TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- DJ Booth
-- A DJ Disaster!

A DJ Disaster!

OK.....do not laugh..or cry too hard...BUT I need some serious advice from the DJ masters out there! I bought whole setup from a friend: Numark 1720x mixer, American DJ dual CD unit, QCS Amp, kickass speakers about a year ago.....I have only started DJing and have done a few parties and would liek to take it to weddings (yes - the uncool stuff) to help me thru school. Well....i need lot of advice BUT on to the most unfortunate occurence. A drunken fool (someone I don't know too well) passed out drunk on my couch. I, in a drunken stupor crashed out without closing up my DJ set in it's road ready case. Well...the loser got up and thought my mixer was the bathroom in his apartment and peed on it! Yes - you read right. Well...damage is irrepairable (or costs too much for the condition and brand of the mixer) I have been wanting to replace the mixer anyway. UGH! So - I have been investigating a quick and easy way t get a decent mixer and be on my way again....I guess I'll just stick with an American DJ dual CD...or a Stanton, both on sale for $299. Someone is trying to talk me into a Vestax PMC 15 mk2 mixer but I read on this forum that the xfader bleeds AND it's being discontinued. Don't think that would be a wise investment. I checked out Guitar center and they can set me up with a Stanton RM-80 mixer and an American DJ dual CD unit for $650. Does anyone know about the Stanton mixers - r they solid? Now ...keep in mind, I am the 'uncool' wedding and private party DJ...not the Club scratcher cool DJ! What are the most important things to look at in a mixer.....just to get a basic good brand? Also - any comment sbetwen the Stanton and American DJ dual CD units?

UGH! Thanks for any advice! I have many a more questions on other things but first and foremost i need to take care of the equipment!

lol, pissed on mixer.. lol..
ANyways, get a used quality mixer! I would do that.. search ebay..

LMAO !!

What a story...

es

For weddings you can get a simple, cheap, scratch mixer. There is no reason for loops or effects or a sampler on your mixer because people don't want to hear remixing at weddings, they want to hear the songs which are requested etc. All you need to do is have good gain control and either a xfader or channel volume bars. You don't even need both! My suggestion is that you look at the frequency output and cleanliness of sound coming out of your mixer rather than any other features that it may offer. You just need to cut back and forth between tracks, you don't need anything fancy.

I would also suggest that if you can't find a simple mixer with Gain LEDs for each channel, that you go with the cheap yet good scratch mixer and get the gain LED controls as a separate function.

I would suggest rane mixers for very clean sound, though you will pay pretty dearly for almost all of their products. Search around though, and look at their website etc. Pioneer is always a reliable choice, but you will also pay a bit for that as well.

Honestly, I would not rely on DJing for making money unless you are part of an established company. It is even hard to make that much money when you are in one of those! Those MLM money making schemes seem so promising, try one of those!

lol. sorry that was hilarious.

listen to me very carefully...

DO NOT BUY A STANTON MIXER , THEY SUCK REALLY HARD
(refer to the list about my mixer HERE

ok that said... yeah just get one that has leds, gains, bass and , well, highs aren't that important but they are nice.

are you going to be using your mixer to dj (the beatmatchin kind!) for your own use? cuz if you are, maybe you can pick up a behringer of some kind, the 300 or even the new djx700 ($200).

That sucks dude. Fuck, he peed in it? Shit.

Hey Sista!

