I want to start in this world of DJing. I’ve read and saw a lot of information about it, and I want to buy my own gear now, so I can start practising.
My budget is not big and because I’m Portuguese, many of the things are more expensive for me.
So, I think that for a bedroom DJ, I just need a laptop (I’ve one with a Atom 1.6ghz, 2gb of RAM, and lot’s of HD space), a pair of headphones, a good software and a controller.
I’m thinking of this:
Headphones: Sennheiser HD 201
Controller: Hercules DJ Control MP3 e2
Software: Traktor Pro (a friend of mine will lend me his license)
And I’ll also buy a external sound card so I can pre-listen the songs (I won’t buy a good soundcard, just a cheap one with only one jack output).
You should look into getting the Audio 2 DJ, and perhaps a different controller if you can afford it. I’ve heard bad things about the earlier Herc controllers. Maybe look at getting the Steel?
I had one of the earlier Hercules controllers and found it a bit ‘toyish’ - but I was used to using real decks and mixers for many years beforehand.
My advice though is not to get too hung up on the hardware and software - if you’re committed to learning how to use your equipment properly and put the time in to practice, you can be a great DJ. Remember, its about the music you play, not the gear you play it on.
Well, in my price range, there’s nothing else that I can think about.
The other controllers are all almost two times the price of this, even steel and mk2.
This controller is the new version of the previous one (the dj control mp3), and I think that the construction quality of this new version is better.
I’m not thinking in buying one Audio 2 DJ now, because I’ve only a pair of headphones, and some PC Speakers, so it’s no point of having one Audio 2 DJ (except the sound quality, but I can’t take advantage of the audio interface sound quality without some good speakers).
The other option that I see, is to buy a standard Mixer, but then I would have to buy a soundcard with 2 audio outputs to control the two decks, and I could only control the EQ, and have a crossfader.
Do you think it’s better to have the mixer instead of the controller?
Unless you have either an amp and speakers or powered monitor i think you’re going to struggle to cue properly. ie all the music will come out of the same speakers, you won’t be able to preview the track you’re about to play.
I might be wrong but i don’t think you’re going to be able to do it running the pc speakers off the computer output.
Just looking at the spec it says:
PC minimum requirements
1GHz CPU or higher
512MB RAM or more
Windows® XP/Vista 32-bit/64-bit
Sound card + stereo speakers
Do you have an amp and speakers with phono inputs? There are no headphone inputs on the DJ Control MP3 e2 for cuing.
Even getting a really cheap 2nd hand amp and speakers off ebay would be worth it. Then I suggest getting an audio 2 dj + maybe an m-audio x-session pro.
Not sure it will, but maybe. Before you get the controller then, i would get the software and make sure that you can set up the output to work with the two soundcards…
are you sure you mean two soundcards? do you mean one soundcard and then the output from the pc?
I would set your output set up first with no controller, make sure you can cue the mixes. If that’s all cool then get a midi controller. At the end of the day the controller just moves the buttons and faders. The soundcard and cueing is what allows you to preview the songs and essentially dj.
word of advise atom proccess is shocking i tryed installing ableton and traktor on my girlfriends net book with a atom processer and it just crashed and lagged all the the time
so try the software before you go and buy a controller
I don’t think you can use two separate sound card interfaces with Traktor Pro. You’ll need an integrated sound card that can do at least two stereo channels out.
I would also recommend that you take a look at the Numark Total Control. Its not the best piece of midi hardware on the market, but I’ve been using it for the past year and half or so after switching from analog CDJs and mixer. Its a great controller to start out with.
You could do:
Numark Total Control + Native Instruments Audio 2 (don’t use the Numark I/O card, that thing is horrible) + Traktor Pro
You’d basically have everything you need (with your laptop of course) to do a full digital setup.
A computer is a big investment, and you may not be able to buy a new one. To make your computer work, however, you will have to do some serious optimizing Streamline Your Laptop (Windows) - DJ TechTools
You also don’t need to get a sound card if you want to just test out the software. you can use the mix knob to cue up songs and record your mixes with the built in audio recorder, then when you are done you can listen to it and see how it sounds.
Have you looked to buy gear used? I got my vci off of the buy/sell section of djtechtools for 275. If you look around, you might be able to find something decent within your price range.
As mentioned above have you looked into the M-Audio X-Session Pro? It’s cheap and from what I’ve heard pretty stable and will work as a starting controller.
I’ve bought the Hercules DJ Control MP3 e2, and it should arrive tomorrow. Both soundcards support asio4all, so I’m using the computer soundcard to output to the speakers, and the external soundcard to pre-listen the songs.
