Best Beginner DJ Set Up: What DJ Equipment Should You Choose And Why

1. Welcome To The Class: Hi, and welcome to this series of videos covering my recommendations for the best DJ equipment for a beginner DJ setup. In these videos, I'll explain a little about each component and why you need it for deejaying. And then I'll explain my choices of recommendations for each piece of equipment so that if you are considering making some purchases and buying yourself a beginner DJ setup, you should be able to make some better-informed decisions. I've done a video series on this topic because I have created several different online DJ course is for beginners. And one of the main questions that I get asked by my students is what is the best DJ equipment that I would recommend for people? Just getting started, I thought I'd answer this question in detail for my students to refer to and also to help anyone else interested in getting some beginner DJ equipment. Because my incentive is solely to help my students the best I can. I'm only going to give my honest opinions on which equipment I believe would be best. And also my reasons why I don't have any other motifs are incentives to be doing these videos. There are no affiliate links and no sponsored ads. Just my truly honest opinion on what I believe to be the best equipment for beginners when learning to DJ. Dj for over ten years and used a lot of different DJs setups and DJ equipment. I've used many different vinyl turntables. See DJs, mixers, DJ controllers, headphones, and speakers. Starting off at entry-level beginner equipment all the way up to top end clubs, standard DJ equipment. As I mentioned, I also teach online DJ course is for beginners, which means I can think about this topic from a beginner's perspective because I'll know exactly what they'll need for the best possible learning experience. So for these reasons, I have a wide range of experience on a lot of different DJ equipment to be able to give you some good recommendations for a beginner DJ setup. I hope you enjoy the videos, again, some great value from them. In the next video, I will explain the four main components that you need for a beginner DJ setup. See you there. 2. 4 Components Of A Beginner DJ Set Up: In this video, I'm going to go over the four main components for a beginner DJ setup, and I'll explain what part they play in the setup. The four main components of a beginner DJs setup. The DJ software, the DJ controller, DJ headphones, and DJ speakers. First, we will start with the DJ software. To DJ software is a program that you download off the internet that installs on your laptop that you can use to DJ with. The DJ software is the brains behind the whole DJ cell. It does pretty much everything on the technical side when it comes to deejaying. Everything a modern-day DJ know does when deejaying is all thanks to the features and functions on the DJ software, e.g. here are just some of the things that you can do on the DJ software. You can upload and analyze your tracks so you are able to DJ with them. You can organize all of your tracks into playlist and categories. It is in the DJ software where you actually sync up, beat, match, and mix all of your tracks together. You can also see your tracks waveforms on the screen. You can also see what you are doing visually, as well as being able to hear your tracks audibly. You can use hot cues, loops, and sound effects and the DJ software. You can also record your mixes directly from the DJ software to your laptop with no need for an external audio interface. And this is just a name. A few of the things that you can do in your DJ software. It's safe to say that without the advances of DJ software, DJ would be a lot harder and a lot less creative. The modern-day DJ software is what we have to thank for making learning to DJ today. The easiest it's ever been, but also the most fun it has ever been as well. Once you have DJ software on your laptop, you will also need a DJ controller to control the DJ software. The DJ controller is the piece of equipment that we use to control the DJ software. It has all the buttons and dials. Unfair, doesn't it? That make it easier for us to interact with, to tell the DJ software exactly what we want to do with our tracks. We use the DJ controller to tell the DJ software what to do, just like we can use a keyboard and mouse to tell the computer programs on a laptop what to do. It works in exactly the same way. Dj controller is just an interface we use to tell the DJ software on your laptop what to do. For this reason, DJ controllers can be very affordable and a great choice for beginner DJs when they're just getting started. Or the more advanced DJ equipment, like what you see in clubs and festivals. The big CDJ 2000s nexuses and D j, m 900 mixers have the DJ software built into them already, which can make them a lot more expensive. But if you can get the DJ software off the Internet and install it on your laptop. This makes a DJ control is cheaper to make for the manufacturers and then more affordable for you guys, the customers. And I would also say that these days you can do pretty much all the same DJ techniques with a decent DJ controller and software on your laptop, just as much as you can do with a top end clubs standard. Cdj is a mixer. That being said, I won't go rushing off to by DJ controller just yet. As DJ controllers can come in all shapes and sizes and also at different price ranges, which is why in the DJ control of video, we will discuss which DJ controller, I believe to be the best one for began a DJ to get started with. And I'll also give you my reasons why headphones are used when DJ in life, to be able to listen to the track that you're going to play next without the audience being able to hear it. Headphones are an essential piece of DJ equipment, not only for DJ in life, but also for preparing and practicing your tracks at home too. There are certain types of headphones I'm all suited to deejaying, which we will discuss later in the headphones, video. Speakers. Well, speakers is how everybody's going to know how sick of a DJ you, our speakers are not essential when it comes to learning how to DJ. You can actually learn just in your headphones if you really wanted to. But having a pair of speakers to practice with those help getting used to your mixing without your headphones on and listening to your mixes through external speakers instead, can help massively when learning to DJ, as this is most likely how you will end up eventually deejaying when you progress to DJ and live at venues, it's good practice to get used to taking your headphones on and off when deejaying and getting used to how the music sounds from both within your headphones and through external speakers. Obviously don't want some massive clubs speakers in your home, but you also don't want to be DJ out of a pocket-size Bluetooth speaker either. So in the videos on speakers will discuss the best kind of speakers to have at home when learning to DJ, or even if you wanted to DJ at some host parties. So they have it. They are the four main components needed for a beginner DJ setup, DJ software, DJ controller, DJ headphones, and DJ speakers. In the next videos, I will go through my recommendations for each component. And I'll also explain my reasons why I believe that to be the best suited for a beginner DJ. So if you are considering making some purchases and bind yourself and going to DJ setup, you can hopefully make some more informed decisions. See you in the next video. 3. DJ Software Part 1: In this video, we're going to discuss the different types of DJ software to choose from and which one I would recommend and why. There are three main DJ softwares that are used by DJs. These are record box, seratonin, contractor. This also goes for any DJ a tenant level, not just beginners, no matter what level of DJ you are, from beginner to professional, you will most likely be using one of these three DJ softwares to DJ with. There is one DJ software that is meant to be designed for beginner DJs that is called serratus DJ light, also auto DJ intro. But I believe this DJ software is irrelevant and shouldn't actually be considered when learning to DJ. And I will discuss the reasons why in a later video. The DJ software that I would recommend for beginners is record box. One of the main reasons why I would recommend recall box over the other DJ softwares is because it is the DJ software that the clubs standard DJ equipment uses. If you were to go to DJ at a club or a festival, or pretty much any venue that has their own DJ setup. It will most likely consist of two pioneer CDJ 2000s nexuses with a pioneer D j m 900 mixer. This is the clubs standard DJ setup. And this setup is primarily designed to work with reco box DJ software not surrounds all our tractor. So if you were wanting to progress as a DJ and DJ and venues such as clubs, festivals, or maybe even some bars, some point have to get recalled box and use that DJ software anyway. So in my opinion, you might as well start using reco box straight away and make it your primary DJ software right from the start. So that when you get the opportunity to DJ a club or venue, you are already familiar with the recall box software and know how to use it. This is the main reason why I decided to switch to recall box when I first started taking DJ. And seriously, when I look back, I'm so glad I did in the last five years of having recall box, I have been able to go to any club or events and I will plug my USB stick and I'll put my laptop in straight into the venues, DJ equipment, I start playing from my playlist in my reco box DJ software. I've seen DJs turn up to do DJ sets with serotonin. And they have to bring loads of extra cables and audio interfaces and change the settings on your laptop. It is possible if you did want to use other DJ software such as serotonin with the clubs standard DJ equipment. But it does make it quite a bit harder for you to set up and it will add more complications for you that could easily be avoided just by using the record box software, just like the DJ equipment and is designed to use. My advice would be to just get reco box and stick with it. And all DJs want to DJ and clubs are a big venues and that's totally fine. Some DJs may just want to learn how to DJ for the fun of it, or DJ at home or at parties, we'll only need DJ controller to DJ width. If this is the case, I would still actually recommend recall box to DJ. This is because there are some key features and functions. I believe record books does a lot better, which I'm going to go over now for you and demonstrate these features and functions so you understand why alight record books so much had the least experience we've tracked a DJ software. And to be honest, I very rarely see DJs on the scene using tractor. It is normally seratonin are recalled box that they are using, mainly recalled box. And I believe that surrounds or unrecorded box at the two most popular DJ softwares out there at the moment. So for this reason, I'm going to do a side-by-side comparison between record books, answer router to highlight the key reasons why I would still choose recode box to DJ with. In the next video, I'm going to dive into the laptop and actually show you the differences between record box and serotonin so you can fully understand them. See you in the next video. 