I think I may be at a life changing moment, as I’m about to sell on my Technics SL’s and have a go at this digital malarkey but, wow, where do I start? Initially I was going to keep the Technics and just buy a new mixer, something like a Pioneer DJM350 and also a CDJ350 but it got me thinking that the vast majority of my music is now on my mac so maybe I should be thinking about a controller instead of the CDJ, say a DDJ-T1 or DDj-S1. As you can guess I kind if like Pioneer…..

I must admit I am totally lost, it would be nice to keep with the mixer and CDJ but that will cost me around 1000 quid, I could sell the technics and my current mixer (Intimidation Blue….) and that would be a sizeable chunk towards a controller.

So, over to you, thoughts about either of the two options appreciated?

First thoughts are noooooo!

Really dislike the idea of people using mp3 files and controllers. It takes years to learn how to mix well on a set of decks, and is a real skill very much like playing an instrument. Adjusting the pitch by ear, and keeping the tracks in sync is the hard part, especially in a club!

Using Tracktor or another programme that does this for you is not mixing, it’s as simple as that. I don’t care how many you tube posts Ritchie Hawtin or anyone else posts on the matter, it’s not real mixing!

There’s a real backlash going on just now with vinyl/cd dj’s, against people using mp3’s, and encouragingly there’s still a lot of young kids buying decks!

By the CD decks….

Slightly off-kilter approach might be to buy Ableton Live and a MIDI controller (been out of this stuff for a while now but Evolution used to do one – X-session IIRC – that combined a crossfader etc. with some ‘traditional’ mappable pots and buttons). Will do pretty much all the auto beatmatching stuff that Traktor etc. will do, but also allows for monster improvisation and some of the musicality that decent vinyl/CD mixing skills bring (and IIRC with the right setup would also allow you to beatmatch by ear too if that’s your thing).

slainte ❓ rob

Loving the fact you have an intimidation blue as well! I use to have one years ago. Really loved that mixer, liked the one they made before it as well, think it was a called a Red? It was great in clubs, liked the chunky kill switches, and layout. Think it was only mono though (not that it matters in a club), and the crossfader wasn’t exactly great for scratching.

I sold mine around 96? Had several mixers after that, and then bought a Pioneer DJM600 when they first came out, still have it, great mixers! You can usually pick up second hand DJM600’s for pretty cheap from ebay/cash converters, same with Pioneer CD decks…

There’s a real backlash going on just now with vinyl/cd dj’s, against people using mp3’s, and encouragingly there’s still a lot of young kids buying decks!

And until recently, I have been one of the largest proponents of this backlash. It’s not that DJing from your laptop isn’t real DJing, it’s that public perception could be that whether or not you are mixing yourself, they will assume you’re using autosync to mix your tunes anyway. That and of course, MP3’s don’t sound quite as good as a good old WAV or AIFF file on a CD or the compressionless sound of a vinyl record.

BUT… Unless you’re regularly playing in a big club, where you will regularly spin a fairly well defined set for 2 or 3 hours from 100 or so tunes you’ve handpicked to play (a la the old days when selecting which records to sling in your box for the night), nobody really cares any more! DJ’s use laptops everywhere now, 99.9% of the crowd couldn’t care less as long as they have a good night. And on most club systems, the only distinguishing factor between a 320kbps MP3 file and a WAV is the bass is slightly muted, so you just turn it up to +2dB on the mixer.

Now the biggest problem, until recently, for me to think about making the move wholesale over to laptop DJing is that for about the last 8 years, pretty much since I stopped buying vinyl, I became Pioneer’s biggest fan. I love using CDJ’s, I have tried all sorts of other CD decks and digital controllers, and nothing allows me to be as creative or create as smooth a mix as Pioneer CDJ’s do, which has kinda nailed the coffin shit on laptop DJing for me… Until now! My mate just bought one of those Pioneer DDJ-T1’s the other week, and I had a brief go on it the other night… WOW! Honestly, I’m thinking of selling all my other gear and getting one, it’s wonderful! For DJing pretty much anywhere it makes sooooo much sense, and if I did get a gig in a big club again, as I’d know what kind of tunes I’d be playing, I could just turn up with a small CD wallet and use their Pioneer CDJ’s anyway as I would have done before.

Though if I had the money, it would be a brace of CDJ2000’s connected together, and just use my laptop as the music storage device in conjunction with them. But they are £1500 a piece! 😕

Don’t know if it helps, but I may be persuaded to part with my DJM 500 if you make me a decent offer…

I’m not wholly convinced the controller route is the way forward for me – that said I wont close the door on it until I understand it a litte better. Searto v’s Traktor, who knows????? I would also find it hard selling the Technics, it would be like loosing n arm…. But you’ve got to embrace change.

Maybe I should pick up a CDJ that I can load files up onto, so that’s the CDJ*50’s I think so no chance of picking something up on ebay I guess.

oh and the mixer before the blue was the intimidation Don – came put just before Pioneer started to dominate the market. The blue still works, although a little crackly, althougn not sure if you can still get teh alps faders for it

That was the mixer I was thinking of, “The Don” ah, memories! Their mixers were pretty cool, seem to recall the Blue had an attenuator screw on the back for adjusting output, first time I’d seen that on a mixer.

