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Topic: What's the cheapest most effective equipment to use for Virtual Dj? - Page: 1

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Hi, I just started virtual dj last night, I mixed some trance techno tracks and got addicted, I watched many tutorials, but Its still very annoyingly confusing to me, my dad was a Dj and he quit because hes just older, and he has a friend thats one of the biggest names in Milwaukee who gave me Ableton Live for free, all I want to say is, what equipment should I start off buying if I want to do a house party in the future, what kind of headphones, speakers, and all that do I need to be able to, and plz tell me the cheapest way. Thanks, and by the way I am 17 years old and cant wait!
 
Posted Thu 06 Jan 11 @ 1:46 pm
Oh and I mean for begginners!
 
whats cheap to you?

whats your budget?

do you want cd or vinyl?

if you just want a quick start go on ebay or craigs list and buy a second hand midi controler with a built in sound card. that way it will be easier to expand and you can start learning while your waiting to buy other things.
 
I just want to use virtual dj as my solution to parties, I want the most affordable headphones preferably $20, I dont know what else equipment to hook up to on my laptop, I have ableton live, I dont know if its better than Virtual Dj, but I am just a newbie and want to know how to get started. My standards are $100 or if I have o $150 to finally dj at parties, I am only 17 years old, and as I progress through age I'd like to keep upgrading after I get the beginner stuff!
 
How much is virtual dj, I am confused, I dont know if its 39.99, 49.99 for a license. Or 9.99 a month ???? ??? plz help?, or just tell me if I should just use ableton live for my djing (mixing trance and all that), as you can see I am lost, but I would appreciate the help :)!
 
Hi babe. I think Ableton is a music writing bit ov software so you can creat tunes but not mix them per se... You need a midi controller to mix the tunes contained on your lappy. Ive got an RMX but there are loads ov other versions costing anything from £100 upto about £500. it just depends on what you want and how "Professional" you want your set up.

The most basic "kit" you will need are...
A laptop i3 or bigger...
A controller RMX etc £250ish
An Amplifier £100
Some Speakers. £200
oh and some BANGING tunes... £unlimited
Thats it really...
I'm sure you can find a cheap Amp and speakers on the net or in Friday-ad or somthing like that.

You will have to do a fair bit ov fiddling to get the controller to work optimally with ya laptop but there are plenty ov sites advising how to do this.
Also dont forget Your wise ole dad who will have some good advice and maybe the contacts to get stuff on the cheap and to get the odd gig too...

Good luck babes.
Seana
XXX
 
What also is the best skin to use for beginners to mix at maximum effect with the crappy ipod headphones lol
 
just a fairly basic one like the LE version. If its too busy you'll just get confused and anyway its not so easy using your laptop and vdj as you can only do one thing at a time, using the mouse or touchpad, its much better to save up for a controller as this will enable you to do 3 or 4 thiongs at a time. And to mix well, you really need to do several things at once.

Good luck babes.
Seana
XXX
 
Thanks I so appreciate it and will keep all that in mind, THANKS!
 
No probs babe. Good luck. If you see equipment your not too sure about then post up the details and you'll get some good feedback in no time.

Seana
XXX
 
ok thanks for the info

firstly, ableton live is for music production. which is "not" for dj'ing.

ableton and vdj are very different. yet both very powerful kit.

let me explain briefly: ableton live is used to create new sounds or songs by using and manipulating samples to create full audio tracks.

virtual dj on the other hand is used to mix tracks into complete sets for use at a disco, party, wedding etc.

to begin pretty fast, i would suggest looking into something like a hercules mk2 or mk4. the reason for this is they have built iin sound cards which allow for future expansion.

they are both older models but work just as well as any of the new ones will for a beginner. once you have a controler, which being a hercules if you choose to use one. will be very easy and user friendly to use with virtual dj.

virtual dj is various prices from free. however if you plan to use hardware home or limited edition maybe out of the question. heres a brief outline

home edition = FREE, the use of hardware including controlers is not permitted
limited edition = FREE, but is only available with a controler package. most second hand controlers come with software thats already been registered.

VirtualDJ Broadcaster costs $49, as far as i know you cannot use hardware with this version but you are allowed to broadcast over the internet to allow friendsfamily listen in like a radio station.

VirtualDJ Pro Basic costs $99, again no hardware support but you do get a full set of features as you would on the full pro version.

