DJ Equipment

cityboyjim

Guys I have not got a clue about DJ Equipment and the more I read what you guys say the more confused I get.What I want to do is leave a full DJ set in my Bar so that guest DJs can come in and play their own music .The set up has to be cheap and more important user friendly as the people using it will be like myself ie not a clue..I have about a €600 budget in mind .I have the laptop but thats all.Any help on what to get will be greatly appreciated.:D

frozenfrozen

Do you already have a good speaker setup and dj booth? 600 isn't a lot for turntables and a mixer and it would be more worth putting the cash into having a good setup for your djs to bring their own gear (which they will have anyway)

cityboyjim

I only have a small room for this so really just need the equipment .Controller and speakers and one light .I seen a few packages and they range from €200 upwards.I was just wondering whats the best user friendly option .The guest DJs will be customers having a shot for fun really,.Thanks for the reply .

sweetie

Terrible idea to let customers Dj IMO but your best bet is an all in one controller like the numark mix deck or mix deck quad or citronic mpsd. They take cd USB drives and can also be used as midi controllers (to an extent) for laptops. The mix deck can
be bought for about 400 second hand on adverts.

frozenfrozen

Yeah I don't really understand why you would want customers to dj. It would be novel for about 15 seconds until they trainwreck justin bieber with rihanna

cityboyjim

Maybe sure its worth a shot. Thats why the gear should be cheap and user friendly

The_Honeybadger

I dont think the gear really matters, just get the cheapest you can find, also get a used pc on adverts for a hundred quid, install a cracked copy of vdj and a couple of thousand illegal choons off limewire and you're set. I can't think of anything that would clear a pub faster than a load of pi$$ed up customers behind the decks with no clue what they are doing. Also you will find blown speakers, knobs and sliders missing off your mixer and your gear generally in bits in short order. Cheap gear (or any gear really) does not like abuse.

But is it worth a shot? Absolutely!

MidlandsM

mickeyk wrote: »

get a used pc on adverts for a hundred quid, install a cracked copy of vdj and a couple of thousand illegal choons off limewire and you're set.

so, a trypical mobile dj then?

The_Honeybadger

MidlandsM wrote: »

so, a trypical mobile dj then?

Lol, plenty of us legit too remember!

old gregg

Why not just provide a pa system with a limiter to prevent speakers being blown and a booth/desk and nothing else. If customers are going to dj then if they have any idea what they are doing they'll have their own decks/laptops/cdj's or have access to borrowing them from wherever they get them to practice. If they don't, then they shouldn't be allowed near a dj booth in the first place.

This also reduces the chances of the plonker who's never ever dj'd getting up half mangled and belting out Living On A Prayer 'cos it's his dad's birthday

ghostdancer

the more i think about it, the more this seems like a complete awful idea, and one that i really, really want to see in practice for how bad it will be.

ghostdancer

old gregg wrote: »

Why not just provide a pa system with a limiter to prevent speakers being blown and a booth/desk and nothing else. If customers are going to dj then if they have any idea what they are doing they'll have their own decks/laptops/cdj's or have access to borrowing them from wherever they get them to practice. If they don't, then they shouldn't be allowed near a dj booth in the first place.

This also reduces the chances of the plonker who's never ever dj'd getting up half mangled and belting out Living On A Prayer 'cos it's his dad's birthday

didn't you hear, DJing is easy, even Paris Hilton can do it!
Stacey the 19year old hairdresser from Finglas will have no trouble figuring out cue-points, beat matching and pitch bends on her own within 15mins in a bar!

old gregg

If Stacey is hot then she can do whatever she likes. It's her brother Nailer I'm worried about

cityboyjim

Guys I just spotted a DJ set on Ebay .Hi Fi Tower is the brand .Are they any good I wonder.

old gregg

Isn't Hi Fi Tower the name of a company who sell equipment rather than a manufacturer?

http://www.hifi-tower.ie/

cityboyjim

Your 100% right but thats the name thats in the brand section of the product details on EBay,Makes me a bit sceptical to be honest ,Anyway I entered a question on Ebay so will see what comes back .There is everything one needs I think with this product though if its legit.Thanks for your help

cityboyjim

Thats what it says in the product details though.Thanks

Riesen_Meal

This for 300 quid, http://www.djbox.ie/digital-dj/digital-dj-hardware/pioneer-ddj-wego-dj-controller.html followed by a cheap PA System.....