4. DJ Software Part 2: Alright, Hello from the laptop view here for the DJ softwares. Now I know this may look intimidating seeing the DJ software for the first time if you've never DJ before, but I promise you, if you did want to learn how to DJ, once you break it down step-by-step, It's not that intimidating. E.g. just to be able to do your first basic DJ mix, you only really need to use two things. You just need to press play at the right time and then move the volume fader across from one side to the other to mix the tracks. To be able to do your first mix is more about understanding how the tracks are made and how to time the tracks together correctly, rather than pressing lots of buttons and dials using all the other features when DJ and generally comes later on in intermediate mixing, any advanced mixing. So in terms of playing two tracks together at the same speeds and timing them correctly to get good sounding mix, it is actually easier than ever to learn how to do that today with the help of the DJ software. Now I might be jumping between record box and Suricata quite a bit for this section of the video, but I will let you know which software I'm in. And you can also see at the top of the screen whether I'm in record box, jump across all seratonin. I also don't have any DJ controllers plugged in at the moment. I just have the software is open on my laptop. Might look slightly different if you duplicate DJ controller n, But the features I'm going to discuss between the two DJ softwares will still be the same whether you have DJ controller plugged-in or not. If you've never DJ before, That's all good. I'll try my best to explain to you how these features work without going into too much detail. The main thing is that I'm just going to highlight the differences between the two softwares. The first thing I prefer about record box over seratonin is that you can see the tracks waveform as a preview in the library. So I'm just going to jump back into record box now. And the library is the bottom half of the screen and hear your tracks, your individual tracks. And as you can see, there's a wave form here next to attract title. So I can see what the track structure looks like before I even load it up onto the decks. I can see things like how long the intro is. I can see how long the break and coarser and the otros. If I have already prepared the track with hot cues, which I have on a couple of these tracks here, I can see where the hot cues are in the tracks and things like that. But in seratonin, you cannot get a preview of the waveform of the tracks in the library. So I'm going to jump back across to serotonin. And here you can just see the track title and no preview of the wave form. I have tried getting the library to show this, but I just don't think it's possible. So when I'm using throttle, I don't know what the track structure looks like or if I have any hot queue setup on the track until I load it up on the deck. So e.g. here on the track chunky, I don't know what the track structure looks like. And being able to see the tracks preview waveform for I loaded up is a big help when I'm deejaying. I also feel like the wave form is a lot clearer on record box than it is on serotonin. E.g. I'm just going to put this track towards the middle. And then I'm going to load up the same track and put it at the same point in record box. And just compare them side-by-side. For me, I prefer the extended wave form on record box here, then the serratus waveform. I find this one's a lot clearer and a lot more crisp, and it's a lot easier to see the different waveforms in the track rather than the waveform and Suricata, I just find serratus is a little bit more blurry, a little bit more distorted. I also prefer that you consume a lot more in on the extended wave form on record box than serotonin, e.g. I'm going to take these tracks back to the start on the first beat. And if I zoom all the way in and throttle, that is as far as I can zoom in on the extended waveform. But on record box, I can zoom a lot further in and see the beats in a lot more detail than I can do on. So rattle, this helps a lot if you want to be more accurate with your settings of your beat grid or your key points on your tracks. So this white line here with a red marker on the top is the grid line. And if I really wanted to, I can get this clause and set it to the very start of the beat. Whereas with seratonin, I cannot get it as accurate account zoom in enough to be able to see where the lines are. So just to summarize there on the first point in general, I just prefer the waveforms on record box than Suricata. I like the fact that you can preview the waveform in that library. And I think the general extended waveform is a lot clearer to see. And you can zoom in a lot more on the waveform to move your beat grids. Now, the second reason why I prefer record box over seratonin is you can set your own shortcut keys, shortcut keys, or when you assign features that are on the DJ software, or what would be on your TJ controller to the keys on your keyboard. So e.g. in reco box, if I go to the Settings and then keyboard, these are all the features that I can set an assigned to the keys on my keyboard. So if I go into deck one here, I can set play, pause and the Q button to whatever keys that I like. And what I've done here is I've set them to a and q can change these. I can secondary click and change them to a different key. So now if I go back to the software, I'm just going to get the camera up on my keyboard here so you can see as well. Okay, so we've got attract loaded up on deck one on the left-hand side. If I was to press the Q button, that would act as the Q button on the DJ software just here. If I was to press a, this would like the play button on the DJ software. If I load a track up on the right-hand side, I've assigned these two, the 0 key and the L key. If I press the 0 button, it will act as the Q button on the right-hand side. If I press the L button, it will act as the play button on the right-hand side on deck to So what I've done is I've set these keys out so they resemble the buttons on the DJ controller, our decks. So on the left-hand side, on the left deck, we have q above the play and the Q and a at the two furthest letters on the keyboard. And then the Q button and the play button on deck to on the right-hand side are set to 0 and out the two furthest right keys on the keyboard. So this way they both resemble the buttons on DJ controls and DJ decks as much as possible. You can also set the cross fader in the center here to the arrow keys on the keyboard. Now if I press this left arrow key, watched the cross fader in the center, it can move to the left. If I press the right arrow key, it will move the cross fader to the right. Now if I wanted to, I could do a mix with these tracks just by using these keys. And this is actually how I teach the new equipment needed DJ costs by using these shortcut keys to DJ with no, serosa does also have shortcut keys to, but the difference is serratus. Shortcut keys are fixed and cannot be changed, like record boxes, keys can be changed. So you have to use the default keys that Surat offset. So I'm going to go into serratus. Now. If you go to the top right-hand side where it says Help and show shortcut keys. Here will give you a long list of all the shortcut keys that are assigned to the functions on the decks. From here you can see play and pause our sets at w for the left deck and S on the right deck. Now W and S on the keyboard, or here, this one here w will be play and pause for the left deck, but S just below it. We play and pause for the right deck. And for me, I don't like that. They're both on the left hand side, above and below each other. And also if you have a look at the jump to temporary coupon, and this is the Q button. These are set to I and k. And I and K are over on the right-hand side. So I would be the Q button for the left deck and k would be the Q button for the right deck. So for me, this just doesn't flow as well as the record box short keys that I have set. If I close the settings here and load of track upon deck to on the right-hand side. To press play on deck one would be w. To bring it back to start with the Q button, it'll be I. And then to press play on the track on the right-hand side would be S, and to bring it back would be the letter K. Again, for me, this just doesn't flow very well when I'm using the keyboard, false errata. Now the reason why you can't hear the serratus tracks as well as the record box ones. It's just because I have the sound coming through recall box here. I can only recall through one. So that's why you can hear the record box one's a bit clearer, but I'm sure you can get my point. And also with recalled box. So let's jump back into reco box. You can assign any feature you want to any key on your keyboard. So e.g. now for the S on my keyboard is set as a siren sound effect. And the H is set as a whole and side effects with Crrowd. So you don't have the freedom at these options. You can only do what the