Getting back into the hobby - Equipment Advice

DJ Gear & Hardware Hardware: Controllers, Mods and Gear
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Getting back into the hobby - Equipment Advice

After a 3-4+ year hiatus, I had the opportunity to spin on a buddies set of new CDJs, and voila, the flame is burning again. I’m looking for best way to get back into the hobby without breaking the bank. My goal here is to have some fun and re-hone the basics (like solid beatmatching) in a way that can transfer over to a typical Pioneer setup. I have a set of Technics, a burning out Xone22, and the archaic SL1 (as well as Torq if you remember that) collecting dust at my parents house hundreds of miles away.

So far, my options are:

  • Spend the cash to have everything shipped out and hope my tonearms are intact
  • Invest in something like Kontrol S2/S4 that allows for manual beatmatching in a compact package
  • Invest in a solid new mixer and go the X1 route

This will primarily be for home use. I’d appreciate any advice! Thanks!

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Well S4 MKI’s are super cheap right now and still one of the best controllers avaliable IMO, I found myself craving for an external mixer after a while though and eventually ended up buying a mixer and a couple of X1’s. However adding the technics later on would be no problem for either of these setups so in the end it’s all about your personal preference/budget.

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If I were you, I would do the following:

  • sell the SL1 and Torq: as you already said, it’s pretty old and it’s better to sell it while there’s still demand for it (i’ve seen 10+ unit for sale in last month just in my small town, seem everybody is getting rid of them now). also, your parents can ship them directly to the buyers and it will give you some more cash for the new gear.

  • if you really need to re-learn the beatmatching, bear in mind that, unlike CDJ’s, S4/S2 have short pitchfaders and are more geared toward use of sync. also, investing time in a traktor setup will force you to do some extra work if you want to perform later on Pioneer club setup (re-analysing in rekordbox, adding cue points and such). ddj-sx2 might be a better option (longer pitchfaders, rekordbox compatible, you can also use technics later if you decide to ship them,…)