MP3 Decks

[dave123456]

Evening,

I’ve a pair of vestax decks and a pioneer djm 600 mixer.

Would like to add some MP3 decks to my set up, I’ve a fairly large vinyl collection and don’t want to lose the record players.

What would people recommend? Ideally not spending a fortune, say £1k ish.

TIA

[dudleybloke]

I would try out the different software before buying a controller.
Serato, Traktor and Rekordbox are the main ones.
Can download a demo and see which one you get along with.

[dave123456]

dudleybloke said:

I would try out the different software before buying a controller.
Serato, Traktor and Rekordbox are the main ones.
Can download a demo and see which one you get along with.

Thanks.

Assuming I’m totally ignorant, how does the basic concept work?

[Boom78]

Maybe ditch the DJM and get a 2nd hand XDJ RX2. They’re v good, I link both my technics 1210s into it via line/phono.

[dave123456]

It had occurred to me that the DJM is both old tech and now getting on for 30 years old. They are solid units but the XDJ series look like a viable option.

When you think the space a couple of decks take up and the records etc as well it does make you realise that being stubborn and nostalgic is questionable!

[Zero Fuchs]

dave123456 said:

dudleybloke said:

I would try out the different software before buying a controller.
Serato, Traktor and Rekordbox are the main ones.
Can download a demo and see which one you get along with.

Thanks.

Assuming I’m totally ignorant, how does the basic concept work?

I've not used Traktor or Rekordbox but suspect the basics are similar to Serato. It's pretty good to be fair.

I'm an ex vinyl (bedroom) DJ and thought I'd dabble in MP3 mixing. I bought a Numark DJ2GO to dip my toe in.

If you can mix ok with vinyl, you'll find it a cinch as all the info is laid out in front of you, like BPM and the waveform. Personally I found it took all the basic skills out of the equation, leaving you to focus on a greater breadth of creativity. But I appreciate you've done some digital DJing so probably know more than me about loops, cue points, effects etc etc.

I like techno, drum and bass, house, hip hop and all sorts. Sorting out folders and your music library is brilliant, as is setting cue points and other stuff. I can scratch ok but one thing I've always struggled with is juggling hip hop. I found it really straightforward on Serato. Plus all that spinning and scratching has no effect on vinyl wear! Traktor is, or was, supposed to be more for the scratch DJ and fancy a go but have got used to Serato, which I think is a good all rounder. Rekordbox is a Pioneer program so probably works best with their controllers (which seem to get good reviews).

[LJF_97]

Have a look at the Phase controllers for your TT's?

[dave123456]

Zero Fuchs said:

dave123456 said:

dudleybloke said:

I would try out the different software before buying a controller.
Serato, Traktor and Rekordbox are the main ones.
Can download a demo and see which one you get along with.

Thanks.

Assuming I’m totally ignorant, how does the basic concept work?

I've not used Traktor or Rekordbox but suspect the basics are similar to Serato. It's pretty good to be fair.

I'm an ex vinyl (bedroom) DJ and thought I'd dabble in MP3 mixing. I bought a Numark DJ2GO to dip my toe in.

If you can mix ok with vinyl, you'll find it a cinch as all the info is laid out in front of you, like BPM and the waveform. Personally I found it took all the basic skills out of the equation, leaving you to focus on a greater breadth of creativity. But I appreciate you've done some digital DJing so probably know more than me about loops, cue points, effects etc etc.

I like techno, drum and bass, house, hip hop and all sorts. Sorting out folders and your music library is brilliant, as is setting cue points and other stuff. I can scratch ok but one thing I've always struggled with is juggling hip hop. I found it really straightforward on Serato. Plus all that spinning and scratching has no effect on vinyl wear! Traktor is, or was, supposed to be more for the scratch DJ and fancy a go but have got used to Serato, which I think is a good all rounder. Rekordbox is a Pioneer program so probably works best with their controllers (which seem to get good reviews).

Thanks. So in terms of acquiring an MP3 collection what’s the best option?

I’ve mainly dabbled in house, DnB and hip hop.

Agree with you re the basic skills, having watched a few pro DJs on YouTube attempt a vinyl mix (which a few did in lockdown) they clearly struggled with what I would see as the basics of beat matching and cueing the records up. And a few of the old hands like Andy C who can probably achieve perfect beat matching within 1 bar with vinyl. Slightly frustrating that radio 1 are now championing a new wave of (mainly female) DnB djs who are reminiscent of morrisey on top of the pops, dancing around in front of a mixer not fooling anyone.

[Zero Fuchs]

Bearing in mind I was out of the game for 30 years, I bought a fair amount of stuff from Juno, but appreciate there are likely better online shops out there. I think a lot of people don't even buy stuff and use Tidal or other subscription services.

I already had a lot of my hip hop ripped to MP3/flac so didn't buy a huge amount of new stuff really.