default shortcut keys are on throttle. Now you might be thinking, if I have a DJ controller, why would I need shortcut keys to mix on my laptop? And this is a good question. Pretty much all my mixed preparation on track preparation that I do for deejaying is done solely on my laptop using these exact shortcut keys. I only really use DJ equipment when I'm actually DJ and live. The shortcut keys helped me prepare my tracks and my sets and practice my mixes wherever I am without having to be stood behind decks every time I want to download a new track and prepare it. I spent a lot of time preparing tracks. To be honest, most of DJ now is preparing your tracks. So this is a big factor for me when it comes to deciding which DJ software to use. So just to summarize on my second point, I prefer the shortcut keys on record box rather than the shortcut keys on seratonin. The third reason why I prefer record box over burrata is that in my opinion, the hot cues, loops, and sync features work a lot better on record box. The hock use loops and sink, or in my opinion, the three biggest features that are going to be used most when DJ. So just in case you don't know what a hot cue is. A hot cue is a marker that is set on a certain point in a track. And when the hot cue is triggered, the track will play from that point. On the right-hand side here on deck to, you can see I have a hot queue setup on this track, and this is the hot queue bank. So when I triggered this hot Q, it will play it the track from this point. Let's have a listen. Just like that. But the difference is when you trigger a hot cue in record box, it will start playing automatically. Wherever the track is paused, are already playing. But when you trigger a hockey men's errata doesn't automatically start playing when the track is paused. This for me can be a bit of a problem. I find it a lot easier to DJ record box when the hawk queue automatically starts playing when I press it. So I'll just show you one more time. I'm going to trigger the hot Q here on the right-hand side in recalled box automatically starts playing in Saratoga with the exactly the same track, with the exactly the same hot Q. If I trigger the hot cue, it just takes me to that point and the track doesn't start playing. Play the tracking serratus. From this point, you have to do an extra step of pressing the Play button. So I'm going to take it back to the start. So you can imagine the track on the left-hand side is playing. I load this track upon the right-hand side, and I want to play it from this point, which is the actual point I play this track from. So I need to load this track up, press the hot cue, and then press play to start the truck at that point. Whereas in reco box, or just need to press the hot Q Marker and the tracker start playing. In Surat. So it just adds an extra unnecessary step, in my opinion that could be avoided in recalled box. This then also spills over into triggering loops as well. If you don't know what a loop is, a loop is when you highlight a certain number of beats in the track and then beets will continuously play until you exit the loop. So I'm going to go back into record box and load a different track up on the right-hand side. Here. Now I have a loop setup in the hot queue bank at this point in the track and it's for eight beats. So when I press this hot Q, it will trigger the loop and the track will continue playing these eight beats until I stop it. Let's have a listen. But now going over to Suricata, I'm going to drag the same track up with the same loop saved. But you may notice on the hock queue bank here, it's not saved at this point. So router has its own loop bank, and this is where you can save the loops and recall them. However, the problem is with that when you plug a DJ controller in, the buttons on DJ controller only control this hot queue bank. As far as my word, there are no butters on the DJ controller that will recall the loops from the loop bank. So to use these loops here, you would have to use your mouse and your mouse cursor, even if you have a DJ controller plugged in. And even if you did use your mouse cursor is still wouldn't automatically play the track from that point. So e.g. here on the track chunkier, just like we've seen in record box. I like to play that loop and start the track from there. But if I activate this loop, it only takes me to that point and activates the loop, but doesn't play it. Again, have to press play to start the loop. So again, it adds an extra step for me to play the track. From that point, I have to go to the start of the loop and then press play. In Toronto, it's just not possible to start a track automatically with the hot cues are loops. You can only start to track by pressing Play button, record box. These hot cues and loops can be used as starting points of your tracks also. Now this may not seem as much of a hustle if you are only triggering one loop or one-hot Q in Saratoga. But multiply this with the amounts of different hotkeys and loops that you may have set in one track. Then multiply that with however many tracks you have in your library. And once it play in your set, then multiply that with how many sets that you play in, say a week, a month, or a year, it can quickly add up. And this is a lot of extra messing around, insert data that can be avoided and made easier and record box. Another annoying thing to note is to get the tracks to snap in time with each other. When you press play on seratonin, the Sync button has to be gray and not yellow. So when you use the beat sink and sink buttons, when you press play on a track, it's just snapping time with it. Tracks beats. So I'm just going to quickly show you in record box if I press play on the track on the left-hand side, and then press play on the track on the right-hand side, the beat grid lines here should snap in time with each other. And to do this in serratus, you need the sink buttons to be gray an armed. So when it's gray, this means that the tracks beats will snap in time with each other. Let's have a listen to that. Now, this truck on the right-hand side is great. When I press Play, watch how they're numbered. Lines, line up with each other. One more time. So watch how they're numbered lines, line up with each other. And that is the effect we want from a Sync button. However, if you want to play the track from a hot cue position, as you press the hot Q button, it changes the Sync button to yellow, which means they won't snap in time with each other. And it adds an extra step on to be able to do this. So e.g. if I drag the track nasty up again on the right-hand side, and this is where my hot Q is set. Now, this truck on the left-hand side could be playing. I think the track on the right-hand side and it's gray. However, I don't want to play it from this point. I want to play it from the hot cue. So if I now press the hot Q button, it'll take me to this point. But now the Sync button goes yellow, which means they won't snap in time with each other. There's no watch the numbered lines. So what I have to do is add an extra step. The track on the left-hand side is playing. I don't want the track and the right-hand side to snap in time with it. I have to press the hock Q button, then press the Sync button, and then press the Play button. Now just to get this track on the right-hand side to play from this point in time with the track that's already playing, I have to do three things. Have to go to the hot cue, press the Sync button, and then press play. Whereas the exactly the same tracks in record box. So drag that track up on the right-hand side. Beat sinks are on, on both tracks. I just have to press play on the track on the left-hand side and then hit the Q button. The track will start playing from that point and snap in time. Let's have a listen one more time. This is also the same with loops. So if I drag the track cup, chunk it on the right-hand side and do exactly the same drill, press Play, and then press the loop. It will start playing the loop and snap it in time with the beat grid. Whereas with the same drill in seratonin, track the track chunky up on the right-hand side. Start this track from the beginning. Both tracks of beats inked up. But what I have to do is press play on the truck on the left-hand side. I wanted to play it from this loop. So I go to the start of the loop and then press Play. Now I don't have to press the Sync button again, but it's still an extra step to get that loop to play from that point. So as you can see, the, this is the reasons why I prefer the hot cues, loops, and sync features in record box rather than in seratonin. The reason why I put so much emphasis on this point is like I mentioned at the start, at this point is that hot cues, loops, and sync features will make up most of your deejaying. So when you're deejaying regular with a lot of tracks, doing a lot of sets, you need to think which way you want to be using these features. I know which one I'd rather choose when I'm DJ. So just to summarize on that point, the hock use loops and sync features a lot easier to use and navigate in reco box than serotonin. Now the fourth and final reason why I prefer record box of Us uracil is the record box also has edit mode. So if you just go to the top left-hand side here on record box, you can see a dropdown and there is edit mode. Now I can't go into edit mode right now and show you live because the recording will stop and you won't be able to hear me. But what I will do is I'll add some B-roll over the top so you can see Edit mode inaction, as I'm talking. Edit mode is a fairly new feature and it can be more of an advanced feature as well. But it is a great tool to use if you were to take deejaying seriously. What edit mode does is it basically allows you to edit your tracks. You can drag a track up into edit mode and chop and change it up as much as you like to suit how you want it to be. So if you have a certain style of mixing or if you think a track is too long or too short for how you want it to play. You can edit it in edit mode. You can delete parts of the track. I'll multiply parts of the track by copying and pasting it. So e.g. in the know DJ equipment needed DJ cause I actually makes shot