Speaking of High Jack…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NSn5RfxoXs 
Uhm, the very first sentence in the thread asks that exact question.
Shr3dder’s statement is perfectly valid as a response to the initial question. 
VCI-100 sold to get an S4 and added an X1. Sold the S4 to get a DNX-1600 and a second X1. Sold the 1600 and one X1 to get a Xone mixer, but needed some emergency cash so used the money saved up for that mixer instead of going into more debt. Effectively I had to start all over again. I already had an APC-40 so used it and the one X1 I had left. I added an F1 for remix decks. I wanted to try the small footprint K2 setup so I sold the APC and bought two of those. Those are great controllers, but not for me when it comes to using as a mixer. I sold one K2 and bought the Z2 and put the X1 back in the setup. I will probably sell the other K2 as well.
I didn’t say don’t go through gear like a slutty fool. 
Just because I’ve been through more gear than some doesn’t invalidate my statement. All of that is at least mid range gear that held its resale value well. Something that the less expensive gear can’t do. All I’m saying is don’t buy a $100 mixer and expect it to perform like a $500 mixer. Save the money and get something at least mid range and you’ll be happier down the road.
Numark has a pretty good feedback. You think i should just skip the numark and behringer as stated?
They are cheap but those brands have pretty good feedback views.
So your saying i should buy a Allen and Heath 2 channel mixer? Or a Pioneer 2 channel mixer?
Lets go see what they have to offer.
Djm 400 is nice but also 800.00 price tag makes it a turn off.
djm 250 is 350.00 not that bad i suppose.
Personally I’d go with the Pioneer 250 … Normally I’d swing with A&H but filters on both channels independently is IMHO a far better solution - its a neat solid lil mixer.
Why restrict yourself to buying low/midrange new when you could pick up a really good deal on decent quality s/h gear on the likes of ebay or craigslist. For example theres a Serato SL1 + Rane 56 going as buy it now package on ebay for $615 right now just missing 2 curve knobs on the mixer.
And on beatmatching:
While not the most important Skill these days, Beatmatching is an essential theory still IMHO regardless of what medium you use. Not every track works great with sync, even when sync does work it can go off within ear perception. Not to mention the day may come where you can’t set up your laptop/controller due to circumstances out of your control and you will still be expected to carry on and put on a stomper show with whatever equipment happens to be at your disposal.
if u can count to 8 or 16 you can learn how to phase match 
Yeah i can count but that would be annoying to count for 2+ hours of dj’ing.
Do you all really just count in your head the entire time you mix music and then flail some arms to look like your having fun? That doesn’t even sound fun that would probably drive me insane.
You’re in the wrong profession then. It’s all about math and numbers and timing. Feeling has nothing to do with it. (Sidenote: I gotta finish my “DJ by numbers APP”)
lol
All the top dj’s count in binary or hex you know…
Haven’t read what type of music you are into but if it’s dance (techno, house, even chart shite) they all have similar structure, you just ‘know’ where the count is after a while - if that makes sense
[quote=""hola amigos “”]
Yeah i can count but that would be annoying to count for 2+ hours of dj’ing.
Do you all really just count in your head the entire time you mix music and then flail some arms to look like your having fun? That doesn’t even sound fun that would probably drive me insane.
[/quote]
You have to do the counting to learn. Sooner or later, you’ll stop counting and just know when the beginning of a new phrase is coming up, and how many phrases ave just passed.
there is no shortcut to learning. So get counting. Soon (or not so soon) you’ll stop counting and start KNOWING.
EDIT: I remember learning to beatmatch stood in from of my decks, pointing at each one in time with the record playing. Soon, I realised that one finger was pointing faster (ooh err…) than the other…
One of the posts above me has a slight air of sarcasm. Can you tell which one it is? .
Kind of, but subconsciously. There’s something the back of the your head just automatically going 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4.
Think about a drummer. That’s essentially what they need to do to keep time, but they won’t really be thinking about it, it’s just automatic after a while.
Also, you don’t exactly need to do this for the full tune. When it’s just playing away in the middle of the track there’s absolutely no need. When you’re trying to mix the next track in then it’s pretty easy to pick out where the 1 is & start counting again. Like I said though, after a while you won’t even realise that you’re doing it.
