Hi everyone,
this is my first post, I hope I am respecting the forum rules
I would like to start building a laptop based setup for mixing and djing. I know it can be really difficult at my age (30yo) to start from scratch but it is a long time that I have dreamed to try to make this happening, and I am now writing here to ask for some help and advise on what to buy.
I have some experience with music production on ableton/reason, I have had a lot of synthesizers (hardware and software) in the past, as well as audio interfaces, but I am completely new to Traktor and djing in general.
The genre of music I like to listen and that I would like to mix is downtempo/experimental techno/electronics/hip hop: artists like Bonobo, Flume, Kiasmos, Nosaj Thing, Aphex Twin, Deru are my favourites and I am also keen to produce my own music.
I was thinking on trying to start with a minimal but effective setup. I own both a macbook and a windows pc so for now I would prefer to be able to use both of the environments. I sold everything I was owning in the past so I need to buy everything from scratch.
In the following list my actual ideas and some questions:
Monitors : Neumann kh120, Focal cms65, Adam a7x
Audio Interface: NI audio 6 (is this really needed to use traktor or can I use a better quality interface like an Audient or RME?)
Mixer: Xone 92 (I don’t have any real knowledge about mixers but it seems a good choice around the forums)
Controllers : x1 + f1
What do you think? Any suggestions will be really appreciated
Hi happydan! Yes the idea is of course to use Traktor, but not turntables.
I think there are better audio interfaces in terms of quality in comparison with the the NI audio 6, but I was not sure about compatibility so I will probably look at something else, both the RME babyface pro and the Audient id22 seem to be good options! Also the Apollo twin!
The NI interfaces are great sounding. You can get obsessive with comparing specs and sound of various interfaces, but (IMO) it’s a waste of energy. Whether you’re in your bedroom or playing a club, there are dozens of other factors that will play a role on degrading sound quality. As long as you can have a sample rate of 48kHz, and the connections are sturdy and noise-free, you’ll be fine. A benefit of the NI stuff is that it’s proven to be rock solid build, and reliable with Traktor.