edits of tracks to stop the tracks going on for too long when we're trying to learn to mix. So as a track here, music sounds better. I'm going to drag that up on the left-hand side, and then I'm going to drag the original track up on the right-hand side. So these two tracks, are they exactly the same track? But as you can see here, the short edit is only 2 min and 13 s long, but the original edit is 8 min and 27 s long. And I've edited this and chopped it down in edit mode to make it a lot shorter for the purpose of the DJ course. This is because in the new equipment needed DJ course, we're only focusing on the stats and the ends of the tracks. So I didn't want the students taking the course to be listened to 8 min of the track just to get to the end. And this is just one practical way in which you can use edit mode for your tracks. I personally have a lot of tracks where I'm mixed in certain positions every single time. And instead of using the hot cues are loops. To do this, I can just edit the track in edit mode and edit the track to suit the way I DJ and I mix without having to use the hotkeys and loops every time. Now you do have to pay to get edit mode. At the moment is around 15 pounds or $50 a month to get access to it. But if you were taking DJ and seriously in the future and you start DJ and regular is a game changer and something Surat or doesn't offer, it can save you a lot of time and hassle when deejaying. As I said, you have no need to mess around pressing hot cues and loops. When you're a DJ and live, you can just edit the track once in edit mode, and it will play that way how you want it to every single time I will be making a full course on how to use Edit mode in the future. So depending on when you're watching this, it may or may not already be out. But if you are interested, I'll put how you can access it in the description of the video when it is available. So there you have it there. The main reasons why I would choose Record box as my recommended DJ software. If you are aspiring to eventually DJ and clubs are at bigger venues, all roads lead to record box. So you might as well start with that software and learn on it so that when you get to the club level, you are more prepared. I'm familiar with reco box DJ software. If you don't aspire to DJ and clubs and just want to DJ and controllers to your friends or at small parties. I would still actually choose Record box for the reasons that I've just highlighted and demonstrate it to you. I hope this helps when choosing a DJ software. 5. DJ Software Part 3: Now, if you've already done a bit of looking around a DJ equipment, you may be thinking, I've missed a big elephant in the room in beginner DJ softwares, which is serratus DJ light, also auto DJ intro. If you haven't heard of throttle DJ light, according to their website, it is a strip back version of the full DJ software, Surat or DJ Pro. It is apparently designed for beginner DJs to help keep things simple for them when first starting out deejaying. And because it was designed with the beginner DJ in mind, it seems like the obvious choice for a beginner, right? Well, not really. There are some things you need to know about serratus DJ lights before you can consider this option. The main thing about shrouds or detail light is that it comes with limited features. Limited features such as you can only set for what hoc use on a normal DJ software, you are able to set up to eight or even 16 hot cues and your DJ software, I believe when DJ, whether you're a professional or a beginner for Hokusai is just not enough. In fact, I would say especially for beginners, for hoc cuz it's not enough when I DJ and also when I teach beginners how to DJ. Hot cues are a great tool to use as visual markers on your tracks. You can set hot cues in certain places on your tracks and leave comments on them as well. So these visual markers with comments attached to them, it can give you a much needed prompts and reminders of what to do at them certain points in the tracks, e.g. you can set hockey marker to tell you when to mix in omics out of tracks. And also if a certain point and attract has vocals or not, these are just some examples. This is not even including what hot cues are actually designed for, which is to recall certain positions in tracts. So when learning to DJ, this can be a massive help when it comes to understanding your attracts and knowing what to do at certain points when you are mixing. I know at this stage you may not fully understand hot cues yet and what they're used for. But I think you may be able to get the idea that I don't believe for hot cues is enough to DJ effectively. Another limited feature that comes with serratia, DJ light is that you can only set loops that range between 18 beats. This means you can only set up one beat to beat for beat or eight beat loop when you are deejaying, you cannot set a loop lower than the value of one beat. So e.g. you cannot set a half a beat loop or a quarter of a beat loop. And if you ever want to do a buildup with loops or that thing that James high dose with the volume fader, the baby, baby, baby needs to be able to set loops if these values that are less than one beat and you also cannot set loops that are higher than the value of eight beats. So you cannot say 16-bit loop or a 32-bit loop when I'm deejaying, and also when I'm teaching beginners how to DJ most of the loops that I use a less than one B or higher than eight beats. So this for me, can make things a lot harder to DJ. And also in my opinion, it can make things a lot harder for beginners to learn how to DJ effectively. These limitations, among others, on steroids or DJ light, in my opinion, can ironically make it hard at the beginning DJs to learn how to DJ and not make it easier. I personally believe that it's essential when learning how to DJ to be able to set more than four hot cues and to be able to set loops less than one beat value and more than eight beats value. Now, don't get me wrong. You can still do some basic deejaying with Surat or DJ light, but that is all you can do, basic mixing. You are quickly going to outgrow Surat or DJ light. I want the full features if you are going to take DJ and seriously, It's not like Surat or DJ light makes the features you do get any easier to use. Our eliminates any advanced features until you're ready to DJ. At that level, Serrano DJ light has the same features that you get with full pro DJs software, but just less of them for hot keys instead of eight. And you can only set loops between the values of 128 beats. I'm not sure how this makes things easier for a beginner, hot cue is a hot Q and a loop. As a loop, you still have to acquire the same skills to use these DJ in itself. All of a sudden doesn't get harder when you set more than four hot cues, or when you start using loops smaller than one or larger than eight beats is still the same skills limiting. And what you can do, as I said, it actually makes it harder to deejay without the full range of Hokusai and loops. The only reason I can think of why there have a light product is to try and convince people who do not know about deejaying, then it must be right choice for them because they are a beginner. And full pro DJs software is only for pro DJs. But the thing is, once people start with throttled DJ light and realize they actually need the full features to DJ effectively, they're more likely to stick with the serratus brand, an upgrade to the pro version of Suricata rather than change into another DJ software. So in my opinion, it's just a marketing tactic to get people new to DJ and on their brand and not actually to benefit begin to DJ's. I feel this can be ashamed law as one of the reasons why I'm so passionate about this. Because these limited features can also put people off wanting to progress in deejaying because syrups or DJ light actually makes it harder to learn. It creates more hurdles than making it easier. It will put more people off wanting to progress and stick with it because they think deejaying is actually harder than it actually is. It is also worth noting that if you were to get a DJ controller that comes with serratia, DJ light, if you did want to upgrade to false routes are DJ pro software at this point in time, you would have to pay for a monthly subscription that costs around ten to $20. And that goes for most beginners, DJ controls that come with burrata. Whereas if you were to get a DJ control that comes with full DJ software as standard, such as reco box tractor us throughout our DJ Pro. You won't have to pay a monthly subscription for it. It will already be included with the DJ controller, which means that basically any DJ controller that comes with reco box or tractors standard, including the beginner ones, will include full DJ software with them for free. It is only Surat or that do a lite version on the beginner DJ controllers. So when looking for DJ controllers, make sure you check what DJ software it comes with first before buying one, I will go into more detail on DJ controls in the next few videos. So just to quickly recap on throttle DJ light, I would personally recommend to avoid any DJ controller that comes with seratonin teacher light, if you are serious about learning how to DJ, which I assume you are because you're watching this video. And I would suggest just going for the full versions of the softwares. It is a lot easier to learn how to DJ with four DJ software. And if you do end up getting smart or digital light, you're going to have to upgrade to fall DJ software anywhere if you are serious about deejaying. So you might as well start with a full DJ software straight from the star to the threefold DJ softwares, I would recommend recall box and all these videos may be quite long about the DJ softwares, but I've tried to give you as much valuable information as possible about this topic. I believe if I tried to make these videos any shorter, I'll be leaving out key information that is important when it comes to making decisions. But getting a DJ set up, I think choosing a DJ software is the most important decision as it is what's going to most affect your DJs setup and you're deejaying experience. And for this reason, I wanted you to be best informed as possible and learn from someone who has used the software's for a long time and I can pass on my knowledge to you. So you're better educated to make a better decision. So I hope you've enjoyed these videos on DJ software and now we can move on to DJ controllers, which DJ control I recommend for beginners. And why See you there? 