DJ's - what would you buy?

Phaser · 30 Dec 2008 at 00:43

Looking to get a new mixer and CD deck and a pair of speakers in the new year and i'm looking for some advice n suggestions

Budget is around 1200-300

Mixer wise i'm thinking Ecler Nuo 4.0. Needs to be 4 channel (preferably with all 4 being able to be in use at the same - so dedicated mic channels too). I've got 2 turntables, the CD deck and i'll be hoping to get Serato soon as well. Build quality is important, i've been through countless Vestax mixers which are considered fairly good. Not bothered about sound effects, a nice amount of outputs would be nice (which the Nuo 4.0 has).

CD deck - Pioneer CDJ400 or 800, I like the idea of the USB input on the 400 but is the 800 better built/all round nicer to use? There's not much difference in price...

Speakers, no idea....I'm currently using a pair of Behringer Truths and they're amazing (suprising for Behringer!). I've also got a pair of Alesis MK1's on another setup and they're just too bassy, ends up distorting all the tune so room compensation/bass reducation/treble reduction controls are important

What would you lot get? :cool:

Grrrrr · 30 Dec 2008 at 00:51

Phaser said:
CD deck - Pioneer CDJ400 or 800, I like the idea of the USB input on the 400 but is the 800 better built/all round nicer to use? There's not much difference in price...

With the 400s you get more features, USB port, MIDI connectivity etc but the jog wheel is much better on the 800 with the vinyl mode which you might prefer being a turntable man. Also worth considering is that the 400s allow pitch control +/- 0.02% but the 800s only allow 0.05% which IMO isn't accurate enough for decent beatmatching..

mrmoose · 30 Dec 2008 at 01:29

I think i'd look at a second hand cdj1000. I've seen them going for quite cheap recently. But if it has to be new then I'd pick the 800 over the 400. I find its more solid, has a nicer wheel also, if you're getting serato in the future you wont really need the usb input on the 400.

Mixer wise..... probally the nuo 4.0 you've already mentioned.

I've kind of forgot how much hardware is these days when I only buy midi controllers for around £100. But you should be able to get the deck, mixer and a nice pair of active monitors within budget.

b|gf|sh · 30 Dec 2008 at 01:58

Would get the CDJ800 over the CDJ400, larger platter makes a huge difference, and it's the industry standard so your more likely to find CDJ800/1000 if you ever play out in a pub/club (and more likely to come across CDJ800/1000s at house parties too

).

Only problem is they're £500 quid each brand new, so after you've bought 2 of them you're not gonna be left much for mixer/monitors...

Would recommend having a look on Gumtree for 2nd hand CDJ800/1000s, I recently bought a CDJ800mk2 for 350, so if you can find a pair in your area in decent condition then it's definately worth it.

Also, can you not just stick with the Behringer Truths if you like them?

Infam0us · 30 Dec 2008 at 02:25

I'm looking at the CDJ200's myself. Although Gemini are doing some good CD Decks to, any ideas where to buy them cheap rather than Flebay? HTFR is only down the road from me, but I get the feeling they try to rip me off :-/

R.O.S.S.I · 30 Dec 2008 at 13:22

I'd get 400's, much better functionality, shouldn't be that hard to adapt should you play out and use 1000's in a club.

Failing that, i'd get a laptop, proper external soundcard, and a vestax VCM 600. WHOooooPPPaaaAaAAHHHhhhh. That will be my new setup next year as i'm going the Ableton route!

Bro just got rid of his CDJ1000's and DJM600 in favour of Ableton! His Xone2D controller arrived today, so going to give it a good ableton bashing later on when I get in from work!

R.O.S.S.I · 30 Dec 2008 at 13:26

Infam0us said:
I'm looking at the CDJ200's myself. Although Gemini are doing some good CD Decks to, any ideas where to buy them cheap rather than Flebay? HTFR is only down the road from me, but I get the feeling they try to rip me off :-/

HTFR are generally allright, however I have found that some of their things are a bit overpriced, but I do believe they price match. So have a good route around online and find the best price for what you want and they will match it.

I did encounter a niggle with this though, as BananaDJ had what I wanted for about £80 cheaper but they wouldn't price match as they weren't a 'Vestax Certified Dealer' LOL.

Best thing to do is just go down to HTFR to try out all the equipment, see which you like more, then just buy it online!

"andy" · 30 Dec 2008 at 14:42

theres no way id buy an 800 or 1000 at the moment. they are well overdue an update!

id get a 400 for all the extra features and then if required would trade up when any new ones are announced

the 400s dont feel bad either. feel a lot better than the look anyway!

R.O.S.S.I · 30 Dec 2008 at 14:51

"andy" said:
theres no way id buy an 800 or 1000 at the moment. they are well overdue an update!

id get a 400 for all the extra features and then if required would trade up when any new ones are announced

the 400s dont feel bad either. feel a lot better than the look anyway!

I've heard that only, the only thing that concerns me with the 400's is the size and feel of the platter but i've been told its not too bad.

I'll find out for myself tommorow anyway as at the house party im at my mates cracking out his new 400's which he got for Xmas!

