As a purely digital DJ what is the minimum I need to DJ in a club?

Hi Folks,

Firstly, I have never DJ'd in a club but it is my dream. I don't know if it is standard practice for clubs to provide equipment, such as amp, speakers, CDJs, etc or if you need to take your own. What is the minimum you need to have? Perhaps someone who has experience of playing in clubs can enlighten me please?

Secondly, bearing in mind the following factors:
-I don't want to scratch,
-I'll be sticking strictly to mp3s on my laptop disk, so no CDs or Vinyl.

I simply want to be able to play mp3 tracks, mix them in well, so beat matching and similar features would be important, some effects would be good. So assuming I get the opportunity to play a set at a club I want to be prepared. With so many components on the market, DJ Software, Audio Interfaces, DVS, etc I am very confused about what I need and the minimum I can get away with to be able to DJ in a club, and do it well

If you suggest I need an Audio Interface for example, it would be really helpful for me if you explain why I would need that and even recommend something.

I look forward to hearing from the pros out there

Thank you so much,

Zac

 

First of all, naturally you need a laptop. Make sure it runs stable which means optimizing it for Traktor. How to do this is thoroughly explained in some guides at the forums here.

Audio interface is important. Without it you can't cue (hear the track seperately from the house mix) and the sound quality is a LOT better when you use a good interface.

Then you need something to control Traktor with. This can be a midi controller or DVS. But as you are saying you want the most simple solution, so you will probably be looking at a midi controller. There are so much options out there and it really depends on what you want what you should get. In any case, look for something with which you can control 2 decks at least. That means browsing, loading, play, looping, FX, hotcues etc etc. You also need a mixer section if you mix externally.

Another option is to hook up your audio interface to the house mixer, then you can use external mixing mode and you only need a midi controller.

Then you need headphones. Clubs have them but you would want to practice at home so you will probably need them.

Last of all, make sure your software and drivers are updated and that everything is working correctly and make sure you have everything with you like laptop charger, a usb light if the visibility is bad etc etc.

Is this the kind of information you want ?

 

This is exactly the kind of information and advice I am looking for Sanderr, thanks a lot. Thanks for breaking things like 'cue' down for me as currently I am a complete novice and a lot of this is jargon which I am now learning. I still have further questions for you however and am likely to have more in future if you don't mind please.

That's an important point you mentioned about optimizing the laptop which I hadn't thought about, so I'll look into this as you have suggested. I have a Windows XP Laptop, would you say Mac is significantly better for DJ software such as Traktor or should I not worry about investing in a Mac?

Regarding DJ Software I am thinking Traktor Pro.

For Audio Interface would Audio 8 DJ be OK or would you recommend something else?

For midi controller I guess I could go with X1. What about the mixer section you mention, is this usually built into a midi controller?

"Another option is to hook up your audio interface to the house mixer, then you can use external mixing mode and you only need a midi controller."

Did you mean in this case using the house mixer as the midi controller so that a midi controller would not be required?

I am not sure yet why four decks are needed but since I am going to go for Traktor I may as well go Traktor Pro, I am sure the demos will show how 4 decks are utilized. Can you list a few midi controllers that can control 4 decks please and I can look into them.

I have no idea what you mean by internal versus external mixing, can you explain please?

Thanks again and much appreciated,

Zac

 

More questions is good. Always happy to help!

Okay here we go. I will try to be as understandable as I can.

-Laptop: Windows vs Mac is a long going debate. I will give you a few things to think about. It is a fact that macs are generally more stable, require less optimization and can achieve lower latency (latency is the time between you twisting a control and the moment it actually happens). On the other hand, if you take good care of your windows laptop, it can perform just like a mac. So if you're going to buy a computer specifically for DJing, then I'd recommend a mac. But if you are trying to find out about things it is absolute bogus to go and spend thousands of dollars on it. So I'd say to just stick with your windows laptop for now, optimize it and I am sure you'll have a great experience! What are the specs of your laptop?

