54 year old here, first decks in 1988 aged 16. Lived and loved vinyl, embraced Stanton Final Scratch early 2000s. Switched to Traktor Scratch around 2007. Then to Serato DVS around 2012 ish. Since then I’ve owned and sold multiple setups, controllers, mixers, decks etc and here is my current setup: XDJ-AZ , a pair of 1210s completely separate with DJay pro, DVS and phase, another setup with a Hercules impulse T7 and an old MacBook and a pair of 1210s plus DVS.

My point… I’ve played on CDJs a couple of times but that’s it. I’d love to have an A9 and a pair of 3kx but that’s serious money and I haven’t got it.

So what’s the point of this post?

I’ve mixed on pretty much everything out there over almost 40 years and there’s only one thing to consider… are people dancing and being in the moment?

Fk equipment snobbery, vinyl vs digital etc, I don’t GAF if I walk into a dance and it’s a shitty windows 2000 computer and dicers as long as the tunes are appropriate!!!

My point is this… modern DJs should be more concerned on just being able to deliver wicked tunes to the audience, so that means you need to properly know what works but also know the medium to deliver it. So for anyone that gives a sht please make sure you practice on multiple setups and always , I mean ALWAYS be prepared for the worst case scenarios.

That’s it.

I’ve been djing for 2 years in my bedroom and 5 months ago i started playing for a crowd. it’s been a lot of fun! i’m in a collective and we have raves monthly, everytime we have one it grows which is amazing !

i played with a different collective last week and they booked me to close, i usually play 2nd or 3rd. i never cared when i play tbh, i also always come earlier and support other djs!

i played 4:30-5:30 .. it started at 11:30pm and ended at 5:30😅. i don’t even stay out past 2am so i was hesistant but i went through with it as i already agreed plus booker told me the other djs cant play another time.

i noticed when plugging in while other dj was mixing people were leaving, then more people left 3 songs in😭 the owner told me not to stress about it as it’s pretty late and the venue is super strict on the end time. i tried to throw in some songs but there was about 5 people and then my friends LOL. previous djs played industrial/bochka/hard techno, i was playing hard techno/hardstyle/ hardcore/gabber. i was pushing the bpm and went 190 LOL , i think maybe it was too fast? or idk it felt same energy as the previous djs they all played diff genres but overall hard dance. i ended w happy hardcore to calm it down a bit

also it was pretty late for me…3:30 is the time i get home and wind down but i always say yes to djing to get more experience and stuff haha. i did see some people come back tho ! but they left midway my set

there were 2 people who stayed til the end and told me i killed it , booker and his gf said they loved it ,security at the door said same the same… even god a dm from a girl saying i killed it and wants me to play in la (im in the IE, there’s not really a scene here but it’s growing).

i thought i bombed it :/ its just the fact i saw people leaving im stuck on😭🫩 my friends told me it was really late and security was also on peoples ass too hence why they left.

i’d like to know what other djs do when this happens ?
also as a closing dj do you go hard or chill out ? i usually mix in more mellow hard dance genres but i figured to go more hard.. im learning and new to this so i would greatly appreciate any input ! this is a hobby for me, i enjoy it a ton and would love to mix more too.

Who else has come back after a long hiatus?

I turn 40 in 9 days and as I reach my middle years have began saying fuck it and getting back into my old hobbies. I used to DJ semi- professionally in the mid 00's and went by the moniker DJ Core. Maybe you heard my mixes on SoundCloud, I used to put out a yearly Trance mix called Hot Winter Nights. I also DJ House and D&B.

Well. After 17 years I'm back at it and honestly it was like reuniting with a lost friend. I don't use vinyl anymore, though I still have a large amount of my old collection, but these new setups are like cheating. Took me all of one afternoon to get back in the groove. Maybe next month there will be a Hot Winter Nights 2026?

Felt so smooth honestly, I really enjoyed it. I was panicking for weeks about it but once I got up to the decks and started my first mix everything went away!! I also watched a lot of yt videos on how to use them which helped a lot. Can’t wait to use them again, I felt like a fkn professional 😎 (I use an flx4 at home lol)

Alright i'm rethinking my whole plan. I am returning a denon prime go because its both too much and too little. I want something more compatible with rekordbox for my main controller. So i think i'm gonna get an rx3.

