Many people learn to DJ on
controllers as they're cheaper than the
club gear and they're a great starting
point for people wishing to learn how to
DJ. These days there are loads of
different controllers, or DJ boards, which
basically means all-in-one units, but I
guess the main difference is whether or
not the controller has an inbuilt screen.
Controllers with inbuilt screens are
here in a big way and the advantage
of having inbuilt screens is you can
load your songs directly onto the gear
using USB keys as opposed to having to
connect your computer and using your
computer as the screen. The advantage
of not using a computer to load your
songs is you're not spending the whole
time looking at the computer screen and
it feels a little bit more
authentic like it's just you and the
crowd! Popular controllers that
include screens are theXDJRX2 and more
recently the version down from that the
XDJRR. However in saying that
controllers without screens
still have plenty of advantages.
Firstly they are cheaper than the ones
with screens, they're often
smaller and more portable, and honestly
it's much easier to search music as you
have your whole music library at your
fingertips on your computer, but
regardless of the DJ gear that you have
the good news is all DJ gear shares the
exact same basic operations in the same
way cars do, so here's the thing there's
cheap cars and more expensive cars and
the chances are the more expensive cars
do feel better when driving and probably
go faster but most people's first
car is considerably cheaper but when
you're hop into to your first expensive
car you're still going to know how to
drive! So here's the thing this video is
all about showing you how similar all DJ
gear is and any differences that you may
find and if you do find differences it's
probably just in the layout. For instance
all DJ gear has play and cue
buttons, so that's the same. You've
got jog wheels on both decks
you have tempo faders, a mixer in the middle with volume
faders and the EQ. This is all very
generic, it's all the same on all gear.
The only difference is how you load your songs
for instance, is it on the
gear or do you have to load your songs through
your computer. Sometimes also the
controllers have performance pads that's
something that club gear doesn't have and sometimes also the layout of your
effects can be different. In this video I'm going to compare the XDJRX2 and the DDJSX2 to
club gear and I'm just going to show you
where some of the main differences are.
Let's start by looking at the
screens. If the DJ equipment has an
inbuilt screen that basically means you
can load your songs directly onto the
gear without connecting your computer.
Popular equipment with inbuilt screens
are the Pioneer XDJ's and CDJ's.
All the screens operate in the same way.
You can search and select songs with
your rotary selector and once you load
the song you can see the waveform and
the BPM on the screen and any cue points
that you've saved. The only difference
between the all-in-ones and the club
gear is that club gear has one screen per
player and the al in ones have a single
screen which actually means it's easier
as you can stack the wave forms which
gives people a visual aid when beat
matching. If you're using a
controller that doesn't have a screen, to
work you just need to connect your
computer to the controller and the
computer becomes the screen, however to
load the songs you need to first
download the DJ software that runs for
that chosen controller. Now it's usually
going to say what kind of controller it
is on the actual controller itself, for
instance this is a Serato controller
but if your controller is different to
what I'm using in this video
it really doesn't matter,
all controllers and DJ software operate
in the exact same way. For DJ
software walkthroughs check out our DJ
software videos and for a detailed
description on the XDJRX2, club gear
and the DDJSX2 check out our equipment
walkthrough videos. Once I've set up my
software and imported some music I can
then, like the club gear, use the rotary
selector to search and select songs but
when I find a song I like
I select the load button above the
channel I wish to load that song onto.
Once I've loaded a song, like all
other club gear you can see the waveform,
BPM and cue points but this time all
this information is on the computer
screen. Now that we know how to load our songs the next step is actually playing.
You're going to notice immediately
that no matter what the gear is they all
share the same layout. You have deck one
on the left and deck two on the right
and a mixer in the middle. Let's look at
some of the main differences now. Number 1:
the jog wheels are often bigger on
club gear than most controllers.