-Audio interface: The Audio 8 DJ is a great interface. Drivers are rock-solid, audio-quality is superb and the card has a lot of inputs/outputs. While you might not need them now you will love the possibilities if you ever decide to upgrade to Traktor Scratch Pro (Vinyl Controlled) or when you start to use 4 decks. If you want to keep the costs low though, you could always start out with the Audio 2 DJ which is sufficient for 2 deck mixing, both in internal & external mixing mode (I'll explain this later, don't worry!)

Before I go any further now I'll give you a short explanation of midi controllers and mixers. A midi controller is a device with buttons and knobs that send out values. These values are then picked up by your software. For example, you push a button on the midi controller which sends out a signal, Traktor picks up that signal and activates the function you use for that button. This is a very basic explanation but it should give you an idea of how it works. Generally speaking, a midi controller may look like a hardware mixer, but all it does is control software functions

These software functions could be for example the mixing section in Traktor (the volume faders and equalizer buttons etc). So if you are using a midi controller to control Traktors mixing section, you are mixing internally (in the software)

A hardware mixer on the other hand is a device that gets an audio signal (from a CD player, soundcard or whatever) and lets you control it and then puts out a audio signal. Very simple explanation again, but it gets the point across I guess.
So if you are mixing in external mixing mode , you don't use Traktors mixing section. In this scenario you route each deck into an output of your soundcard, and then you connect that to a channel on a hardware mixer. For example deck A of Traktor gets routed into channel 1 on the hardware mixer and so on.

To conclude, the main difference is using Traktors mixer (software - internal mixing) or using a hardware mixer (hardware - external mixing)

Now to answer your question. What this means for you is that you would probably want a midi controller to control all the playback functions in any case. The mixing stuff can also be controlled by a midi controller but also with a hardware mixer.

So you definitely need a midi controller. The kontrol X1 is a very good option for this. You can use one to control 2 decks, or with different mappings you can control 4 decks with it. I generally like to have everything right at my hand and not use shift buttons to access functions, so I use 1 kontrol X1 for decks A & B, and another kontrol X1 for decks C & D. This is my personal preference though. But to start with 2 deck mixing, 1 kontrol X1 is enough. You could always add one later if you want the extra functions. The kontrol X1 does not have a mixer section. You can map that but it's not the most intuitive. So then you need something for the mixing stuff.

By now you probably understand that you could use a specialized midi controller for this, or use a hardware mixer.

By house mixer I meant using the hardware mixer in a club, which is external mixing. So you do not use it as a midi controller. I hope I made this difference clear.

I think this should be understandable, if not, feel free to ask specifically about things you do not get 100%

 

The easiest setup is:
laptop
software
2 stereo soundcard (such as the audio2)
midi controller with mixer section

With it you can play anywhere they have an amplifier (plug the soundcard into the amp), or indeed anywhere they have decks and a mixer (plug the soundcard into an input on the mixer and make room for your stuff).

I use a VCI-100, it has jogs and a mixer section, so you can use it for beatmatching etc.

 

Sanderr, you have indeed explained everything very well, thank you so much, you have been very helpful.

Thanks also lethal_pizzle, I'll look into the VCI-100.

The laptop I have is a windows XP, with 1GB Ram and 2.26GHz CPU which I think meets the minimum req for Traktor but as you mentioned I'll check what the forums say about this.

With the info you guys have given I will look into all the specs and buy my equipment over the next couple of weeks. I'll surely be in touch for advice from you once I start experimenting or if I have any further questions beforehand.

Thanks again,

Zac

 

That laptop should handle Traktor fine. Maybe you would want to get 2gb of RAM but that's about it.

 

I would HIGHLY recommend that you upgrade to 2 or more GB of ram (preferably 3+) I had a Macbook with the same specs and because I did everything intnernally with MIDI controllers it would run glitchy and the CPU meter would spike. Once I upgraded the RAM to 3GB that went away, for the most part, only if I was scratching on my 2nd of 2 MIDI controllers would it start to click a lil

 

experience, not at just dj'n in a club, but at track selection, mixing, knowing when to just drop a track in etc. sound efx work with drops. Just the basics of playing tunes for the crowd.

 

Thanks for these useful tips folks.