Any suggestions on what mixer to get with such a set up would be much appreciated. The alternative would be to get CDJ's - possibly the CDJ 400's. I understand that the CD decks themselves can connect with Traktor. What I am unsure of in this particular scenario is, "would I be able to get a mixer with the same connectivity, without the need for purchasing an audio interface for the mixer?" | |
| Giselle Aversano 20.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by mostapha
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| Hyman Werness 17.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by 7ZUSTY
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| Giselle Aversano 20.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by mostapha
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| Hyman Werness 17.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by 7ZUSTY
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| Giselle Aversano 20.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by mostapha
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| Hyman Werness 17.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by 7ZUSTY
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| Giselle Aversano 20.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by mostapha
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| Hyman Werness 17.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by 7ZUSTY
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| Giselle Aversano 18.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by wampaone
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| Hyman Werness 16.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by 7ZUSTY
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| Giselle Aversano 16.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by wampaone
Came very close to buying a Xone 42 for |
| Giselle Aversano 14.04.2012 | I believe the xone 92 might be out of my budget as I'm looking at |
| Giselle Aversano 20.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by mostapha
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| Hyman Werness 17.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by 7ZUSTY
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| Giselle Aversano 18.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by wampaone
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| Dorie Scelzo 16.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by 7ZUSTY
I'd buy a vestax over a Pioneer any day…even if you're comparing models that aren't in the same league…but I'm a vestax fanboy. The price for that 62 seems high to me, but that's because I bought and sold one for around the same price (in USD) that was in great condition apart from having a blue face plate and some gain controls that needed cleaning. Don't quote me on this, because I'm not an expert…but I did talk to A&H's American tech support when I noticed those gains were cracking……see if you can figure out why he replaced channels. Crackling should have been solved by cleaning the faders + pots. I'd infer liquid damage, but I'm not the least bit confident in that…and if it's fixed, it's fixed. A&H makes it easy to replace channels. It's one of their selling points. |
| Hyman Werness 16.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by 7ZUSTY
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| Giselle Aversano 16.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by wampaone
Came very close to buying a Xone 42 for |
| Giselle Aversano 14.04.2012 | I believe the xone 92 might be out of my budget as I'm looking at |
| Giselle Aversano 20.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by mostapha
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| Hyman Werness 17.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by 7ZUSTY
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| Giselle Aversano 18.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by wampaone
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| Dorie Scelzo 16.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by 7ZUSTY
I'd buy a vestax over a Pioneer any day…even if you're comparing models that aren't in the same league…but I'm a vestax fanboy. The price for that 62 seems high to me, but that's because I bought and sold one for around the same price (in USD) that was in great condition apart from having a blue face plate and some gain controls that needed cleaning. Don't quote me on this, because I'm not an expert…but I did talk to A&H's American tech support when I noticed those gains were cracking……see if you can figure out why he replaced channels. Crackling should have been solved by cleaning the faders + pots. I'd infer liquid damage, but I'm not the least bit confident in that…and if it's fixed, it's fixed. A&H makes it easy to replace channels. It's one of their selling points. |
| Hyman Werness 16.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by 7ZUSTY
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| Giselle Aversano 16.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by wampaone
Came very close to buying a Xone 42 for |
| Hyman Werness 15.04.2012 | if you are looking at getting tsp2 and a t channel mixer why not go with a djm-t1? It was a toss up between that and the nexus for me but to eliminate switching cables in the middle of a show i went with the nexus... |
| Nancey Inderlied 14.04.2012 | Depending on your budget, the DJM-700 or DJM-250 could work pretty well. The 250 runs for like $340, and has virtually everything you'd need for mixing. The 700 runs around $900 now, and has a pretty solid effects unit on it, but only one filter. Both are pretty much tanks though. |
| Giselle Aversano 14.04.2012 | I believe the xone 92 might be out of my budget as I'm looking at |
