Any advice welcome

mbren

Hey people,

I'm just about to buy my first set of decks and just wondering if anyone has any advice on what equipment to buy?
Also wondering if anyone would know any good books that would help get me started as i don't know the first thing about it.
I'm looking to play mostly electronic music from House, to minimalist techno so I guess I might as well ask where the best places to buy good vinyls are?

Cheers in advance!

BaZmO*

Even though it pains me to say it (being the old dinosaur that I am) I wouldn't bother with getting standard decks, i.e. Vinyl.

You're better off going the digital route as it works out cheaper and it's more convenient.

As for books, I wouldn't bother. Save your money and just look on line for tutorials on Youtube and the like.

After that it's just practice practice practice.

Executive Steve

Can't go wrong with a second hand pair of technics!

Mixers are less important than decks in the short term - get something with decent faders and a three band eq that can cut the sound all the way out. Second hand mixers are usually not the way to go unless the faders are replacable, so you will want to buy something new; needn't be an expensive one either.

You''ll decent amp and a pair of speakers as well as a pair of headphones.

Rule of thumb - the closer to your records a piece of equipment is the more that you'll want to spend on it.

Also - never buy Behringer.

For books, Bill Brewster wrote a nice one called "how to dj properly" - you'll get it in chapter's on parnell street in dublin.

seannash

okay
first off realistically dont get vinyl turntables(i loved vinyl as much as the next person but seriously people we have to move on a bit)
if you do go the vinyl option get serato.itll save you money in the long run

so get cdjs.
top of the line are pioneer cdj 1000s.
if you can afford them have a look around at what is in your price range and come back and let us know what your thinking of buying as the choices are staggering.same for mixer

dont feel that you have to buy an amp and speakers.alot of people(me included) just ran our mixers output into a stereo which has an AUX button on it.(most hifis will have this and thisll save you a few bob to put towards a better setup)

headphones but again dont get any of the real expensive ones as your just starting out.Stanton do a good budget headphone.

francois

Depends-If you already have a vinyl collection, get the decks, (or if you want to collect vinyl, but be warned it's expensive!)

seannash

[cm]tyranny wrote: »

Rule of thumb - the closer to your records a piece of equipment is the more that you'll want to spend on it.

im trying to figure out what this means

g5fd6ow0hseima

seannash wrote: »

im trying to figure out what this means

Im also baffled.

Executive Steve

Well it basically means that a decent pair of decks and a nice pair of carts will affect the sound quality more than the mixer or the amp will...

seannash

[cm]tyranny wrote: »

Well it basically means that a decent pair of decks and a nice pair of carts will affect the sound quality more than the mixer or the amp will...

that was a bit criptic in fairness:D

SteveDon

mbren wrote: »

Hey people,

I'm just about to buy my first set of decks and just wondering if anyone has any advice on what equipment to buy?
Also wondering if anyone would know any good books that would help get me started as i don't know the first thing about it.
I'm looking to play mostly electronic music from House, to minimalist techno so I guess I might as well ask where the best places to buy good vinyls are?

Cheers in advance!

Is this mark breen by any chance?

jonny68

My perfect set up would be...

Vestax PDX2300Mk2 Pro Turntables
http://www.djkit.co.uk/product.php?id=289&cat=80

Pioneer DJM-1000 6 Channel Installation Grade Digital Mixer
http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/44/74/461/DJM-1000/index.html

Serato Scratch Live
http://www.serato.com/scratchlive

tman

jonny68 wrote: »

Pioneer DJM-1000 6 Channel Installation Grade Digital Mixer
http://www.pioneer.eu/uk/products/44/74/461/DJM-1000/index.html

Tis a bit excessive for a first setup though:p

Definitely avoid vinyl decks unless you already have a vast collection of it... Even then it'll be next to impossible to build up an up to date collection of music, and you'll inevitably end up buying cd decks (or something like Serato) later on down the line in order to keep your tune selection fresh...

