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people in the know, help me out.

basically, i'm sick of djing with my controller and my options are as follows; spend a lot and get a really good controller, get second hand timecode stuff or get a proper, proper low end set of CDJs (i have a fair few records but i have most of the stuff as 320s as well so that isn't really an issue).

pros and cons?

both shite

btw i hate u!

hundreds of topics about vinyl vs cdjs on the forum, use the search function.
I'd go for time coded vinyl, but it's a personal preference.

mc wayne wrote:both shite

btw i hate u!

troll harder, this is weak bro.

tobo wrote:hundreds of topics about vinyl vs cdjs on the forum, use the search function.
I'd go for time coded vinyl, but it's a personal preference.

i can't find anything that takes controllers into account as a viable option. are they just shunned or something?

get yourself some technics and then get serato, best thing i ever bought

I've got the gambit of toys... I have serato but havent used it as much playing out as I thought I would... if a club has a CDJ setup I'll leave the laptop/serato at home and just use cds a lot of the time. CD's allow me the freedom to bring a massive amount of tracks with me to a show, without the inconvenience of toting a laptop around with me.

At home I have almost 6500 records so I keep my vinyl setup going and am in the process of cataloging it all but that'll take a while lol. However, at home what I use the most is my controller. I use a Kontrol KDJ500 http://kontrolprodj.com/content/view/3/11/ just hook it up to the computer and I'm good to go. Works well with traktor, tons of midi assignments available, built in mixer, complete package.


Are you planning on playing out right now? Or just looking for something to use at home to play your 320's?

I'd say either go with Serato or a controller... you don't need to own CDJ's in order to use them when you play out.... you just need to know how to use CDJ's. If you already have turntables no sense in buying CDJ's if you're just looking for a way to play your digital tracks Serato can accomplish that easily and will allow you to swap back to vinyl easily.

pkay wrote:I've got the gambit of toys... I have serato but havent used it as much playing out as I thought I would... if a club has a CDJ setup I'll leave the laptop/serato at home and just use cds a lot of the time. CD's allow me the freedom to bring a massive amount of tracks with me to a show, without the inconvenience of toting a laptop around with me.

this

ive been to loads of venues and the set ups a pain to get serato set up without technicals, i only use serato now if theres only technics or that i know it aint going to be a bitch to set up.

cdjs are just convieniant imo

Wolverine wrote:

pkay wrote:I've got the gambit of toys... I have serato but havent used it as much playing out as I thought I would... if a club has a CDJ setup I'll leave the laptop/serato at home and just use cds a lot of the time. CD's allow me the freedom to bring a massive amount of tracks with me to a show, without the inconvenience of toting a laptop around with me.

this

ive been to loads of venues and the set ups a pain to get serato set up without technicals, i only use serato now if theres only technics or that i know it aint going to be a bitch to set up.

cdjs are just convieniant imo

a lot of promoters stateside have those serato mounts now and some of them are sketchy as fuck. Like my laptop is about to take a swan dive out the dj booth and shatter into a million pieces

that post was extremely helpful, cheers!

at home i use my decks or a laptop and an ion icue (not exactly the most sophisticated controller). i play out a fair bit at the moment but only ever using the club's controller; never had the courage to give the cdjs a try for the first time (i've literally never used one) in front of a busy club and it would be pretty hellish trying to carry a record box to the club considering a travel via push bike. i've been offered an old traktor scratch setup dirt cheap so my mind is made up!

timecode vinyl + CDs work exactly the same way. it just depends on what "feel" you prefer.

Wolverine wrote:get yourself some technics and then get serato, best thing i ever bought

^^^ this ^^^

couldnt have put it better.......

Honestly , if you have ever used decks just get Serato , I was such a vinyl purist but bought serato as theres some things I want to play that I can only get digital ( and cutting dubs isn't really an option most places in Australia ) and after a year or so i'm all for it , CDJs just felt so disconnected and artificial to me .... Main thing is to use decent quality mp3s ( only 320s ) or even better WAVs / AIFFs , a lot of hard drives space needed though for that though .... and you can also back up your precious copy of dmz007 nice and easy.

Oh , as far as controllers it's not really my area of knowledge , but I gotta say the new FX on Serato2 are pretty fun with a little midi ..

