Going vinyl recommendation
hello all,
i bought a s2 as my first midi controller in December and have been djing a lot of my highschools house parties ever sense. And i would now like to go vinyl. I have Traktor Pro 2 because of the s2 (and i have a midi fighter. Traktor Scratch Pro 2 is $700 so i am planning on using Serato for vinyl. Does anyone have any recommendations for my first mixer? And any other recommendations?
You seem to be balking at the cost of TSP. You are aware you’ll need to pick up an SL box for Serato?
Im pretty sure SL4 is even more than Scratch pro…
Anoyways, The Allen and Heath Xone 22 is known to be a pretty good first mixer. Other options could be a Traktor certified mixer (DJM900, DJMT1) Or a Scratch Live certified mixer (Rane 57SL) so you don’t need to buy a sound card.
I’ve always thought that SSL was pricier than Traktor…
Traktor: Duo 333€ Pro 579€
Serato: SL2 492€ SL3 699€ SL4 868€
So, it pretty much is pricier than Traktor 
Must.. Resist.. Emulator troll..
Anyway, Any mixer will do, as long as it has two inputs, xone 22 is nice, djm250 is nice, djm 400 is nice, rane TTM56s is epic
Your aware your going to need to buy a serato soundcard to use timecode vinyl yes?
and btw, buy owning two timecoded vinyl dosent mean your ‘going into vinyl’, it means your going into timecode.
For cheap, I’m a huge fan of Vestax. As long as you don’t need the mixer to have effects, it takes a lot to get better than what the vmc-004xl offers, and it costs $300. Noise floor is louder than my old xone:62, but……uhh……who cares? I haven’t met anyone who didn’t work in a studio that could actually hear it, and none of them can at club/party volumes anyway.
I’m also a fan of SSL over TSP, but…that’s mostly to do with the software……and because they don’t have Core Audio drivers, used SL1s are cheaper than most of the traktor cards and sound fine.
Some of it comes down to what you want to do. Serato is great for mixing with if you don’t use a lot of FX or mapping. Traktor has LOTS of FX and you can get into some seriously advanced midi mapping.
Not to kick off a silly debate, but I’ve used both, and personally I like Traktor better, but I like the simplicity of loops and hotcues with traktor.
You do realize that at most it would cost you $540 to get TSP 2 with an audio 10 considering you already have TP2, right? Meaning you’re paying less than you would for an SL2. $400 for an Audio 10 and $140 for the TKS4 scratch upgrade (which NI confirmed months ago will work with TP2 to get you full TSP2). If you went with an Audio 6, it’d only cost you $390 total (pretax of course). Also just as an FYI, you’re looking at almost another grand on top of whatever you do DVS software-wise for a pair of Technics ($5-600) and a decent mixer($3-400), even secondhand.
Or, he could sell his controller gear and his TP license and maybe make a dent that way. I think it was around $1200 for a full SL1-based DVS setup…counting decks, mixer, SL1, and CV. After selling my controllers, it was…maybe $200 out of pocket, and that was with selling at a loss because I kind of just wanted it gone. If I’d gotten full market value for everything, I would have made money.
He’d get about $100 for the license and I’m assuming he’d sell his S2 either way so that’s a bit irrelevant, tbh. The other components are all the same so it’s a price comparison of Traktor vs. Serato hardware/software, less the revenue from the TP license sale.
If you swapped out your s2 to an s4 you could get the scratch upgrade pack
This was the sole reason I clicked on this thread… I thought someone had the intention of going from Kontrol S2 to playing records. 
but to OP: for a timecode setup, I`ve always loved the idea of using TSP2 with a DJM-909 mixer. 50+ effects on a touchscreen.
Thanks a lot for the advice guys, i am still not sure what i should use, what i will probably do is use the S2 until i start getting more cash for the timecode setup. I really feel like i am missing out on real dj’ing without turntables, haha. Also does anyone use a midi fighter with a timecode setup?
Also anymore recommendations on mixer/turntables to use on Traktor, i am running on a tight budget because i am only 15
If you’re only 15, don’t even think about timecode. It’s way out of your budget unless your parents spoil the hell out of you. A timecode setup is going to cost, conservatively, around $600 for a pair of turntables (with needles, slipmats, etc.), $400 for a mixer (more for the mixer you want instead of the mixer you need), and another $500 or so for a soundcard and Traktor Scratch Pro 2 license. I’m already factoring in used prices there - you could skimp a bit on the mixer and maybe find a better deal on a used copy of Traktor, but that’s about what you should expect to spend.
Also, so you’re aware - I used midi controllers for the first two years or so that I DJed, then I moved on to timecode because I felt like I was ready for the next step. If you get into timecode too early, you’ll just be doing yourself a disservice because it can be a bit harder than using midi (when you’re learning the basics still) and that can be seriously discouraging. Using timecode has refined my technique and I definitely enjoy it more than midi, but it would have been a huge mistake to get into it any earlier than I did. If you still enjoy DJing when you’re 17/18 and employed, think about a timecode setup then.
Or you could go into vinyl, $600 for tt’s another $400 odd for a good rane mixer, then $infinte on a couple of vinyl,
js.