Hey guys, ok so I have an S4 and am ready to kill it in the clubs, but I wanna be comfortable with a club setup, i.e. be able to hook up the S4 to a DJM and use it. Now im pretty sure here in Miami DJMs are standard, but with the 900 just out recently, im not sure whether to get an 800 or 900 to practice on. Obly the 900 is better, but also much more money.
Can I buy an 800 and learn it front to back, and then be able to comfortably transition to a 900 if such club has upgraded? Basically what I’m saying is: are they all that different? Haven’t used either. Thanks in advance.
If you’re just planning on using the S4, don’t buy either. Dropping that kind of money to practice plugging in RCA cables is a bit over the top. The 900 and 800 are pretty much the same aside from the USB audio interface.
the 900 is marginally better, different effects etc…but the beauty is everything is in the same place with djm mixers…apart from the 1000 and 2000 flagship mixers
. . . 900 if timecode practicing
800 otherwise.
But pointless really if you plan on using an S4 in clubs.
Another idea is for $1000 the DN-X1600 is Traktor Scratch Certified that is also midi assignable to separate channels and whatnot.
Pretty much it’s a DJM900 from Denon with a different layout and rekord box taken out ect.
But really you can learn with any mixer with similar layouts and jump to a DJM800/900 with no problems essentially.
If you’ve used any mixer, you can probably look at an 800 and know what everything does (or at the very least, cycle through dropping the effects randomly at the end of phrases during your first set and know what everything does). There’s nothing super fancy about it.
I agree. I was just about to say the average club mixer isn’t too different from the next. With the exception of a few ones with a bajillion fx and midi functions.
Unless you have money to burn, don’t get either. The whole point of the DJM 800 being the standard is because it’s simple to step up to and use. If you can mix on your S4, you can mix on the DJM. The only thing to get used to at all would be the effects and I’m pretty confident you could get a feel for those with youtube instead of $1000 out of your pocket.
if you want a “club” set up and want a DJM 800/900, get rid of the S4 and get yourself two X1’s.
The beauty of the 900 is how it integrates with CDJ’s. It has 2 more color effects, eq kills, and few new features but layout and function is the same as the 800.
No point doing that. I have an 800 and it’s great, but if I had an S4 and was planning to use that in clubs I wouldn’t be having anything to do with the mixer other than plugging into it and forgetting about it.
If you wanted to use it for filters and FX, you’d have to plug in 2 channels and use external mixing mode in Traktor so the faders on the S4 would become useless. Also, as far as I’m concerned Traktor’s filters are much nicer than those on the 800 anyway, and the quantised FX are more reliable by their very nature as part of the software.
If you want an external mixer, either of those 2 would be great. But don’t feel you have to get one to learn the layout, because it honestly is very simple. Also, if you want to drop serious money on a brand new mixer, get a xone DB:4. You’ll have much more fun with that than with a DJM-800 or 900.
If he posted this thread, he’s never used a DJ mixer.
And watching the level meters, since the meters on the S4 are basically worthless. Right?
OP, if you really need to practice to see how simple it is, buy the cheapest DJ mixer you can find…like, seriously you can learn what you need to for $30 at radio shack.
Shit, for the price of renting in my area you could just buy a Behringer floor model mixer from Guitar Center. I know they don’t make exactly the BEST mixers but for under $300 you can’t go wrong. If he just want to get familiar around a club mixer, sound quality shouldn’t matter too much.