Back into DJing… recommendations on gear…

Hi Mikael,

Welcome back from the void! LOL

Hope you are ready to spend a bit of money on your rekindled hobby … needles and DVS vinyls (timecode) can add up (not unusual to run up to 100+ dollar a month). Just warning you.

On to the subject at hand.

You will want a so-called DVS system, which lets you play both regular vinyls but also use DVS vinyls to manipulate your tracks in the DJ software. If you play regular vinyls, the controller will behave as a regular mixer and most likely won’t have FX and such to add (might have a hardware filter if you are lucky). By the same token, if you play DVS vinyls, you won’t have any buttons that allow you to use hot cues and such. There are little boxes you can buy that sit in the corner of your SLs that will offer you some extra buttons for that purpose, but it’s an extra two pieces of gear and extra investment.

Next the M-Audio Connectiv. Unless I am mistaken (in which case somebody will jump on me shortly 🙂 ), neither Serato nor recent Traktor versions support that soundcard for DVS purposes.

You mention wanting to keep things as simple as possible. This would, imho, entail getting a DVS-ready controller (S4 or S8 for Traktor and one of several for Serato, from Denon MC6000 to Pioneer DDJ-SX 2).

On the software end you might want to check out Mixvibes Cross which does NOT need you to have a certified sound card, so you could use your Connectiv. It’s also pretty decently priced at 129 USD, which also includes video and HID support for CDJs. All you need then is a 4-channel controller with line inputs (assuming you still want to use the player parts of the controller too).

Traktor and mixvibes covered, for Serato You’re looking for something like Numark N4 or Denon MC6000mk2. These are DVS enabled controllers, that can work as the mixer part of your setup, and have a built in audio interface, so You don’t need a separate sound card, such as Rane SL 4.

A new Denon costs around 550-600 €/$, Serato DJ (if not included) $130, and the DVS upgrade $100. N4 is probably best when found second hand, and should cost no more than 300 bucks…

Yep, you’d need the DVS upgrade for Traktor (last time I checked, which -admittedly- is some time ago). Nothing else as far as I can tell. And yes, a set of control vinyls (or multiple rather, you’ll go through them at a reasonable rate). Perhaps something like the Novation Dicer (there are more, but the brand names elude me right now). Not sure what the current status is on Traktor support on those right now, seeing how NI is moving away from supporting non-NI gear at an alarming rate.

A piece of unsolicited advice here. When it comes to buying tracks, don’t save on quality, most sites will allow you to buy lossless (WAV, AIFF or FLAC) as well as MP3. You will find out that tracks might need some work before they are ready for use. It’s much better to work on tracks in lossless before doing the final conversion yourself. This has the advantage of owning the high(est) quality source file.

This goes hand in hand with the advice to NOT fall prey to one of the biggest pitfalls of digital DJ-ing: the idea that there is limitless music out there (which is true) and that you need to own as much of it as your wallet will allow (which is decidedly untrue!). You are an old vinyl hand. You are used to listening carefully to tracks, multiple times, before deciding what tracks to spend your hard earned cash on. Stay with that M.O. I would say. Be just as critical of tracks when it comes to allowing them into your digital collection as you would if you were spending vinyl money. Set a collection size that you feel comfortable with. Once you’ve reached that level, go 1-in/1-out when you buy new tracks. This will ensure you will know your collection inside out, have enough time to prep all tracks for maximum effectiveness and prevent you from having one of those bloated 30.000+ track collections that has become unmanageable (voice of personal experience here). It will also mean that you only keep the absolute best tracks in your collection so it keeps improving over time.

Oh, and Denon is releasing a 2-channel DVS Audio Interface for Serato very soon (called Denon DS-1), it should cost around $300, and THAT Covers the cost for Serato DJ+DVS plugin as well. With 2 TT’s (or media players), a mixer and laptop its all you need.