Beginner Vinyl Decks

[Muncey]

I've been searching for ages and not really found any answers to the questions i have. I've been mixing for a few months just on my laptop, been fascinated with DJing for years and been travelling the country going to raves since i was 17. I just always thought i'd never be able to do it so never tried.. but now i'm really getting into it and theres only so much you can do on a laptop (which i know is frowned upon).. i've tried putting my arm over the visuals to try mix by ear but using one hand to do stuff and one arm over my screen isn't very practical. Always wanted a pair of real decks, i know that building a big collection of vinyls is very expensive but i'm more than happy having 3-5 and constantly mixing between them to improve. My problem is i have no idea what is good and whats not at the lower end of the price chain. I'm really looking for something as cheap as possible, i'm a uni student and have absolute no money but this is a hobbie i want to invest my money into. Are there any that people would recommend that are very cheap but still good to start learning with?

Also this may sound like a very stupid question but what sort of speakers do you need? I live in uni halls so my flat is very small.. i have my laptop hooked up to some speakers and a big sub, along with my various external hardrives, tv, ps3, printer... my room is rammed! I'm assuming you can't use pc speakers and sub with decks lol

Been looking around and in threads and just thinking WTF?!

Thanks for any help, im really just finding a place to start and go from there.

[justanotherdj]

I would say if you really want to get a set of decks then technic 1210s are the only way to go. If you ever play out they will have technics and if you have never mixed on them before you will probablly struggle. I remember when i first got mine I had to learn to mix all over again.

My technics have been in the loft for the last 4 years, just this week purchased the numark mixtrack pro and going to get into digital djing.

[Muncey]

I would say if you really want to get a set of decks then technic 1210s are the only way to go. If you ever play out they will have technics and if you have never mixed on them before you will probablly struggle. I remember when i first got mine I had to learn to mix all over again.

My technics have been in the loft for the last 4 years, just this week purchased the numark mixtrack pro and going to get into digital djing.

Think Technics are gunna be a bit pricey for me.. very pricey! I definitely won't be playing out for a long time.. ideally i want a beginners set to learn on for a year or so. If i get any good at it then i can save and upgrade to some technics, but atm it'd basically put me bankrupt going for technics and for all i know i could be horrible at it and give up in a month or two!

My mate just got the numark mixtrack pro today, it looks decent and is so cheap in comparrison to real decks.. but again its just using VDJ and i feel theres only so much you can learn from doing that. I don't know what it is, i just have so much respect for those still killing it with vinyl.. i have nothing against CDJs at all but i just like the idea of mixing with vinyl.

Also 99% of people who start mixing these days just use VDJ or something and will maybe never move on from digital. I would love to be in that 1% of new guys learning to mix that take the time to learn vinyl mixing! Just no idea where to start with the hardware and how much it'll set me back!

[justanotherdj]

Could you not get a second hand pair of technics? You'll end up wanting to get them in the long run, mixing on cheap decks and then on technics feels so different, you'd be better off learning on the real thing.

I've moved to digital simply because I was a vinyl addict it cost me too much money and the records took up too much space, It used to annoy me carrying heavy record bags to gigs too.

In terms of ''killing it with vinyl'' the only thing you have to do different on real decks is beat match, all the cool tricks and effects etc are to do with your mixer.

If i was starting off now i'd go digital, but respect to you for wanting to go old school, it's great fun.

[um4mi]

BTW Muncey i'm not sure if you are aware of this but there are systems which allow you control digital files and mix digitally while still using vinyl as the primary control mechanism. I have never tried these but a lot of people use them. 2 which come to mind are called "Final Scratch" and Serato, but i think there are others..

[Muncey]

Could you not get a second hand pair of technics? You'll end up wanting to get them in the long run, mixing on cheap decks and then on technics feels so different, you'd be better off learning on the real thing.

I've moved to digital simply because I was a vinyl addict it cost me too much money and the records took up too much space, It used to annoy me carrying heavy record bags to gigs too.

In terms of ''killing it with vinyl'' the only thing you have to do different on real decks is beat match, all the cool tricks and effects etc are to do with your mixer.

If i was starting off now i'd go digital, but respect to you for wanting to go old school, it's great fun.

Yeah i'm reading more and more that technics are the must have otherwise not to bother.. so i'll probably have to look around for some 2nd hand ones. I know vinyl is very expensive to keep up to date with but i'll probably keep that as more of a hobbie. I just feel nowadays, especially within my age group or new DJs, vinyl is just not even an option anymore. Like you said if you were starting again you'd go digital, this is the mentality of the majority these days. I've never come across anybody starting out that wanted to go vinyl. I've like garage/jungle/dubstep/drum & bass for absolute years, i grew up with my cousin listening to jungle and garage from about 8 years old.. i've always wanted to be like the old school lot and mix vinyl. I never thought i'd be able to mix digitally but now i'm sort of getting the hang of it i'd definitely love to try out vinyl. Its very hard to explain its just a dream for me to be able to mix vinyl.. even if i have a collection of like 10 vinyls and only mix in my room... i know it'll be very expensive but to learn that skill would be amazing.

I also believe vinyl mixers going to digital will always have a huge upper hand on those who learn straight from digital. Again another thing the new generation or new comers will never have.. im sure theres plenty of DJs mixing in clubs nowadays that have never touched vinyl.

[krimson]

Entry level turntables are a different beast then entry level CD/Midi gear.

The problem with low end turntables is that they don't have precise / powerful drives (entry level stuff is often belt driven). This means that even if your beat matching is pixel perfect, the turntable may tend to slightly shift off it's set speed causing your mix to go off. You end up constantly needing to re-adjust and babysit the mix, which can be a huge source of frustration, and doubt for a still-learning DJ.

Most new DJ's who buy entry level decks will outgrow them in a matter of 2-3 months, hence the lack of support here for your desire to buy cheap.

[Muncey]

Fair enough so the cheapest but best i'm going to be finding is second hand technics. I'll have to have a browse and see what i can find. I'm really short of cash and my laptop is fucked, i was planning on a new laptop and a numark mixtrack pro at christmas when my loan comes in but i'd rather keep my heap of shit laptop and try go vinyl if i can afford it. I'll have a look around and if i can find some decent priced 2nd hand ones i may even order some vinyls so i definitely buy them!

[krimson]

Look for used Vinyl too if you do decide to go that route. If you have some local scene forums you can usually hit those up and see if anyone is selling off their vinyl. It will help you get a decent starter collection going. Mixing 5 records over and over gets old really quick.

[Muncey]

I imagine it'd get old quick but i'll still be mixing digitally as well.. and i'll slowly update the vinyl collection when i have money spare. I know it'll get boring but i really don't mind using the same 5 vinyls over and over til i get good. I really dont expect to be anywhere near anything but horseshit for a few months after getting them. Putting a new one in the mix every month or so will change things up and test my ability a little each time. Thing is i'm very skint and want to build my way up slowly, both ability/vinyls and hardware but its sort of impossible without spending a shit load to begin with on hardware at the beginning.. which is why i was hoping for some cheap shit to get me started but after a lot of reading it seems pointless and a waste of money to go for anything but technics! The vinyl prices don't bother me cause i will mix digitally until i can afford a new vinyl. Its the hardware thats causing me issues to even start with!