I am from NY and NJ! Thanks for your email. I have DJ'd private parties (about 4-500 people)....I have also DJd a batmitzvah. I am definitely not going to be a club DJ although I will go where life leads... i really want to use it to possibly get those 'uncool' boring wedding gigs and use it as extra cash while doing something i love.....working with music and party planning! i am learning to beat match now.....a tough mastery.....but I mostly play hip hop (and 'vocal' house mixes), not trance, so it is harder to beat match snoop doggy dawg into Jay-Z....ya know what I'm sayin'? I sort of bought the DJ set on a whim (actually I was talked into it over a few margaritas but don't regret it!) and am running with it but now that it's been taken awaqy from me I have realized how much I loved having it. SO - besides a Stanton.....the guy at the DJ repair shop sells Vestax....he said he can get me a PMC 15 mk2 for $200 BUT I read that they have bleeding xfaders (not good!) and have been discontinued...I am thinking 'not a wise investment'. The Stanton that Guitar Center has is RM-80. Do u think your Stanton issues are related to the model # you have OR Stanton altogether? Knowing my luck these days (who would have ever thought someone would PEE on a mixer!) I would get a lemon. Also - I looked at mixers on EBAY....but I just don't trust it......how would I know if I got a bum deal. So = what do ya think now that i've told u a little bit more!? Also - I am concerned about having 4 channels or 2...as my last mixer had 4...should I be concerned about that? When you say LED's - you are just talkng about the light guidance to show pitches of songs? (I know - dumb, NEWBEE question!) Thank you so much for your advice! ALSO - any advice on getting more into weddings or marketing myself as a DJ?
A fellow DJ chick.

i used to DJ weddings, house parties, school events and all other "stupid stuff" in highschool.
it sucks! but haha yeah you can make some money doing it.

anyway, i do have a stanton mixer (RM-Three) i have had it for 2 and a half years and has worked just fine for me. I have had no problems at all with it. I've actually grown kind of fond of it.
I've also used a Stanton SK-6f and it worked out ok. wasn't too great.

i wouldn't worry too much about sound quality for your mixer. you are playing music for people who mostly don't know jack shit about what a good system really sounds like. they don't care as long as they hear the song they want to hear.

I would suggest finding just a basic mixer that has atleast two line channels for your CD players, a cue so you can hear new songs on your headphones, at least a two band EQ and a Mic input. Mics are very very very important for the types of events you want to DJ. most of the time the people are expecting you to be an MC for their party more than a DJ. You can pick up a Vestax PCV-003 or a Stanton's SMX-201 (which have all these basic features) for 200 and 150 bones respectivly.
Also i just checked www.123DJ.com and you can pick up a Stanton RM-3 there for $179.
I'd actually go with that it has more features than those other two plus i've found my rm-3 to be a solid mixer.

theres no need to spend over 300 dollars on a mixer for the type of stuff your doing. and don't buy a mixer from some repair shop or guitar center. most stores like that will rip you off. buy from an online store.
as i mentioned www.123dj.com has great prices. they are located in chicago. i buy all my stuff from them.
www.pssl.com is also pretty good i hear.



by the way thats hilarious about what happend to your mixer.

your in LA where abouts? i go to USC

Hey Montie!

Thank you so much for the advice! will check out 123DJ.com. I know most amateur people don't hear those 'trainwrecks', or bad sound quality, that DJ's spot a mile away once your ear is trained.....BUT I cannot stand bad sound quality.....so for the sake of my own ears, I wouldn't want a mixer that puts out bad sound quality.....I don't have a huge budget by any means but I would rather splurge the extra $100 on top of the cheaper unit if it provides just the right amount of better quality and features! I love playing around with the music and manipulating it....... I will check out your mixer. I have this road ready case my orignal setup came with - it is huge but 'neat/clean' looking...a large road ready box - one that requires someone to help me carry it. (19" rack) Great for the over 6' guy who sold it to me but bad for little 5'4" me. I am wondering if I should downsize although I don't think I have many options as the dual CD units (on the cheaper side) tend to be 19" and I guess I cannot expect good quality equipment to be too compact!? What do u think? Sorry for all the questions but I appreciate all advice!

PS: I live by the Grove.....! A fellow angeleno? U originally from NC? Sad u missed the latest Hurricane? Hope all family is OK! What r u studying at USC? Like LA!?

quote:

Originally posted by StephF Hey Montie! Thank you so much for the advice! will check out 123DJ.com. I know most amateur people don't hear those 'trainwrecks', or bad sound quality, that DJ's spot a mile away once your ear is trained.....BUT I cannot stand bad sound quality.....so for the sake of my own ears, I wouldn't want a mixer that puts out bad sound quality.....I don't have a huge budget by any means but I would rather splurge the extra $100 on top of the cheaper unit if it provides just the right amount of better quality and features! I love playing around with the music and manipulating it....... I will check out your mixer. I have this road ready case my orignal setup came with - it is huge but 'neat/clean' looking...a large road ready box - one that requires someone to help me carry it. (19" rack) Great for the over 6' guy who sold it to me but bad for little 5'4" me. I am wondering if I should downsize although I don't think I have many options as the dual CD units (on the cheaper side) tend to be 19" and I guess I cannot expect good quality equipment to be too compact!? What do u think? Sorry for all the questions but I appreciate all advice! PS: I live by the Grove.....! A fellow angeleno? U originally from NC? Sad u missed the latest Hurricane? Hope all family is OK! What r u studying at USC? Like LA!?