VirtualDJ Pro Full costs $299, and is top dog. it allows everything.

heres a link to the comparison page http://www.virtualdj.com/products/comparison.html


personaly i would just make sure to get a used controler that comes with software. registered or not. this will give you the limited edition which is a great basic start and you can get going imediatley.

as for headphones, speakers etc..

headphones i would for starters suggest the numark HF 125's they are only about $10 if that. i actually own a pair of these and although cheap they are pretty good for the price.

speakers, if you have a hifi system that has an aux phono input, you can pluc your laptop into your hifi with a 3.5mm jack to 2 phono cable.

if you just want a fast start so you can practice while youre waiting for more funds then this would be your best option.

you can have speakers and an amp for your budget too but dont expect anything major. heres a link to some i come across just yesterday

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220719369913&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

i know its ended but this guy has more. check with your local ebay for similar options.

so to finish

1x midi controler (herc mk2 or mk4 or any other control with built in sound card)
1x Numark HF-125 headphones
1x Speaker package similar to ( http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220719369913&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT )
 
you dont have to have a min i3 laptop, i can run my timecode vinyls and my herc control on my netbook and thathas only got an atom 1.66ghz processor and 2gig ram.

cheap is good when your on a budget, the way i looked at in when i first started was this " if i can mix good beats and sets on cheap kit and impress people then i can only do better when i upgrade"
 
Wow I thought the forums would be silent, but this place rocks, time to come here all the time, thanks to both of you, I appreciate the help!
 
Ok I am missing something here, hu said your dad was a DJ...............um just use his old gear?? Then all oh need to do is buy VDJ get a decent laptop and some tunes.
And never go cheap when it comes to equipment. Just get the good stuff right off the jump, in the long run it'll save you time and money. Who wants to buy the same stuff over and over again.........

Just my thoughts
Huey
 
hey man, no worries. hit us up anytime you need help. if you need links so you can view the cable types you need or anything else just holla.

oh one more thing you may find super usefull, a usb mouse.

it is a lot easier to navigate with a usb mouse than it is with the laptop touchpad. i find it a million times easier. not sure how many other would agree but hey try it.
 
Ableton Live is a good piece of software and is widely used by DJ's around the world - I have Ableton Live 8, but only use it when I am remixing (along with a Novation controller) and it does offer some features that more traditional DJ software doesn't, but to get the best from it you do need to spend a lot of time getting to grips with it - oh and it's computer spec hungry.

Virtual DJ /Traktor / Serato are more "Traditional" DJ software choices and because of this there is a greater choice of control hardware.

Narrowing it down further Virtual DJ offers the most scope for personalisation and customisation - basically it'll grow with you as your experience grows, without scaring you off when it's all a bit daunting.

With regards to computers, you could start with a netbook with 1.6Mhz Atom CPU and 1Gb RAM (easily upgradable to 2GB for around £30.00) - I Still use my Advent Netbook with my NDX800 setup and it's never missed a beat, then as your experience/funds, etc grows move up the spec list.

Don't get me wrong it's nice if you can go out an buy an i3, i5, i7 or MacBook, but take it one step at a time.

As for controllers there's a whole bunch of choices. You could go for something as simple as an ION Discover MIDI controller (retail for about £99), through Hercules DJ Steel, Numark OMNI, Numark Total Control, Hercules RMX, etc, all the way up to Pioneer CDJ2000's...but just because something is more expensive doesn't make it more suitable - I know guys with Pioneer CDJ2000's and they don't use half of what they are capable of.

Next comes sound cards...here you can box clever. You could buy a seperate sound card such as a Numark DJIO, Hercules DeeJay, etc, etc or look at a controller that has one built in, such as the Hercules RMX, Numark Mixtrack Pro, etc. or...as an alternative you could get yourself a pair of Numark PHX USB headphones that give you not only a second sound card, but also a pair of headphones - they retail for about £40.

Amps, speakers, lights, etc are a new minefield...but to start off you could just use a HIFI amp and speakers, if your just playing house parties...hell, when I first started I used to use any old amps and speakers I could lay my hands on...

So...to recap...you could start off with a Netbook, Virtual DJ, Numark DJIO and a MIDI controller, hooked up to an old HIFI amp and speakers, then as you build your experience you can look at upgrading your kit where you think you need to.

or....if your still unsure...download the "HOME" edition of Virtual DJ and get your groove on...
 
All my dads equipment was lost during a move from city to city, supposely someone stole all of it when it was stored in a garage, and thanks again you all, now I got to figure out how to add you guys as friends haha!
 
i added you. if you wanna add people just click on their name and hit the blue button
 
srry wheres the blue button, cuz I dont see it?
 
about half way down in the centre next to the send a message button. come to think of it im not sure if you "will" see it being that your un licenced... i added you anyway so i should appear in your friends list. just post on this thread to those you want to add if it makes things easier if they add you they add you.
 
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