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New DJ asking investment advice

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  • October 7, 2015 at 8:48 am #2268081
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Hoi Gijs-Piet,

    I moved your post from introduction (as it isn’t a real introduction post) to the DJ Gear forum as that is where it belongs. Please take some time to familiarize yourself with the individual forums and what posts they are for.

    Having said that, welcome to the forums!

    October 7, 2015 at 8:58 am #2268101
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Hi Gijs-Piet. While I think anybody should have his/her own preferences, I generally hope they are based on people’s own experiences, not hearsay, brand reputation and such. While in an of itself there is nothing wrong with Pioneer, wanting Pioneer just because it’s Pioneer is, imho, a really bad place to start. It excludes you from selecting gear that might be better suited for your style of DJ-ing.

    In your particular case I would like to say two things:
    1) Don’t buy a new controller beyond your current skills. Use the money to buy the How To Digital DJ Fast course, learn what are the proper ways and how to practice them. Then practice them on your current controller until you are fluent and you start feeling you are missing certain features to advance your (technical skills). By then you will have a much clearer picture of what kind of DJ you want to be and what your workflow looks like. Which bring me to my second point.
    2) Picking a controller is only step 4 in the process I usually advise beginning DJs.
    a) determining your (desired/expected) workflow.
    b) determine what software supports that workflow best (the Software Buyer Guide and posts on these forums can help)
    c) set a budget
    d) select 2, max 3 controllers that fit your software and budget. Get some hands-on with them and make your final decision.

    In general, don’t be distracted by other DJs opinion of specific gear, brand names, shiny buttons or exotic features. Pick what works for YOU in this stage of your development. By the time you outgrow your initial gear, you will know so much more that you can go through the exercise once more with a far more detailed result, leading to a far better choice.

    Final word. The real skill of DJ-ing (music selection) can only be learnt by playing out. So next to practicing technical skills at home, try to go out as much as you can playing b’day parties, garden parties, buurthuizen, wherever you can. Not having to worry about too many buttons or not mastering all your controller has to offer will have you focussing on the music and not on the technical side of DJ-ing.

    Good luck.

    October 7, 2015 at 12:18 pm #2268331
    DJ GP
    Participant

    @ DJ Vintage

    first of all thanks for your advice!
    But my preference for Pioneer is based on my history with other DJ controllers.

    1.) I began with a Hercules Air controller. It didn’t work nice and most important: every time i played longer than 20 minutes it turned off instantly. The seller didn’t know what to do either so i decided to change it for an other one.
    2.) At this point I tried a JB Systems Kontrol 2. The feel was much better but also this one turned off randomly. After 3 times changing the controller for a new one i was tired and decided to try an other controller one more time.

    3.) That’s how I came at my current controller. Right now I have a Pioneer DDJ SB contoller and I fell in love with it right away, every button and every fader on the right spot, but still I was afraid it would be as “bad” as the others. But after a month of playing I still hadn’t any issues with the controller so love became serious.(After almost a year had only 2 times a little issue!)

    For me Pioneer is a brand that delivers quality and consistency and that’s what mattered to me. I do understand I look like a brand-addict this way but like i said: history with other brands were frustrating.

    So in short that was why I only mentioned I wanted a pioneer, to avoid making a long story 😉

    But to get back your advice: again thank you. I will continue growing on this controller and try to be more assertive in getting parties to play at and caring less about what could go wrong and why not every transition is as smooth as i could be. I think i will start at the local pubs and at the student association, that will do right?

    And an other, off topic question ; are you from Holland (or Belgium) as well? Because of the words “hoi” and “buurthuizen”

    October 7, 2015 at 1:05 pm #2268401
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Frankly, the two brands you mentioned would never have made our short-list. For starters we usually recommend one of the following (in no particular order):
    DDJ-SB
    Mixtrack Pro 2 or 3 (even 1)
    MC2000
    Beatmix 2

    And I dare say that they are about equally good in all areas. Most comes down to personal preference based on workflow and other, less rational, motives.

    Great plan doing the student parties and local pubs.

    Yep, Holland here.

    October 8, 2015 at 10:20 pm #2269361
    DJT
    Participant

    It depends on you! If you feel like you mastered the SB, I see no problem in buying a new one! Although it is quite a big jump in terms of cost, it could make your money back in the future! You also need to be aware of what each one has to offer. In my personal opinion, I’d say go either one! Sure it may be confusing and complex at first, but it’s better to get it now then later as it saves money in the long run. You won’t have to keep “upgrading.”

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