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Posted by matty on Jul-13-2004 05:27:

Equipment

I'm looking at playing around with DJing. What would you guys suggest i get, equpiment wise, to start off?

Posted by rabbitjoker on Jul-13-2004 05:39:

1. buy used

2. spend your limited dollars on good turntables - worry about buying a great mixer later

3. get final scratch (if you can afford it) - tracks are $2 as opposed to $10 (with the savings you'll pay off final scratch with 100 tracks purchased)

4. technics 1200s retain their value the most and are easiest to sell if you decide you don't enjoy it

Posted by Cataclysmic on Jul-13-2004 13:52:

I started out not too long ago, and I wish I would have taken more time in researching the equipment to buy. Very good advice from Rabbitjoker... don't worry too much about the mixer you get for right now.

Numark has some great beginner tables, both vinyl and CD wise. Final scratch is a good investment as well, but you may want to start with vinyl in order to get beat matching down to a T.

I bought my gear at Moog Audio at Queen and University, and I actually financed the purchase. The good thing about that is that I am able to trade in what I purchased in order to upgrade if I wanted to. The guy is helpful, and he's usually got great prices.

You'll absolutely love Dj'ing... it was, and still is, the best hobby I've ever taken up!

Posted by LKD on Jul-13-2004 15:31:

i have a buddy who is selling never-used-before technics m3ds for $1200 (the pair) with teh stock cartridges and stock everything

lemme know if ur interested (u should be)

Posted by matty on Jul-14-2004 02:04:

Thanks for the advice. $1200 is a tad too much for me.

Posted by rabbitjoker on Jul-14-2004 02:09:

I got a pair of used 1200s for under a grand and paid around a grand for my new ones.

Posted by LKD on Jul-14-2004 02:56:

quote:
Originally posted by che
Thanks for the advice. $1200 is a tad too much for me.

well brand new ones m3ds ive heard go for 750 a piece...750 x 2 = 1500...once again..ive heard.

this guy might prolly be willing to sell for a grand.

they ARE brand new, never used as well..so keep that in mind.

a suggestion tho.

whenever u go in for a muscial instrument (in this case a table would be considered one too), always go in for the best/rather good, even if ur jsut starting out. logic behind it is that once u DO get better, u will want to buy a better one in which case u WILL lose out on selling ur current equipment for way cheaper or maybe even giving it out for free and respending on a new one.

eg. when i bought my electric guitar 5 years ago, i spent 4 months looking for one and ended up paying an equivalent of $800 for it. i wasnt really good then (well i suck now cos i ahvent played it in a year). my buddy who was even better than me when he wanted to get an electric went in for the cheapest he could find without doing research on what guitar suited his style, hand size, etc etc and now he regrets it cos he knows hes not gonna get anythign for that guitar he already owns and will end up spending alot more to get a new one.

Posted by matty on Jul-14-2004 03:35:

It deffinetely makes sense. I might have to wait another couple of weeks to pull together some more cash. What do i do about a mixer? Should i got for something better or should i start out with something cheaper and learn on that first?

Posted by rabbitjoker on Jul-14-2004 03:35:

quote:
Originally posted by rabbitjoker
3. get final scratch (if you can afford it) - tracks are $2 as opposed to $10 (with the savings you'll pay off final scratch with 100 tracks purchased)

I messed on my math. The #s above are US dollars and I used the CAD dollar cost of Final Scratch.

The break-even point on Final Scratch is 63 records ($500 US cost and $8 US / record savings).

Posted by rabbitjoker on Jul-14-2004 03:37:

quote:
Originally posted by che
It deffinetely makes sense. I might have to wait another couple of weeks to pull together some more cash. What do i do about a mixer? Should i got for something better or should i start out with something cheaper and learn on that first?

Go with something cheaper - spend the money on the tables.

Just make sure it has a 3 band EQ (on each channel) and cue mixing - other than that, something basic will do.

Posted by LKD on Jul-14-2004 03:39:

quote:
Originally posted by rabbitjoker
Go with something cheaper - spend the money on the tables.

Just make sure it has a 3 band EQ (on each channel) and cue mixing - other than that, something basic will do.

jsut to add to taht for ur knowledge, a 3 band is more than jsut a cross and fade with volume but has controls for 1)treble, 2)mid and 3)bass for each channel

Posted by SgtFoo on Jul-14-2004 04:07:

a decent cheap beginner mixer you might want to look at is the Behringer VMX200 or VMX300 or DJX700. they're all a steal price for the features, and aside from noise quality and longevity issues they do the job until you can shop and afford the mixer of your dreams.
post here or PM me if you got any questions about the VMX200 or VMX300... i've got the 300 and i frequently use my friend's 200.

Keep in mind though, you'll need an amplfied speaker system to hear and monitor your mixing efforts.... a mini system will suffice, but you may want to buy a seperate amp and some speakers.

read up in the DJ Booth forum of TA and you'll become very familiar with everything about DJ'ness.