6. DJ Controller Part 1: In this video, I will go over my top recommendations for a beginner DJ controller. I will explain my reasons why I have chosen this particular DJ controller. And in the following video, I will also explain why I haven't chosen any of the other DJ controllers. Now I have two recommendations for beginner deja controller. I previously only used to have one recommendation, but now I have to, the DJ controller. I previously used to recommend for beginning DJs was the pioneer DD J 400. This may not come as a shock to some people if you have already had a look around as this is a very popular DJ controller, if not one of the most popular. However, since November 2022, It has no being replaced by newer and more advanced beginner DJ controller called the pioneer DD J F Lx. For the pioneer DD J F L X4 is very similar to the DD J 400, but the NFL Export now has even more features added to it. The pioneer DD J 400 is still a great DJ controller on one that I would still recommend for beginners. However, with the new release at the NFL X4, with its new added extra features. This is now the DJ controller I would recommend for beginning to DJ's. So my first choice for a beginner DJ controller would be the pioneer BD J, F, L X4. But if you cannot get that f of x for, for whatever reason, the DD J 400 is still a good choice and will be my second option when it comes to begin a DJ controllers, there are certain reasons why I would recommend the pioneer DD J FL X4 and the DD J 400 over a DJ controllers. And in this video, I'm going to explain these reasons to you. First, I'm going to quickly explain what kind of features you should expect from a DJ controller. Pretty much all DJ controllers will have the same basic features on them to DJ with. I'm not going to go into too much detail of what each feature does, but I'll give you a brief overview of them. You should have play and pause buttons and a Q button. The play and pause button is mainly used to start and stop the track. And the Q button is used to reset the track back to the start. You will also have jog wheels, joggers, or the circular disk that can be found on the decks. These can be used to slightly nudge to track speeds forwards and backwards when the track is playing. So you can get the beats of one track in time of the beats at the other track. They can also be used to manipulate the track lack of vinyl and do your coworker scratching sounds and you're cool. Spin backs should also have a tempo fader or a pitch better. The temporal fader is used to adjust the overall speed and BPM of the track faster or slower. You will also have a Sync button. The Sync button is used to automatically put two tracks at the same speed and BPM as each other. So you don't have to do any manual beat matching. You will have volume faders and a cross fader. Volume faders and a cross-border are used to adjust the volume of each track where mixing you will have some equalizers. Equalizers are EQs for sharp I used to adjust the different frequencies in each track when mixing, there's a high, mid, and low frequency dial. The equalizers are used more often intermediate level and the main one you'll be using when DJ is the low frequency equalize the dial, you will also have performance parts. The performance pads are now becoming one of the most used and important features on DJ controllers. This is because there can be used to control several things, such as the hot cues, beat loops, beat, jump, and sampler. They can also be used for other functions, also, depending on which DJ control you have, but the four main ones you'll need when DJ or the hock use loops, beat, jump, and sampler, they will also have an effect style. The style is used to add sound effects to your music, such as an echo or reverb. Know what differentiates begin to DJ controllers is how easy it is for you to interact with these functions and how easy it is for you to use them. And in some cases, if the DJ controller even has them at all, e.g. different begin to DJ controllers may have different size jock wheels, different size temple theaters. Some may not even have any volume faders and just across better, some men have any equalizers at all, and some may only have four performance pads instead of eight performance pads. And some may not have an independent effect style. All these different variables are either make it easier for you to learn how to DJ or make it harder for you to learn how to DJ. And as it began to DJ, not knowing what to prioritize may make it difficult to choose a beginner DJ controller that will best suit your needs. And that is what we are going to cover in this video. Which features should you prioritize? The main features I would recommend to look for in a good beginning, DJ controller, to be able to DJ effectively. It has at least five inch drug wheels. You want at least five inch drug wheels to make it easier for you to manipulate your tracks using the jog wheels. If there are any smaller, it can make it harder for you and more fiddly for you to manipulate your tracks when you are trying to beat match or to spin the tracks backwards and forwards. Some beginner DJ controllers can have job rails around 3 ", which I believe are just too small to DJ effectively with. It has to have at least a low-frequency equalizer. As mentioned, the equalizers are more of an intermediate feature, but they are essential after you've learned the basics to be able to manipulate the frequencies of your tracks whilst mixing the low-frequency equalizer is the most important one because this is the equalizer that controls the base of the tracks. The main frequencies you want to avoid clashing when mixing or the base frequencies. The low-frequency equalizer allows you to turn one base down and leave one base up. And then you can switch the bears is over during your mix to avoid them clashing without the low-frequency equalizers, the baselines of the tracks are more prone to clashing with each other, which can result in a bad sounding mix. It should have a performance pads on each side. Performance pads have no, become a very essential feature when D changes any level. Huc use loops, beat, jump, and sampler are often used when deejaying, and these are mainly used by the performance parts. If a DJ controller has less than eight performance pads on each side, this can make it more difficult to DJ effectively. If a DJ controller on the house for performance pads on each side, this means you will be limited on how you can use the hock, use loops, beat, jump, and sampler, making it a lot more difficult to learn how to DJ effectively. Dj controls the only conduit for performance paths are also mainly designed to work with throughout our DJ light. As we have discussed in the last video, if you are serious about learning to DJ, it's probably best to avoid throughout or DJ light and the control is designed to work with it also, such as controllers with only for performance pads. It should have an independent effect style. Some beginner DJ controllers have sound effects built into the performance pads. And as we have discussed, the performance pads have enough going on already without adding the control of sound effects in there as well. On any good began to DJ controller, or even on any DJ equipment for that matter, the sound effects will have its own independent effects dial separate from the performance pads. The quicker you can learn to use an independent effect style rather than trying to use sound effects on the performance pads, the better the independent effects dialog allows you to manipulate the sound effects how you want. You can turn the dial up or down to increase the intensity or decrease the intensity however you like. Whereas if the sound effects was used by the performance pads, you can only turn them on or off and you have less control over the sound effects. And if you are using the sound effects on your performance pads, this means you cannot use any of the other features on the performance pods whilst we're using the sound effects, such as hot cues, loops are sampler, but if you had an independent effect style away from the performance pads, you can use your sound effects whilst keeping the performance pads free for other features you may want to be using at the same time. So there you have it. Those are the main features I would suggest you're deejaying controller has if you want to make your learning experience and DJ and in general, somewhat better, you should look for a DJ controller that has at least five inch drug wheels, a low-frequency equalizer, eight performance pads, an independent effect style. The other features such as player pause and the Q button, tempo fader, the Sync button, volume fader across beta are always pretty much the same on each DJ controller. And even if they do vary slightly on the DJ controllers, it's not that much of a big deal and will not affect your DJ in as much as the other features that I have mentioned. So now we have established the main features we want on a beginner DJ controller. And we have also established in a previous video that the best DJ software we will want to DJ on record box. And because we are a beginner, I assume you may want to keep this as cost-effective as possible, which is understandable. So for best results, we need to find a DJ controller that has all the men recommended features that I've mentioned. We've recalled box DJs software is standard and is low cost as possible to get us started. And this DJ controller is the pioneer DD J, NFL X4. Or as mentioned, if you cannot get the f of x4 for whatever reason, the DD J 400 also meets these recommended features. I believe that any DJ controller that is in the same price bracket or cheaper than the DDGS FL X4 RDD J 400 is lacking in one or more of these key features that I have mentioned. Why I wouldn't recommend them to learn to DJ on all you need to do. If you come across a beginner DJ controller and you were curious to whether it'd be the best DJ controller to learn on is to simply hold it against my recommended list. Does it come with full DJ software? The DJ software record box, does it have at least five inch drug wheels? Does it have a low-frequency equalizer? Does it have eight performance pads? Does it have an independent effect style? And is it cost-effective or the cheapest DJ controller with all the above shallow say, however, if you are interested in the reasons why I wouldn't choose any of the other beginner DJ controllers on the market. In the next video, I will go through 12 other begin a DJ controllers and explain my reasons why I wouldn't recommend them for the best picking a DJ controller. But if you are happy with my recommendation of either the pioneer DD J f x4 or the pioneer DD J 400. And you are happy with my reasons why I would choose these DJ controllers, then grit, happy days. You have no need to watch the next video on DJ controllers. You can skip straight to the video about teacher headphones. But if you do want to hear my reasons for not choosing the other DJ controllers, they stick around and watch the next video. I hope this video helps when it comes to choosing a beginner DJ controller. And I hope you've gained some good value from this video. See you in the next video. 