where to start

[2infamouz]

i kno it's sad, i make hiphop and never touched a turntable. What's a good way to jump into it? I bought this cheap "ion discover dj" thing but it seemed too fake to me if u can dig that. Is there any decently priced (~500$) gear that i can cop to start learning how to scratch ? FL wavetraveller isn't cutting it anymore.

 

[Fade]

You're killing me, man! You should have posted before buying that, lol.

$500 for a whole set up? Well nothing will compare to a good turntable like a Technics 1200 (shut up DP, don't start - I'm drinking), but to at least START, let's see.

This isn't too bad: http://www.turntablelab.com/dj_equipment/1/2888/63316.html

You can even throw this in a mixer for an awesome fader:
http://www.innofader.com/

Something like that. At least start with a direct drive turntable, don't even touch a belt drive, that's shit. And as long as you get a decent mixer that is listed on the Innofader site as compatible, you should be ok: http://www.innofader.com/compatible.php

 

[dacalion]

cosign 100% and I'm sober!

 

[2infamouz]

$500 for a whole set up? Well nothing will compare to a good turntable like a Technics 1200 (shut up DP, don't start - I'm drinking), but to at least START, let's see.

am i too cheap lol? I'm not trying to be a Dj or nothing i just want to put some dope scratches in my beats without using samples other ppl made.
thanks for the info tho ill check em out n do my homework before i buy somethin else this time

 

[Fade]

$500 is a good price if you want to just start out. It's not like you'll be pulling off some amazing scratches right away so it's a good place to start. Most guys start off with cheap belt drive tables and a shitty mixer with a fader so rough it takes a hammer and chisel to move it. So with what I quoted above, it's a good start!

 

[dacalion]

My suggestion for just adding some scratches @ $500.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/N4/

or even better...

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TraktorKontS2/

 

[thedreampolice]

Actually I agree with fade, 1200's are perfect. You know if you go to dj a club they will have them, if they break there are plenty of parts. The ONLY disagreement I had about 1200 is that they dont have even close to as much torq as some of the modern decks (ie my staton 120's), but who cares. They do a great job when I need to get my 120's fixed i TOTALLY wish I had gotten 1200's as they would be easier to get parts for.

get a direct drive PERIOD! And yes digging, and sampling off vinyl is part of hip-hop, you need to really understand this.

 

[dacalion]

cosign 100% and I'm sober!

My suggestion for just adding some scratches @ $500.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/N4/

or even better...

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TraktorKontS2/

@ayr0n - Let me clarify this...I cosigned with fade because the best way to do it is with 1200's no doubt, but it's also the most expensive way.

Then I posted 2 links of the best way to do it for $500. I'm sure that I read you saying that you were NOT trying to do any DJ'ing and you just wanted to add scratches to your beats that were NOT sampled from other peoples music.

Well that pretty much eliminates Vinyl, plus if you go with turntables, in order to scratch your own music, you will also need a DJ interface like Serato Scratch which happens to run about $500 by itself. Also with turntables + Serato, you will NOT be scratching vinyl, you will be scratching mp3's but with the feel of vinyl.

If you want to add scratches of your own work to your beats for $500, controllers are the way to go PERIOD. You don't need 1200's to do that. No replacing needles, no record burns, no replacing control disks, no trying to get that perfect setup of tonearm weight and stylus pressure, no searching for old vinyl in good shape, none of that...read first, then plug and play! Good luck on either. =)

 

[Formant024]

No disputing the 1200's, they're build like a tank, i got 3 of em and 2 are over 20 years old and still maintaining... On a budget i'd go for vestax pdx tt's. Imo, best mixer on a budget would be a vestax pro 6 (t mixer), with or without innofader.

Cheapest i/o for tt's, get NI scratch duo 2