digital advice

Hi John and welcome to the DDJT family.

My advice is that before deciding on what hardware to buy I would first look at what software option you are thinking of going with. Almost all controllers now come packaged with a manufacturer addition of software that is specifically matched to that controller…so essentially you can just plug your controller into your laptop, open the software up and then whatever knobs and buttons you push on the controller are reflected on your screen. Manufacturer editions of software usually have limited features but allow you to upgrade to the full version for an upgrade fee.

Now it is true that you don’t have to stick to that software as most controllers allow you map your controller to run with other software and download overlays but this can get a bit technical and time consuming especially if you’re just starting out.

In terms of the two most popular DJ software options you’re looking at Traktor and Serato, although there are others. Free trial versions of these are available for you to download and try. I would download these and start to explore them to see which one seems more intuitive to you and you would be more comfortable using. When I was at your stage this is what I did and I decided that Traktor was the software for me and only after that I went looking for a controller that would have good integration with this software.

Also you mentioned that you were in the process of organising your music library with iTunes. I find that Traktor integrates very well with your stored iTunes library and navigation/loading is very straight forward. Please note that this is just my humble opinion and I can only really comment from my experience as a Traktor user who uses a dedicated Traktor controller. There are other DJ’s here who use and like different software for different reasons and their opinions are just as valid. In the end it just comes down to personal preference.

As things stand at present if I was to recommend an option for you I would say get the Kontrol S2 Traktor controller from Native Instruments. Both the software and controller are made by the same company so the integration is excellent, it comes with the full version of the software so you don’t need to upgrade it, no overlays or mapping is required so its simple plug and play and lastly its on sale at the moment so its a great deal !!

My final bit of advice is that if you’re new digital DJing, the “How to Digital DJ fast” series of tutorials from this site are excellent and will guide you through a lot of what you need to know when starting out. I highly recommend them to all beginners.

Once again welcome to the DDJT family and good luck with it !