7. DJ Controller Part 2: There are a lot of beginner DJ controllers out there and you may have done some research of your own. You may find blogs and articles talking about other beginner DJ controllers and talking about the positive features that they may have. This can make it quite confusing because these blogs can twist what our actual negatives when learning to DJ into positives. E.g. calling a DJ controller that is really too small to learn to DJ with jam-packed or pocket-sized, which are actual terms I've found off to different blogs on this topic of best began to DJ controllers describing the same DJ controller. In my opinion, what they should actually say is that this is a very small DJ controller and it can make it difficult for you to navigate the DJ controller compared to others. A few reasons why these blogs twist negatives into positives. One reason is they may have other incentives like affiliate links rather than what's actually best for the beginner DJ. And because of this, even after I've told my students that I would recommend the pioneer DD J 400. They can still often asked me about other DJ controllers because they have read or seen that they are good beginning DJ control is somewhere else online. And this is the main reason why I'm doing this video. Now. It's not to bad mouth or the DJ controllers. This is definitely not my intention. I'm doing this video because I still get asked about other DJ controls on the market. So what I'm going to do for you now is quickly go through all the other beginning DJ controllers on the market. Explain my reasons why I personally wouldn't recommend those over the DD J 400, like I mentioned in the previous video, it is as simple as holding them to my recommended requirements that I've already mentioned. Does it come with four DJ software? Is the DJ software record box? Does it have at least five inch dog wheels? Does it have a low-frequency equalizer? Does it have eight performance pods? And does it have an independent effect style? And also, is it cost-effective or the cheapest DJ controller with all the above? Now again, don't get me wrong. You can still learn to do some basic DJ techniques without these features that I've mentioned, e.g. you can still learn how to do some basic DJ and techniques. We've jogged wheels that are smaller than 5 " without a low-frequency equalizer, with only for performance pads and without an independent ethics style, however, you will not be able to learn how to DJ effectively. And this is the key word in this section, is effectively, if a DJ control it does lack in some of these features are massively limit what you can do with it. And I'll make it a lot harder for you to learn how to DJ properly. You will quickly get to the stage where you outgrow the DJ controller and need to upgrade to a better one anywhere to be able to do everything you need to. I believe if you have all the features that I've recommended in that list above, DJ controller will last you a lot longer as you will have everything you need to progress and learned to DJ with. And I'm very confident you'll even be able to DJ live at gigs if you really wanted to and not be lacking anything at all that you would need. So e.g. I. Would be confident going into a gig with a DD J 400, but I would not be confident going to a gig with some of these DJ controllers are mostly the DJ controls on this list now. So that means that I'm going to give you my specific reasons why haven't chosen these other begin to DJ controllers. Again, I want to make it clear, I'm not here to bad mouth. These are the DJ controls are brands. My intention is just to give you my honest reasons for not recommending these DJ controllers. I help you choose one that is most suited for you to learn how to DJ. So let's dive into it. There are five main brands that you may come across that make began a DJ controllers. These are pioneer, Newmark, Native Instruments, Hercules on Roland. I'll go through each brand one-by-one and discuss the specific begin to DJ controllers. And just to give you a list of the DJ controls, I'm going to go over the DJ controls. I'm going to go over in this video are the pioneer DDGS 200, the pioneer sp3, the Newmark DJ goal to touch the Newmark party mix, the Newmark mixed track pro effects, tractor control, S2, Hercules mix, Hercules starlight, Hercules impulse to 100, Hercules impulse 300, and the Rowland DJ to R2. If you are interested in hearing my honest opinion on what I have to say about these other began a DJ controllers and stick around. If you want to see what these other DJ controllers look like, you can open up another tab on your browser as I'm going through them and just Google the name to find a line. First, I will start with pioneer, pioneer DD J 200. This DJ controller is one I often get asked about because it is the model down from the DD J 400, and it's also a little bit cheaper than the DDGS 400. The DD J 200 does come with access to full record box DJ software. However, it is designed to be used with an app called DJ on a smartphone or tablet, is not actually designed to work with full record books, DJ software. And because it is designed to work with an app on a smartphone or tablet, it shows its features across both the DJ controller and the app. Which means whilst you're a DJ, you will have to interact with both the DJ control and the app simultaneously. E.g. you can press the performance pads on the DJ controller. But if you wanted to change the performance pads mod from Hokusai here two loops or another mode, you have to change it through the app. There are not any selector buttons on the DJ controller to do this, like there are with other DJ controllers. I find this to be a bit of a hindrance, having to switch between both the DJ controller and the app whilst deejaying, I would prefer to be able to do everything that I need to just on the DJ controller and not have to rely on the app as well. The DEJ two-hundred also doesn't have its own headphone jack to connect your headphones too. And it also doesn't have its own master output to connect your speakers to. Normally on a DJ controller, you can let your headphones into a headphone jack at the front of the DJ controller. And you connect your speakers to the master output on the back of the DJ controller with the DDGS, two-hundred, you have to connect both of these to the smartphone or tablet that you are using. Virus splitter careful, this isn't really ideal because not only does it add extra steps to setting it up, I don't believe you can connect any actual decent speakers this way, just portable speakers that use auxiliary cables. These are the specific reasons why I wouldn't recommend that DDGT 100. But on top of them reasons, the DD J2 hundred also has three inch drug wheels and it doesn't have an independent effects style unit either. Next, we'll take a look at the pineal DEJ sp3. This DJ controller is actually a good DJ controller for beginners. It has all my recommended features on it, such as five-inch jog wheels or the equalizes eight performance pads and an independent effect style. The only problem is that it comes with Surat or DJ, lots of standard. To get full use of the DJ controller and use its full potential, you'd have to upgrade to surround or DJ Pro and pay a monthly subscription for it. And even then, if you progressed and how to use clubs standard DJ equipment, you'd have to use reco box anyway, somewhere down the line. Now we'll move on to the brand new Mark, who are popular brand for beginner DJ controllers. And we'll start with the Newmark DJ. Go to touch on the website. This DJ controller is described as the ultimate pocket DJ controller. Now unless you're deejaying from your pocket, I would probably avoid this DJ controller. It has none of my recommended features. It has tiny jog wheels, no equalizers only for performance pads, no independent effects style, and it only comes with Surat or DJ light. Soft enough said about that one, the Newmark Party Mix is a DJ controller that I believe has more novelty features than practical features. It's selling point is that it has an I quote, party balls, which are three small flashing lights on the back. And I think that says it all really. The only thing it has a my recommended features list is a low-frequency equalizer. The jog wheel is less than 5 ", even though on its website it says that there are large, it only comes with four performance pads. It doesn't have an independent effect style, and it comes with serratia, DJ lighter standard. The new map mixed track Pro is actually a good beginning DJ controller. It has all my recommended features on DJ controller By of each drug wheels all three equalizers, eight performance pads and independent effects style, and even some extra effects puddles, which are the main selling point of this DJ controller. But just like