Serrato - now or never.
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Serrato - now or never.
Hi all.
Okay, I think I've come to a time of my life where I think of me being a DJ as now or never. I've spent a year thinking between "oh it's really cool and I think I'll like it" and "wait, I don't have so much money, I should spare them my future", but now I want to know if I'm going for being a DJ or not, I don't want to spent more time with these stupid considerations.
Therefore I went to a shop in town to check out all the equipment. I talked with an arrogant seller in the shop and that kinda pissed me off. He was more concerned about his skills that giving me the best advices on what to buy. He says I should go for turntables but then again, he could just say that because he wanted to sell, he mentioned Serrato but talked his way around it.
What is Serrato really? Is it good for a beginner?
Should I go for turntables or CDjs if not Serrato?
I'm not sure how much I will give, here in Denmark things are a bit more expensive (should I purchase in another country and ship instead? or is that too riski?). Probably I'll give highest around 600-700 dollars.
Okay, I think I've come to a time of my life where I think of me being a DJ as now or never. I've spent a year thinking between "oh it's really cool and I think I'll like it" and "wait, I don't have so much money, I should spare them my future", but now I want to know if I'm going for being a DJ or not, I don't want to spent more time with these stupid considerations.
Therefore I went to a shop in town to check out all the equipment. I talked with an arrogant seller in the shop and that kinda pissed me off. He was more concerned about his skills that giving me the best advices on what to buy. He says I should go for turntables but then again, he could just say that because he wanted to sell, he mentioned Serrato but talked his way around it.
What is Serrato really? Is it good for a beginner?
Should I go for turntables or CDjs if not Serrato?
I'm not sure how much I will give, here in Denmark things are a bit more expensive (should I purchase in another country and ship instead? or is that too riski?). Probably I'll give highest around 600-700 dollars.
www.numark.com/omnicontrol
You can't afford Serato or even one CDJ. Trust me. Serato is the old school way to do digital mixing anyways... I already did the research here and the Omni Control is probably the best controller/interface out there. I can't afford one though so it's just a recommendation.
That's if you want laptop DJing ... otherwise go with Vinyl. I'm not big on Serato. Remember with CDJs you have to keep track of your entire CD collection... I've heard this can suck.
You can't afford Serato or even one CDJ. Trust me. Serato is the old school way to do digital mixing anyways... I already did the research here and the Omni Control is probably the best controller/interface out there. I can't afford one though so it's just a recommendation.
That's if you want laptop DJing ... otherwise go with Vinyl. I'm not big on Serato. Remember with CDJs you have to keep track of your entire CD collection... I've heard this can suck.
- altered state
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CDJ's suck for the above mentioned reason (keeping track of CD collections is harder than you think.)
I used serato for the first time yesturday - and coming from a vinyl background, I thought it was pretty damn amazing. All the control and flexability of wax and a mixer with the bonus of not having to lug wax around, just double click and its there.
Personally, i'd say just buy a cheap set of turntables and mixer, a few bits of wax and take it from there - with serato you still need the tables and mixer so you've got to buy those anyway.
At least that way you can check to see if it is for you before shelling out 300 odd quid for serato + the tables, mixer etc etc.
I used serato for the first time yesturday - and coming from a vinyl background, I thought it was pretty damn amazing. All the control and flexability of wax and a mixer with the bonus of not having to lug wax around, just double click and its there.
Personally, i'd say just buy a cheap set of turntables and mixer, a few bits of wax and take it from there - with serato you still need the tables and mixer so you've got to buy those anyway.
At least that way you can check to see if it is for you before shelling out 300 odd quid for serato + the tables, mixer etc etc.
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1210s the only desks youll ever need
jackmaster wrote:you went in with this mix.
Soundcloud.onelove. wrote:There needs to be a DZA app on iPhone just for id'ing old Grime tracks.
http://soundcloud.com/keepitgully http://www.mixcloud.com/slevarance/
Try Traktor Skratch Pro instead mate, superior bit of software, far superior audio interface, truly amazing imo, you'll never look back honestly. You'll need a decent laptop to run it, but why would you even attempt to run something like that without ffs?
Get some 1210s off e-bay for £200~, an Ecler or Rane mixer, and Traktor, sorted. And if you find that in fact you're not cut out to be a DJ, you can always sell it on for almost what you paid for the Technics and the mixer, not sure about reselling Traktor though...
Get some 1210s off e-bay for £200~, an Ecler or Rane mixer, and Traktor, sorted. And if you find that in fact you're not cut out to be a DJ, you can always sell it on for almost what you paid for the Technics and the mixer, not sure about reselling Traktor though...
Last edited by caeraphym on Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sure, but the thing is, here in Denmark things are much more expensive.Get some 1210s off e-bay for £200~, an Ecler or Rane mixer, and Traktor, sorted. And if you find that in fact you're not cut out to be a DJ, you can always sell it on for almost what you paid for the Technics and the mixer, not sure about reselling Traktor though...
I found a deal with 2 Technics 1210 with 2 mixers (numark dm1050 and behringer pro mixer vmx100), 59 records, numark phones negotiable price.
Everything for 1110 dollars (6500 danish crowns).
My personal opinion is to go with serrato. I myself do not use it. I am on Vinyl and cdj's, however if I have a laptop I would make the switch instantly. If you already have a laptop you can get the hardware for a couple hundrend dollars and then just get some used 1200's and a mixer for pretty cheap and you are set.
if you buy Serato, you also need everything to control it - a DJ mixer and some turntables, either vinyl or CDJ.
It's really just a clever way to manipulate digital files with turntables, and not much else. If you haven't already got into DJing, then it doesn't seem to make sense to buy all that kit. Serato is best suited to people that already have decks etc, and are just looking to add digital capability to their DJing setup.
Personally I would say the best thing for you to do is build a small, cheap laptop strictly for this purpose, buy Traktor or some similar software, or perhaps even Ableton, and use a dedicated MIDI controller to mix the tunes. Way more flexibility and a lot less kit/hassle.
It's really just a clever way to manipulate digital files with turntables, and not much else. If you haven't already got into DJing, then it doesn't seem to make sense to buy all that kit. Serato is best suited to people that already have decks etc, and are just looking to add digital capability to their DJing setup.
Personally I would say the best thing for you to do is build a small, cheap laptop strictly for this purpose, buy Traktor or some similar software, or perhaps even Ableton, and use a dedicated MIDI controller to mix the tunes. Way more flexibility and a lot less kit/hassle.
How about you get a friend who lives in Holland, or Germany maybe to buy the equiptment, maybe even from the UK with the exchange rates as they are, then take a road trip to pick it all up?Hurtdeer wrote:Denmark is one of the few European countries which still hasn't adopted the euro (like the UK, Sweden, Hungary and a few other places)arkay wrote:isnt denmark in europe (euros?)
fun facts yay
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FSTZ wrote:The_Dza88 = win
road trip across the moon = win
new 1210's = major win!

