Good starting equipment for Producing/DJing?

Hey guys, new member here.

i've been producing for a couple years now, i've dabbled in several genres but lately i've just been making Electro House and starting to make Progressive House.
I use Ableton now but i'm still pretty new with it. I started off with Fruity Loops.
I've only produced music using my computer as of now. and i'm looking into getting a midi controller or perhaps a few to speed up the process.
because doing mostly all of it on the computer is kind of a slow process for me. I haven't had any experience playing live or practicing with the equipment.
but i want to get into DJing eventually too.

I've looked into some different controllers for producing and potentially playing live with. But it seems i might need a lot more money for the actual DJing equipment for live acts.

But my main focus is on producing right now.
I'm looking for some cheaper midi controllers that are still decent. I've looked into possibly the Akai APC20, which from the looks of it has great Producing and Live playing potential for the price of it.
but it doesn't cover all the aspects of producing.

i've also looked into the Korg nano set, the pricing seems pretty good for all the capabilities they have.

and for DJing ive looked into the Numark Mixtrack which looks like a decent budget mixer.

But i guess my final question is, to those of you who have been doing this a lot longer and are more experienced than me.
what would be the most important piece of equipment I would need to start off?
would you recommend any of the ones i mentioned, or are there better options out there?
looking for something somewhere in the $150-$200 range, maybe a bit more depending on it's capabilities.

thanks, Josh

 

It's all about music and sound... start with a good sound card, Audio 2Dj, Audio 4 dj...*then sprinkle few toys around.

Mixtrack is a really decent entry-level controller, I have one myself. Not built like tank though.

Akai LPD 8 are great and cheap, perfect for some cue points, effects or whatever else you can imagine, really powefull cheap controller <100$ if you don't mind to map it yourself.

Akai APC 40 or MPD 32 for Ableton are smart choices, not sure about their newer model MPD26 etc etc

Maschine is an higher level controller/software combo, can be usedd within Ableton.

 

Yeah I figured a soundcard is probably one of the most important components for DJing.
You think the Mixtrack along with a decent soundcard would work for playing live? or is it not really sturdy enough to carry around too much and play with for long?

yeah i see it's pretty plastic looking lol, so i have my worries. but it still looks pretty decent.

Oh i didn't know about the LPD 8, i'll look into that. that sounds pretty good.

The Akai APC40 looks amazing, it has so many capabilities. but it might be a bit pricey for me.
the APC20 is a bit cheaper, but i don't really know how you would do effects on it. so i'm a little worried about that too.

i'll check into those, thanks a lot for the input

 

If you take care of your Mixtrack, you're not going to have major problem with before 1-2 year or so. I used it a lot, and still sometimes here and there nothing to worry about. I carry it with me on all my gig,, sometime I use it for effects, sometime for Djing... or as spare.

I just find that Eq pot get loose pretty quick, but they don't fail, they don't give MIDI garbage... just loose.

 

I second the APC40. It comes with it's own version of Ableton to get you started with productions, and there's TSI files that turn it into a pretty good controller for Traktor.

 

I agree, i'd start with the soundcard, the akai mpd24 is pretty good if you want to keep your costs down and gives you 6 very nice faders that you can assign for your dj set, also 8 rotary so you can chuck all your tracks to 2 send channels and put a eq3 on them for your dj-ing and assign them to your rotary faders like a mixer, it's got 16 pads and 4 channels so thats 64 assignable pads, ive used it with the first 4 faders doing the 4 audio tracks volume, and the next 2 doing the send volume but it's upto you it's a midi after all so u can set it up as you want, the pads are great 4 your drum rack also and real well built. i've also got the xone 1d which is also good with ableton or you can get quite cheeky and use the m-audio oxygen 8, great 4 the money and you could set the rotary 4 the eq's much the same, i've seen one where someone has removed some key's and painted them so they know that the green key for example launches a certain clip, 2 key's together will go up and down clips etc and there dead cheap 4 what you get.

 

Oh awesome! the MPD24 sounds like it might be a perfect choice then.
I live in Canada so the prices here are usually slightly higher, or the shipping prices for buying online are sometimes ridiculous.
but i'll see if i can find a decently priced one somewhere.

thanks guys

 

west or east side in canada?

 

East, i'm in Ontario

 

OK, I live on Montréal's southshore, so check out http://www.mydjgear.ca/ This one is Solotech's online store, their pricing are decent and they can match most competitor. Don't hesitate to contact them directly online, or if you want, I have some direct e-mail contact. If you need them, send me a PM. Highely recommended by me. They are my friend BTW... no I don't make any quote on it.

There's also Moog Audio (there's one in Toronto), Steve Music, Italmelodie... HTH

 

Ok thanks.
that looks like a pretty good site.
i looked at some other ones, but the shipping to here was a bit pricey since i think they were american sites.
but free shipping over $100 is pretty sweet

i was also thinking of checking like craigslist or something for maybe a slightly cheaper buy.
i've heard of Moog Audio, ive heard it's a good place to buy in toronto.
i kind of forgot about there though haha

i live in the GTA so i could check that out

 

I think an Audio8 is your best bet for a soundcard for 3 reasons

1)Mic input - If you want to record vocals or mic instruments

2) Headphone monitoring

3) It can be used with any other dj & producing software (except scratch live)


All you have to do is add midi controllers and you can get those a dime a dozen. eg. 'Icon I.dj controller'.

Btw I live in Ajax ON.