equipment needed?

Hey,
i really want to get into djin but dont know what equipment i need?!
im thinking of avoiding the laptop idea anyway because of expense and other reasons, but in terms of decks...what do i need...whats a mixer...do i need one? do most places hav equipment you can use...yes i know i sound clueless..

steveland?

Do you want to use CDs or vinyl?

You'll need 2 decks and a mixer.

If you're looking to DJ with vinyl then get a good pair of "Direct Drive" turntables. This means they spin using a motor that turns them directly as opposed to "Belt Drive" which uses a motor to turn a belt which turns the platter (where you put the records on). Belt drive would be fine if you were just listening to records but not if you want to mix with them

Here's a list of direct drive turntables from Thomann
http://www.thomann.de/ie/direct_drive_turntables.html

Here's a list of CD decks from Thomann
http://www.thomann.de/ie/single_cd_player.html

You'd need two of these and a mixer

You'll need a 2-channel minimum mixer
http://www.thomann.de/ie/2_channel_mixers.html

You plug each of your decks into this and then hook it up to your speakers.

With a mixer you can plug headphones into it and preview the tracks before actually sending them out to the speakers. This lets you set the speed etc and "beatmatch" the tracks.

If you're planning on going the CD route then there's lots of dual-CD players about.
http://www.thomann.de/ie/dual_cd_player.html

Maybe someone can clear up something for me actually... do you need a mixer with these? I've never used them and I can't see any cross-fade on them but I've seen someone DJing with them before without a mixer and it sounded pretty good. I presume you could just turn one of the sides up as you turn the other down as opposed to cross-fading.

This looks like a really good deal actually...

http://www.thomann.de/ie/numark_cdn22ii_doppelcdplayer.htm

€199 for the dual CD players, marked down from €499. Can anyone see a problem there? Free postage too.

If you're looking to bring them somewhere you'd be best getting a 3U rack case (1U is the height of approximately two/three screws. Equipment is given a "U" height depending on its size and racks are given "U"s to correspond with the amount of 1U rack-gear bits you can fit into them. A 4U case can hold 1x2U and 2x1U pieces of equipment for example)

Here's a few "full DJ sets". Some have speakers/amps etc. so you'd get nearly everything you need
http://www.thomann.de/ie/complete_dj_sets.html

A flightcase/rack may seem expensive but it's a lot more expensive if you drop something and it's not even partially protected.

Those dual CD players would probably do the trick for what you want.

If you're just messing around at home then you'll need either an amp and passive monitors or just a set of active monitors.

Passive monitors need an amp to amplify the sound coming through them. Active monitors have an amp built in. Bi-amped near-field monitors are what you'd be looking for. Each of the speakerboxes has an amp in it and are designed to be heard close enough up, perfect for sticking close (not too close if you're using vinyl) behind your decks for "monitoring" purpouses (if you're DJing in a club or somewhere you'd have monitors facing towards you while your decks are hooked into the PA system and that sound is faced out towards the audience. This allows you to hear relatively clearly what you're playing)

Here's a list of active nearfield monitors
http://www.thomann.de/ie/active_nearfield_monitors.html

If you're going for doing gigs in the future then most places would have a PA system there for you to hook the outputs of your mixer into so you don't really need to worry about these for the moment.

I was at a party recently (just a 21st so no massive groundbreaking tunes) and the DJ just had 2xBehringer bass bins and 2xBehringer tops (for high and low frequencies) which did the trick just fine.

If you're just looking to do 21sts, 40ths etc then you wouldn't need a huge top-of-the-range sound system. Most people will be scuthered anyway so won't really notice (unless you're really, really good).

Behringer stuff is grand for sitting in your bedroom pumping out tunes. Don't know if I'd trust it in a live situation though...

My current set up is two bottom of the range turntables (I'm a bit of a purist, just like DJing on vinyl and wouldn't bother doing gigs because I'm happy just putting together mixes of music I like to listen to on the bus), a bottom of the range mixer, cheapo Behringer monitors (not bi-amped), all going into a Spirit Soundcraft Folio Lite 12-channel mixer (got for free from a mate), also mixed with a mic, sampler, keyboard and Toneport UX2 (guitar interface for PC). The outputs of the 12ch mixer are just going into my stereo with a speaker in each corner and out to the monitors behind my decks/mixer on my desk.

I've spent shag-all in total on everything and it does exactly what I need it to and I've never had anything break down. Spending so little money has also let me experiment. I got the sampler off a boards member having never used one before and it's now an integral part of my mixes (record a few sound effects/samples into it to play at points during the mix)

If you're looking to DJ out then you're better off spending a bit more on reliable, good equipment.

Hope this helps

EDIT: Oh, and also.... Good Luck!

wow! thank you so much for such a detailed reply...
im off to do my homework on all this info!

but think i could get away with 2 cd decks and a mixer...plug in a pair of decent earphones while at home and just hope the club has the speakers?(my god i sound hopefull dont i)

dont really understand all the stuff about monitors etc. ...yet
and thanks again!

Zascar

everything said abouve it good advice, but do a search there are loads of threads on this in this forum covering the same topic...

tman

you seem to be counting your chickens before they've hatched dude...
no point worrying about the setup in clubs right now if you don't even know how to mix yet...

If you have the money to spare, go for a couple of Pioneer CDJ 200s and a fairly basic 2 channel mixer.
get a set of active monitors for mixing at home, or even just run it through your stereo if you have a decent one. you can't get away with only using headphones at home

Bradidup

If you are going for vinyl try to borrow for a good second-hand set of Technics 1210s mk2 rather than a new set of some other brand. You won’t regret it, they will last you a long time and they don’t depreciate. If you get used of them you will also find them in nearly all nightclubs as they are club standard. For the moment you could get away with a simple 2 channel mixer.

no,no im def not that confindent(/cocky). i do intend on jus getting used of the equipent and then taking it from there, but i was just responding to the first reply where i was looking at full dj sets with speakers wtc. and i was thinking 'i couldnt need that! surely in the unlikley event of a gig they'd have speakers etc.'..

steveland?

Deleted User wrote:

no,no im def not that confindent(/cocky). i do intend on jus getting used of the equipent and then taking it from there, but i was just responding to the first reply where i was looking at full dj sets with speakers wtc. and i was thinking 'i couldnt need that! surely in the unlikley event of a gig they'd have speakers etc.'..

There's a difference though between playing in a club and playing, say, a 21st or a 40th.

In a club the place is meant for music, some pubs also. They'd be the most likely to already have a PA system there, laid out to suit someone bringing their own equipment.

If you're planning on just doing it to make a bit of spare cash in an evening every few weeks and want to go down the private party route then you'd probably need your own speakers as they're usually on in GAA/rugby/cricket clubs or similar which wouldn't usually have their own PA system.

It all depends what you want to do.

For the moment though I'd recommend just getting the bare minimum and plant whatever money you're willing to spend in this alone. The bare minimum would be 2 x decks, whether they be turntables or CDJs, a 2-channel mixer, a pair of active monitors (or passive monitors and an amp if you see a good deal) and a pair of headphones.

Also, as tman said, if you have a decent stereo at home where you're going to be playing music then check if it has a mini-disc or aux input on the back. You can easily hook up the main output of your mixer into that and you'll be laughing.

Keep an eye out on adverts.ie for monitors/amps/CDJs etc as there's usually someone selling something.