Remember that Intimidation made stand alone kill switch units too. I also had a headphone booster that they made as well (before I bought 70 ohm Sp25’s)

Used a big Ecler mixer in clubs back in the day as well which was great, first mixer I’d used with 3 band eq’s, and gain controls on each channel. The crossfader was offset to the side, really wanted one, but they were big club install mixers, and cost a fortune!

I always dreaded the weird and wonderful mixers I ended up using in clubs ! I did a little club dj’ing too, managed to get an unbilled night at Cream when a certain, for the purposes of this conversation , unnamed “star” dj was so trashed he could hardly stand, and god knows how, i ended up in the dj box.

All that said, the kit I am after. It is purely for self indulgence, not so much bedroom dj, more like spare room dj now.

Nothing wrong with indulging youself, you’re on the right forum for that 😉

Would you not keep your 1210’s and get a Digital Vinyl System? Something Like Traktor or Serato? I still like the control of the vinyl, but have moved with the times and gone digital. I now have a Traktor Kontrol and its a fantastic piece of kit. Feels solid and have never let me down.

http://www.djstore.com/item/usbcontrollers/nattraktorkontrols4.htm

I also do keep one Turntable in use as i sometimes throw in a old Trance Track on vinyl.

If you really don’t wanna part with your Tech’s I’d consider a DVS system, i swear by Traktor, its fantastic software and the controllers are quality to.

What about a system using timecode vinyl? You get to play your mp3 collection from the laptop, but keep spinning and controlling the tracks with the turntables. The software will also let you do stuff you couldnt do with turntables alone.

I’ve been lucky enough to DJ quite a bit on CDJ2000s and they beautiful. Not cheap, but well worth the investment. They’ll take a usb stick as well as CDs, so again, a massive collection all on a memory stick, with all the advantages that the digital files give you, looping, hot cues etc.

I’ve also got a few friends using Traktor. Wow, its impressive software. Sure, if you want, it can pretty much do the djing for you, but if you keep clear of the ‘sync’ button, its still hands on. The effects, filters, etc that you can apply to your tracks and mixes are massive. Its got a pretty steep learning curve I reckon, to get the most out of it, but it is seriously good kit.

Take a look at the Denon HS-5500, which is a USB/MP3 dual deck (2 players in one).

You only need one player, plays Mp3’s, 2 decks in one unit, isn’t too expensive, so you can keep your 1&2’s.

I’ve used Time Coded Vinyl and it works pretty well, great for a home setup. Not so great when you are playing out, having to change all the connections. Caused me a bit of stress when playing out, but never failed. I can now just take a USB stick and my Denon HS5500, plug in and play.

BTW mixing with this Denon deck is way too easy, you’ll wish you never got rid of your vinyl, so don’t!

Ableton Live with an APC40 controller.
Quite a steep learning curve but awesome once you’ve put the hours in.

okay, after much trawling the net, I think I am going to go with a Traktor S2, they are selling for a little over 300GBP, so I’ll have a go with that, if I don’t like it, sell it on and maybe go for a DVS timecode, new mixer and X1 controller. I hope I like the controller option as it will save me a fortune!!

Let us know how you get on with the S2. Personally, I’d have gone for the Pioneer DDJ, but I can see how being so much cheaper, the S2 was appealing…

I have the S4 and its a cracking piece of kit really as does everything my Turntables did and more. I do miss Vinyl tho. But then again, i don’t miss paying £9 a time when I can just use beatport and get tracks for £1.19.

I don’t care how many you tube posts Ritchie Hawtin or anyone else posts on the matter, it’s not real mixing!

Ritchie Hawtin doesn’t really “mix” tunes when he plays a set, it’s more like he’s producing. I agree that it’s completely different, but I don’t see how it detracts from either (a) his ability as a “DJ”; or (b) what the crowd gets out of his set.

Personally, I’ve found most of his sets pretty dull, until I make my way up to the DJ box and actually watch what he’s doing. It’s pretty impressive if nothing else. The guy’s talents are wasted on people off their nuts in nightclubs who wouldn’t know the difference if it was a bedroom DJ putting together his first mix on some Gemini’s.

I’ve owned pretty much every tool available, 1210s, CDJs, midi controllers hooked up to Traktor (much credit to DJTechtools for putting something together for me a couple of years back when I was in San Francisco, you should really take a look at what they do, it’s pretty cool), and more lately back to time coded vinyl and regular vinyl.

Why not mix it all together? I used to have great fun in the spare room with a couple of 1210’s a CDJ, midi controller and my laptop running, just playing around. Then for after parties I could just nip home after a club and grab my laptop and midi controller and it was like “DJ in a bag”.

I miss having 1210s permanently set up to play with, but I just don’t have the time or motivation anymore, either to mix or to go out on the hunt for tunes.

Still mixing proper tho with Digital. The thing i miss about Vinyl, is you can feel where the kick drum is easy and ride the pitch. And its easy to see where each element of the track is on a vinyl. However i can still do this by looking at the soundwave on the laptop with Traktor. And can still do a 5 min mix. I love Trance for that reason as you can mix it forever.