Trust me you can still beat match
exactly the same way with smaller jog
wheels but yes the jog wheels on
club gear do feel better. Now if you can't afford
club gear and having the big jog wheels is
important to you should check out the
DJJ 1000. The DDJ1000 have the
exact same jog wheels as the club gear
and honestly they're really popular and it's a powerful piece of equipment. Another
difference is most controllers have
performance pads underneath the jog
wheels yet the club gear doesn't. Now I guess this is the biggest difference and
although the club gear doesn't have performance pads under the jog wheels
newer versions of club gear now have
performance options on the screen but
not all clubs have the latest gear
so when playing in clubs you're probably
not going to have those performance
options like hot cues
and FX on the pads so
when playing in clubs it is more
about creating atmosphere and playing
the right song at the right moment and
taking your crowd on a journey, as
opposed to, using constant FX and
jumping around the song with hot cues which is loads of fun but probably more of
a controller thing. Another difference 
is the looping section and also loading
your memory cues. Now on the club gear and the XDJs the looping and memory cue point section are identical
and even the DDJ400 has recently
adopted this exact same layout. The SX2
has a looping section at the bottom
right of each deck and you can also
load your memory cues with the
parameters buttons. Now if your
controller doesn't read Rekordbox
the chances are you may not be able to
load memory cues and you're going to have to use hot cues to load and play
pre-saved cue points. The mixers are the
same but the big difference is whether
or not it's a two-channel or a
four-channel mixer. Either way chances
are when you turn up to play in a club
they are only going to have two decks so
you're only going to have to master
two channels.
If you do own a controller and you're turning up to play your first club show
and you have never touched club equipment before I guess these are the things that
you need to be careful of. Number one: the venue will expect you to use their
equipment. Think about it if you turn up
with your controller where about's are
you're going to put it? DJ booths can
be small and if you move their gear to
make room for yours it's going to stuff
up all of your transitions between
DJs. People are going to come
on and you're going to move gear all
over the place and you're just going to
be too much of a hassle to work with and
they're not going to re book you. All club gear reads USBs and to prepare your music
for USB you must use Rekordbox.
For details on how to use Rekordbox
check out our Rekordbox walkthrough
video. Club gear has two separate screens
one per player this means you're not
going to be able to stack your wave
forms to beat match and there's also a very good chance of the gear in the clubs
does not have sync so knowing how to
beat match using your ears is an
absolute must!
I also suggest that you always turn up
with two USB sticks, one for each player,
as sometimes the link cable connecting
the decks does not work. Not all Club
equipment reads hot cues so if you're
using cue points to map your songs I
suggest that you use memory cues.
If you can afford it club gear is without a
doubt the rolls-royce of all DJ gear but
if it is too expensive the most popular
units that people go for, with screens,
because that means if you're using
screens it's like the club gear, is the
XDJRX2 or the XDJRR. These do have
the same layout as club gear so if
you master DJing on any of those you're
going to be able to turn up to a club
and everything is located in
the same place. Now the controllers without
screens are even cheaper but this is
where the layouts become a little bit
different to their club gear. Mainly in
the fact that you're likely to use
hot cues, not memory cues, but outside of
that you will find that the basic
operations are exactly the same. For
instance you're going to select and
load your songs with the rotary selector.
You can match the BPMS with the tempo
fader. The play and cue buttons are in the same
place. The jog wheels are in the same
place and everything works in the exact
same way and even the mixers share the
exact same features. Sure there may
be some small differences with the
layout of effects but I personally feel
effects comes later and if you want to
make sure that your transitions are
ultra smooth and professional I feel you
need to use the whole EQ.
Mastering the whole EQ is very important
and if you don't know how to do that
yet check out our pro mixing videos and
also the advanced transitions course and
I'm going to go through and explain how
to use the EQ in great depth.
Personally I would suggest treating FX
right like icing on a cake, in small
doses it's super sweet but too much can
make people sick. If you have your
first Club show coming up and you're a
little bit nervous please keep watching
as I have loads of videos coming up
answering common questions people have
and I also have a video on all the
things that can go wrong when you turn
up to play. Knowledge is power and my
goal is to leave no stone unturned and
plan to help as many people as I can to be
prepared for any eventuality