with any other new Mark Begin a DJ controller, it only comes with serratia DJ lighter standard. Next we'll have a look at the Native Instruments, DJ controllers, native instruments, or the company that makes tractors, DJ controllers on track to DJ software. It's men begin to DJ controller is called the tractor control S2. The tractor control S2 is actually another good DJ controller. It has all the recommended features, such as five-inch jog wheels. All three equalizes eight performance pads and independent effects style and even comes with full DJ software. But the DJ software, it comes with tract to DJ software. Even though this is a really good DJ software, as I mentioned in the DJ software video, I believe record box to be the best DJ software for beginners and for any level DJ for that matter. And that is the main and only reason why I would choose the DD J 400 over this DJ Controller. Next we'll take a look at the Hercules began a DJ control arrange, starting with the Hercules control mix. The Hercules control mix is another DJ controller designed to work with an app on the smartphone, this time called algorithm DJ. But this time, I think the smartphone is just used as a visual display. And the DJ controller can be used by itself without having to interact with the smart phone as well, which is a good point. However, the jog wheel is a tiny, it only has four performance pads. It doesn't have an independent effect style and it is used with an app and not proper DJ software. The next Hercules deejaying controller is the Hercules starlight. This seems to be the exact same DJ controller as the Hercules control mix that we've just mentioned. Exactly the same shape and size. Tiny job wheels on the full performance pads. And it doesn't have an independent effect style. But the difference is this DJ controller is designed to work with Surat or DJ light, instead of being designed to work with an app on your smartphone. Next up we have the DJ control impulse 200. Well, you ready for this? The unique selling point for the impulse to hundred is that it has a color light around the browser dial that apparently indicates that energy of a track I caught, the energy level is displayed in a color going from blue, a cooler atmosphere, to read, a warm and very danceable atmosphere, which can be set to a desired mood at any point in the evening. I really don't know how a DJ soft work and determine how danceable a track is. In all my years of DJs, I've never been able to pick up on a universal correlation to predict the energy of a track, let alone how danceable at it. Let me explain, e.g. you could take one song play in the UK and it will get everybody up on their feet and dancing, but play anywhere else in the world and it could clear the dance floor completely. This even goes for different venues and atmospheres, e.g. you could play a track, a 50th, their party, and it may get everyone up dancing, but play the same track in a club for people aged 18 to 25 and you'll probably get booed off stage. Last example to prove my point, you can play a track that has just been released that is very popular now and it'll get everybody dancing. But you could also play the same truck is six months time. And people may be very bored of this track and the energy level might even drop in the club. So for me, a piece of DJ software cannot predict the energy level of a track is just not possible if it were, there'll be no need for DJs. This feature is just a gimmick and my eyes. And if you don't know what a gimmick is, a dictionary definition is a gimmick is a novel device or idea designed to primarily attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. So this is kinda similar to the flashing party balls on the back of newmark party mix sounds good in theory, but actually a very useless with all that being said, it also has tiny job roles only for performance pads and not independent effects style. Now it does come with what I believed to be full DJ software. But the DJ software is called DJ used are deduced, which I've never come across before I my DJ career. And even if it does come with full DJ software, the DJ software is good. You can not make full use of it because of the lack of physical features on the actual DJ controller itself anyway. So why can we fall DJ software but only have limited features on the DJ controller. The last Hercules DJ controller we will discuss is the modal up from the 200 is that Hercules DJ control impulse 300. This DJ control, it does have all the recommended features on the DJ controller. Five-inch drug wheels, all three equalizers, eight performance pads and independent effects style and full DJ software. So what's the issue? The only thing is the DJ software is DJ used are deduced, which again, I've never come across in my professional DJ career. So the main reason why I would not recommend this DJ controller is because it doesn't use recall box. And as you can probably tell, I'm not too impressed with the cilia energy light thing around the browser Dale, just like the impulse to 100, which in my opinion, I only think confuses a beginner DJ. I don't think it helps them at all. I'm finally, we'll take a look at the Roland DJ to a2. This DJ controller does have all the physical features recommended for a DJ controller by each drug wheels, low-frequency equalizer, eight performance pads, and an independent effects style. But the thing is, it only comes with serratia or DJ lighter standard. So you'd have to upgrade to throttle DJ Pro and pay a monthly subscription if you'd want to use the full potential of the DJ controller. So there you have it. Thank you for listening to this video. If you want to, more reasons why I recommended the pioneer DD J 400 as the best began to DJ controller. Hope this has made it clearer and helped you in your decision-making when it comes to DJ controllers and DJ software. See you in the next video where I'm going to discuss DJ headphones. 8. DJ Headphones: In this video, we're going to discuss what type of headphones are best for deejaying and which pair of headphones I would recommend. First, we need to understand the different types of headphones that are available. There are over ear headphones on ear headphones and inner ear headphones. And amongst them, there are also open back headphones and close back headphones. First we'll take a look at the difference between overhear on ear and inner ear headphones. Over the ear headphones or headphones where the pads of the ear cup bigger than your ear lobe and sit on your head, covering the whole ear completely, including your eardrum and ear lobes on ear headphones, headphones where the parts of the ear cup are a little smaller and sit on top of your ear lobes, creating a CEO just around your ear drum in your headphones, or headphones that push inside your ear, like Apple AirPods, these can also be known as earphones instead of headphones, these type of inner ear headphones or earphones, are not really used for deejaying and so we can eliminate them out of the equation. The main two types of headphones that DJs shoes are over here and on your headphones, it is up to each DJs preference which type of headphones they prefer. But I'll quickly go over some pros and cons to each. The benefits of over the ear headphones is that they isolate sound in your headphones a lot better because they cover your whole ear and rest on your head. They can create a better seal and stop any external sound coming in. The downside is that they are generally bigger and heavier and more clunkier, shall we say, then the ear headphones, they can sit comfortably on your head, over your ears when you are using them. But the frustration comes when you are taking them on and off and putting them around your neck multiple times during your DJ set. Or if you want to have them just slightly off your ears, but still on your head that don't really fit that well. They're not very comfortable that way. The benefits of having an ear headphones is that they can slip on and off your ears a lot easier. A lot of DJ's can prefer these because of how frequently they have to take the headphones on and off during the set. They are generally a lot smaller and lighter, making them sit more comfortable on your head and around your neck. And you can also have them off your ears still on your head quite comfortably, making sliding them on and off your ears quickly, a lot easier. One downside could be that they let a little more external sounding compared to the other ear headphones. But as I will explain, no, I believe that can actually be more of a positive than a negative. An observation from my personal experience with both of these types of headphones is that I feel good over ear headphones can actually isolate the sound too much to the point that when you take the headphones off, the sound in the venue is completely different to the sound in your headphones, which I feel can throw you off even more when D Jane, especially if you're a beginner, by having to then adjust your ears back-and-forth to the different sounds, journey or set. I find it can sound really weird, going from perfect isolated sound with the beats, with all the ear headphones on to Dan go to an equi, kind of sound that comes from multiple speakers at different distances from around the club. When you take the headphones off, the sound from the club doesn't match the stone from your headphones. And it can sound quite off-putting and how to adjust every time you take your headphones off and put them back on again. Whereas with a good pair of headphones, they can actually let a little bit of external sound in, which can actually be a good thing, as long as it's not too much, like I said, a good pair of headphones with a good sound quality. This is because when you do then take your headphones off, the sound in the venue is not as contrast into this zone in your headphones, making it easier for your ears to adjust when switching between having your headphones on and off during your set. When you have the ear headphones on, they are still clear enough to hit your tracks, but not too isolating to the point that when you take them off the sound and the venue is different. That's just my personal point of