after spending 2010 and 2011 thinking i was going to save money to have the club setup of cdj1000mk3 / cds2000’s and xone92 / djm800. i realized that as a full time student only making $400 a montht that this wasnt going to happen. so now i decided that i need something cheap to start practicing mixing & beatmatching. i’m looking for hardware, not digital. i’m looking for a 2ch djm/mixer that i can plug into my computer and record my mixes. any cdjs that you recommend are fine. any mixers recommended are fine as long as i can mix two songs & record the sessions on my computer. money doesnt matter since it wont be as expensive as the setups i mentioned above. i need something i can save up and get by Christmas or before for myself. =) recording my mix through my computer is important* and please tell me how i can tell which mixers will allow me to record thru my comp & note that i will be mixing with my headphones
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items i have found that i would consider cause of price but do not know how i can tell if i can record my mixes thru the computer
Skip all of that stuff honestly- it is all garbage except the xone 22. Just buy used if you want hardware- look on craigslist I have gotten incredible deals on craigslist in nyc. I can’t tell you how many CDJ1000MK3s I’ve bought for $500 each (and this was before the 2000s/900s came out), Technics for $100-$150 each, and all in all some ridiculous deals on gear on craigslist living in manhattan. There are so many deals I actually supported myself for a little while just buying and selling dj gear on craigslist. If you need a cheap mixer there are ALWAYS great deals on Vestax mixers for 100 or less. There are always people getting rid of entire DJ packages with mixers/TTs/CDJs and you can make some offers and get a deal.
yeah im looking at that xone22, im thinking of putting it on credit card which i dont think i’d be able to do on craiglist, plus i rather have new stuff and its just for mixing/beatmatching. now if u look at the xone22 pics, theres a record L & R hole in the back. would you know what cable will fit to go in there then to pc.
u need turntables so some cheap ones of those will do fine my brother usies ‘belt drive’ ones and they have some lag but u can compinsate for it by moving the record early or whatever u need to do
Figure out what you want. I wouldn’t touch any other CDJ than Pioneer or Denon myself, and that’s because the other brands have a proven track record of not lasting well.
The CDJ-200’s also have a lot of limitations compared to other models, but are decent to start with.
If your budget is around $1000, these are the options I’d look at:
CDJ-400’s. You can find a pair used for around $800-$900 or so. In fact, there is someone selling a pair here. Get a cheap mixer and upgrade it later.
You can get a decent set of turntables for less than a grand if you buy used. Numark TTX, Stanton ST-150’s, Technics SL-1200’s, Vestax PDX 2000 or 3000. You can always pick up a cheap mixer and upgrade that later. And I’ve seen Serato and Traktor boxes going for cheap if you want a DVS.
Open your mind up to controllers, if you have a decent computer. The Native Instruments S4, Numark NS6, and even a pair of Numark V7’s or a Numark NS7FX if you get it used. All of those would be within a budget of less than $1000.
yeah i know its not inexpensive. i dont care about the limitation cdj200 has to offer, all i want to do is mix and beatmatch. i see one cdj200 for $225 on ebay from a credible user. thinking of going for that, test out that cdj once i arrived. i’m thinking of the xone22 mixer for $300 but found it cheaper on ebay as well.
my only concern right now if figuring out if i can record my mixes into my computer with that mixer, in the back of the mixer it says Record with L & R holes, would you know anything about that by any chance? i might collect the cdj’s first and mixer last.
You can record to pc using ANY mixer… it doesn’t have to have any outputs that say record.
You will need an RCA cable that has a 3.5mm jack at the opposite end to the red and white to connect to your computer. If you have something other than a ‘standard’ computer/laptop soundcard, then it all depends on what inputs your soundcard has.
below is a pic of my mobo, thats the audiocard (7.1 high def audio / alc889a etc) as you see, it has the 6 holes, the blue hole says audio in, so that must be it…?
also, how would i record the mix, using something like audacity?
yes, using audacity is easy and quick. I’ll be honest, you would be a fool to buy anything like the cheap stuff you linked above, you will outgrow it fast and want something better when you realize how limiting it is then will be screwed when you can’t sell it because no one else would want to buy it. If you want CDJs don’t get anything but pioneer or denon.
i will not try to resell the 2x cdj200 / xone22. and it wont outgrow me since i know i cant afford what i really want which is cds2000 / xone92 and or djm800. so that inexpensive setup will be current for a llong time, on top of that, i only need it for mixing & beatmatcing, nothing else. 2 features, mix two tracks together and beatmatch. thats it
thats what you think now then youll start wanting to get more creative watch some youtube videos and then sooner or later youll be wanting to sell your gear and upgrade to the best…i was short on money too got great deals on cdj 1000s and a djm started there then got serato sold that got traktor got an x1 then maschine then x1 sold the cdjs and you keep wanting to be more creative..trust me
Also, the two basic ‘featues’ of mixing and beatmatching are exactly what those crappy cheap products wont be good at. Everyone’s recommending you to buy solid stuff because of build quality and reliability, not because of fancy features.
Honestly the CDJ 200s will work. They do enough. The pitch fader is precise enough (unlike the 100). I just fucking hate the platters.
I’d actually recomend other brands before pioneer for lower end gear though, pioneer stuff costs and arm and a leg. They only really shine with the pro level stuff.
Sorry but the CDJ200’s are horrible. The club i used to play in had them as backup and we tried to use them for a 4deck mashup between two of us and ended up giving up after a few songs because the feel of them is just horrible,
In my time ive used 100s, 200s, 350s, 400s, 800mk2s, 1000mk2+3, and 900s, and the best value for money id say were the 400s, they are amazing little players and you can pick them up on ebay (along with a DJM400, another gem of a mixer) for chips. With that small setup you can do pretty much anything, and if you decide to go via the traktor route like a lot of others on this forum you can use them as midi controllers via the USB port on the back of them, can probably do this with VDJ as well, Or if youd like to go serato then the platters are good enough quality as well.
