Recommend Me a Set Up!!

[OlieS]

Hi All,

Looking for a bit of advice!

I currently have a Omni control that I use with Traktor but want something a bit more substantial.

I'm looking at getting a set of CDJ's and a mixer and I'm thinking about some second hand CDJ 800 Mk 2's (unless there is anything better for around the same price), and some sort of Berhinger mixer.

I know that the quality of the mixers from Behringer isn't great, but, this will be used tops 2-3 times a month, for a couple of hours each use and I like to look after my stuff so this shouldnt be a problem. I've also never played on anything other than the Omni, so pretty much any mixer will be a step up from this!

I'm not interested in scratching/masses of effects/sampling, I'm just looking for a mixer that I can connect a couple of CDJ's to. The main thing I'm interested in is recording my mixes to play back and see where things went wrong.

I can pretty much afford any Behringer mixer, such as the DDM4000, DJX900USB or the NOX 606, from my description above, can you recomend which you would go for given my situation.

Thanks in advance,

Olie

[Nicky H]

Out of those I'd go for the DJX900USB.

It's the cheapest of the 3 and the most basic but will do what you want fine.

[SquireC]

Out of those I'd go for the DJX900USB.

It's the cheapest of the 3 and the most basic but will do what you want fine.

Apart from the sub-par sound quality from Behringer mixers. I never understood why the master next to the channels.
The Behringer DJX-700 was my first mixer and the amount of times I used to knock the master was ridiculous.

[tekki]

NOX-606: If you have a love for the Xone:92 (4band EQ), this is the cheapest alternative you could get.

Otherwise for me, it would be the DDM-4000. (extensive MIDI)

[TCMuc]

For about the same price as the NOX/DDM you can get a Pioneer DJM-250 or the A&H Xone22.

This way you will have a much higher built (and sound...) quality, and if all you want to connect is two CDJs there is absolutely no reason to buy a 4 channel mixer.

I've played on the Xone myself, and it's really nice, the A&H filters are just fantastic. Haven't played on the Pioneer yet, but it's supposed to be a decent piece of gear as well.


Plus: if you ever decide to sell or upgrade your gear, the re-sale prices for Pioneer and A&H are much better than for Behringer, meaning you won't lose that much money in this case.

[OlieS]

@TCMuc,

I was looking at both the xone 22 and the DJM-250 as the prices are managable, can you connect these to a laptop so I can record my mixes, or will I have to by another soundcard (NI Audio 2 or something like that?) to be able to record them. Ideally want to by as little kit as possible.

Thanks for the suggestions though.

[TCMuc]

The Xone has a dedicated Rec Out. Just connect that to your latop's line-in and you'll be fine.

[OlieS]

@TCMuc,

Awesome, I'm assuming a dual RCA to 3.5mm cable plugged into the little input port near the headphone bit on my laptop, and some sort of recording software would do the trick? If thats the case i'm sold on the Xone 22!

Now, would some CDJ 800's be ok? Are there any alternatives?

Sorry for all the questions as I've never dealt with any of this before, just a plug and play controller.

Cheers!

[TCMuc]

Right, that's the kind of cable you'll need. Regarding the recording software I would recommend Audacity (freeware), which gives you everything you need.

The CDJ 800s are just fine. I just got myself a pair of used CDJ-800 MK2s recently (have been using vinyl for 15+ years before). I don't know of any other CD Players in the price range of the 800s that I would consider superior.

[OlieS]

Awesome! Legend mate, you've been a massive help! I've just been looking at Audacity and it looks spot on! Looks like I'll be spending some money this weekend then! You'll have to keep an eye out for a trainwreck house/techno mix soon haha.

Olie