If you wish to buy DJ gear I suggest
that you first consider your goals and
also your budget. It's important to
understand though all DJ equipment shares
the exact same basic operations but some of the cheaper models do feel like toys
and even though they're portable and a
great starting point you may find you
outgrow them in a short period of time
and end up upgrading anyway. It is
said "buy cheap buy twice" so if you're
into DJing, or feel this is something you
really want to do, perhaps it's worth
spending a little bit more as not only
do the more expensive units have more
advanced features but they also have
more powerful sound cards which means
you can play them loud without
compromising the sound quality. In this
video I'm going to talk about the
different Pioneer controllers, XDJ's
and club equipment. Now there are other
controllers and brands out there but
Pioneer does have the monopoly on the
market and all club gear is Pioneer so
in my experience Pioneer is a great
choice when it comes to buying gear.
If DJ equipment does not have any inbuilt
screen then to work you need to
connect the controller to your computer
and your computer becomes the screen but
to allow your controller to effectively
communicate with your computer you first
need DJ software on your computer that
acts as the brains for your controller.
Now Serato has been around forever and
is considered by many the best DJ
software in the world, though Rekordbox
definitely holds its own and the big
advantage of using Rekordbox is you can export your playlists onto USB for
club use as all club equipment reads
Rekordbox not Serato. If my focus
was house parties and functions I would
probably lean towards Serato, however if
my focus was playing in clubs I would
most definitely use Rekordbox as when
playing in clubs the venue will expect
you to use USB sticks and Rekordbox is
the program used to prepare music for
USB and it's also compatible with all
Pioneer controllers. In the Club
Ready DJ Course i dive deeper into this and
I have full software videos on using
Serato and Rekordbox but ultimately go
with what looks and feels right to you.
If you're on the fence and want to first
see if DJing is for you or not, I would
probably suggest the DDJ 400 or DDJSB3
for approximately $350.
As mentioned all DJ
equipment shares the exact same basic
operations needed to DJ and I know loads
of really great DJ's that started with
these cheaper models. However if it was a choice between the DDJ400 or the SB3 I
would go for the DDJ400 every time as the DDJ400 comes with a full version of Rekordbox DJ
though the SB3 only comes with
Serato lite which is very limited.
If you can increase your budget I would
go for the DDJ1000 the DDJ1000 is a
Rekordbox controller and it looks and
feels amazing. Now sure you need to
connect a computer to load your songs
but the advantage of using the DDJ1000 is, it has full
size jog wheels, just like a club gear,
and inside of each jog wheel there are
mini display screens where you can see
the song's waveform and BPM which means
you're not glued to your computer screen the whole time which feels really great when
playing. The DDJ1000 feels sturdy yet
portable and without a doubt you could
become a really great DJ on this and be
taken seriously.
Other options under $2000 is the DDJSX3
and also the XDJRR. The
SX3 is a Serato controller and it's a
great choice for mobile djs doing
weddings, functions and parties and the
XDJRR is a Rekordbox controller which
shares virtually the same layout as the
club gear and also boasts an inbuilt
screen which means you can load your
songs directly onto the gear using USB
keys. The tagline for the XDJRR is "from
bedroom to club" and it's a great
first controller for people getting into
DJing.
If you're leaning towards the XDJRR
personally I would spend the extra $700
and get the XDJRX2 as this is the
version up from the XDJRR and the difference feels
huge! Straight up the XDJRR feels like
it's made from cheaper materials and
when I opened the box I was a little bit
underwhelmed. But when you open the box
for the XDJRX2 you know you have a
serious piece of equipment that's going to
last you a lifetime. It's almost twice
the weight of the XDJRR and has a really cool feel to
it and boasts loads of really cool
features and song search options.
Sure the jog wheels are smaller than the
club gear and the DDJ1000, so if full-size
jog wheels are important to you then
this isn't for you but if you want to
prepare to play in clubs but can't
afford the club equipment then the XDJRX2
is the perfect choice. You can use it
with or without a computer, it has the
same layout as the club gear but it
also has the performance options found
on most controllers. It's an all-in-one
so it's portable and you could honestly
run your own events with this and if
people know how to use club equipment
they could adapt to the XDJRX2 with
ease and vice versa. If you're set on
getting club gear you're looking at
around $5000 at least.
Club gear is like the rolls-royce of
DJ equipment. It's built to last and
nothing feels better when playing. It has
full-size jog wheels, big colour display
screens, and the latest releases have
touch screens to help you find songs
with ease. The advantage of buying
your own Club setup is you could host
your own events and parties and nothing
feels or looks so good. At the end of
the day I suggest that you follow your
intuition. If something keeps you up at
night thinking about it or the idea of
something in particular excites you and
feels right then that is most definitely
the gear you should get.