| Tarsha Tammi 14.04.2012 | The fact that he says he's opened it up and replaced parts says to me that he is confident in his own ability and it is all working fine. Go and try it out if you're worried, you said it's local and there is no obligation to buy. |
| Giselle Aversano 14.04.2012 | How about.... http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/al...order/99887145 Bit concerned about the fact that it has been opened up, and there has been some crackling from the faders (supposedly fixed), but it is cheap and local. What do you believe? Hard to tell from a picture I know. |
| Dorie Scelzo 13.04.2012 | I honestly believe A&H has the best EQs, but only on the 62 and 92…and I believe the 464 they used to make. The 4-band EQ they used on them has the high-mid right where the punch of snares and hi-hats reside, so it's really easy to blend b/t two grooves. It's the only thing I miss from my 62, and it's a great reason to use Traktor Scratch over SSL…just to map some MIDI control to that one EQ knob. The 42 and 22 are IMHO just trying to capitalize on their name, and the db2 and db4, while kind of awesome in their own ways, are just not up to par for what I know A&H is capable of. But, again, that's something the whole world seems to disagree with me about. If I had my druthers, I'd have that one EQ band and an HPF on every channel and nothing else. But, I'm weird. My dream mixer is also an all-digital rotary with a tube output gain stage…which is never going to happen. |
| Tarsha Tammi 13.04.2012 | On reflection it might have been a second hand Serato box that I saw. If you have some records it might be worth just waiting it out until one comes up, otherwise you might have to splash out. Keep an eye on gumtree as well. You get people selling their entire DJ kit but if you call and ask they will usually sell the bits separately, so you might be able to get a cheap DVS box on there. I already mentioned the Ecler Nuo 2 mixer that I have and love. Before that I tried 2 Xone 22's and both were broken on arrival. These A&H guys are supposed to be making the best and 'industry standard' gear around but they only really care about the top models, my advice is to avoid unless you're spending some serious cash (I don't know the model numbers I'm afraid). As for sound quality, the Ecler and the A&H both sound fantastic. The A&H is what you're used to if you go clubbing a lot, so is instantly satisfying. However, after a few days I fell in love with the Ecler. It sounds punchier and more aggressive. Both of them blew my friends Behringer out of the water. I will add here that I agree with mostapha about the EQs on the Ecler. The high/mid crossover point is very high, so the high EQ actually does very little. The mid range is very wide as a result, which is great for controlling vocals/main synths but you do get hats leaking in most of the time. The low eq is very nice, the mid/low crossover is perfect in my opinion. Overall I wouldn't say the EQ on Ecler is bad, just quite different from most other mixers you will use. If you're frequently playing out on A&H/Pioneer, you might want to stick to them. |
| Dorie Scelzo 13.04.2012 | A lot of the silver ones are made in China as well. I've only owned a UK-made one, so IDK if the chinese ones are actually worse, but I've heard bad things. IMHO, Vestax is the king of budget mixers. A&H does their thing very well, but it's not for everybody…the upfaders are really slow…basically there's no volume change until you're 80% of the way up the fader. It's perfectly doable, but some people hate it. Ecler makes great mixers, but their EQs sound different from everyone else's. Rane's are absolutely awesome, IMHO, and there are a lot of smaller brands that you'll rarely see that are really good. What are you looking for in a mixer? And don't buy Behringer. The DDM4000 is supposed to be decent, but you can get a much better mixer for it's price. Behringer kind of = crap, or at least it has for a long time. |
| Giselle Aversano 13.04.2012 |
Originally Posted by shifter47
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| Dorie Scelzo 11.04.2012 | I believe it's moot, but I believe the 400s are crap. I'd believe about 800s or 850s, but 1000+ is where they get decent. 900s are at the wrong price point to be usable. But I also would never use Rekordbox on a computer…the whole point of CDJs is not having to have a computer while spending less on tracks than Vinyl. |
| Alla Bluemke 11.04.2012 | I would still get 400s over 800s personally. I believe cheap is like 200, 100, 350. Those all are garbage cdjs to me. The cheapest I would go is a pair of 400s or 800s. For decent to best it would be some 1000s, 850s, 900s, 2000s |
| Bessie Larr 11.04.2012 | You can find pairs of used CDJ 800 MK2's going for $800 all day (usually plus shipping). Matter of fact in the Buy/Sell community a guy is selling a pair for $800+shipping right now. |
| Tarsha Tammi 10.04.2012 | You made a good choice, I got 2 1210 mk2's for the same price and am super happy with them. They are actually very easy to service yourself if you're having any problems. Hopefully they will be good to go though! As for a mixer, I found a used Ecler Nuo 2 for |
| Giselle Aversano 10.04.2012 | I do wonder what "cheap" CDJ's are. If it's anything with a number higher than 900 then it is almost certainly out of my price range, even used. I had thought CDJ 400's were decent, but I might be wrong. Audio Interface-wise, it's going to be Traktor A6 rather than Serato/Rane SL1/2. |
| Dorie Scelzo 10.04.2012 | Jumping in late, CDJs are either insanely expensive or complete crap. If you're on a budget and don't specifically want to play with cheap CDJs, buy a DVS or go controller. Given your preferences, you're down to a DVS……and that's the direction you went, which is awesome. Now, the big choice…Traktor Scratch TA6 or a Rane SL1/2. |
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