Wolverine wrote:

pkay wrote:I've got the gambit of toys... I have serato but havent used it as much playing out as I thought I would... if a club has a CDJ setup I'll leave the laptop/serato at home and just use cds a lot of the time. CD's allow me the freedom to bring a massive amount of tracks with me to a show, without the inconvenience of toting a laptop around with me.

this

ive been to loads of venues and the set ups a pain to get serato set up without technicals, i only use serato now if theres only technics or that i know it aint going to be a bitch to set up.

cdjs are just convieniant imo

I don't get this...have you got the sl1 or sl3? With the sl3 it couldn't be easier to set up. Unless the mixer's built in a flightcase or something. The only inconvinience i ever experienced was a dodgy ground cable coming loose from the screw, which was prett much my fault actually

save up and go for the serato sl-3 i'd say. The sound it generates is sick, it's small and easy to set up, you have the automatic switch to phono when you disconnect it,...can't say anything bad about it really. It's one of the best purchases i ever made.

solphy wrote:

Wolverine wrote:

pkay wrote:I've got the gambit of toys... I have serato but havent used it as much playing out as I thought I would... if a club has a CDJ setup I'll leave the laptop/serato at home and just use cds a lot of the time. CD's allow me the freedom to bring a massive amount of tracks with me to a show, without the inconvenience of toting a laptop around with me.

this

ive been to loads of venues and the set ups a pain to get serato set up without technicals, i only use serato now if theres only technics or that i know it aint going to be a bitch to set up.

cdjs are just convieniant imo

I don't get this...have you got the sl1 or sl3? With the sl3 it couldn't be easier to set up. Unless the mixer's built in a flightcase or something. The only inconvinience i ever experienced was a dodgy ground cable coming loose from the screw, which was prett much my fault actually

save up and go for the serato sl-3 i'd say. The sound it generates is sick, it's small and easy to set up, you have the automatic switch to phono when you disconnect it,...can't say anything bad about it really. It's one of the best purchases i ever made.

i 'stupidly' ( ) bought the SL1, but its not that much harder to connect up!
just turn up 10/15 mins before your set, plug everything in apart from the turntables into your serato and the phono leads into mixer.
if the previous DJ is using CD's.. PERFECT! go straight in and plug yourself up.
but if the previous DJ is using the turntables, ask him when the last song is, then when that is playing disconnect the unused deck and cue up for your start.
when hes finished just plug in the final cables.. easy!

never had to ask for the techie

I'm an all vinyl head but I've also got a poor man's Serato which works perfectly well for me.
I got djdecks which you can use with many sorts of timecode vinyl (I use Serato records) and a ESI U46DJ soundcard (the same one that Mixvibes uses) and those Traktor multicore cables. I guess this is the cheapest solution for a digital setup which works without problems. The only downside is that records sound a little weaker when played through the Traktor multicores but honestly you wouldn't notice this until you put it to the test plus you can easily compensate this by adding a little bump and some treble on the mixer (it's really not much of a difference).
CDJs are OK but they're not for me. I like to see how a song goes as you can see on a record or in the waveform in Serato/djdecks whatever plus with that setup you can play both records and digital stuff.
Another option might those Tascam vinyl controllers. A friend of mine uses them but you would still have to buy CD players to operate them.

kwun-tings wrote:

solphy wrote:

Wolverine wrote:

pkay wrote:I've got the gambit of toys... I have serato but havent used it as much playing out as I thought I would... if a club has a CDJ setup I'll leave the laptop/serato at home and just use cds a lot of the time. CD's allow me the freedom to bring a massive amount of tracks with me to a show, without the inconvenience of toting a laptop around with me.

this

ive been to loads of venues and the set ups a pain to get serato set up without technicals, i only use serato now if theres only technics or that i know it aint going to be a bitch to set up.

cdjs are just convieniant imo

I don't get this...have you got the sl1 or sl3? With the sl3 it couldn't be easier to set up. Unless the mixer's built in a flightcase or something. The only inconvinience i ever experienced was a dodgy ground cable coming loose from the screw, which was prett much my fault actually

save up and go for the serato sl-3 i'd say. The sound it generates is sick, it's small and easy to set up, you have the automatic switch to phono when you disconnect it,...can't say anything bad about it really. It's one of the best purchases i ever made.

i 'stupidly' ( ) bought the SL1, but its not that much harder to connect up!
just turn up 10/15 mins before your set, plug everything in apart from the turntables into your serato and the phono leads into mixer.
if the previous DJ is using CD's.. PERFECT! go straight in and plug yourself up.
but if the previous DJ is using the turntables, ask him when the last song is, then when that is playing disconnect the unused deck and cue up for your start.
when hes finished just plug in the final cables.. easy!

never had to ask for the techie

i got sl1 a few years back and yes sl3 definetly looks easier to set up

ive been to a few venues and the dj booths so small and equipments not up to standard that its a mission to set up sometimes, i sometimes take cds just incase

its all about the venues that have serato ready for you so all you need to do is plug your lappy in

Wolverine wrote:its all about the venues that have serato ready for you so all you need to do is plug your lappy in

the day that happens to me...
best ive ever had was the guy before was using SL1 and he let me just plug my lappy in lol

i don't get how the SL1 can be considered hard to set up? i just got it and its a 2 minute job at most
from what i understand more clubs are getting it in as standard too, but if you dont want to lug around a laptop then yeah CDJ's are the way for you
but i wouldnt say my macbook would weigh any less then a case of CD's, just a value issue i guess