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Budget Entry Level DJ Setups

Hi everyone, sorry for this tiring topic again. I searched, but I just can't get myself to spend $500 without some more imput from some experienced members... thank you!

I'm looking for a very inexpensive start-up DJ setup.

I'm considering a dual CD player and a cheap mixer. I don't think CDJ's are in my budget, possibly used 200's but they seem to sell too fast. Is used equipment a bad idea?

I ran into the Gemini CDM-500... would like some imput about this unit. Also looking for imput regarding dual CD players in general, especially ones with mixers built in. What are the cons of these units?

My budget for the mixer, cd players, cords, shipping, everything is $500+/-. Anything to point me in the right direction would be awesome.

Thanks very much guys.

2 Pioneer CDJ 200s approx $650 - $700 for a pair
1 Numark DXM 06 Mixer approx $250 - $300

So your talking roughly $1,000, more than you want to spend but if you can wait and save another $500, you wont regret it. Sometimes it's better to pay more for better stuff, which does mean saving money...waiting. You can get a dual CD player but they are usually used as additions to TT set ups. I haven't seen that many people use them alone, by themselves, unless it's something like the Numark CD-Mix type things. Your best bet is getting the CDJ 200s and a mixer like the DXM 06. This set up will last you a long time, because they are quality and should have a pretty good re-sale value in case you want to upgrade and or decide it isn't for you. You'll also need headphones, but you should be able to find a decent pair for around $60 or $70. Gemini doesn't make very good products, that's all I can say about that. They are notorious for poor quality products, up there with Behringer and American Audio/DJ as far as DJ equipment is concerned. If you want dual cd players, look to Numark (slightly better stuff than Gemini) or Pioneer, which has the best ones but expensive....CDJs are much better for stand-alone mixing setups.

Thanks very much Spirit for your help.

I just cannot afford $1000 as a college student. It would be a year wait at least. I guess I'm getting a bit anxious.

I've been playing around on my buddies dual CD player and ghetto mixer and its been a lot of fun.

Any more advice would be awesome.

quote:

Originally posted by epdarks Thanks very much Spirit for your help. I just cannot afford $1000 as a college student. It would be a year wait at least. I guess I'm getting a bit anxious. I've been playing around on my buddies dual CD player and ghetto mixer and its been a lot of fun. Any more advice would be awesome.

Haha well i'm a college student and have CDJ 1000 MK2s. It just requires making some sacrifices, like not driving as much or going out to eat as much and just putting away money. But if you don't have a job, then that's another story. Don't get too anxious or impatient though, it's best to wait till you can afford something that is worth it. Dual CD players are not commonly used these days, as more and more people, entry level DJs, are going for things like the CDJ 200 or the CDJ 800s, or the Denon DN-S1000 or DN-S3500. If you want a dual CD player, check out the Denon DN-D4500 for $589.

But I think you'd be most happy with a CDJ system, just due to the fact it's more intuitive and fun with them vs. Dual CD players. So what you could do is either buy one CDJ 200 and a mixer, and then save up for another CDJ until you can afford it, or see if there's any type of financing option you can do...pay over time.

the only thing i have to say is that if its something you really want then youll find a way to finance it or budget somehow...the problem is with this sort of equipment you always get what you pay for...sorry man hope you can figure something out... :/ try ebay i suppose, but warranties are voided through unauthorized resale so its a bit of a catch 22. good luck.

^Exactly. If you can, wait and get gear from well respected makers. Sure you could get a Gemini deck now, but you'd really be shooting yourself in the foot in terms of quality. I would look at Numark or maybe even Dennon if you can. Pio's are reguarded as pretty much the best but they're more expensive. I agree with Spirit though, the 200s will have you set. But again, look at the Numarks and Denons as well. Look for reviews online too.

do you guys think it's worth buying a dj system consisting of the following:

Numark CDN-88 Dual CD Players (Black)
Pioneer DJM-300 (Black) w/ 19 inch rackmount ears
Oddyssey 19inch wooden carpetted case

all for 650 dollars (used merchandise, but the cd players only used for about a year, around 5 actual gigs total, and pioneer mixer around 6 months, everything in great cosmetic and working condition)

any ideas?

Looks good in theory, just watch out since it's used.

Thanks everyone.

I'm just getting the itch so bad, I don't wanna wait a year. Maybe I'll consider a payment plan on some Pio 200's. Really considering the dual CD players at this point...

