Possibly the stupidest question ever asked

Hey guys, I'm predominantly a Digital DJ using MIDI Controllers.

I'm looking to get more and more into CDJs and the new pioneer video tipped me over the edge.

I want to start off fairly cheap, say CDJ400 or something like that.

How would I play the music off Traktor? I understand that I have to connect them through HID to the laptop, but I'm unsure about what to do with the mixer. Do I even need a mixer or can I just use my S2 as the mixer? I guess I just really get confused by CDJs.

What are the main things I need to know?

Thanks for putting up with me

You can use the CDJs as hid controllers, but apparently you don't need to use their audio interfaces.
CDJ 400 integration seemed to be mediocre with Traktor in the past, I'd still look out for reviews by people who've used them then and now with 2.5.1 to figure out whether it's worth it at all. They may be the most affordable of the range, but they're still not cheap. That's a lot to spend into dodgy platters and faders imo.

Then let's take it one step back. Say I buy generic CDJs, no particular brand. These have USB HID. I want to run them with Traktor. I'll obviously need a mixer and if the mixer doesn't have a soundcard I'll need to buy one separately, correct?

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Originally Posted by Lilac

Then let's take it one step back. Say I buy generic CDJs, no particular brand. These have USB HID. I want to run them with Traktor. I'll obviously need a mixer and if the mixer doesn't have a soundcard I'll need to buy one separately, correct?

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Yes, and yes you can use your S2 as a mixer if you're using your CDJ's as HID controllers. Your CDJ's will basically be no different than the platter section on your S2. No extra cables (other then the USB cords) or Audio I/O routing if you do it that way

So I can take my S2 into any club and, as long as the CDJs have HID, just plug it all in and play?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lilac

So I can take my S2 into any club and, as long as the CDJs have HID, just plug it all in and play?

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Theoretically yes but in real life there are all kinds of issues so you better know what you are doing before you start the session in order to avoid train wrecks or even worse, silence.

So what would you recommend?

I personally would not recomend you to buy any cdj'd the will do exactly the same as your s2 player section. But on the other hand it's verry usefull to learn how cdj's work. So my advice would be: cdj's are to expensive now, i would upgrade your s2 to an s4 or buy some cheap cd playes for example reloop rmp's (you can use the rmp-3's with midi) or american audio radius, these players are not hard to get second hand for a good price.

or sell the S2 and buy a mixer and the CDJ's...

It just is a matter of what type of gear you want to learn/play on. Bringing your S2 + CDJ's into the club is overkill cause you could just use the club's mixer.