yeah, well almost anyway you go, your gonna have a big coffin with all your stuff in it. always a pain to carry around. to get a smaller one its gonna set you back another 200 or so. i would suggest getting a nice compact but useful dolly which you can use to roll the coffin around. just slide it out of your car and put it onto the dolly and move it around.
when i mobile DJ'ed (i worked for a company) we had these huge racks which contained our CD players (which weren't your avg. DJ CD player, they were huge home stereo style CD players), mixers and old school tape players. these things were like 2 feet tall and a foot and a half wide and weighed almost as much as me . once you got them out of your car and onto your dolly, they were no prob.
yeah look into getting the RM-3. its not the best mixer out there for sound quality, but its not bad by any mans. mine has worked just fine for me in my bedroom set up for practicing and recording mixs. i've even taken it out a few times for events and it could get the job done just as well as any other fancy spansy mixer i've played on.
and at 170 its one hell of a good deal. (make sure it will fit in your coffin tho ).


I'm actually orginally from St. Louis, not NC . My thingy is misleading i know, but those are lyrics from one of my fav. songs and i felt like putting it in there one day .
I'm liking LA alot. Its fun, 1000x better than st. louis. lots of shitty stuff about this city, but it makes things more interesting. i'm enjoying myself alot here.
I'm studying Biology and Music Recording at USC (two different ends of the spectrum ).
you said you were from NY/NJ? How do you like LA compared to home?
(i'd pick NYC over LA any day ). when did you move here?

lmao ul !

quote:

Originally posted by StephF Hey Sista! I am from NY and NJ! Thanks for your email. I have DJ'd private parties (about 4-500 people)....I have also DJd a batmitzvah. I am definitely not going to be a club DJ although I will go where life leads... i really want to use it to possibly get those 'uncool' boring wedding gigs and use it as extra cash while doing something i love.....working with music and party planning! i am learning to beat match now.....a tough mastery.....but I mostly play hip hop (and 'vocal' house mixes), not trance, so it is harder to beat match snoop doggy dawg into Jay-Z....ya know what I'm sayin'? I sort of bought the DJ set on a whim (actually I was talked into it over a few margaritas but don't regret it!) and am running with it but now that it's been taken awaqy from me I have realized how much I loved having it. SO - besides a Stanton.....the guy at the DJ repair shop sells Vestax....he said he can get me a PMC 15 mk2 for $200 BUT I read that they have bleeding xfaders (not good!) and have been discontinued...I am thinking 'not a wise investment'. The Stanton that Guitar Center has is RM-80. Do u think your Stanton issues are related to the model # you have OR Stanton altogether? Knowing my luck these days (who would have ever thought someone would PEE on a mixer!) I would get a lemon. Also - I looked at mixers on EBAY....but I just don't trust it......how would I know if I got a bum deal. So = what do ya think now that i've told u a little bit more!? Also - I am concerned about having 4 channels or 2...as my last mixer had 4...should I be concerned about that? When you say LED's - you are just talkng about the light guidance to show pitches of songs? (I know - dumb, NEWBEE question!) Thank you so much for your advice! ALSO - any advice on getting more into weddings or marketing myself as a DJ? A fellow DJ chick.

hey..hehe do you mean thanx for the response? cuz i didn't email you...
um yeah stanton sucks ass for mixers. do not buy from them. just don't.
as i said get the behringer djx700 for 200 bucks if you are looking for nice sound quality. a bonus is that is has a lot of nice features.
i cannot help you with the whole wedding thing...i know NOTHING about that, i am strictly a beatmatchin, music-obsessed club dj... hehe..just out of curiousity, do you beatmatch? you spin trance?

