Home DJ setup
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- HijoDMaite
Alright, I'm a bit confused about where to begin. In short, we've moved into a wonderful spacious house and started hosting parties. I'd like to set up a professional-sounding sound system to play music, not necessarily for producing, but to have a great mix for the night or an hour or so. I want something beyond my large Bluetooth speaker or Alexa in the living room, lol.
I have a nice laptop and was thinking of getting software like Serato to use with it. But what's the next step? Should I invest in a controller? Will the controller be standalone or include turntable-like wheels on each side? Also, should I consider speakers (monitors)? Is one large speaker enough or should I go for two? And if I decide to buy an actual turntable later, will the controller be compatible? What other equipment will I need?
I'm also a bit confused about tracks. Currently, I mainly use Apple Music. Do I need to start downloading music again, perhaps in MP3 format?
Ideally, I'd like to set up everything on a nice long table between my kitchen and dining room, or maybe in the living room, surrounded by some lovely plants. You know, like those setups in the pandemic YouTube DJ sets.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I don't have a fixed budget yet, just trying to figure out what I should buy first.
- prophetone5
Just go proper and avoid battlestar galactica console controllers which are overly complicated and feature rich not to mention expensive and prone to eventually becoming an unsupported boat anchor.
Yes they look cool and can Bluetooth and load mp3 / wavs but it’s like buying and automatic car.
Buy used... plenty gear out there as people offloading usually... 2 Technics 1200/1210 mkii, a Rane mixer like a Sixty Two as cheap and built well and for both mixing and proper battle stuff, a used Serato SL2 setup.
Buy new... a set of fresh JICO N44-7 carts, or Ortofons, and some fresh Serato vinyl, and some butter rugs.
As far as music I’ve been buying new tunes in mp3 wav since forever to grow my collection - so lots of great sites to collect tunes like Beatport, Bandcamp, Apple Music, etc. That has always been the fun part!
Godspeed.
- If u don’t mind huge powered party monitors you can go with Mackie SRM’s? Or smaller and elegant you can get 8” KRK’s or Focals etcprophetone
- Good post thanks prophetYakuZoku
- How snobby am I, I meant to say go classic... not ‘proper’ lol... just personal opinion, in end is more fun than pushing buttons?prophetone
- But I know the digital CDJ crew is in full effect too and they have their benefits so depends on goal?prophetone
- The other thing about having 1200s... you can kickstart a vinyl buying addiction if you haven’t already!prophetone
- i hear that prophet but first want to learn the digital side.HijoDMaite
- You can do all you can do on digital systems on an iPad App.
Srsly!microkorg
- prophetone1
And then you can sport a clean 80s/90s club booth arrangement like this sweet setup... although this prob best with a sweet rotary mixer
- that's sick. I honestly dont' know where I am going to put my stuff yet.HijoDMaite
- bocadeets0
@hijo
Some background on your DJ experience would help steer you in the right direction. Have you ever DJ'd before? or just thought it'd be nice to play some music at one of your home parties? Do you have a music collection in MP3 already, or are you mainly wanting to play from a streaming service? Do you have some kind of budget that you're wanting to stay within?- Do you have a vinyl collection already?bocadeets
- negative just some random stuff I pick up every year during record store dayHijoDMaite
- HijoDMaite0
ok guys should have given you more info.
never mixed before but I want to learn to mix and create my own sets
lover of deep house music, hip-hop, and downtempo, but also enjoy harder stuff like progressive and tech house
do not have a vinyl collection
I only use an Apple Music subscriptionHere is what I just bought off Amazon for $299:
https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-D…
I am now looking at getting some speakers and am thinking about these at $250 but found a FB Marketplace post for $150:
https://www.amazon.com/KRK-RP4G3…
will this plus cables and my laptop be enough? A turntable can come later.
- only feedback is KRK are kind of junky and from what I have heard from my friends they don't handle extended periods at loud volumesautoflavour
- also they are studio monitors, but if you are looking to DJ you are probably better getting a small powered PAautoflavour
- also second hand speakers are nearly always fucked already.. would save the hassle and spend the extra $100autoflavour
- Which brand of monitors would you recommend? Will these monitors not be loud enough or have enough bass?HijoDMaite
- I may just get them and test them out I can always return them if not satisfied.HijoDMaite
- go properl;y old skool with a pair of bose 802shans_glib
- studio monitors have a flat response, generally anything less than a 7" driver requires a sub. those KRKs would be fine for 'booth monitors' not mainskingsteven
- look at hifi - floorstanders if you have room - second hand you will get a lot more of a pleasant listening experience for your moneykingsteven
- section_0140
^^^ That's a perfect starter controller.
Can you download tunes from Apple music? I'm not sure about Serato, but I don't see any options in Rekordbox for Apple music. There's an iTunes tab, but I think it refers to playlists that are on the computer.
Generally speaking, when it comes to CDJ's and controllers, most people are working with mp3 files directly. I've never witnessed a streaming setup. These programs analyze files to build waveform visualizations, and let you scrub through tracks quickly. Not sure how that would work with streaming.
- Any song I listen to on Apple Music I am able to download. But it’s to my phone so I’m not sure either how that works.HijoDMaite
- I figured I would start using Beatport to purchase tracks.HijoDMaite
- canoe1
I've never used my MP3 turntable, which reminds me, I should sell it. You want?
Vinyl is much more fun to DJ with - it makes you work at it, it makes it more difficult, it actually gives you a DJ skill, and you have all this great tangible music that will never be erased from a hard drive. Buy a middle of the road mixer and two belt driven turntables and two powered speakers, like JBL will work just fine.
Having vinyl is great because you don't have to only buy 12 inch singles but full albums that you love.
- Hard disagree. I started DJ'ing in 1996, and miss playing vinyl 0%. I still match beats on my CDJ's by hand, and it's every bit as fun as mixing records.section_014
- Ill also disagree. I miss serato records on turntables over the plastic controller i have now...robotinc
- ... but i dont miss moving crates of records around, hearing the sound quality fade over time, or paying 2x thr price for shippingrobotinc
- bocadeets1
Glad that you got a controller... and I see that it handles Rekordbox and Serato. Not sure about Rekordbox, but you can stream Beatport and Tidal into Serato. Apple Music is a NO to both platforms, so (I hate to say this but) abandon Apple Music and move to Tidal and use a service called TuneMyMusic to move your playlists over. Then you can stream whatever you want to your hearts content.
As far as speakers are concerned... if you're wanting to have a party at your house, skip the studio monitors and get a couple of powered PA speakers ... QSC KW, Martin Blackline, JBL, RCF....Something like this:
- imbecile2
I have this https://www.numark.com/product/m… and use this https://www.virtualdj.com/.
Stupid easy
