I feel ya on this homie, but I just wanna say something real quick for me as a DJ who has to use CDJs instead of my controller (my laptop is horrible and the CPU load messes up the master output if I try to cue).
I thought exactly the same thing as you since I don’t use the sync on my Mixtrack, but I learned quickly that beat-matching is MUCH more difficult on CDJs even if you practice for them on your controller for these reasons:
-Not sure about older CDJs, but my new residency has a pair of CDJ 750 (between 700 – 800 series if I am not mistaken – it’s dark in clubs haha). On this version, I don’t think there is a way for you to use hot cues via SD/USB (I had to start learning how to burn CDs), so all cueing has been done manually. There is no waveform, so you gotta KNOW your music and guestimate where the part you wanna bring it in is. If you are not familiar with this kind of workflow, it WILL most certainly show up in your beat matching by either taking you much longer to get two tracks in sync or not being able to in time when you want to bring it in.
-CDJs drift more than they do when using a laptop – also the bass from the speakers may rattle the CDJ, inadvertently altering your pitch fader without your touching, effectively screwing with your beat matching over a long period of time. Plus, the BMP of computers is usually more accurate than CDJs. Maybe on newer ones they have the tap function, but on the ones I’m using they don’t. So sometimes you get a BPM at 300 while the other one is flickering between 125 and 126. (Even if you get them at the same BPM, they will eventually drift – if the beat grid is good, then I could play two songs at 124, line them up, and they will never go out of sync; I have never had such luck with CDJs for more than 10 seconds).
-Beat grids, wave forms, phrase bar, etc. – you have so many tools on a DJ program that (older) DJs do not. The only way to REALLY practice as if you are using CDJs is to disable all of your beat grids, hide your phrase bar, and only look at your computer to select the next song and see its BPM.
I just want the people who haven’t used CDJs yet to know that beat matching involves (sometimes a lot) more variables than what may meet the eye. OLD CDJs are standard, not the CDJ 2000 Nexus ones lol
Sunjalo is right – the basics are the same as if you don’t use the sync button on your controller, but with any basics it still takes some practice to get it right when switching equipment. I played on digital vinyl once using Serato Itch for a Hip Hop set and all I could do was vinyl brake, back spin, and cut on the 1 since the feel was completely different from CDJs and/or a controller.
Props for you for learning the old school way haha
-Shoni
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