The jump to CDJ's

The thing is there are some relatively cheap CD players available, but they won’t be anything like the big Pioneer’s you’ll find in clubs. So by practicing on those, the workflow you get used to will be different when you go to a club.

I have used a set of pretty cheap American Audio CDI500s in the early days when getting my own setup. The mobile show I was working with most was using dual DENON players in a 19″ format. And although they were absolutely fine for what I wanted (actually had a couple of digital FX built-in), I still had to do a bit of a transition every time I was playing for another organisation using strictly Pioneer stuff (anything from 350/400 to 2000s).

I think Gemini has some players that are pretty much copies of the big Pioneers, but although not nearly the price of the original, they are not exactly for free either.

Pioneers are really unaffordable if you don’t use them to generate some very serious money using them. Especially the high end models.

Quite a few dance bars I know that have full equipment booth, but only a DJ on friday, saturday. The rest of the time (when they ARE open) the stuff sits idle or is in continuous play mode. Perhaps you can talk to the owner of one of those places and ask if you can come in for free to play 2 hours during week days (if your age is not a problem here :-)). That way they get a live DJ for free and you get to work with a real life setup. There will be no/small crowd and you won’t get rich and famous, but then again, how much audience do you have practicing at home in your bedroom, eh?

Greetinx,
C.

Check out the Reloop RMP-3 alpha, or even 2.5 alpha. CD/MP3/USB/MIDI controller with loops + hotcues. Pretty well built CD deck and much cheaper than Pioneer

I was in a very similar position (although slightly older). What one of my friends did which I wish I had the balls to do, was bought 2nd hand pioneer 1000 MK3’s, practiced on them for 6 months, got comfortable on them, and then sold them on for the price he bought them for (well £20 less). So in practice he rented a pair of top of the (previous) range pioneers which sell for near £1000 for 6 months for £20. If you have the available funds, and buy in good condition then you are laughing.

As long as a newer model isn’t released in the 6 months you have them, they should barely depreciate in price at all

It really depends on where you see your mixing style going. There is no need for Pioneer CDJ 850/900/2000 or Denon SC2900/3900/3700 if you aren’t going to need a nice platter. Remember, there is no increase in functionality in going from a nice controller (i.e. S2) to CDJs unless they are nice CDJs. I always recommend that younger djs who are looking to get more “pro” setups look into turntables and a mixer instead of CDJs and a mixer. You can get a good pair of Technics SL-1200’s for around $600 USD in most places in the US/Canada, and you’ll be able to buy real vinyl and play it when you are just chilling. You also learn to use turntables and can work on scratching if you want. Finally, Rane SL1’s go for 150-200 USD used (very cheap), and Traktor scratch setups aren’t much more expensive.

TL:DR; If you aren’t going to drop the big bucks on CDJs that do more than controllers, get turntables. You will strengthen your skills in beatmatching/scratching/vinyl mixing more on vinyl than with CDJs, and you will probably enjoy it more. A low-end mixer plus tts plus a sound card can be less than $1000 if you do it right, and a lot of places on Craigslist list beginner DVS setups for super cheap.

Sorry, I was trying to communicate this; $1000 will get you good turntables and a good mixer. OR, $1000 will get you crappy CDJs and an alright mixer. You will get more out of good turntables than from mediocre CDJ units. Also, good turntables sell well, whereas CDJs constantly depreciate in value.

Also, you don’t have to be 18. No one is going to keep you from entering if you are booked to play the night. However, you will probably have difficulty being taken seriously.

nick greek, post: 41086, member: 2957 wrote: the xdj r1 is the way to go

In my opinion there is no THE way to go. DJ-ing is a highly personalized sport. And what is important to one person might not be important to another or even be a dealbreaker.

I would not want my iPhone/iPad to hang off the back of my controller like it does on the XDJ R1. Way to fragile. I’d get knocked off or worse broken off in no time.

Greetinx,
C.

The way Pioneer sees it:
XDJ R1 – The new all in one for the Home DJ.
So the unit is clearly aimed at the bedroom or home use DJ unlike CDJs.