Phaser · 30 Dec 2008 at 16:36

I'm only after the 1 CD deck so should be enough money for the mixer and a decent pair of monitors.

Settled on the Ecler Nuo 4.0 mixer then, and i'll have to have a play with both the 400 and 800 before I make my mind up. I'd be looking to buy in the next month or 2, so perhaps I could get a second hand 800 and then get the new model if/when released.

I might buy another pair of Behringer Truths (they're on another setup at the moment), the only thing is 1 blew up and nowhere seemed to be able to repair it, apparantly getting the parts from America was nearly impossible. I'd like to know that if something did go wrong then I could get it fixed fairly easily, otherwise it's pointless forking out this amount of money.

Thanks for all the input so far :cool:

Schnippzle · 30 Dec 2008 at 16:54

I just bought myself a Vestax PMC 280 and I have to say its the best mixer EVER! Yea sure its not as flash as an Pioneer 800 but the faders and crossfaders are out of this world.

Hedge · 30 Dec 2008 at 18:26

Even though a lot of people will sneer, if its bedroom use and you arent obsessed with Pioneers then Denon do some pretty damn impressive alternatives, infact they are technically far more advanced.

Although CDJs are indeed the norm

Hedge · 30 Dec 2008 at 18:28

Like this bad boy

http://www.decks.co.uk/products/cdplayers/denon/dnhs5500cd

never used one myself but the spec sheet is mighty fine. and you would only need 1

b|gf|sh · 30 Dec 2008 at 19:13

Phaser said:
I'm only after the 1 CD deck so should be enough money for the mixer and a decent pair of monitors.

Since you're only after the 1 cd deck then, why not try find a 2nd hand cdj1000? :cool:

I've got both a cdj1000mk3 and a cdj800mk2, and the cdj1000mk3 is such a nicer deck due to it's bigger text display, wave display, finer pitch control and also because it's black

Another recommendation for mixer would be an A&H Xone:42? I used one at a party a few weeks ago, and the analogue filters were amazing :eek:

Not to mention the build quality of A&H kit is pretty the much the best in the business...

Grrrrr · 30 Dec 2008 at 21:11

The sound quality of Allen & Heath is unreal. I'm borrowing a mates A&H mixer at the minute and i really don't want to go back to my old one

Schnippzle · 30 Dec 2008 at 22:05

Grrrrr said:
The sound quality of Allen & Heath is unreal. I'm borrowing a mates A&H mixer at the minute and i really don't want to go back to my old one

AH mixers are idd very nice, have used them in clubs and at parties. Would say they are more studio mixers or "professional" bedroom DJ mixers though. This is mainly because I find them too "fiddly" to use properly in a club. This all depends on the frequency ranges of the music you are dj'ing though. I know a lot of ambient and chill-out dj's love them, but on the flip side a lot of hard house and techo dj's dont like them.

b|gf|sh · 31 Dec 2008 at 14:41

Schnippzle said:
AH mixers are idd very nice, have used them in clubs and at parties. Would say they are more studio mixers or "professional" bedroom DJ mixers though. This is mainly because I find them too "fiddly" to use properly in a club. This all depends on the frequency ranges of the music you are dj'ing though. I know a lot of ambient and chill-out dj's love them, but on the flip side a lot of hard house and techo dj's dont like them.

Not really mate, the Xone:92 is pretty much the standard installation mixer in Europe I'd imagine, and you'll find most House/Minimal/Progressive House/Techno dj's prefer it, whereas Electro/Trance/Hard dj's tend to go for the Pioneer DJM800 instead it seems...

In this case though the recommendation was towards the Xone:42, which when I used it a few weeks ago found it to be no harder to use than my DJM600, in fact probably easier due it's more spacious layout

"andy" · 31 Dec 2008 at 15:10

b|gf|sh said:
Not really mate, the Xone:92 is pretty much the standard installation mixer in Europe I'd imagine

nah most places use the pioneers because they get good deals buying all the gear together and because theyre bombproof. xone are probably catching up thesedays though

finga · 2 Jan 2009 at 10:52

Hedge said:
Like this bad boy

http://www.decks.co.uk/products/cdplayers/denon/dnhs5500cd

never used one myself but the spec sheet is mighty fine. and you would only need 1

I have this unit, definately recommend it over anything else, its way in front of pioneer in capabilities but unfortunately most people seem to be of the thinking that because cdj1000s are in every club for years now they are still better than anything else coming on the market, not true, this deck is fantastic, get down the shop and have a go on it yourself,

also, for anybody wanting to buy serato, rather than spend 390 quid, just buy a maya 44 USB soundcard and download the free timecode control signals from manufacturers websites, burn them yourself or buy vinyls from ebay and use whichever software you like that supports timecode, people think the little box that comes with serato is something special that makes it all work, its just a 4 in 4 out soundcard, any will do that supports ASIO

P.S with the Denon DNHS 5500 you dont even need serato, just plug a thumbdrive loaded with mp3s in and mix them with a 33/45RPM revolving turntable, even put a 7" vinyl on in place of the standard platter for that authentic feel