XDJ-RX or 2 XDJ1000's and DJM 750 Please Help

Well, quite frankly, this being a DIGITAL DJ site, you will find (lots of) people here that will think you are downgrading rather than upgrading with your proposed move.

All the things you describe you want to do you can do with a software/controller combo and more. You seem to suffer from what I am starting to call Pioneer club blindness, which is blindly accepting that to be a “real” DJ you have to play on “proper” decks.

In essence CDJ players haven’t changed all that much since their invention in (off the top of my head) 1994, a good 22 years ago. They have gained better displays, a few cue buttons (CDJs were always conspicuously low on those), and of course the addition of USB based music. The latter feature leading to the XDJ-series where they took regular CDJs and upgrade the screen and took out the CD-playing option.

After CDJs, DJ software and then controllers appeared. Both having made very significant strides of improvement over the last 10+ years. First a DJ showed up to a club with a CD-case or a couple of USB-sticks, they all had to work with exactly the same tools, relatively limited media players and mixers with some FX built-in. Then they got themselves (way more affordable) controllers and DJ software for practice at home. And they found out that not only was such a setup infinitely cheaper than a pro club setup, it offer WAY more options than such a setup. The creative possibilities with a software/controller where nearly boundless and kept expanding. When going to a club they had to revert back to what was in front of them, until some started bringing their controllers to the clubs. At first it was fight, but slowly a turn was seen. Major clubs, like Ministry of Sound, now expect DJs to bring their own gear and only supply CDJ/DJM setups when the DJ has no gear or doesn’t want to use his own.

DJs now accept that in order to bring their best work, they need the best tool for them, not a pre-packaged factory sausage with little or no flexibility. Hooked up to a PC with DJ software CDJs become sort of controllers, but limited ones as they lack loads of the buttons and knobs that an all-in-one controller offers (think dual FX controls, performance pads that offer up to 4 or more functions, dual deck functionality). The mixer even limits things more as all the controls are analogue, i.e. not linked to your PC.

Personally I would not spend a single dime to mimmick the layout of a club layout only to be able to play on a setup that has less features than my own. Co-moderator Terry_42 even charges extra if they make them play on CDJs rather than allowing him to bring his controller.

Also you have to ask yourself what it is your are lacking in your current Traktor setup and then look at all the options that will give you what you miss. Chances are fair that there are better and cheaper solutions.

My prediction is that many clubs will no longer be willing to spend the huge amounts of money to replace their gear at the end of it’s life time. Increasingly we will see empty booths with one or RCA connections for controllers, perhaps a few fixed laptops stands. Investing now in stuff that I think will slowly be on it’s way out of the booth does not seem like a good option.

As usual my three cents, but I cannot in good conscience say that what you propose is the smartest option. That said, at the end of the day it is what makes YOU feel most comfortable with. And if that is club(like) gear, then by all means go for it.

The options you put forward are so far apart (mainly analogue modular gear vs all-in-one laptop based controller) that it is impossible for anyone to tell you what you should buy. Even with near-identical gear that is an almost impossible task.

The choice of gear is highly personal. What I find great in gear, you might find irrelevant or even bad and vice versa.
If you are choosing between the same kind of gear (say two all-in-one controllers in the same budget range) we can give you some advice based on the (difference) in features for example.

If you have read a few more posts on choosing a new controller here, you will have noticed we have a 5-step “plan” to help you make that choice.

It starts with your desired/intended workflow and works it way through software choice and setting a budget to shortlisting 2 or 3 controllers to getting some hands-on time with them. If you follow that “plan”, it is just not logical to end up with the choice are presenting us. Why? Because some of the features of the two platforms are just mutually exclusive with regards to workflow and such.

Personally, as is clear and no secret, I think club gear is highly overrated. Buying personal gear to be “ready” for the clubs is by deduction then an expensive and unnecessary thing to do.
If you are set on bringing memory-sticks to clubs, the only real “must” is using RekordBox software (not DJ), for which you really only need a laptop/PC with a USB connection. All it does is make it easy to find tracks on your CDJ and allows you to make waveforms and cue points and create playlists. No gear necessary.

From long (almost 40 years) experience I can tell you that using a “club setup” is no different from using your controller (bar the lesser feature set). While it pays to be comfortable with gear, there is really no magic in a CDJ/DJM setup. If you have two decks and something to mix with, you can! It takes all of 15-30 minutes if you have never seen CDJs before to get used to where the buttons, knobs and faders are. Some of the more “advanced” features in the menus might take a bit longer to find, but the ones you use most will soon become standard use for you.

A nice example of gear-independence is our scratch-tutor Steve Canueto who, in the scratching course, grabs a little Hercules (I think) controller and starts scratching on it. It shows how it doesn’t matter what gear you own or practice on, the skills are transferable to any other gear, big or small, expensive or cheap, high end or low end and big brand or no name.

Also, don’t count on finding Nexus setups in all clubs, only the bigger, well-budgeted clubs will feature such high end gear. Don’t be surprised to find yourself on CDJ-1000s or 850s with a DJM600 mixer with a few knobs missing and not-quite-as-smooth-as-they-used-to-be faders and jogs. Since Pioneer gear costs an arm and a leg, club owners with lesser budgets will make their gear last til there is no paint left on the front place (and I mean that literally 😀 ). Some of the older gear does not even allow the use of USB sticks, so there you show up with your usb-stick, now what?

Back in the day I knew only a very select group of DJs who had the actual same gear as in the clubs (again, price being the main reason). The rest would practice their thing on whatever they had at home and then just transfer their tricks to the club gear.

If you have a 4-channel controller you can hook up a lot of extra stuff as well. Some DJ software is so loaded with FX (packs to be added at your discretion) that I find it hard to believe you’d want an effect so bad that you’d buy outboard to your setup (adding to all the gear you have to carry in). If you are a big drum machine fan and it’s an integral part of who you are/want to be as a DJ, you should be looking at the new Roland 808 controller. Any self-respecting 4 deck will not only let you augment your setup with vinyl, but will even give you DVS capability to give you the best of both worlds. Adding pads through USB is then another option.

I can’t stress enough that nobody can make a choice for you, the best is give you some information to help you make your choice. But at the end of the day it’s all about what works for YOU and what YOU feel comfortable with. Because that, for you, is the RIGHT gear!