CDJ's and Controllers

Chuck van Eekelen, post: 38267, member: 2756 wrote: If I were a venue owner, I would like some kind of control over quality.

I agree with you in all you said except the above.

What make “pro grade gears” , brand, style, size? I used to do clubs with a DN MC6000 with two SC2000 and Traktor,
when i went back to do mobile (after more than 10 years) I switch to Serato and a NS6 because of the beatgrid ( I do a lot of latin weddings here, you know salsa, merengue and all those).

A few month back I tried a few controller including the DDJ Sx and decide for the TMX4. So far no problems at all but know a few DJ’s that bought the Pio and all they have are headaches with it.

The guy that used to spin in the lounge area of the club have a mixtrak pro.

So, What is a pro grade for you and how you will control quality ?

Well sometimes here in Austria we are behind the moon and sometimes very progressive… all depends.
But we also have many clubs sporting CDJ 900s and this range of models, but those have waveforms too just no colour.
And not very pretty:

Many venue owners I talked to actually found it quite a relief when not having to deal with gear anymore (and of course saving 5.000 to 10.000 bucks is also nice for them when not setting up CDJs).

Also I strongly belief (and slowly see this happening) that venue owners should focus on DJ quality and not the gear the DJ uses. If the sound quality he delivers is OK you can hear in a 10min audition any day, you do not need brand control for this.
On the other hand you can have a full setup of CDJ 2k Nexus and mixer and show up with a USB stick with 96kbit mp3s and have terrible sound.

But like I said I have no gripes using CDJs, I actually used them longer than the time I am now digital and will use them if the venue owner feels better for it 😉

However I also strongly belief that the innovation in CDJs is slow and lacking, while we have excellent shiny controllers that can do so much more. Of course I can add several things to my CDJ setup to make up for it, like a maschine to mix in or a launchpad then midi sync the stuff etc. But it is costly and for zero gain and a much harder workflow.

This is mainly why I sold my old CDJs 2 years ago and went fully digital.

But I also agree that many DJs with CDJ setups perform excellent and I love their sound and music selection. In the end it is just a bunch of tools the added magic comes from the DJ and you have to be comfortable with what you use. May it be an iPod or a Nexus setup, if you can create magic with it, I do not care. Sadly that is not (yet) the way venue and bar owners see it I guess.

Yes on the mixing preference as far as I am concerned. Another thing that comes into play is money.

Leaving the Smithson Martin Kontrol Surface 1974 out of the equation, the most expensive controller out there is the Numark NS7 II at just over 1400 euro. Considering that almost everyone has a suitable laptop these days and not many people take buying a new one into account, that means that you can be totally set for anywhere from 200-1500 euro (you need a good flightcase) to start digital DJ-ing.

On the other hand, if you want a CDJ2000/DJM900 Nexus set, you will have to bring a whopping 4.900 euro to the table. That is 3 1/2 times as much as the most expensive controller setup for only a 2-deck setup! Add the price of 2 more CDJ2000s if you want 4-deck and you can easily add another 3.450 euro to the stack and you are looking at almost 8.5k euro. That would buy you a small new car!

So, unless you are making very serious money using that kind of equipment or are a complete gear freak with a very big pay check, why shell out that kind of money when you feel you can do the same (or perhaps even more) with a controller, right.

Greetinx,
C.