When i 1st decided i’d like to try this dj’ing lark, i bought myself some very cheap dual cd players. I used to get in every night after work without fail and spend hours trying to mix, to beatmatch 2 records together, and for weeks i couldnt get it right, i tried and tried just couldnt manage it. I stuck at it and the feeling i got when i actually managed to beatmatch 2 tracks together almost perfectly was immense lol..to me this isn’t the most important part of dj’ing it IS dj’ing, as without beatmatching your going to sound awful unless your just say doing weddings where then mixing isnt an issure lol..Picking tracks is The most important aspect as you find out when you get giggs, that if you play the wrong songs then no one dances and they even leave the pub/club. So along with reading your crowd picking the right tracklist is to me the mnost important..
[QUOTE]Kind of, but subconsciously. There’s something the back of the your head just automatically going 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4.
Think about a drummer. That’s essentially what they need to do to keep time, but they won’t really be thinking about it, it’s just automatic after a while.
Also, you don’t exactly need to do this for the full tune. When it’s just playing away in the middle of the track there’s absolutely no need. When you’re trying to mix the next track in then it’s pretty easy to pick out where the 1 is & start counting again. Like I said though, after a while you won’t even realise that you’re doing it.[/QUOTE]
You know you “have it” when things like Windscreen Wipers and Car indicators are out of sync with the Track on the radio and you start flicking them on and off to correct the timing. 
Coming from a bedroom syncer, this is why IMO I’d think that beatmatching in a traditional sense is important - Timing
-Beatmatching manually forced you to learn how to keep time between 2 independent beats (basis of timing).
-Between knowing (listening) to a song you can tell by certain beats/sounds when a phrase will begin or end and if you know when a phrase is going to end/begin you can tell where the song is going (tempo/swing - intro/outro)
-When you know where your tracks are going you can better chose when, where, and how tracks should be transitioned (phrasing, track selection, eqing, leveling).
The better you can do this, the better your mixes will sound. No amount of gear/fx will cover up the fact that you are not doing the stuff mentioned above; especially to those who know and use it. This is all coming from first hand experience and the lack of knowing what mixing, as an art form, is.
Tl;DR - Master your craft - Respect it, learn it, manipulate it, enjoy it.
Hahaha, totally.
Can anyone please explain, with logic, how something that is subjective can be practiced. How do you get better at something that is different to different people?
That’s a tough one. I see where you’re coming from & doubt I’m capable of explaining it. All I can say is that when I first started mixing dance tunes I would mix a really chilled deep house track straight into a thundering techno track, thinking it was all good because it was beatmatched nicely & dropped in at the right moment, but the change in energy makes it sound terrible.
Now I know that that doesn’t sound right. Do you know what I mean?
Some of it’s simple. You wouldn’t be playing Joey Beltram to a room full of people who are just mingling about, relaxing, chatting to each other & drinking.
The more you listen to mixes, the more you know your tunes, the more you get to know what goes well together, what transitions nicely, what has the right mood for the crowd at that moment etc, the better it sounds overall. I don’t think it can really be explained properly or taught.
I suppose it’s like, you can teach someone how to write a poem but you can teach them how to write a good one. Kind of, in a way, but not really. Can’t think of a better example.
It’s reading a room/dancefloor. Knowing how to stop them all leaving the joint and keep them dancing/having fun/buying drinks , and how to bring them back to the floor if they do walk away.
It’s not really something you can “practice” but it’s something experience brings.
The crowd!
Making sure the crowd is dancing and having a good time, which means…
-Track Selection
-Maintaining the groove
whatever skills maybe required to do that, there’s threads upon threads of that. I remember having two Sony Disc-mans and a VERY VERY poor excuse of a mixer and in-ear headphones. My buddy and I managed to keep everybody happy
NOTE: that was the summer of the HUGE blackout in the north eastern sea-board
You’re right it is going to be different to different people/audiences that’s why it’s so important to know what people like or at least what the majority want to hear you can never please everyone but you should try and play for your audience and at the same time choose tracks that separate you from everyone else.
You learn the skill of selection from -
-
Playing out and seeing what gets people dancing opposed to tracks that might feel a bit flat or out of place
-
Listening to other DJ’s you like and seeing how they select songs in an order to make the set ‘flow’
-
Going through your music collection and making playlists for different types of sets or energy levels
You’re right it is subjective that means you have to play for your ‘subject’ the audience, you need to look at the audience and think what are these people wanting to hear and how what should I play to keep the flow of the night going you gain this from experience and practice.
It’s like learning any art form you study the greats and try to interpret their work and at the same try to create something of your own from it, with DJing your art is how you choose and arrange your tracks to create something of your own that people will like.