"DJ'ing" at weddings and events that just require you to fade over from 50 cent to some 80s classic can be pretty lucrative. but as it's been said, you really have to belong to a business. you can't really do it individually, you know? well that's all i know about that subject..hehe

oh and leds are the bars that tell you how loud your output is, even if your channel isn't up. basically you want the leds to be the same length (the same volume).
hope that helps a bit..

Hey Miss Creant and Montie.....

eh - email...response...all logistics.

Yes - i do like spinning trance, house and D&B. I actually spin vinyl on my friends turntables. I like vinyl far better than CD's BUT for me, my place is private parties, weddings,etc....that uncool stuff! I just got a Barmitzvah gig....I am sure u r both yawning on that comment! I can't see myself ever being a trance DJ at a club....esp since I am about to go to med school Just won't happen!

Thanks so much for the advice from both of you! This forum has helped. I did just purchase a Denon Dual CD...got a good deal off the floor of a store! Also purchased a Vestax mixer from my repair guy - quite a surprise - he gave it to me for $125.....I think he is fishing for good karma...isn't that Darma? So - the hole in my pocket is not nearly as big as I thought it was going to be although I may have to cut a few weekends of partying out! HEE HEE!

By the way - I checked your site out, Miss C - your comics r so funny! In my short stint as a DJ, I have already experienced the miscellaneous guy standing behind me, slurring his words, as I was clearly NOT paying attention to him...although he was a hottie....but annoying! HA! HELLO - I am being PAID for this, it is work not chit chat! GGRR! But he slipped me a $20 so I like him! HA HA AND I do know that one DJ who is in it for the girls! So annoying and sleasy!

Montie.....r u liking USC? Biology huh!? I am taking chemistry right now - oh joy.

Steph

quote:

Originally posted by dknylady listen to me very carefully... DO NOT BUY A STANTON MIXER , THEY SUCK REALLY HARD (refer to the list about my mixer HERE ok that said... yeah just get one that has leds, gains, bass and , well, highs aren't that important but they are nice. are you going to be using your mixer to dj (the beatmatchin kind!) for your own use? cuz if you are, maybe you can pick up a behringer of some kind, the 300 or even the new djx700 ($200).

sorry.. i disagree. i have the stanton rm-80 and am really satisfied w/ it. i got it on a really good deal so maybe thats y im satisfied but to tell you the truth, im impressed w/ the sound quality from this mixer bigtime. its better than i thought it would be. but, i can only speak for the Stanton rm-80 mixer, i have not used any other stanton mixer so for all i kno they could be shit, but i can vouch for the rm-80 and i give it thumbs up. if ur looking to spend around $300 and u are looking for a 4 channel mixer, this one is a good choice, its got the general assignable xfader to any channel, or u can bypass the xfader but i dunno y u would wanna do that. its got fader start for stanton cd decks (again i think this is useless but at least it comes w/ this feature if u use it).. only thing i don't like is there is a fader for the headphone cue instead of a knob which is what i am used to.. but after awhile i got used to the fader so its no big deal. if u have any more questions PM me cuz i probably will forget to check this thread again.

lol wrong forum...put this in the Humour section

quote:

Originally posted by hapamoto sorry.. i disagree. i have the stanton rm-80 and am really satisfied w/ it.

Yeah a mate of mine had an 80 till it got ripped off at a gig and his insurance company proceeded to follow suit and further the injury by paying out just $400 hundred on his $1800.00 loss. He Bought a new Bheringer 700 and really likes it. Sounds good and clean and has gotten good reviews.

If you are doing the Wedding DJ thing which is fine then as has been said, don't worry about fancy effects on-board on the mixer, see if you can get one with Sends Per channel and you can add effects like an Alesis or Kaoss Pad later IF you need it, You save a bunch of money that way! Make sure you get a mixer with a Mike input coz if you are going to do weddings you will need to do the M.C thing to do it right. Also dunno know if you already know this, over at WWW.PCDJ.COM there are a bunch of guys in the Forums there who are Wedding DJ's and they are really helpful, some with 10+ years experience so you could learn loads there too.

Phil

that sucks

I hope you made him pay for the mixer or slashed his tires

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.