x

Traditional Pioneer Setup or Controller – Choice

Learn To DJ With Digital DJ Tips › Forums › Digital DJ Gear › Traditional Pioneer Setup or Controller – Choice

Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • January 2, 2015 at 3:14 am #2114701
    Yo Pan
    Participant

    Hi NM,
    I’m in a similar boat. Love to play out but have decided to push the boundaries and to go and get on the broader circuit. I recently 1 year ago converted from vinyl to digital and have loved serato using a ddj sx. It is cheating and it is fabulous. To the detriment of using vinyl now. I still cannot get enough of the vinyl having a nose for lovely bargains but I’m in a place where i feel i should probably make the investment and get club certified gear to practicve on e.g. cdj 200 nexus and a djm 900. although at the moment I’m two thirds of the way thier with a setup that is 2 times cdj 2000 nexus and a djm 350 mixer (or a eckler nuo 2 with a kaosspad 3).

    I’m not sure that the world of controllerism is as accepted amoungst the circuit level dj’s but its getting better. My exposure to the DDJ SX was pheonominal and has me wishing that the complexity of the nexus set-up could be easier with serato but untiil i get a mixer that incorporates traktor or serato i’m using rekordbox and the displays through the djm 350 which is okay but vastly inferior to the ddjsx.

    I have to say these are all problems I like to have but I know where you are coming from. The things that give me hope are –
    1 dj’s are usually fatish geaky looking buggers who are more concerned about the music and the equiptment
    2 there is such a wide variety of amazing music and venues that the world is our oyster
    3 if none of it happens I have the most rad home set-up and music library of anyone I know!

    It would be good to hear from you especially if you want a first hand vinyl to ddj sx users perspective.

    Yo Pan

    January 2, 2015 at 5:40 am #2114711
    Dean DJ
    Participant

    Hi Yo Pan,

    Firstly i didn’t realise exactly how long the above post was until i posted it but then i had no option to edit it to shorten it.. Thanks for the reply..

    Anyway. having had a couple days to think I’m now contemplating getting the reloop terminal mix 8 as a controller as the $ I’d save between that and the ddj-sx or sx2 would pay between quarter to half that of my desired home mixer. My current thought is I acquire a controller to get more familiar with playing out (at least more friends/family/my partys) and then look to use that knowledge to go alongside my desire to dj in a club. My aim is still to have the pioneer cdj/mixer type setup at home. Even though one who knows what they’re doing would get used to using this gear in a club if they didn’t have it at home I’m sure one would be more comfortable on it if this were also their home setup. As you said if it doesn’t work out there’s many perks for one who enjoys playing and making mixes at home.

    What I am still interested in from a vinyl users perspective is how does the ddj-sx match up on size as my concern is I’d find even that controller small if I moved to it (I’m 6’3″ with large hands – but normal weight BTW ;))…

    Did you ever feel that the sx was too small to play on comfortably?
    Anything else you’d like to mention from your vinyl to ddj-sx move?

    Regards.

    January 2, 2015 at 2:36 pm #2114891
    Gary Adams
    Participant

    Have you looked at Denon MC6000MK2 SERATO DJ Controller yet? I own a Pioneer DDJ-SX. I love it. But I did play with the Denon. It’s smaller in size. But it is packed with great features. And the size makes it way easy to throw in the soft case with your laptop and plug in and go. Just a thought. I’d still own my Pioneer even if I bought a Denon. I love them both. The Denon’s price is not bad either.check it out if you haven’t yet. Rock On!

    Gary from Iowa,
    30 yr. Club Dj Veteran…lol

    January 2, 2015 at 7:24 pm #2114931
    Christopher Hogan
    Participant

    just wondering – why not get a DJM900 and use it with control
    vinyl on the technics? That way you’d get used to club mixers and keep the technics feel. Buy a flight case for it and put the lid on to keep it all safe from kids.

    January 3, 2015 at 1:09 am #2114981
    Dean DJ
    Participant

    Have you looked at Denon MC6000MK2 SERATO DJ Controller yet?

    Hi Gary, i have thought about the Denon MC6000MK2, seems like a good unit. What has me on the Reloop TM8 at present is that I can save $300 AUD on the Reloop vs Denon at present. The Reloop is a larger unit (think i’d prefer that) and the reloop has 16x velocity-sensitive RGB drum pad vs the Denons 4 + 4 Hot Cue/Sampler buttons. Getting into some hot cues, samples etc is of interest in the near future and without using either the Reloop seems better setout for this.

    just wondering – why not get a DJM900 and use it with control
    vinyl on the technics? That way you’d get used to club mixers and keep the technics feel. Buy a flight case for it and put the lid on to keep it all safe from kids.

