Best budget CD deck setup and music making software

[funkyrobot]

It's been a while since I did any DJ'ing. However, I would really like to get back into it and dabble in a bit of music production.

Does anyone know of a decent budget DJ setup that you can purchase for less than £500 that will let you dabble in the above?

I see Pioneer are now the industry standard (like Technics and Vestax were around twenty years ago), but are obviously quite expensive. How do the likes of Gemini and Numark fare now? I had a pair of Gemini decks around 18 years ago, but they weren't the best.

In relation to music making software, is Ableton the one to use on PC? I have noticed that a lot of the music makers I follow (trance and the like) either use this or Cubase(?).

I'm not intending to try and make anything amazing. Would just like to try and make something to begin with.

To give you an idea of what I'm currently listening to, see the links below:

Thrillseekers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2nuEXl4fK0
Aly & Fila - https://youtu.be/pSEtn4dhkMs
Alex Morph - https://youtu.be/7muw3Yc3RIA

Thanks all.

Edit to add - I'm guessing at this price point I'll be looking at second hand for the decks.

Edited by funkyrobot on Friday 29th November 14:31

[Dave80s]

Do you have lots of cds? I ask because cd decks are dying out, using digital music (on a laptop or stick) would give you more choice, certainly in the 2nd hand market.

Do you want 2 decks and a mixer, or an all in one? Again the full controllers are more popular.

Numark and Gemini are still going! I would be looking at Pioneer and Denon (who now own Numark). Don’t discount Roland either, I tried one of their controllers and was impressed.

Production wise, I’ve got Ableton, I’m not an expert by any means but it’s fine, you will need something to ‘trigger’ it though, like a MIDI keyboard (black and white key thing not a computer one!). I’ve also got GarageBand (Mac only I think). My PC mate said Cubase is good, or Logic Pro.

I bought an Akai APC 25 and it came with Ableton free, was £50. Or look at an Akai APC mini which is an Ableton controller - no piano keys just buttons.

I’m more of a DJ than a producer so perhaps someone else could recommend that side of things better then me.

Dave

Edited by Dave80s on Saturday 30th November 09:43

[funkyrobot]

Dave80s said:

Do you have lots of cds? I ask because cd decks are dying out, using digital music (on a laptop or stick) would give you more choice, certainly in the 2nd hand market.

Do you want 2 decks and a mixer, or an all in one? Again the full controllers are more popular.

Numark and Gemini are still going! I would be looking at Pioneer and Denon (who now own Numark). Don’t discount Roland either, I tried one of their controllers and was impressed.

Production wise, I’ve got Ableton, I’m not an expert by any means but it’s fine, you will need something to ‘trigger’ it though, like a MIDI keyboard (black and white key thing not a computer one!). I’ve also got GarageBand (Mac only I think). My PC mate said Cubase is good, or Logic Pro.

I bought an Akai APC 25 and it came with Ableton free, was £50. Or look at an Akai APC mini which is an Ableton controller - no piano keys just buttons.

I’m more of a DJ than a producer so perhaps someone else could recommend that side of things better then me.

Dave

Edited by Dave80s on Saturday 30th November 09:43

Thanks.

I guess something hooked up to a laptop is the way to go. I don't have loads of CD's, but have plenty of old vinyl records hanging around.

USB stick all the way then. Will look at some decks that are more mp3 specific.