Gear question?

**ExTrCt.** · 11-24-2011, 01:54 AM

Hey im wondering what gear is best for mixing psytrance & goa trance?
Ive been looking at Vinyl, technincs MkII's & Xone 22 mixer so far those are what im leaning towards. Any opinions? Im on a budget so i cant get a djm 900 and cdj 2000's right now. I havent touched any sort of gear. Just starting out.

what else would be needed? A cdj? like a cdj 400? xone 22, 2x technics.
Then ill be able to start mixing??

One of my friends mixing tech house told me to start off learning vinyl, now he's saying learn analog/digital it would be better for psytrance.
Whats the difference? Ive been researching for awhile.
Any help would be appricited!

Thanks!

**NathanWard** · 11-24-2011, 02:23 AM

Starting on Vinyl is great, do you have a lot of records already?

If you don't, you might want to look into a DVS, either Serato Scratch Live or Traktor Scratch. They allow you to play your MP3s from your laptop like they're vinyl. It's quite an expensive way to start out though, as you need turn tables, a mixer, approved soundcard and laptop.

If you already have records, your suggested setup of Technics and a Xone 22 is a great setup. Getting a good pair of headphones is also a good idea.

Tbh I don't really listen to Psytrance, and there is no "best" set up for any genre, it all comes down to personal preference.

**Bassline Brine** · 11-24-2011, 08:05 AM

It really comes down to a few different things.

What you can afford, what you want to use, and what you would be using if you were gig'ing in the future.

If you want to go with turntables, there's nothing wrong with that. It would allow you to pick up some vinyl and play with that, and then additionally you could get DVS software so you could mix your mp3's with the TT's. It's the route I chose.

That being said, it's also cost prohibitive in a lot of respects. A lot of people these days are going with some form of a digital controller. They generally cost less, are more portable, and can hook into any system relatively simply. That being said, a controller is no set of 1200's.

There are a lot of different options out there, and I think you need to do a bit more research on what to look at first. 1200's and CDJ's are generally what you will see installed in clubs, but it doesn't mean it has to be what you use.

I'd love a set of CDJ's but can't justify the price of them until this becomes more than a hobby for me personally.

**racoon** · 11-24-2011, 08:13 AM

as a psy-dj i would suggest: CD or Digital

there are no psy artists TODAY releasing their sound on vinyl, all happens in the underground, in the livingrooms of the acidheadz, they don't press vinyls ^^

the most of them are distributing their music over the internet. (on their own, ... no need for major labels, ... they exist only in the pop-monkeybusiness)

i personally mix on both technologies, CD (with two pioneer cdj's) and Digital (with traktor+X1+analogue mixer+audio interface) and work actually on my first liveset (with ableton+midicontroller)

PS: If you start today from scratch, you can think about starting with digital and leaving everything "old" back behind. (but for me in person, i like the feeling of playing with CD's and an analogue mixer too much to suggest that to you ;D)

PPS: maybee you can conserve "that feeling" when you use two Denon SC2000's instead of the NI X1 ? should be worth a try ^^

**ExTrCt.** · 11-24-2011, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by NathanWard

Starting on Vinyl is great, do you have a lot of records already?

If you don't, you might want to look into a DVS, either Serato Scratch Live or Traktor Scratch. They allow you to play your MP3s from your laptop like they're vinyl. It's quite an expensive way to start out though, as you need turn tables, a mixer, approved soundcard and laptop.

If you already have records, your suggested setup of Technics and a Xone 22 is a great setup. Getting a good pair of headphones is also a good idea.

Tbh I don't really listen to Psytrance, and there is no "best" set up for any genre, it all comes down to personal preference.

Yeah i dont have any vinyl records. Where do you purchase old records for psytrance? Ebay? Ive found some on google but not sure whats good or not.
I want to research more on that DVS your talking about, that sounds useful. Ive heard of that method, but not sure how to use those programs.
My friend uses traktor to do tech house, ive heard about serato never touched either of them. What would be needed with vinyl? a cdj or a dvs?

Originally Posted by Bassline Brine

It really comes down to a few different things.

What you can afford, what you want to use, and what you would be using if you were gig'ing in the future.

If you want to go with turntables, there's nothing wrong with that. It would allow you to pick up some vinyl and play with that, and then additionally you could get DVS software so you could mix your mp3's with the TT's. It's the route I chose.

That being said, it's also cost prohibitive in a lot of respects. A lot of people these days are going with some form of a digital controller. They generally cost less, are more portable, and can hook into any system relatively simply. That being said, a controller is no set of 1200's.