One alternative course to just buy time coded vinyl. I also have a Numark PT01 scratch and considered getting another one, a decent digital mixer and some 7" vinyl. That way I could keep my vinyl skills going and still get into digital. It's a tough one and it's possibly too late but quite fancied a Roland DJ 808 so I could do a Peter Piper breakdown (done to death I know!). But am still undecided.

I think a vinyl background is so valuable. It's purely analogue with no aids at all, which makes it hard to do properly. Using dials really makes you appreciate the weight of a record on a platter too. I couldn't quite beat match in 1 bar but not far off. Seeing just the BPM on a display is great but really does simplify the process. Plus if you want to cheat you can just press the 'sync' button and it does it all for you.

One thing I'll give modern DJs though is that they're far more creative with the effects etc. I'm still learning as my head is still stuck in the vinyl age and what was possible with analogue! Such a dinosaur

[dave123456]

Thread resurrection…

A year (and a house move) on, I’m thinking my over winter project will be to get myself a pioneer XDJ-RX3…

Although I’m late 40’s I’ve only ever played with vinyl and, please go easy on me, I’m still unclear as to how to actually get tunes for one of these… do I need something like soundcloud and rekordbox? Is one the storage of music and one the conduit to get it to the unit?

I’m not particularly interested in transferring all of my vinyl to digital, so a way of accessing plenty of music via a subscription is appealing.

Would someone be able to give me the idiots guide to how this would work please? Think of me as a intelligent 75 year old, I simply have no interest in modern technology but see massive benefits to this set up over 2x decks and unpacking about 30 large boxes of vinyl, which I’d have nowhere to put in a new house…

Many TIA

[Boom78]

dave123456 said:

Thread resurrection…

A year (and a house move) on, I’m thinking my over winter project will be to get myself a pioneer XDJ-RX3…

Although I’m late 40’s I’ve only ever played with vinyl and, please go easy on me, I’m still unclear as to how to actually get tunes for one of these… do I need something like soundcloud and rekordbox? Is one the storage of music and one the conduit to get it to the unit?

I’m not particularly interested in transferring all of my vinyl to digital, so a way of accessing plenty of music via a subscription is appealing.

Would someone be able to give me the idiots guide to how this would work please? Think of me as a intelligent 75 year old, I simply have no interest in modern technology but see massive benefits to this set up over 2x decks and unpacking about 30 large boxes of vinyl, which I’d have nowhere to put in a new house…

Many TIA

In short you buy hi quality mp3 from places like beatport, juno etc and process them through rekordbox on your laptop/pc. Processing them gives you the waveforms, info, key, bpm and ability to sort/create playlists etc. you can either then plug your laptop into the XDJ or transfer the formatted files to a USB (like I do). I personally prefer the ‘standalone’ feel of USBs. I find using laptops/big screen and big waveforms turns it into a game rather than using ears and feel. Or, you can get a beatport subscription/streaming. I tried it but didn’t like it, too much latency when queueing/looping, didn’t seem accurate enough. Maybe it was just my laptop/broadband.

You can rip the vinyl but it takes ages and quality will be poor. I’ve got a stack of vinyl for the 1210s but rather just buy MP3s when a sale is on.

Edit to mention you can’t go wrong with an XDJ, they’re excellent, have all the features/commonality of the flagship stuff. There are other brands out there but pioneer rule the roost like technics did in the 80s/90s. Don’t forget some good active speakers (rokit, Yamaha) and dj focused headphones (HD25).

Edited by Boom78 on Sunday 24th August 10:42

Edited by Boom78 on Sunday 24th August 10:47

[dave123456]

Boom78 said:

In short you buy hi quality mp3 from places like beatport, juno etc and process them through rekordbox on your laptop/pc. Processing them gives you the waveforms, info, key, bpm and ability to sort/create playlists etc. you can either then plug your laptop into the XDJ or transfer the formatted files to a USB (like I do). I personally prefer the ‘standalone’ feel of USBs. I find using laptops/big screen and big waveforms turns it into a game rather than using ears and feel. Or, you can get a beatport subscription/streaming. I tried it but didn’t like it, too much latency when queueing/looping, didn’t seem accurate enough. Maybe it was just my laptop/broadband.

You can rip the vinyl but it takes ages and quality will be poor. I’ve got a stack of vinyl for the 1210s but rather just buy MP3s when a sale is on.

Edit to mention you can’t go wrong with an XDJ, they’re excellent, have all the features/commonality of the flagship stuff. There are other brands out there but pioneer rule the roost like technics did in the 80s/90s. Don’t forget some good active speakers (rokit, Yamaha) and dj focused headphones (HD25).

Edited by Boom78 on Sunday 24th August 10:42

Edited by Boom78 on Sunday 24th August 10:47

Thanks that’s helpful. Presumably I can just plug into my existing amp and speakers which are pretty good.

[Boom78]

dave123456 said:

Thanks that’s helpful. Presumably I can just plug into my existing amp and speakers which are pretty good.

I ditched the amp and speakers and went to active when I got the XDJ, I guess you just use a phono lead from ‘master2’ on XDJ to amp. You’d need to check