Just don't let the punters go near it with drink in hand!

frozenfrozen

and some glue to stop it from walking out of the place

cityboyjim

Thanks guys foir the help .I just bought a Tractor would ye believe

BaZmO*

cityboyjim wrote: »

Thanks guys foir the help .I just bought a Tractor would ye believe

That'll come in handy around the farm

leggo

Oh man. I wish you the best of luck but this is one of those ideas you're going to be pretending you didn't have in a few months, when it all goes horribly wrong.

What's going to happen: drink spilled over your gear (that happens on night one), having to buy new stuff to replace it, gear getting lifted (I'll give that two months tops), fights breaking out when someone tries to hog it trying to show off how 'eclectic' their taste is, bad atmosphere when people get bored of the novelty and there's just **** songs playing, etc etc.

If you want the customers to pick the songs, just buy a jukebox. Simple.

Or just get in a trustworthy resident DJ, who's capable of creating a bit of atmosphere and generating business - instead of going on the cheap and looking like 'the cheap bar' - for a decent price. Takes money to make money, and all that. If finding one sounds like too much hard work, don't complain and blame the recession if business goes south after a while.

Sorry to be blunt about it, but it's true.

BaZmO*

Where did the OP say he was letting customers play the music?

Did he not just say that he wants the equipment there so guest DJs can use it? That'd be pretty standard in most bars.

What I want to do is leave a full DJ set in my Bar so that guest DJs can come in and play their own music

old gregg

BaZmO* wrote: »

Where did the OP say he was letting customers play the music?

Did he not just say that he wants the equipment there so guest DJs can use it? That'd be pretty standard in most bars.

Ah but he did. I give you exhibit A:

cityboyjim wrote: »

The guest DJs will be customers having a shot for fun really,.Thanks for the reply .

BaZmO*

old gregg wrote: »

Ah but he did. I give you exhibit A:

Clearly the evidence has been tampered with.

old gregg

BaZmO* wrote: »

Clearly the evidence has been tampered with.

Badgering the witness!

clint_silver

cityboyjim wrote: »

Guys I just spotted a DJ set on Ebay .Hi Fi Tower is the brand .Are they any good I wonder.

its dj gear on ebay.

its dirt cheap

youre wondering if its any good.

the answer is blowing in the wind.

take the advice given above. buy 600e worth of goods on adverts second hand that might be worth 1.2 new. dont buy 600e worth of new gear off ebay. thats an even worse idea than the bar.

cityboyjim

One last question and I will be finished annoying you guys.
For my Traktor I have a choice of either a pair of cheap powered speakers or a 150 watt amp with two 400watt passive speakers.Which should I go for.Thanks for the advice so far guys.

frozenfrozen

powered speakers

was.deevey

take the advice given above. buy 600e worth of goods on adverts second hand that might be worth 1.2 new. dont buy 600e worth of new gear off ebay. thats an even worse idea than the bar.

THIS 1000000% ... Look on adverts, there's always gear for sale reasonably cheap - but 600 euro ? You do realize that a single decent CD deck costs more that that on its own.

If Buy something cheap and expect it to last like something cheap - maybe 10 seconds with a DJ who doesn't know what he's doing.

Also bear in mind if the DJ gear is ****e and the sound is ****e no-one decent is going to even going to want to bother turning up and playing (or listening).

And also IMHO DO NOT BUY A DJ CONTROLLER YOU NEED TO PLUG A LAPTOP INTO !

clint_silver

more I think about this the worst it gets. the questions are wrong.

If like a fella asking should he setup a carpentry business cos he bought a hammer and saw out of aldi.

I work on average 2 nights a week as a mobile DJ for last ten years. spent thousands on racks, cases over the years. Bullet proof the gear which is all best money can buy. Yet it still gets scratched, bumped, knocked, faders get lost, things break and I know what Im doing with it (I hope).

If you buy bad equipment youll buy it twice if works at all.

If you put bad speakers up you will get bad sound and people might turn up once, but they wont turn up again.

I'll weigh in with a last piece of advice. dont do it if you dont have the budget of 1.5-2k. and thats for quality second hand.