Digital set up without a laptop. Many options. What do you think?

[tomstickland]

I want to buy a set up that I can use at home to make mixes for fun and also with an eye to getting out there and playing out over the next year. Years ago I was a proficient beat matcher using a pair of very basic Synergy CDJs and a made to fade mixer. I had no instant start and tiny pitch faders. Waveforms and sync buttons were not available back then. People still made pleasing mixes. I’m a quite happy to not have many of the features that are seen as essential by many.
I’m totally up for going all digital with my files on USB or XD. Having CD decks is potentially quite a nice bonus but I’ve ripped most of CD single collection to file. I don’t want to use a laptop, an ipad, ipod or mobile phone as part of my set up.
During my research I’ve looked at a lot of options. I’ve read reviews, watched youtube videos and read the user manuals. Some info is very hard to find. I’d really want to know the pitch resolution steps; some players are capable of 0.02%, some are 0.5%, which is no use to me. I want to be able to pitch tracks to a fine degree, like the masters did on their 1210s back in the 1990s.
Numark Mixdeck, Mixdeck Quad, Mixdeck Express. All of these look ideal for my job. The Express is missing some interesting sample and hot key options. The deal breaker for me is that they set the cue point if you press pause and then play. I don’t like that idea. I want to set my cue point, then go to the first real beat, sort my pitching out and then go back to the original cue point. When I’m sorting the pitch I’ll pause on a suitable beat and then press play. I don’t want the unit then making that my cue point. I want the Pioneer way of doing it – press cue to set the cue point. I need to read the manual more closely, I think there might be a workaround using the loop button as a cue point or a hot cue. I need to resolve that one. Various mixdeck options are available on Gumtree and Ebay for £200-500.
Gemini CDJ 700, 650 or CDMP7000
The big plus of these is the fairly large screen for navigating to files and a nice long pitch slider. CDJ650s are less than £200 new, the CDJ700 is a bit more but has more features and has received a lot of positive reviews. The CDMP7000 is a pair of them and a mixer in a box. It’s well featured. The negative for me is to do with reliability and life expectancy. It’s a pity because I like that these units don’t have any beat grid or sync features.
Pioneer XDJ R1 and Aero. Aero has the wifi streaming which is of no interest to me. Both units are similar options. I don’t like the short pitch sliders (about 65 mm based on scaling from the overall dimensions). Neither have manual looping. I don’t want to be locked into the auto bpm and integer multiples of the beats. I want to do some effects crossing over beats, looping at 1.25 or 1.5 beats, for example. Both these options can be had for around £400 on Ebay.
XDJ RX. This looks like a great solution to me. The big screen is a real bonus. Navigating through the keyhole of a standard CDJ isn’t a lot of fun. The only downside is with it being an all in one it limits future options. I think it lacks send and return connections from the players too, they would be useful for extra effects.
I’ve checked Gumtree and Ebay and they’re selling for around £900 at the moment.
XDJ 700. I wonder if a pair of XDJ 700s and a mixer is a better option. I don’t need the dual waveform display of the XDJ-RX, I’m not bothered about syncing. They’re relatively rare on Ebay but they’re selling for around £500 new at the moment. That would up my budget a bit further than I wanted to go but they might be a better long term option.
CDJ-350 There’s quite a few kits on Ebay with a pair of these and a mixer, either DJM 250, 350, 400 or a Numark Behringer, some with flight cases. Priced £600 – 800 generally. A set up like this looks like a good option but for £200 more I could have an XDJ-RX with a better screen to navigate from.
CDJ-850 I’ve seen a pair of these with a so-so mixer in a flight case for £700 on Ebay.
I think the XDJ-RX is the best option at the moment. If I wanted to spend a bit more then the XDJ-700 is probably a bit better. If I could resolve the cue point behaviour then one of the Mixdecks would be fine for my needs. Whether a mixdeck is better value than a XDJ-RX is a hard one to fathom.
So, what do you think? Am I missing anything?

[ablahblah]

I'd agree on the XDJ-RX. XDJ-700s and a Pio nexus mixer would be the proper way to do it and have a modular setup, RX is more portable and affordable. One thing I'm not 100% sure about is if it's possible to still sync up two XDJ/CDJ's without the presence of either a Nexus mixer or Rekordbox PC; I would imagine so, but the traditional way to get that set up is to get something with PDJlink in the first place (which unfortunately would mandate a DJM-900 or up).
CDJ 350 lacks a lot of the nicer features like hotcues, autoloops, and a large library display. Same goes for the Mixdecks. RX is a nice way to get a portable solution.

[Patch]

a pair of very basic Synergy CDJs and a made to fade mixer

From Richer Sounds?

[Irrational Fear]

a pair of very basic Synergy CDJs

From Richer Sounds?

I've still got mine, CD2000s, purchased from Richer Sounds in 2000 or 2001

[Patch]

If any ex-Richer Sounds customers have got any of the old double-layer Synergy slipmats (felt on top, wool/woven on the bottom) I'd love to get hold of a pair!!!

$_35.JPG

[Irrational Fear]

If any ex-Richer Sounds customers have got any of the old double-layer Synergy slipmats (felt on top, wool/woven on the bottom) I'd love to get hold of a pair!!!

$_35.JPG

They do look good!

I never brought any slipmats from them sadly. The only other DJ purchase I made there was this 4 channel mixer, they sadly stopped selling their DJ lines shortly after this.

[Irrational Fear]

One thing I'm not 100% sure about is if it's possible to still sync up two XDJ/CDJ's without the presence of either a Nexus mixer or Rekordbox PC;

-You can link up CDJs/XDJs for the purpose of sharing a single usb stick simply by connecting them with a network cable, nothing else required.

-Adding a Rekorbox laptop to the above (with router) enables you to load tracks from Rekordbox on the laptop to either deck directly (i.e no need for a usb stick).

-The DJ link enabled mixer I'm pretty sure simply lets you also sync the beat effects on the mixer to the bpm on the CDJs/XDJs.