Equipment for a beginner

R

renzo

New Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2010
Been wanting to get some gear for around a year now. Now I have the funds, it's now possible to do so.
Never touched a set of decks in my life before, or a mixer for that matter (not in depth anyway - done some basic studio work; nothing special).
So, I was wondering, any suggestions on what to start with? IE; studio monitors, decks, mixers + any other equipment that's needed?

Brand names, specific models and/or links would help a lot!

Thanks, Charlie
 
Do you want to use CD or Vinyl?

I recomend Vinyl and so will many on this forum. It is however down to personal preference, CDs are cheaper, But Vinyl (imo) is more rewarding.
Serato or other timecode technology is also an option. This means you wont have to spend money on vinyl but still have the feel of vinyl.

How many Decks do you intend to run?

Do you want Active or Passive speakers?
Passive needs an AMP. Active does not BUT your mixer needs to be compatible (correct me if im wrong)

How much do you want to spend?
Do you mind getting second hand?


Also:

Try www.decks.co.uk
or www.Djkit.com

and go through, If something catches your eye shout here if your not sure


A nice set up (vinyl) :

Pioneer DJM-800 mixer
Technics 1210 MK5G
Rockit 8 active studio monitors - You can probably find some better ones. Im not too experienced with speakers. I just have old pioneer ones and the sub from my car sound system lol.
Plenty of Vinyl
Ortofon Concorde Nightclub needles(stylus)
Denon HP1000 cans or senheiser HD25 cans

But this will be costly. As in couple Thousand. But is Top spec.
 
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he's a beginner he doesnt even know if he'll enjoy it.. dont buy top spec just yet :D maybe only the 1210s as their value wont drop too much if you decide to sell them on.. however if your gonna be buying top spec needles/cans/monitors then your not gonna get your money back if you dont like DJing

half the fun is upgrading all your shit once youve progressed a bit
 
Thanks for the replies, my budget is maxed at around £800. Don't know if that would get me anything decent but that's really all I have to play with.
Obviously, decks for vinyl would be perfect, but that's not really realistic because I don't have anything on vinyl and would be quite costly to do so.
So maybe a set of those digital decks (as a starter, just to get a feel for DJing)? Don't know what they're called :S

Any recommendations on brands/models?
 
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Do you have any mates that DJ? if so have a go on their set ups before committing.
But...and thats a big but,,, you can find a set of technics and a mixer for around 250-400 on ebay.

If your choosing to go for CDJs i cannot help you here as i have no knowledge on them. I can just about use one haha.

For mixers... Gemini ps626... Its cheap, Does the job really well and is bullet proof (read about the attack on me and my gear on the post your set up thread haha)

i believe there is people selling bits of kit on this forum. Check it out!
 
if your wanting to go for vinylid buy a set of 2nd hand 1210's or 1200's (techincs are the brand) these will set you back about £400 for the pair, go to shops like cash converters for these. if you end up not geting techics make sure you get DIRECT DRIVE. Stanton t62s or something along those lines. head phones, waht ever if your just starting make sure theyre proper head phones not earphones though. http://www.decks.co.uk/package/Stanton_T62_Behringer_DX626_44706 somthin like that but with technics would be pretty good. thatd leave you with about £300 for vinyls
but i wudnt spend £300 stright off. AS for CD decks (what you called digital) unless you buy pioneers (industry standard) theyre all abit naff. but for the price ive herd good things about... http://www.htfr.com/more-info/MR277416 and i shall be buying one of them soon to add to my vinyl set up, so i can do 3 deck mixing and get new tunes cheep if im skint at that point, but ive used both CD and vinyl and vinyl is my preferance. you get much more of a vibe off the music and it seems just better cos' you can see your record moving infront of you, but with CDs its a timer, theres just someithing lacking with cds but its up to you! hope its some help!
 
renzo said:
http://www.decks.co.uk/products/pioneer/CDJ350

I was looking at those, might end up getting a pair. Would I still need a mixer? Stupid question, but as I stated in the first post I have no idea on what's need :(
Also, wont I need a soundcard?

thanks xx
Click to expand...

You would still need a mixer, and you are aware they are over £500 each arent you?

its just you said you had a budget of £800.