+1 for Bill Brewster's how to DJ properly - would have saved me a fair bit of headscratching if I'd has that at the start!

jonny68

tman wrote: »

Tis a bit excessive for a first setup though:p

Definitely avoid vinyl decks unless you already have a vast collection of it... Even then it'll be next to impossible to build up an up to date collection of music, and you'll inevitably end up buying cd decks (or something like Serato) later on down the line in order to keep your tune selection fresh...

+1 for Bill Brewster's how to DJ properly - would have saved me a fair bit of headscratching if I'd has that at the start!

yeah i suppose most of us can only dream of having a mixer like that.

You don't need any vinyl whatsoever to buy "Vinyl" decks that's what Serato is all about,personally speaking i much prefer "Vinyl" decks to CDJ's, you still have the feel of playing Vinyl even though your using MP3's so that's good for me.

seannash

jonny68 wrote: »

yeah i suppose most of us can only dream of having a mixer like that.

You don't need any vinyl whatsoever to buy "Vinyl" decks that's what Serato is all about,personally speaking i much prefer "Vinyl" decks to CDJ's, you still have the feel of playing Vinyl even though your using MP3's so that's good for me.

the OP is a beginner.
he doesnt know about the "feel"
he will not miss the "feel" coz he wont have experienced it.he wont feel like hes missing out.

i do agree there is a "feel" with vinyl but i still wouldnt recommend vinyl decks to a beginnner.if the OP was hell bent on vinyl decks id recommend serato but id say cds are a bit easier to grasp for a beginner.
bad enough to learn djing but learning a programme too would put anyone right off in my opinion.

Executive Steve

tman wrote: »

Even then it'll be next to impossible to build up an up to date collection of music, and you'll inevitably end up buying cd decks (or something like Serato) later on down the line in order to keep your tune selection fresh...

Don't understand that at all really... It's perfectly easy to keep your vinyl selection fresh... Just buy records! Get on your local shops mailing list, order from the distro catalogues and pick them up when they come in... They're not cheap, but they force you to pick what you're going to buy and pick carefully...

Anyone can buy cd decks and torrent 500 tech-house tracks - building a record collection that will hurt a club when you pack the right bag of tunes takes years and it takes years for a reason.

tman

By fresh I meant current. Vinyl is now a thing of the past imo. Pretty much every label that I support has gone fully digital. 1 online shop that I have used for years is closing down, and the main distro (toolbox) will be sending out the last 2 vinyl releases over the next month before they move fully over to just cds...
May not be the way with all scenes (has D&B embraced the digital age fully yet or is vinyl still thriving?)

mbren

SteveDon wrote: »

Is this mark breen by any chance?

Hey, Op here. It's not MArk Breen i'm afraid, sorry!!

Thanks a million for all the replies, I appreciate it. I'll look into your suggestions and see whats in my budget.

Hopefully i'll get to hear some of your music some day and vice versa, take it easy,

Mick

Executive Steve

tman wrote: »

By fresh I meant current. Vinyl is now a thing of the past imo. Pretty much every label that I support has gone fully digital. 1 online shop that I have used for years is closing down, and the main distro (toolbox) will be sending out the last 2 vinyl releases over the next month before they move fully over to just cds...
May not be the way with all scenes (has D&B embraced the digital age fully yet or is vinyl still thriving?)

Most of my favourite labels have only started doing mp3's in the past 6 months or so, and they tend to come out well after the vinyl does... There's still at least five distros shipping dnb that i can think of, each catering for slightly different markets...

It's easy enough to get your hands on mp3's straight from the producer if you can show you have credentials and you're willing to engage in plenty of schmoozing and sweet-talk on AIM, and in the same way it's easy enough to buy a white label up to 2 months before a tune gets a proper release and the great unwashed get their hands on it...

The dubstep labels are generally quite militantly anti-mp3 still, and have the benefit of very strong sales relatively speaking too... When i saw Mala at Life last year the first thing he did was unplug the cd decks and have them carried off the stage.

I know plenty of people who still pay 25 sterling to get dubplates cut...