I can't even beatmatch and just need to get some time behind the decks to justify a $1000 purchase.

Anyone have some 200's for sale?

quote:

Originally posted by epdarks Thanks everyone. I'm just getting the itch so bad, I don't wanna wait a year. Maybe I'll consider a payment plan on some Pio 200's. Really considering the dual CD players at this point... I can't even beatmatch and just need to get some time behind the decks to justify a $1000 purchase. Anyone have some 200's for sale?

Hi, Im not sure if you know but try www.craigslist.org and go to your state and choose your region. go to music. instrument section. I found my CDJ-200's there and bought them used from a local DJ for dirt cheap ($230 each)

Check out Guitar Center or any other music store where you can get used equipment.

Good luck

quote:

Originally posted by epdarks I just cannot afford $1000 as a college student

let's put it this way:
can you afford to pay $500 for crap gemini equipment now and then pay $1000 for the two cdj-200s and a decent mixer after about a year when the gemini crap breaks and you have to throw them in the bin?

quote:

Originally posted by skip let's put it this way: can you afford to pay $500 for crap gemini equipment now and then pay $1000 for the two cdj-200s and a decent mixer after about a year when the gemini crap breaks and you have to throw them in the bin?

That's a very good point. Think the thread starter should take that into consideration. He may not be able to beatmatch now but that's why it takes time. And it's much easier to beatmatch and have it sound good with CDJ 200s vs. a crap gemini CDJ or dual CD player...with like 0.1 pitch resolution...

quote:

Originally posted by Spirit5 Haha well i'm a college student and have CDJ 1000 MK2s. It just requires making some sacrifices, like not driving as much or going out to eat as much and just putting away money. But if you don't have a job, then that's another story. Don't get too anxious or impatient though, it's best to wait till you can afford something that is worth it. Dual CD players are not commonly used these days, as more and more people, entry level DJs, are going for things like the CDJ 200 or the CDJ 800s, or the Denon DN-S1000 or DN-S3500. If you want a dual CD player, check out the Denon DN-D4500 for $589. But I think you'd be most happy with a CDJ system, just due to the fact it's more intuitive and fun with them vs. Dual CD players. So what you could do is either buy one CDJ 200 and a mixer, and then save up for another CDJ until you can afford it, or see if there's any type of financing option you can do...pay over time.

i couldnt agree more with spirit5. it takes sacrifices. in my case, i do have a job, but it doesnt pay that well. im not easy in making offers, so my offer became the fact that at one time, i had debts of some 800 or 900 euro's at my bank. mostly because i kept on ordering/buying vinyl. althugh i sold some occasionally (with profit), my financial usually was crap, purely because i spent a lot of cash on dj-gear and vinyls (i dont own cdj's or cd-stuff)

with building-up a dj set, there's one more thing to remind, i think. dont start off with buying too expensive equipment at once, if you havent spun before, and if you cant afford a lot of cash. i started with one TT, a soundlab belt-driven one. most dj's start off like that. i spoke to dj phynn this summer, and he started the same as i did. i had this 1 TT for 6 months, before i was able to buy my 2nd one. the first one was a gift of my friends for my birthday (it had costed them some 60 euro's), the 2nd one was trade; i traded 6 relatively simple trance vinyls for a TT. in the meanwhile, i traded another 8 trance records for a behringer vmx 100 dj mixer which was still quite new, and voila; i had my set-up complete. plugged it in a simple stereo-set, with very cheap sound amplifiers of some 50 watt. the sound was crap, but i had the ability to practice dj-ing. the fact i started on a belt-driven TT made it easier for me to practice on a direct drive TT. compared to what i have now, the TT's of soundlab and the mixer i first owned were crap. but it was a way to start. right now i have 2 gemini 2000 MK2's and a gemini bpm 1000 mixer, plus a sony mdr-z500. thats like heaven for me. and i have some 150 records. all equipment i have is worth some 2000 euro's, and i got it all with patience. and i even made profits on selling stuff. i always waited for the deal to pass me by .. patience my friend . it took me some 1.5 years to get my dj set-up like i have it now. up till now, i never have touched a cdj of 1000 euro's, i've only seen it. so apart from the fact that i agree with spirit5, i should seriously advice you to start simple. dont buy the most expensive stuff at once. what if dj-ing isnt exactly what you hoped it would be? then you own some expensive you dont even like, and you're guaranteed to make a loss on it if you sell it.
on the other hand, buying second hand gear like i did (and still do) isnt always good. it often happens that your set-up doesnt work 100% properly. so buying new stuff in stead of 2nd hand stuff is worth it somehow .. but seriously evaluate your decision. you can only spent your money once ...