jackmaster wrote:you went in with this mix.
Soundcloud.onelove. wrote:There needs to be a DZA app on iPhone just for id'ing old Grime tracks.
http://soundcloud.com/keepitgully http://www.mixcloud.com/slevarance/
Can you elaborate?Personally I would say the best thing for you to do is build a small, cheap laptop strictly for this purpose, buy Traktor or some similar software, or perhaps even Ableton, and use a dedicated MIDI controller to mix the tunes. Way more flexibility and a lot less kit/hassle.
I need to see if I understand this right.
If I have a pair of Technics and a mixer, I can connect my laptop with Serato and I can play any tunes off my iTunes library through the turntables? It will have the same "vinyl feeling"?
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you are correct, and yes, it feels just like vinyl. just rocked it last night and never felt like anything was any different than usual, other than i picked my tunes from a menu instead of getting papercuts on the cardboard sleeves.Azair wrote:Can you elaborate?Personally I would say the best thing for you to do is build a small, cheap laptop strictly for this purpose, buy Traktor or some similar software, or perhaps even Ableton, and use a dedicated MIDI controller to mix the tunes. Way more flexibility and a lot less kit/hassle.
I need to see if I understand this right.
If I have a pair of Technics and a mixer, I can connect my laptop with Serato and I can play any tunes off my iTunes library through the turntables? It will have the same "vinyl feeling"?

honestly tho, if you are new to the game, i would find a friend with decks, borrow some records, and try it before you spend a shitload of money on the gear. it really is quite an investment.
the flip side is that technics as well as serato hold their value. so there ya have it.
Here, have a free tune:
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You can do that even better with NIs Traktor Scratch Pro, plus you can do it just on a pc/laptop if neccesary too. Traktor Scratch Pro has by far the better audio interface of all these type of set ups, useable as a quality standalone external soundcard. I don't know if you can tell already or not, but I wouldn't even consider anything else at the time being 

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http://www.vestax.com/v/products/players/vci-300.html
said it before and will say it again this thing is the shit.......until you spill beer on it
said it before and will say it again this thing is the shit.......until you spill beer on it
That's right. The thing is, I might have a cousin living in England where I could get a cheap pair of Technics and a mixer too "cheap" (still expensive for a poor student, heh). If I after a couple of weeks/months lose the interest I can sell them in Denmark for the same, maybe just a little more. I don't know about the Serato too, maybe that will lose a bit value if it's used.honestly tho, if you are new to the game, i would find a friend with decks, borrow some records, and try it before you spend a shitload of money on the gear. it really is quite an investment.
But you are right, it is a big investment and that's why I've been thinking a lot about it without making a decision. Unfortunately I don't have any friends who actually own vinyl turntables, but I have a friend using CDJs, should I try it out at his place, I mean, is there the "big" difference besides "the feeling" and the personal preference?
Thanks! Can you please elaborate on it? What's so good about it? Why should I choose these instead of Technics? How much do they cost?http://www.vestax.com/v/products/players/vci-300.html
said it before and will say it again this thing is the shit.......until you spill beer on it
Awesome. I've heard about that program too, I'll check it out!You can do that even better with NIs Traktor Scratch Pro, plus you can do it just on a pc/laptop if neccesary too. Traktor Scratch Pro has by far the better audio interface of all these type of set ups, useable as a quality standalone external soundcard. I don't know if you can tell already or not, but I wouldn't even consider anything else at the time being
More thoughts and opinions are appreciated.
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