So you want to try your hand at being a DJ, and why not? It’s a great profession and definitely a very specialized one. Disc jockeys have been around for decades, and if you’re ready to give it a try, you could be in line to discover your next great hobby or perhaps even your new career. Before you can do so, however, there are a few things that you will need to make sure you have, at least in terms of equipment.

Obviously some equipment is going to be more expensive than other equipment, and technology has changed over the years, moving from analogue to digital, and allowing for more inclusive formats, but the base of the equipment is still the same, and the most important piece of advice we would give you is this: don’t get overwhelmed.

When you are on the search for reliable and affordable DJ equipment for sale you are going to find a ton of different options, some of which will be very easy to understand, and some that will be very complicated. As a beginner DJ, you first need to learn the basics by purchasing gear that doesn’t cost much, and secondly by sticking to only what you need. The more complex equipment certainly has its place, and you will undoubtedly work your way up to them, but for the moment, let’s take a look at the basics, and what extras you might want to consider.

 

The Computer

There Are many different types of computers but they all tend to serve the same purpose when it comes to running a DJ booth or station. If you are more of a stationary type person, a typical desktop computer will do the trick. If, on the other hand you find yourself moving around a lot, a laptop computer would be ideal. The most important thing however is making sure  the computer you choose has adequate RAM and a decent processor.

At this point you can probably slack on the video card as you will not need high graphics output to play music, but do note that you will need a good sound card to output audio. Remember, without a good computer, the rest of your equipment may very well be useless whether you are talking about DJ controllers, DJ audio interfaces, or any number of other items.

Your Headphones

When you’re mixing music, you need to make sure that you can actually hear it, even if you can’t hear anything else that’s going on around you. Most club settings will be a bit noisy, to say the least, and you need to be able to hear the finite details of each song. The right headphones will not only need to be comfortable (you’ll be wearing them for hours), they will also need to be capable of noise cancellation.

A good pair of phones will probably cost somewhere around $300 to start but they will be well worth it.  As you learn more about the art of DJ’ing, you may be able to do what is known as ‘waveriding’, otherwise known as DJ’ing without headphones, but this takes some practice, and you will need to get a bit more experience under your belt before you try to undertake it.

Your Speakers

DJ equipmentIn almost all DJ equipment packages you are going to find a pair of speakers which you will use to play the mix through. Now sometimes you won’t necessarily need these simply because the venue you are playing at will probably have speakers set up throughout, but if you are practicing at home and want to perfect your art, it probably won’t hurt to have a good set. They can be expensive, but if you are working as a DJ, it is an investment that will most certainly be returned on

The DJ Controller

If you’ve ever watched a DJ movie from the old days then you’ve probably see the turntable and perhaps wanted to give it a try. Well, you still can, but a DJ controller, often known as DJ Mixer, and it has replaced the typical turntable. With this you will be able to control your computer based DJ software pretty easily, and it is considered to be one of the most useful pieces of DJ equipment on the market. Yes, you could use your computer as the DJ controller if you really wanted to, but let’s face it, having a physical controller on hand is definitely the way to go, especially if you are a professional.

These are a few of the items you will need to get started and as we said before, there are many other pieces of equipment that you can consider employing as you gain more experience. For now, get your feet wet and enjoy the journey.