Another which CDJ thread for home practicing

DJ Gear & Hardware CDJ & Vinyl DJing
1

Another which CDJ thread for home practicing

At home i use Traktor with timecode vinyl which i will use in clubs also
but i really would like to able to work with cdj’s.
So i’m looking for a cdj,only for practicing at home.
I don’t want to move it around use it on a party or whatever just home.
But i want a cdj that comes close to club standard cdjs just in the way of working with them.
No effects,just the way of working with them.
What do you recommend?
Is the 350 enough,850 the way to go or is even something like relloops RMP 2.5 or 3
enough for practicing at home?

Thanks in advance
Lao Ma

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If you want to practice the club situation, get CDJs, not a clone. Preferably a CDJ with rekordbox capability so you can carry over directly to the club.

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Okay,so what about the 350?
It has record box but a small jogwheel.
It seems like i can’t get a 850 for less than 700 Euros and that’s a little bit to much right now.

4

I had the 350’s and they felt more like toys than pro audio.

If you want as close as you can get to club “standard”, then it would be the 900’s or above really. The 850’s are okay, and are similar sized, but the pro link and auto looping functions as well as rekordbox compatibility are all features you might want to get used to before playing on 2000’s in the club…

But just for home use, save your money and get the denons. They will be fine for getting used to CDJ’s.

5

I honestly struggle to understand this way of thinking. You DON’T need to buy pioneers to learn how to use club installed cdj’s. it’s just a giant jogwheel, pitch slider and some buttons!! Spending thousands on pioneer gear that will just sit at home, just so you can practice is insane. The jogwheel doesn’t even have to be the same size as club cdj’s. it’s just a fucking jogwheel. I can (kind of) see the argument for buying the same mixer for home use because the effects may differ slightly and the EQing may vary etc but cdj’s are just used to start and stop the music and to beat match.

6

Pick up a set of used pioneer cdj800’s or the stanton cmp800s. My best advice man.

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I can get a 350 now for 450 Euros brandnew.I think that’s my way to go.
Anyway,thank you everybody for your thoughts!
A used 800 looks nice but i want a player with USB because i don’t like burning CD’s all the time!

8

You have to make sure that you’ll gig at clubs which have CDJs which read USBs, though. I’ve noticed that 1000s are still quite common around here.

9

Reloop RMP-3 Alpha is a good deck for home use. Takes CD/MP3, USB or MIDI, has a USB link mode, sampler/hotcues + effects (actually not bad). Plus they’re full size and cost about the same as 350’s

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Do you use one? And have used Pioneers also?
If so,how big is the difference in working with them:cue the track,feel of Jog and pitchfader etc.?

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If you’ve never used a Pioneer CDJ (800/1000/850) you wouldn’t know the difference. The jogwheel is slightly heavier and looser than the Pioneer. You could argue that it’s less precise, but I think it’s a truer emulation of how vinyl reacts i.e. more fluid.

The upside to using the Reloop as your home/practice deck is that (apart form being half the price) using a Pioneer CDJ is even easier.

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Okay! And build quality wise you would recommend this deck?
Seems like i will at least have a look at it!

13

As an affordable alternative to the industry standard I would

14

I have the Reloop Contour which is extremely nice. I love the pads and the jog wheel feels great. I’d imagine the RMP-3 is pretty similar.

15

If you’re using timecode you don’t even need the RMP-3; the RMP-1 will give you the same experience as the CDJ1000s. Personally, I’d go for the 2.5s or the 3s though, and use them in MIDI mode, ditching timecode altogether.

16

i have 2 cdj350´s in my club.
they are solid, have a good internal audio interface, they play from usb harddrives (rekordbox) and can be used as midi controller.
.
they don´t have all the features the big ones have (wave on screen, hotcues, hid, timecode,..) and obviously they don´t feel like their big brothers

depending on your purpose, what do you want to practice?

jog scratching like with timecode-vinyl won´t work on the cdj350.
if you´re looking for a solid midi controller with a good audio interface that can also play various sound formats stored on cd/usb then go for it.

But mind, when you play in clubs you will find all the different cdj models and your traktor´s tsi file has to be customized for each of them (or you have to use the standard template and download the specific template before your gig)

so you might end up, bringing your own gear everytime. in this case you should consider to invest in your very own controller/set up… practicing/playing live with your preferred equipment is much more fun than using different gears preferred by club owners. :wink: and keep the cdjs in mind for worst case scenarios…

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I wasn’t impressed with the feel of the 350’s. I’d get at least an 800/850, 900’s if you can

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^ Although to be honest, I thought the CDJ850s felt pretty shitty as well. The plastic feeling is… so weird. And the jog wheel is so loud.

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Thanks everybody so far.
I will have a look at the Reloop stuff and maybe order both a Reloop and a Pioneer so i have them both under my hands.
I heard a lot of good now about the CDJ 800,you can get them for 400 Euros in a real good condition even with warranty.
Still,only thing keeps me from going for that is burning CD’s.

20

The DDJ-SX is a decent controller with an almost identical layout to a pair or CDJs and a standard mixer. You can change your software settings so that only basic track info is shown like on a CDJ screen in order to practice beatmatching.