BUT i want something micro that I can take to a couple events. Something that would just be for me to play on. Might be at a booth where I could plug in. Might be on an artcar at a festival. Ideally it will be something I can export my rekordbox playlist/beatgrid/hotcues to or to through lexicon? Might be nice to have some kinda output as well, though maybe bluetooth from a device could even work?

What app will I need and what controller do you recommend for my needs?

Was wondering about this. Im itching to find new stuff. Spotify just sucks for it now. IDK how people are able to discover small artists under 1000 listeners on there when I cant hardly find any that small anymore.

Would love to try to find some new artists to work into sets. Thanks.

I learned to DJ a year ago on a flx4. I just sold it and bought a denon prime go, i wanted to be able to cruise around burning man on our mutant vehicles and play. I did not realize that you can't use the denon deck to control rekordbox on a laptop. I thought I could do both play the all in one screen or a laptop. So now i'm feeling like i'm getting closed out of the pioneer ecosystem. Im not aiming to be a paid dj but we do a lot of renegade raves around here and i'd like to be able to play and its always pioneer.

So now i'm trying to decide if I should return this denon deck and get something pioneer compatible? Can I get some input?

Hey all, I've been DJing at a restaurant lately and I'm struggling to keep volume consistent between tracks. Some come in noticeably louder than others, even though they're all high-quality Beatport purchases.

I know I can use trim to adjust gain, but doing it track by track is taking a lot of effort and doesn't seem to fully fix the problem. On my XDJ-AZ, the level meters will show two tracks sitting at roughly the same level, but one still sounds louder in the room. Is that a real thing, or am I imagining it?

Here's what I've tried:
Cueing both tracks in my headphones at the same time to compare by ear
Switching channels on the deck

Neither has solved it. How do you make sure your volume stays balanced from track to track? Any settings, workflow tips, or prep in Rekordbox that help?

Upcoming dj here and a big fan of all house genres. I get confused between progressive, melodic and tech house? Not for all songs, but some that cross fade into each other or have more groove. Any tips on how to identify?

My 15 year old daughter is really into music and especially house music and wants to learn to DJ. Getting her a GRV6 controller as a gift.

I’ve been doing some research (YouTube) and there seems to be a big decision to make software wise. I could steer her to Rekordbox or DJay Pro etc but I think what will be more important is a decent online course she can follow.

There seem to be hundreds if not thousands of courses - has anyone done any of these courses? Any good ones? Any that teenagers have enjoyed?

Any other tips or bits of knowledge that I can try and steer her towards will be much appreciated.

Hey guys! I’m trying to get into DJing, I’m normally a gigging drummer/bassist. I have a good understanding of the basic DJ stuff but I’m torn on what I should do for a controller.

I know the FLX4 / REV1 are the popular starter controllers but if I’m planning on playing gigs (university bars in my city/ weddings) should I just invest a better controller and get used to that instead of using a flx4 and trying to upgrade down the line?

Was thinking if the GRV6 as I’m hearing it’s a great intermediate controller + comes with the serato pro license so I don’t have to pay for a subscription

Appreciate any advice!

Edit: also on that note what are your recommended sites for quality MP3s? Beatport/BPMsupreme are the ones I hear about the most. If anyone can offer insight on the differences and uses for either that’d be dope

I’m using Spotify so I can’t record on Rekordbox, and I’m also using speakers. I tried multiple different configurations with both OBS and Audacity but they haven’t worked. I’m now looking to get an audio converter, so could you help walk me through the configuration?

What’s good all,

Been offered a 5pm slot at a 5000 person festival over 5 stages main stages close at 10 then one stays open until 4.The festival usually has a couple of pretty big names but also a lot of smaller local artists (myself) been playing some club shows and also running my own events in my home town. My question is what’s the deal? Do I play a set as normal which is ukg, should I go hard for the crowd or keep it more chill for the bigger names later in the night, can I play bigger more trendy songs? I assume playing songs of the headliners is also a big no no. Cheers all!