There are a lot of different options out there, and I think you need to do a bit more research on what to look at first. 1200's and CDJ's are generally what you will see installed in clubs, but it doesn't mean it has to be what you use.

I'd love a set of CDJ's but can't justify the price of them until this becomes more than a hobby for me personally.

Well i saved up 2k. But i have no computer, no mixer, no turntables.
I want two technics a xone 22 but what else? Do i need to get started?
Cdj's? Cheapest one i found that i heard was nice is the cdj 400. Is there another route to upload music without buying cdj's?

Originally Posted by racoon

as a psy-dj i would suggest: CD or Digital

there are no psy artists TODAY releasing their sound on vinyl, all happens in the underground, in the livingrooms of the acidheadz, they don't press vinyls ^^

the most of them are distributing their music over the internet. (on their own, ... no need for major labels, ... they exist only in the pop-monkeybusiness)

i personally mix on both technologies, CD (with two pioneer cdj's) and Digital (with traktor+X1+analogue mixer+audio interface) and work actually on my first liveset (with ableton+midicontroller)

PS: If you start today from scratch, you can think about starting with digital and leaving everything "old" back behind. (but for me in person, i like the feeling of playing with CD's and an analogue mixer too much to suggest that to you ;D)

PPS: maybee you can conserve "that feeling" when you use two Denon SC2000's instead of the NI X1 ? should be worth a try ^^

How hard would it be to mix psytrance and goa trance on vinyl?
I would like to learn vinyl to start with & my genre would be trance.
But whats your opinion on my setup choice? You think that would be a good start for me. To get technics and a xone 22? anything else i should pick up?
I wouldn't mind mixing vinyl, then putting on a cd. How would i go about that? a Cdj?

Thanks all the help is appriciated!!!

**Bassline Brine** · 11-24-2011, 10:39 PM

Honestly, unless you are really hardcore and set on mixing on vinyl, it's REALLY cost prohibitive.

I mean, you can do it. But at $20 a record, it adds up damned fast unless you find a treasure trove someone is unloading. Not sure where you are, but at least in the US you will generally have to import most of the stuff you want.

So simply getting the equipment isn't the end all be all of it. That's where programs like Traktor and Serato come in. They act as an interface to allow you to spin time-coded vinyl, and mix the Mp3's on your computer like you would vinyl.

If you don't have a computer... well, either get one, or I'd count out that option for you.

The basic thing that you need with a CDJ setup would be the ability to burn your music ONTO the CD's. That's pretty much it.

Since you don't have a computer to bring into the setup, just using CD's is probably your best bet.

CDJ-400's or CDJ-800's seem to be going for (median) $400 a pop right now. You wouldn't need anything fancier per-say, though if you were able to find a nice pair of CDJ-1000 MK3's, I'd say go for it. With a nice mixer, you'd be well under your 2k budget with a solid CDJ setup.

That being said, you can probably get a brand new Macbook Pro (13") at bare specs (which is still more than enough for most anything you can throw at it) and then a controller like the S4 and have a solid setup. Later on you could even throw TT's into the equation with the S4 time-code upgrade.

There are a lot of different options out there. What you need to figure out is what medium is going to keep you happy, and what is realistic.

Personally I was leaning toward CDJ's when my computer died almost a year ago. But then I was able to get a Macbook Pro (which I also use for school) and so it changed my outlook. It's also nice just having a functional computer, nevermind anything DJ-wise. So I shifted my focus and went with what I initially wanted. It probably took me over 6 months to piece together my "perfect" setup, and there are still parts I want to work on. But I scouted craigslist like a madman, and got deals on used gear locally.

You just need to give yourself a little more direction

**ExTrCt.** · 11-24-2011, 11:21 PM

Thanks i need more knowledge you are helping me alot in the direction i want to go.

Im really interested in Vinyl, Im in America.
That would eat my budget fast 20$ a record though.

I would be buying a laptop first or after dj equipment. Which gear is best to buy first?
Should i buy the turntables or the mixer first? Or all at once?
Sorry for the beginner questions, i know people hate answering these type of questions. :eek:

heres what i had in mind.

Xone 22
technics mkII x2
Cdj 400 to burn my cd's (upgrade later, when actually have learned something)
Serato
Macbook pro
Headphones
Speakers
Possible some 16" Display monitors ( heard these were nice to use )

**racoon** · 11-25-2011, 02:23 AM

since you really only want to mix vinyl ignoring how dumb this is (in 2011) i would advise you to get an laptop+serato first to be prepared to continue when you realize how dumb it was ;o)