    Hi Christopher,
    Flight case might be a decent idea.. Thanks for that i’ll keep it in mind.

    I have considered simply upgrading the mixer and if i was only interested in my home setup then that’s the most straight forward solution.. but the problem is i have this desire to get playing with more different people to get some feedback from them and myself about me playing live and if i don’t do it i’ll never know what that would have been like.

    The technics aren’t simple to transport though it’s been done and can happen again.. but i suppose my major issue is if i do transport the technics and mixer that i could have issues with needles jumping on the control vinyl and that’s possibly not something i’ll know until i get there.. The controller would be mainly to prevent this and if i enjoy it i’ve got something that is easy to transport/setup.

    January 3, 2015 at 5:32 am #2115031
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Wow, quite a bit of text to read up on.

    I personally would think that it’s time for the big question or better yet, decision as to what kind of DJ you want to be.

    We are pretty outspoken here about getting analogue setups for use at home. If the only reason you want that is to be able to practice playing on club gear, it’s a waste of money, really. Also, most clubs WILL now allow you to bring your own gear (i.e. controller/laptop), some are even encouraging it and there has already been mention of venues that just don’t supply gear anymore, just someone to help you hook up to the PA.

    Clearly you still have/like vinyl, but that can be integrated into a controller setup easily these days. All you need to do is either use a supported sound card/mixer or a controller that is DVS ready.

    The reason I say it’s time to pick and choose and stick with your choice is not in the consequences for the gear (although there are consequences), it’s in the time that goes into preparing and managing your collection. You don’t want to go and do everything three times. Also developing a certain level of expertise with the software and gear you use helps as does establishing a workflow that works best for you.

    I am an old vinyl jock too and I still like playing vinyl, about once every 1 or 2 years! I don’t scratch and anything I like to do I can do on a controller and better than I could on vinyl. The cost aspect of buying actual tracks on vinyl will go away if you go DVS, but you still need regular replacements for your control vinyls, you still need the very regular needle replacements and all the drawbacks vinyl have/had, like skipping needles, breaking needles, etc will stay. Not to mention the weight (two SL-1200s in flightcases weigh a ton) and the space they take up.

    If you peruse this forum, you’ll quickly find that I am the resident Denon fan here. And as a mobile DJ, I had some pretty strong feelings about the features I wanted my controller to have. The MC6000 ticked all the boxes for me at the time. I sold my first one while waiting for the mk2 to arrive. As it wasn’t supported by my favorite software (Mixvibes Cross) at the time, I waited a bit longer and, due to circumstances, ended up with a Pioneer DDJ-SX. A nice controller and I am giving it an honest chance before deciding to go and get a mk2 MC6000 after all.

    I too am 6’3 or so and have big(gish) hands (no comment on the weight) and the MC6000 is a bit crowded although it improved substantially with the new lay-out on the mk2. But it has so many things I find important (like dual mic channels with ducking/reverb/tone control on each, fully seperate from the main 4 channels, standalone mixer capability, incredible build quality, great portable -19″- form factor, etx) that I got used to it being tighter than full-size setups and now it no longer is an issue.

    If you like BIG controllers, the Pioneer DDJ-SZ might be worth a look. It’s physical size is pretty much the same as two CDJ2000s with a DJM900 in the middle. Which would also tick your box of getting a feel for the club gear.

    Hope that helps a bit.

    January 3, 2015 at 11:35 pm #2115421
    Gary Adams
    Participant

    I will say Chuck has hit a lot of it on the head. Kudos sir. Almost like your damned if you do this or that and damned if you don’t I will agree LOL! Pick what you work with well with and stick to it. The set up of the music in your software is time consuming. I almost pulled my hair out looking for a solution for all my needs.The pioneer DDJ SX solved a lot of my problems (although I do want the Serato Flip option so i’m trading in for an SX2 in the that case).The Denon is quite crowded and would be annoying for bigger hands I do agree. But I like features and it supports Serato DJ as well. If you like the ReLoop then by all means go for it. I don’t know what software you plan on using. But I would try to at least make sure that software fully supports the setup. I wish for you less headaches than I had converting to digital… LOL! Good luck!

    Gary

    January 3, 2015 at 11:39 pm #2115431
    Dean DJ
    Participant

    Hi Chuck,

    Thanks for your reply. Quite helpful.

    When you say

    big question or better yet, decision as to what kind of DJ you want to be.

