Digital DJ, what to buy first

[Razzlesnaz]

I want to start Digital Djing. I own ableton, launchpad, reason 5, a radium keyboard, and an older Mac powerbook. I want to add some DJing capabilities. I use to own technics 1200's and miss them dearly. With so many options on the market and a somewhat limited budget i am a bit overwhelmed. What would you forum members recommend i get first? My end goal would be to perform every now and then at small clubs or lounges in Denver, Colorado. Do i need to start with the hardware controller or can i minimize investment with just buying the software? What software should I get; traktor, serrato, or other? I would like to integrate ableton into the performance with the DJing software and hardware. Thank you for your input.

Regards,

Bob

[m00n]

IS there a reason you don't want to DJ using live or are you looking for a more traditional style of DJ'ing instead of clip launching??

Traktor = More controller options, better FX, Sample/Remix Decks..
Scratch Live = Youll find it in damn near every club, seems to be the king of DVS. Has bridge functionality with ableton but i wasnt impressed..

My best advice is to try them out for yourself.. If you dont have access go to a local Guitar Center or something and bang away at theirs.. What I prefer may be what you hate, so do yourself a favor and try them out before you buy..

[faderswagger]

Serato has some integration with ableton, but I'm not sure what form that takes.

A ton of people just run traktor and ableton at the same time, with traktor just sending audio into ableton. If you're into production as well as DJing, this might be perfect for you.
Also though, now that traktor (and soon VDJ) has remix decks which let you trigger clips ableton style, it might be worth it to export parts from ableton, and just use traktor to arrange them live.

In terms of what gear you want first, you need to make an early-on decision about sync or beatmatching, and buy accordingly. If you don't care about beatmatching, then mappable buttons are number 1 priority. There's a modular revolution just a couple months away, so I'd steer clear of All-in-one controllers, at least for the time being.

Before the fanboys show up, I'd also like to especially caution you against the S4/S2, and to some extent, the F1. ESPECIALLY for what it sounds like you want to do, an S4/S2 would not be a good solution at all. Seriously, you don't wanna listen to the NI fanboys on that one, i promise.

[squidot]

there's some good points here and you should try before you buy. i know that you can demo traktor for free...it lets you play 30 mins at a time and not record but it will give you a good idea if you like it.

i was using ableton as well, but could never really get into live djing with that software due to personal preferences so i went with traktor. i want to do the same as you and get back into playing some small bars/clubs etc so i decided that getting a good all in one controller was the best for me and landed on the vci-400 ege after doing a ton of research.

basically i thought it would be perfect for playing at home and bringing to gigs so i will never have to worry about what equipment the bar/club has. i can practice at home exactly how i will be playing out. all i need is to plug into the house mixer and i'm good to go since i don't want to worry about different venues with different cjds/turntables, mixers, etc.

faderswagger brings up a good point about modular if that's your thing but i personally don't want to pack up a bunch of smaller controllers to gig out. all i need is my laptop, vci, headphones, some cables and i'm good to go. just try every software you can and do a bunch of research and think about what you really want from your gear both at home and at gigs.

[Razzlesnaz]

So here is what happened. I got a huge craving for gear and software and naturally went to the dealer, Guitar Center. I bought the Traktor Kontrol x1 and it came with traktor so I have hardware and software.

I have had a hard time installing the driver for the Traktor Kontrol x1 on my vista 64 machine. On my Powerbook laptop, no problem at at all except i only have 2 usb ports. I have spent most my time trying to install the Kontrol on my PC since that has 6gb ram and 8 usb ports.

Thanks for all the advice.

[manchild]

There are USB hubs you can get that seem to work alright, and depending on your final set-up you many not need more then 2 USB ports. However, if you do want to use your PC, and you do want to take this somewhat seriously, then I would suggest upgrading to Windows 7 on that machine, it may not be necessary, but im willing to guess in the end, it will save you a lot of headaches

Edit: In the meantime, Try using this driver for the X1 http://download.native-instruments.c...stamp=4fe5e0ed

[Razzlesnaz]

You are the man. That got me up and running on my PC. Thank you so much. Kontrol x1 vista 64 driver fix !