I’ve been looking to start mixing and recording mixes.
I’d like to start with CDJs and am not looking to spend much more than $300 on those alone. Could you guys recommend anything for me? Also what kinds of equipment will I need for recording, any specific things you guys could recommend would be great too!
Also, don’t actually know if I need more than I’ve asked for, so tell me about that too!
Thanks in advance
Can’t really give you advice on cdjs cause I use vinyl, but for recording you could just find a mixer with both a master output and a recording output, connect that to your laptop’s/PCs mic input and record in audacity
Get a controller & serato. I started on a mixtrack pro and serato… so easy to mix because of the visual aids but it means you don’t need to worry about beatmatching… which imo isn’t a bad thing in the beginning if its just a hobby. You can concentrate on blends and EQing and its instantly fun because of how easy it is. I remember when I first got turntables I was working 8-10 hours a day and coming home trying to get my head around it and I found it so frustrating and on top of being tired I usually gave up really quick and wouldn’t bother again. Took me ages to get to a stage where I wouldn’t wanna smash my decks up after the first couple mixes lol.
If you get a controller you’ll be pretty good in a month or so depending how much you use it, then you’ll have a better idea if you wanna invest money into this hobby… in which case then you can start to save for cdjs/turntables and learn to beatmatch ect.
You can record on serato as well.
Thanks for getting back!
I’ll take your mixer advice, could you recommend one of those? Don’t really know where to start with this type of stuff and don’t want to get bumped.
Turnable suggestions are welcome. I imagine others will come through here at some point looking to get started up. I’d also like to upgrade when my vinyl collection gets bigger.
Definitely a good idea, cdjs and turntables can get quite costly
I got this rn, it’s a basic mixer. Two channels that can switch between line and phono so you can use both turntables and cdjs. Nothing too fancy, has a recording output too
Good shout Muncey!
In that case, the mixtrack pro is a good place to start? Anything I should know about it? Stuff, looking back, you wish it had?
Also, probably should have said in OP, I have been using VirtualDJ and my laptop mouse for a while, but I’d just feel too embarrassed to take that out to a club haha. Pretty keen on getting my hands dirty with it though.
Also, is $300 a realistic price for decent CDJs? I guess I can be flexible, a few extra shifts won’t kill me haha.
You’re wise to avoid going to a club with a laptop and VDJ lol. Mixtrack pro was good for me as I only used it with mates at uni for a bit of drunken fun. The pitch fader is awful, you’re basically forced to use the sync button even if you want to learn how to beatmatch… its just too small and sensitive. I went from that straight to vinyl so I’ve never bothered looking at other alternatives… there are some decent ones about though, as you can expect they’ll cost more.
Controller is a good place to start if you’re on a budget though. I just paid £650 for 2x CDJ 1000 mk3s… you can get some a bit cheaper than that but you’re looking at £200-300 for a single CDJ I reckon.
Cheers for that. I think for the moment I might go with a controller and look into Serato, if anyone could recommend a controller I can learn to beatmatch with, that’d be great! That’s realistically what the CDJs were for, but everything in its time.
Hey brother, in my experience the controllers that are worth to learn beatmatching with are the ones so expensive you couldve spent your money on ‘proper’ equipment.
It obviously depends on what you wanna do, but i can only recommend getting either cd players or direct drive turntables and learn it properly from the beginning.
not only because i think it’s boring and it feels like u dont have anything to do if you don’t even have to concentrate on the mix/beatmatch itself, but also because you will have 10 times more fun when you realize you have now learned beatmatching and will get more solid in it.
btw, i barely hear mixes and i hate not hearing what the person spinning does. when its too clinical, there is no ‘fault’, no pushing/slowing down of the tunes within blends or so i dont like it. how do i know its even a human mixing and not a computer automatically syncing stuff.
I’d recommend going all in or nothing.
No sense buying budget equipment.