view from my personal experience. And one of the reasons why I would choose good part of an ear headphones over good pair of, over the ear headphones. When looking at different types of headphones, you may come across open back and close back headphones. Wendy Jane, we always want to choose closed back headphones. Close back means that the headphones are completely sealed around the back of the ear cup. This is this thought the sound coming into the headphones and also stops sound escaping out of the headphones. This will give you more of an isolated sound, which is what we want when deejaying open back headphones are the opposite. They are open around the back of the ear cop and not completely sealed. This means that external sound can easily come into the headphones and also sound can escape out of the headphones, giving you a less isolated sound or with potential noise distractions. When I've tried open back headphones before, I can hear everything around me just as clear as if I didn't have headphones on at all. This is not ideal for deejaying and Allowed Club when coming across open back headphones, I did think what's the point in them? But apparently, they are popular with gamma headsets. So make sure you don't get confused with them. So when it comes to headphones, whether you have over ear or ear headphones, close back headphones. What we want, this is so that when we are deejaying and venues, we are able to isolate this zone in our headphones more. And as a result, we do not get as much sound coming in from the external speakers of the venue. And we can listen more clearly to what is in our headphones. Now when it comes to learn it to DJ at home for the first time, I'll be honest, it doesn't really matter what headphones do you have. Any headphones will do as long as you can hear the music clearly. That's all that matters. When it really matters is when you start degenerate venues in front of live crowds, where there'll be big speakers and lots of external noise that could disrupt you in your headphones. That is when I would invest in a good pair of deja, headphones. For me, there's no such thing as beginner, intermediate, or advanced DJ headphones. There are good headphones for deejaying and not-so-good headphones for D junk. Like I said, when learning and practicing at home for the first time, doesn't really matter what headphones you have. But when you start DJing and venues and taking DOJ more seriously, I would recommend getting a good pair of anemia close back headphones, which for me, I've always been the sanitizer, HD 25. These headphones are pretty much being the industry standard for deejays for as long as I can remember, you won't have to look far on social media to find a DJ with a pair of these around their neck. I've had three pairs of these are the last ten years, as well as trying other headphones and they have always come out on top when first starting out, you may feel that their expensive for a pair of headphones. But like I said, you don't need them until you're at the stage of DJ in life and doing your first gigs by then, you should know if it's worth the investment or not. So there you have it. For a good pair of DJ headphones, I would recommend ON clause back headphones and the best ones for DJ. And I have found under very popular professional DJs or the sanitizer HD 25. Hope this video has helped you have a better understanding of what type of headphones you want when deejaying. See you in the next video where we're going to discuss DJ speakers. 9. DJ Speakers: In this video, I'm going to explain the type as big as you want at home to practice deejaying with or even doing small house parties with your friends. Firstly, it, before I discuss the different speaker types, I just want to say that getting speakers is not essential for a beginner DJs setup. They are for me more of a luxury. You can still learn to DJ. We've just headphones as your audio output when first getting started, There's generally a setting on DJ controllers that lets you listen to what would be coming out of the speakers to the audience, but in your headphones. So if you are thinking of getting a beginner DJ setup, but want to keep the cost down to a minimum DJ speakers. Or the last thing that I would recommend, I would make sure you can do some basic mixing first and know some basic DJ techniques before you get some speakers. But if you are feeling confident and you want to invest in some DJ speakers for your setup. Let's dive into it. You can always hook up a small portable speaker, like a UE boom to your DJ controller via an auxiliary to RCA cable. If you did want to, however, the sound is not going to be great. And if you want to take DJ and seriously, it's probably best to invest in some better speakers. Speakers that are best to be used for home deejaying are called DJ monitors. Our studio monitors. If you search for DJs speakers, you may also come across what are called PA speakers. These PA speakers are probably too big for home use. They're more like the type of speakers you will find mobile DJs use that do events like weddings and birthday parties. When looking for some DJ monitors, there are two types, active and passive. I would personally recommend getting some active speakers. Active speakers means that the amplifier is built into this beaker is already, this means that you would only need to get to active speakers for your DJ setup, and you can just connect them up in play. However, with passive speakers, you'll also need an external amplifier to power the passive speakers. So you need to get to passive speakers and a separate amplifier for your DJ setup for ease, especially in first starting out, I would recommend a pair of active DJ or studio monitors. You don't really need the best quality speakers when you're just practice it at home on your own, as long as you can hear the music clearly, that's all that matters. But if you did want a good PR, the brand KR care are probably the best quality speakers, more popular DJ home monitors. Whenever you are looking at speakers, make sure you check the connections from the back of your DJ controller coming out of the master output. And also the connection is going into the speakers to determine what cables you'll need to complete the connection. Often you may find that beginner DJ controllers, the output for the master sound is RCA, and the input for the speakers may also be RCA, but sometimes they may be XLR. In either case, you can get cables that go from RCA, RCA, RCA to XLR. And if you cannot find cables to suit your needs, you can always use an adapter in the middle to connect them up. Either way, make sure you check the connections of your output on your digital controller and the input on the speakers that you want and get the correct cables to connect them up. So if you can, to keep this simple, I will just go for active speakers with an RCA connection. This way you just need to active speakers and an RCA, RCA cables to connect them. There's no need for an external amplifier. Light would have with passive speakers or an XLR cable on the topic of cables, I would also recommend if you start degenerate venues and you are taking your own DJ controller with you to always have at least one spare cable for each connection. This is in case you have an issue with your main cable, which can and will happen at some point when DJ nights at venues, I'll always have with me two USB cable, also known as a printer cable. These are to connect your DJ, control it to your laptop. I would also have to RCA, RCA cables. These are to connect the master output on your DJ controller to the venues Mixer Channel input, and also have two auxiliary to RCA cables. These are in case you need to connect a follow-up to the venues mixer and play around and request on Spotify, or if your laptop starts being faulted or your DJ controller starts being faulty, you can connect your phone up to the venues mixer and player from Spotify to bite you some extra time and solve the issue out. Hopefully this won't happen to you. But if it does, you do have a cable there to save you. And it has happened to me many times before, even though playing from Spotify from your phone is not what you want to do better than complete silence. And it's good to have that peace of mind. So just to summarize, when looking for some speakers at home, search for DJ monitors or studio monitors. Go for active speakers with an RCA connection and make sure you get the right care books. It's not that important about the sound quality when you're first starting out, as long as you can hear the music clearly and a good volume, that's all that matters. And it's not essential to get their speakers straightaway. You can still learn to DJ in just your headphones when first starting out. I hope this helps when choosing your DJ speakers for your DJ setup. See you in the next video. 10. Summary: So they have it, those are my recommendations when it comes to getting a beginner DJs setup, the DJ software is the most important and it is the thing that is going to most impact your DJ setup. And the DJ software that I would recommend is record box. Next, I would suggest getting the cheapest DJ controller that comes with reco box DJ and also has all the recommended features to be able to DJ effectively, which for me is the pioneer DD J f x4, or the pioneer D, D J 400 as a second option, then you will need a pair of headphones. And when first starting out, any will do. But when you get to D Jane and venues, good pair of clothes back on, ear headphones are best. The PR I would recommend are the sanitizer HD 25. Then lastly, there are the speakers. These are not essential to get started with. You can learn to DJ, we've just your headphones. But if you were to get a PR, I will suggest the power of active studio monitors with RCA connections. I hope you've enjoyed this video series and gain some great value from it. If you do end up getting a DJ set up your own, make sure you take a picture and add it to the project section or discussion section below this video and let us know how it is. Feel free to check out all my other video courses I do and other blog articles all found at two vdj.com. Hope to see you again soon. Bye for now.