I'm in a similar situation.. I want to get into mixing but am unsure of what decks would be best/most cost effective for a beginner.. any help would be appreciated.

I know, you've probably been told this a bazillion times but I can't stress it enough - if you're buying gear, get a pair of 1200's ... they will set you back quite a bit, but if you're serious about spinning, it's a good investment. On the other side, if you're not sure if DJing is something you'll want to do, don't buy any gear ! Instead find somebody who already has decks and go practice with their gear. It'll make it easier on you to learn (because you'll have somebody to show you how it's done) and you'll have money to buy vinyl. Too many ppl made a mistake and spent all their money on decks, leaving them without vinyl to play. My advice woyuld be to practice with somebody else's stuff and buy vinyl (until you have maybe 30-40 records). By then you'll know if you want to continue, then spend LOTS of money on QUALITY gear. If you go out and buy cheapo decks, you'll probably outgrow them fairly soon and end up losing money when you have to sell them and buy better ones. But if you absolutely MUST get some decks, go with the cheapest decks you can get ... the Stanton STR8-50 might be a good idea. But keep in mind that you WILL be selling them soon if you turn out to have any talent.

Mixer ... that's a tough one, there is quite a few decent mixers out there ... it depends how much money you're willing to spend. Personally, I have a Numark 1002x which has proven to be fairly good and reliable ... if you need 3 channels, you might want to look into the Numark 2001/2002 (the 2002 has killswithces) or the Vestax PMC17. Gemini might also be an option (the 626 model) but I've heard some horror stories about really low quality faders, so be careful about those.

peace

Hey all,
id have to agree with skywarp, i recently purchased the full setup and i almost made the mistake of buying a pair of citronic PD1 TT's, i then came to my senses and looked at a pair of second hand 1200's and found that they werent in any good condition and for only a couple of hundred extra dollars i could get them brand new with all original components etc.. so i did. and what an investment it was! My opinion, if your gonna get into dj'ing go for technics, even though they are pricey they are worth it and you get your moneys worth.

As for mixers, go for something with eq's on each channel and maybe even kills, because you might say now ' im only beggining what do i need eq's on each channle for' but when you get a bit better your gonna say ' why didnt i get the eq's'. I have a two channel Omnitronic FX-280 kill mixer, there not to well know i dont think but its a kick ass mixer, eq's on each channel + kills on each channel(trebble,middle,bass).

Again im with skywarp when saying if you dont know if you'll like it or not go roud to a friends house and practice there till your sure, because getting a setup is a big investment

cheers
Wax

Don't piss around with cheap wheels. Otherwise you will end up with 4 of them!! I have heard good and bad about the copies but there is only one wheel to buy period.
As for mixers I have had really good sucess with the Vestax PMC-170A (yes 170A) unlike the 17A this newer one has Kill switches. I will try the Numark this weekend and give you an honest comparision, but the Vestax EQ is supposed to be crossed over perfectly for Trance Techno.