Thing is if you do get better, slightly more expensive equipment you'll get more money if you would sell it, vs. some cheaper equipment. And CDJing is better IMO to start out with nowadays because vinyl is so expensive and your not spending all of your money on them. I wish I started off that way, as I had two Numark TTXs. One crapped out after 6 months, sent it to get the motor replaced, and it came back with things falling off of it, including part of the plastic top on the side. The second TT was fine, but those just couldn't hold pitch very well. I have like 150 records myself. I was going to get the CDJ 200 or the 800, but I figured with the CDJ 1000s, I would never ever have to upgrade and if I were to sell them, i'de probably get close to $800 for each. But for someone who knows nothing about mixing, CDJ 200s are your best bet. They are probably the best made, inexpensive CDJ you can get, better than anything Gemini, Numark, Stanton or American Audio has.

for my first CD player setup, here's what I did.

2xGemini CDJ-20, used - $180 total
Behringer DX626 Mixer, new - $50 total
Technics RP-DH1200, used - $80 total

I scoured eBay for good deals. The CDJ-20s were fun, but they just weren't everything I needed. I had the chance to play with some CDJ-200s and I loved them. So after careful scouring of eBay, I got

2x CDJ 200, used for $220 each

I sold the Gemini CDJ-20s for $400, which was very lucky on my part. I used that to help fund the CDJ-200s.

It just takes patience and some careful bidding skills and you can get some good deals.

I'm in love with CDJ-200s. The price is right also, even new. There is definite value in getting CDJ-1000 MK3s, but the amount of features you gain for the price just isn't quite justified in my mind for where I am.. (yet).

In short, I spent money on crap stuff trying to get a cheap starter setup, and ended up turning around and selling it within weeks because it wasn't enough.

I'm still saving to buy a decent mixer. The behringer one does the job, but it's serious crap. The Numark DXM06 that Spirit9 suggested would be a great starter mixer. I just found another deal on eBay for a Pioneer DJM707, which will essentially pay for itself when I resell the stuff that came with it. Buying used equipment sketches a lot of people out, but I've never had a bad experience.

You might want to consider the Ableton option, that's what I went for. The package is supposed to arrive tomorrow however. It's just an external soundtrack, midi controller, headphones and Ableton (cost depends on your accesibility to Ableton. I paid around 380$ for the whole setup (international shipping costs, taxes etc.)

quote:

Originally posted by The 3am Junkie You might want to consider the Ableton option, that's what I went for. The package is supposed to arrive tomorrow however. It's just an external soundtrack, midi controller, headphones and Ableton (cost depends on your accesibility to Ableton. I paid around 380$ for the whole setup (international shipping costs, taxes etc.)

As this may sound like a good idea, I think the guy is wanting more of a traditional DJ set up, whether it's dual CD players, CDJs or TTs. Ableton would be too complex I think for someone just starting out. I think Traktor might be a better program for someone just starting out, esp for someone who wants something closer to the operations of an actual DJ set up.

quote:

Originally posted by Spirit5 Thing is if you do get better, slightly more expensive equipment you'll get more money if you would sell it, vs. some cheaper equipment. And CDJing is better IMO to start out with nowadays because vinyl is so expensive and your not spending all of your money on them. I wish I started off that way, as I had two Numark TTXs. One crapped out after 6 months, sent it to get the motor replaced, and it came back with things falling off of it, including part of the plastic top on the side. The second TT was fine, but those just couldn't hold pitch very well. I have like 150 records myself. I was going to get the CDJ 200 or the 800, but I figured with the CDJ 1000s, I would never ever have to upgrade and if I were to sell them, i'de probably get close to $800 for each. But for someone who knows nothing about mixing, CDJ 200s are your best bet. They are probably the best made, inexpensive CDJ you can get, better than anything Gemini, Numark, Stanton or American Audio has.

i must say i agree on what you say. starting off woth good (expensive) equipment has more plusses then starting simple, cheap and/or 2nd stuff. perhaps my opnion is based on the fact that i have only spun with vinyl up till now (cdj's are too expensive for the moment for me, next to TT's), and im a vinyl-lover. a real dj shoudl (imo) start with vinyl, because its the basis of dj-ing (from historical point of view). but cdj's appear to be much easier on the handling with repsect to beatmatching, because of the decent bpm-indicators. i have bpm-counters on my mixer, but there not that accurate, and not very up2date (they only calculate each 10 seconds the bpm)

quote:

Originally posted by ThaMaestro i must say i agree on what you say. starting off woth good (expensive) equipment has more plusses then starting simple, cheap and/or 2nd stuff. perhaps my opnion is based on the fact that i have only spun with vinyl up till now (cdj's are too expensive for the moment for me, next to TT's), and im a vinyl-lover. a real dj shoudl (imo) start with vinyl, because its the basis of dj-ing (from historical point of view). but cdj's appear to be much easier on the handling with repsect to beatmatching, because of the decent bpm-indicators. i have bpm-counters on my mixer, but there not that accurate, and not very up2date (they only calculate each 10 seconds the bpm)

Well I think that for people who aren't too sure about it, either software or CDJs nowadays are the best way. A few years ago when there weren't as many digital download shops, going vinyl would have been better because you could get the tracks you wanted. But nowadays, more and more tracks are being released digitally. And to spend all of that many on records, only to disocover it's not for you..would really suck. I mean yeah you can sell them, but why go through the hassle?

CDJ 200s can be found for less than or around the same price as TTs like Numark TTXs or Technics 1200 MK2s, and a pack of 50 CD-Rs cost about the price of two vinyl records...around $20, and then digital downloads being anywhere from $1.49 or $1.99 a piece on Beatport, it does save you in the long run..esp because you can store all of those on your hard drive vs. having to buy shelves or cases for all your records. Just another thing for anyone starting out to think about...

I really really appreciate all of the replies guys.

I'm going to *try* to stretch for the CDJ's...

However I'm still considering a dual CD player for an initial setup. Start out with a nice mixer without need to upgrade. The CD players will be shit but I'll get some practice.

I'm looking for a mixer with kills on it, are these common? I didn't see any on the Pioneer? I've been enjoying them on my buddies mixer, are they even necessary?

I will check craigslist, any other websites for used DJ equipment?

Thanks a ton everyone.

quote:

Originally posted by epdarks I'm looking for a mixer with kills on it, are these common? I didn't see any on the Pioneer? I've been enjoying them on my buddies mixer, are they even necessary?

If you mean kill switches, no they aren't common. They're generally seen on low-end mixers, as it is outdated technology. Some high-end mixers have eqs that kill, but no switches. No, they aren't necessary. I think the Pioneer DJM-400 has eq kills, and that's their current entry-level mixer.

after all the shit i've played on

i've come up with a pretty good beginner setup

2 x pioneer cdj-200
numark dxm-06 mixer

it's pretty decent in price and will keep someone getting into mixing a good setup to grow into without having to upgrade within 6 months

quote:

Originally posted by epdarks I really really appreciate all of the replies guys. I'm going to *try* to stretch for the CDJ's... However I'm still considering a dual CD player for an initial setup. Start out with a nice mixer without need to upgrade. The CD players will be shit but I'll get some practice. I'm looking for a mixer with kills on it, are these common? I didn't see any on the Pioneer? I've been enjoying them on my buddies mixer, are they even necessary? I will check craigslist, any other websites for used DJ equipment? Thanks a ton everyone.

perhaps the reloop rmx 40 bpm mixer is something for you; it has kills, and plenty of other functions. its a 4 channel mxier with vu-meters for each channel, and for the master. it's pretty cheap, i think. i can buy it here for 220 euro's. it has FX-functions on it too i think, and (for you perhaps most important); it has 2 bpm-counters. very easy to have when you need to learn beatmatch ...

quote:

Originally posted by Trogdor If you mean kill switches, no they aren't common. They're generally seen on low-end mixers, as it is outdated technology. Some high-end mixers have eqs that kill, but no switches. No, they aren't necessary. I think the Pioneer DJM-400 has eq kills, and that's their current entry-level mixer.

where are the kills actually used for?

quote:

Originally posted by ThaMaestro where are the kills actually used for?

Cutting out bass, treble, vocals etc. They don't work that well but they do help when a track might have a lot of bass and it sounds clangy and you want to gradually bring it in...kind of like you can do with EQs. They are found like Trogador said, on lower-end mixers with poorer EQs. I have the Vestax PCV 275s, and they have things called "isolators" which are pretty much the same thing as kill switches, but maybe a little better made. But I personally and am planning to upgrade to a better mixer soon, like an Ecler Nuo 3 or Nuo 4.

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