If I was you I would go for a cheap Numark or Stanton package, that way you get your decks, mixer, headphones all together and all you need is a cd player with aux input.

I used 2 x Numark TT1625, a Kam KCM450i, and a Awia CD player for years and it did me fine. I bought the TT1625's for £150 second hand, I got the Kam mixer for £200. the lot lasted me nearly 4 years before braking and becoming unusable. They got a battering for that time tho.

I will soon be investing in some Technics and they are great and smooth to use. But I've coped fine not having them, it just makes beatmatching that bit harder. An then when you get Technics or get to use them its like a treat.
 
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for my first set up i spent about 350 quid and borrowed a load of vinyl off my dad/bought some cheap tunes i realy like... decent pair of cheap sennheisers and my pc speakers are very good active speakers anyway.
seeing as ive not long since done the same as what you want to do, id trawl ebay for a few days, find a cheap deal on some technics and possible a mixer aswell (always make sure the decks have heads and/ stylus already with them

heres some links/ebay numbers anyway, give you an idea (unfortunatly most have ended)
Ebay, decks+mixers combo's:-
170493705374
250641342972
Decks:-
170491734764
Monitors:-
270578566051
Mixer:-
http://www.decks.co.uk/products/gemini/ps626x
Cans:-
http://www.decks.co.uk/products/headphones?man=4107
(ive seen pro's use skull candy and bukem has used earphones i guess its preferance but senn's r probs best.

anyways, thats just some examples of what u can get and how much they cost, 800 is ample to get a decent set-up and plenty of viny... look out for special offers and vinyl sales n stuff first!
 
hazdaman100 said:
eBay is a very good option aswell
Click to expand...

very true, wen i started a year back i got 2 x numark tt1625 and a numark DM950 mixer ( the most basic setup to date! ) all for i think it was under 100? something like 98 quid. perfect to start with, vinyl will be the most expensive thing to buy!! i think your best bet would be to buy a few vinyl and if you like it invest in a DVS system like serato ( you can get cheap alternates for like 200 pound from htfr.com ) then u can get cheap tunes on mp3!

just dont blow cash on expensive kit yet, start small
 
Cooper_5 said:
very true, wen i started a year back i got 2 x numark tt1625 and a numark DM950 mixer ( the most basic setup to date! ) all for i think it was under 100? something like 98 quid. perfect to start with, vinyl will be the most expensive thing to buy!! i think your best bet would be to buy a few vinyl and if you like it invest in a DVS system like serato ( you can get cheap alternates for like 200 pound from htfr.com ) then u can get cheap tunes on mp3!

just dont blow cash on expensive kit yet, start small
Click to expand...

Hi in regard to last part of post, how much does it generally cost for a DVS (not sure what it stands for) system? My situation is pretty similar but I have got a very good catalogue of mp3s so guessing I would have to invest in serato/traktor (any recomendation?). And in this case would you still advise vinyl over cdj? thanks.
 
My 2 cents:

Get 1200s. You can get used ones; make sure they are in good shape. The good news is that they hold their value so a long as you don't beat them up, you can always turn around and sell them if mixing is not for you, and not take much of a loss - if any. Mixers are easy. You can get a cheap 2 channel scratch mixer for 80 to 100 bucks. Once you know you are in this for the long haul, you can upgrade the mixer to a more pro model with more features.

The value of learning to mix with vinyl cannotbe overstated. Once you are comfortable with beatmixing and all that on vinyl, it is easy to learn other things like digital or CDs. But vinyl is, IMO, the hardest to learn.. so might as well start there - the rest is relatively ez.
 
I'd recomend starting mixing vinyl, mainly just because it teaches you to read ur trax, Whatever you get, just dont go tooooo cheap, some vinyl decks dont even pitch lock so will make it even more difficult to learn on, my m8 made the mistake of buying these citronic decks, impossible to keep 2 tracks in time on. I started with some old Stanton str8 80s for £100 and a crappy numark mixer. Stuff like that, or even the numark battle pack's acceptable if you dont want to blow your whole bank balance. Just try and stick with Brands with a certain accreditation. Oh and you'l need to decide whether you want to mix with 2 or 3 band eq (on the mixer), I prefer 3 band personally as it allows you to be more versatile with ya droppin and stoppin.
 
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