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Making a leap from DJ Controller to CDJ players

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  • August 9, 2014 at 9:36 pm #2048286
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Hi. I am not gonna rehash many of the previous discussions we have had on this forum on this topic over the years.

    But 😀 … It’s not a leap and definitely not a leap forward. Although there is nothing wrong with using club gear if that is what you have to work with. Personally I always have a prepared memory stick with me (with an extract from my DJ software exported to Rekord Box), just in case I get caught somewhere without my controller. If a player supports usb sticks (Pioneer gear anyway), it most likely supports HID too, in which case I prefer hooking up the players with USB to my laptop and use them as midi controllers. Still, you miss out on many of the features you are used to with your controller. Most clubs are moving towards accepting people bringing in their own controllers and it’s no longer consider the mark of the amateur. More and more pro DJs are finding that regular club setups lack a lot of the wanted functionality. So they either bring their all-in-one controllers or add all kinds of modular controllers, just to mimick what a controller like the S2 does all-in-one.

    The price tag is ridiculous and unless you plan on using this gear on the road (which leaves out clubs cause they usually have this, so only if you are a mobile DJ bringing your own personal gear) it’s just not a valid investment imho. Unless you play at least twice a week and you prefer bringing your own (BIG!) gear to your mobile gigs rather than a controller setup, this is not gonna pay for itself.

    Basically THE club setup these days is 2x CDJ-2000 Nexus with a DJM-900 Nexus mixer. Average price between 5,500 and 6,000 USD or so I am guessing.

    Buying second-hand is not a good plan as the older models often don’t have support for USB sticks AND RekordBox (there have been models that you could put a USB stick in, but didn’t “do” RekordBox, I believe), so they would not be very relevant for what you might find in clubs.

    And buying budget, only Pioneer uses RekordBox, so if you buy another brand, you can’t practice with your RekordBox prepared USB-sticks as they won’t be supported by your players.

    It’s perfectly feasible to have a controller setup at home. You manage your tracks and playlists in iTunes and use the new RB integration with iTunes to sync stuff for a gig to a USB stick. When you play out you just take the stick. But to invest large sums of money to have club gear at home (last generation imho, I don’t think there is going to be anything after the CDJ-2000, maybe a mkII at some point) is not the smart move.

    If you want to know what it is like to play on club gear, go to your local rental company and rent a set of 2000s with a 900 mixer for a few days during the week.

    Just my two cents.

    August 11, 2014 at 10:23 am #2048328
    Terry_42
    Keymaster

    I totally agree with Chuck.

    Unless you shelf out 6000 bucks for a full Nexus setup, you will take a huge step backwards.
    In the last 4 years (or so) I have had ZERO issues with bringing my controller to clubs and festivals and have played venues from a few hundred people to thousands. The fun thing even is that the bigger the club and the more professional the festival, the less issues you have.
    Take for example one of the biggest and best clubs in the world, Ministry of Sound. They call you up beforehand and ask you what gear you bring and what they can do for you. You arrive there, a tech will take your controller(s) and set everything up with an inbetween mixer so you can transition easily from the previous DJ etc.
    Same thing at stuff like Luna Festival in Italy etc.

    Getting CDJs in todays world is like getting a Windows 95 PC when everyone else is already lightyears ahead.

    Of course then some internet kids say: But Tiesto is using CDJs!
    Right, he gets HUGE LOADS of money to use them, he does use them as midi controllers as they are connected to his laptop (which now also is sponsored and he gets even more loads of money to use that laptop…) and so on and so on…
    And yes all of those premium CDJ setups are Nexus setups, so even if you get the top of the line controller and are a Pioneer fan, even a DDJ-SZ will be considerably cheaper (and pratically does more than a Nexus setup).

    August 12, 2014 at 7:57 pm #2048456
    DJ 2-Easy
    Participant

    And does he (tiesto) actually “use them”? 😉

    August 12, 2014 at 10:14 pm #2048460
    David Freeman
    Participant

    I’ve done it all, Vinyl, CD’s, and digital. And I can tell you that Digital is the way to go. My personal favorite and what I use now is Timecode CD’s on Denon 3500’s. I get everything, Vinyl feel, the versatility of software, and the Serato Timecode box has a thru so I can play CD’s if I need to. You can’t put a price on searching for a song and then getting right back to the crowd instantly, instead of going thru a crate to search for the next tune.

    August 13, 2014 at 7:48 am #2048479
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Yeah saves you from worrying about what t-shirt has the best decal on the back!

    August 23, 2014 at 12:55 am #2050172
    magicenver@gmail.com
    Participant

    Jerry_42 and DJ Vintage are right, if you want to upgrade, you should buy flagship CDJs and mixers, if you don’t, you’ll step backwards in term of equipments.
    I’ve given my years to technically examine DJ devices, and I have to say that if you want flagship CDJ & DJM quality for small budget (compared to the real flagship CDJ & DJM prices), you should absolutely buy yourself a DDJ-SZ. It has got all you need from CDJs and mixers, 4 sound color effects, 4 oscilattor effects, professional 4 channel mixer, 2 24bit sound cards, CDJ size conductive technology jogwheels with tension adjust, professional outputs, professional crossfader, colored pads etc. As you’ll understand, it has more than everything a DJ could want from a DJ system. It could be expensive compared to other controllers (got very beautiful 2000$ price tag) but it absolutely worth it (CDJ jogwheels on a controller? You must be kidding! 😀 ). For the downside: it’s very very huge, 10,6kg (appx. weights same with 2 DDJ-SX2s), 1 meter wide. It’s up to you in the end, of course but I definitely recommend you to buy this if you want to upgrade your equipment in style!

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