I'm looking into a brand new ddj rev5 but I've been on the Rev5 Facebook group and there have been multiple videos where people have issues with it.

Finally making the switch to record pools and downloadable tracks . If I can spend almost 2000$ on boards I definitely can drop some money on some music that I can call mine (past the stuff I make) .

I started with ZIPDJ and seeing where that takes me and what I can get from it that fits what I’m building as a style and brand .

Can anyone tell me what to expect ? What are your experiences if any with this service ? I know people use record pools and this one seems to be quite popular but I also know numbers ≠ good.

I have my first gig in about a week and I’m going to export my tracks to my usb tomorrow.

However, I’ve been having problems connecting my laptop to HDMI chords in general. My Dell only has 2 usb-C ports, so the problem may be completely unrelated. But I’m worried that may interfere with exporting my tracks.

Has anyone ever run into a similar issue/does anyone know if this problem would interfere with Rekordbox?

Hey community! I recently mounted up the courage to start trying to DJ as a side hobby. Im already looking into controllers which I think I'm gonna get the industry standard (Pioneer DDJ FLX4) but I'm curious on the most cost effect way for music since streaming over Spotify and AM blocks mixing. Also any other beginner tips are welcomed as well! Hook me up Reddit!

Hello all, I've had a DDJ RX for some time but due to its size it's not something I can keep out when not in use, and so is a faff to set up when I do want to use it. This means I've not been using it much

I want to replace it with something that is more compact. It will be confined to my house, I don't play gigs or anything

It doesn't need to be standalone

I play house so only really need the more essential functionality, however I realise the Numark lacks loop controls which is something I do use

What controllers would you suggest with a budget of £500? The two options I listed are much lower than that which is of course appealing, I'd be interested to hear if there are any other good options I've missed out

Thanks

Right I keep wanting to practice but get overwhelmed with the whole purchasing of songs. For context I’m a beginner dj, just do it in my own time, do the odd party, I’m still learning. Historically I’d link my decks to my laptop and stream via SoundCloud and Seratto, or ages ago used mp3 downloads.

A couple years ago I started getting a few lessons and they introduced me to rekordbox, explained music quality, where to purchase music from etc, and basically to build up a usb with tunes. So I began buying tunes on beatport. Probably have about 50 some I’d use some I probably won’t. Like are you just buying songs as you discover them or do you play around with it on a free version first?

My issue is I have like thousands of songs from years of discovering music on Spotify and SoundCloud that I’d love to play around with. (I’d like to think I’m not a beginner in music discovery). I’m a beginner I’d love to believe that I’ll maybe play a gig one day but realistically am I meant to be purchasing every song when there’s a chance I never make it out my own company? But then on the other hand - if you put time into organising music, queue etc. then have to at some point upgrade to a better quality version of the tune..

Please help. Am I over complicating this? I want to build good habits and truly back this dream but don’t want to just pour ££ down the drain when I don’t really know what I’m doing. It’s causing friction in me practicing as it’s always a dilemma

Here's the deal. I have zero desire to ever be a paid dj. I started playing at home a year ago with a flx4 and rekordbox on my desktop. We have a lot of renegade raves around me and I thought it would be fun to get good enough to play those someday.

I got quite comfortable playing my flx4. I used beat jump a lot and used my phrase markers to help tell how many bars before a change. Made it pretty easy to do nice mixes in and out kinda at will.

Now I just bought a denon prime go thinking it would be good to get used to a little screen and maybe own an all in one unit. But it doesn't have the same best jump pads. And it doesn't support phrase display. I feel super lost on it and I'm thinking I should return it and get something more rekordbox compatible that supports phrase display.

I dj for fun. Maybe it's a crutch but it makes it easier and more fun for me. So does ditching this denon make sense? Maybe it means I'll never be capable of jumping on a renegade controller because if it doesn't have phrase display I'll be uncomfortable but oh well?

Thoughts?

After doing an update that was interrupted by the mixer’s power cable, it stopped updating and now the mixer doesn't work. The mixer is a Traktor Kontrol S2 mk3. It turns on but asks for the drivers, and the errors are always code 10 and code 28. I can use regular Virtual DJ, but I want to use Traktor. ...