    The way i understand that you are asking partly what environment do i want to play in Club/mobile/wedding etc. My main aim would to be a club dj as the sound I have developed is more a club style (mainly deep/tech house, house, techno) and I see a club as having more possibility to play the music i enjoy more often. Are you suggesting to have club dj as my aim and not consider mobile djing? Because i considered mobile as possibly a useful step toward the club.

    … analogue setups for use at home. If the only reason you want that is to be able to practice playing on club gear

    That’s definately my major reasoning. I would hardly by a vinyl anymore, at least not in dance/electronic genre.

    the Pioneer DDJ-SZ might be worth a look.

    Thanks for the idea.

    The reason I say it’s time to pick and choose and stick with your choice is not in the consequences for the gear (although there are consequences), it’s in the time that goes into preparing and managing your collection. You don’t want to go and do everything three times. Also developing a certain level of expertise with the software and gear you use helps as does establishing a workflow that works best for you.

    Could you please elaborate on this for me? Why would I need to prepare and manage my collection differently?

    Kind Regards.

    January 4, 2015 at 5:45 am #2115501
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    Kind of DJ

    Yeah, both club vs mobile and genre are important, but also things like “do you scratch”, do you produce your own tracks, do you do live mashups and edits. All those questions (or their answers) weigh in when it comes to deciding what gear (hard- and software) to get and how to use it.

    I am a mobile DJ at heart, although I have done long term residencies in the past and play at clubs/venues occassionally too. Both are not mutually exclusive, but they are different enough these days to think that both need a lot of effort to go into mastering that particular style of DJ-ing. To me, but like most things I say that’s a highly personal opinion, mobile DJ-ing is not a stepping stone to club work, or the other way around for that matter. It’s like rally driving is not a stepping stone to Indy car racing. They are just two different ways of racing cars. Different cars, different skills, different audience.

    With my setup I CAN do both club and mobile work if I so choose, so that need not be a limiting factor.

    Collection preparation and management.

    In the digital era, there is a tad more to collection management than there was in the good ole vinyl days. Back then it was making sure your vinyls had plastic covers, a sticker with the BPM and were sorted in an order that worked for you :-).

    These days you can prepare all kinds of stuff, like cue points, loops and also make sure your waveforms are set correctly. And while things like (mini) playlists, MP3 tags and such are easily transferred, the other things are usually platform-dependant/proprietory. Let’s say you have all your tracks organised in iTunes (like many DJs), most DJ software as well as Pioneer RekordBox will let you access and/or import that information.

    Cue points, loops and waveforms (to stick with the examples) don’t transfer like that and can’t be set in iTunes.
    So, let’s say you use Serato, you manage your stuff in iTunes, then go into Serato and do the entire cue/loop point, waveform stuff. Now you want to go out and play in a club, you have to prepare a USB-stick in RekordBox. You import the playlists you want from iTunes easy enough, but then you have to go and set all those points and correct all those waveforms all over.

    And it get’s “worse” (just imho). Let’s say you are out playing on club gear with your USB stick (and not all Pioneer gear is RekordBox ready btw!, just the more recent models). You find a nice place to drop a loop or set a cue point. If it’s RekordBox ready gear, the cue points will be registered and ready for next time, if it’s not RB enabled gear it will be lost any way. But when you come back, there is no way to sync your changes back into your DJ software.

    It’s one of the reasons I have chosen Mixvibes Cross as DJ software which, unlike Serato, doesn’t demand specific hardware. So I can use it with my controller, but I can also stroll up to a club, hook up the CDJs with USB to my laptop and use those as controllers. Any changes I make to my tracks are there next time I am playing on my controller again. You can do the same thing with Serato, but you will need either a Serato-certified mixer (Pioneer has a specific version of the DJM-900) or a Serato certified soundcard.

    Long story short, I have one place where I have, manage and prepare my tracks. Being a mobile DJ, I use/bring my own gear 95% of the time. In the remaining cases there will be gear available I can hook up to my laptop and use with my DJ software. I’ll occassionally prepare a memory stick and usually have one on me (never know when you end up behind the tables after all 🙂 ).

    More and more venues (including big ones) allow you to bring your own gear nowadays too and we have reached the pivoting point, imho, where it’s gone from bringing your controller makes you an amateur to bringing your controller is considered normal/pro behavior.

    Long answer (sorry LOL), hope it helps some though.

    January 6, 2015 at 9:11 am #2116841
    Dean DJ
    Participant

    blockquote>Long answer (sorry LOL), hope it helps some though.

    Thanks a lot Chuck. All very good information that i’d hadn’t considered much until now and it’s very likely much more important that what particular controller i buy or equipment i have at home.

    Best Wishes,
    Dean

  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • The forum ‘Digital DJ Gear’ is closed to new topics and replies.