VinnyBlanc

eros, post: 14119, member: 536 wrote: Invest in the “How to Digital DJ Fast” series of tutorials and watch the whole series.

Nothing will get you going faster than this.

msnider44, post: 14382, member: 1417 wrote: Hello all – new guy and first post here. Thanks in advance for your help. I’ve been reading this site for the past couple of weeks, and it’s very useful.

Here’s my situation:
Looking to get into DJ’ing as a hooby at first. I love music, have a pretty extensive knowledge of it, and I have a creative side to me that I want to bring out. Digital DJ’ing is something I’ve been interested in for quite some time.

I’ve been doing a lot of research, and boy there’s a lot of shit out there to sift through. My basic question(s) come down to this:

1) For a beginner, is best to start with a 2-channel DDJ or a 4-channel DDJ
2) What’s the best software to start with (easier to learn) – VDJ, Serato, Traktor, etc, etc

Budget’s not really a concern, but I guess I don’t want to spend more than $1k on equipment since this is my entrance into the DDJ world. As I stated, I want to do this as a hobby at first to see if I like it and if I get good at it. At the same time, I don’t want to start low-end, only to feel the need to upgrade in a couple months or when I get the hang of a simple(r) DDJ. But is a 4-channel DDL really needed if admittedly I’m not going to be doing shows in front of hundreds / thousands of people in big time bars / clubs?

I’ve researched all the usual suspects, and I’m just really having trouble narrowing it down to one choice. Traktor S2, Traktor S4, Denon MC3000, Numark NS6 – any other equipment I should consider? 2-channel or 4-channel? Which equipment works best with which software – and what has the shortest learning curve? I have the laptop and sound equipment covered, but now I need the DDJ.

Thanks again for your help – any advice is appreciated and will certainly be put to good use on my end.

I was confused at first when you said 2 channel or 4 channel DDJ.
I thought this was specifically in reference to the Pioneer DDJ-S1 (2 channel) controler for Serato or the Pioneer DDJ-T1 (4 channel) controller for Traktor, but now that I got that out of the way…

If you want easiest software to learn get a serato itch controller. You plug the controller in the second you get it and all the buttons work and its very intuitive. I’m not going to say its the best or most powerful software out there, but the answer to your question among the examples provided would be the NS6 (if you wanted to go 4 channel).

4 channel is not necessary but allows you to expand later if you want to add on pair of cdjs, turntables, or in the event that your laptop crashes, you could just plug an ipod in and play it through the mixer (4 channel stand-alone mixer).

This is my thoughts and I’m sure everyone else will chime in and tell you theirs.

Best of Luck,

Also, I was torn between Traktor software and the Numark NS6 Hardware, I went with the NS6 and love serato, but they did just come out with the Numark 4trak which is the NS6 but designed/pakaged with traktor.
NS6-shop around $775 new
4trak- probably around $1100

Your goals are very ambitious. Good for you.
I found I was setting similar multi-faceted goals for myself and not truly spending enough time mixing (recording) and listening back to my sessions. I spent a bunch of time on my logo and branding myself (facebook and the like) and this week I am totally dedicated to mixing/recording/listening to myself. But I am going to finish this new Avicii Mashup lol.

You may want to consider how the recent price drop in the S2 may affect your resale towards the S4 now…

Can’t wait to get home and listen to this Dyce. I was a huge fan of the first iteration…

I’ve been flying by my data cap for the past few months in a row or i’d stream it right now.
Is there a setlist on soundcloud?

Do you have a software preference? Is cost an issue?

Or are size/soundcard the driving factors?