Acapellas4U.co.uk

So I am going to be getting some DJ equipment soon, I am going the CD route, seeing that I currently don't own any vinyl. I am thinking the CDJ-800's are the was to go in the price range of about $500-800 each. The Denon S3500 looks pretty nice, but it seems like the Pioneer is probably the way to go. Anyone have any experience comparing both? I don't really have the chance to get out there and play with either before buying. You can only do so much testing in a store on whatever system they happen to be running. I have about $2k total to play around with, so if anybody has any sort of help or direction as to how I should spend this cash between a mixer and some players, it would be greatly appreciated.

well mate being from the uk im not sure on US prices but if u r serious about what you do and are on a budget the 800s would fit perfect for home use along with a pioneer djm 600 that wud be a quality set up right there but if u ahve more get 1000mk3s and a pioneer djm 800 - but thats a fortune! cdj 800s are good and u will find alot of clubs have them n e way, from the 800s u instantly know most features on 1000s n e way! i bought 400s coz im poor lol and i find them quality played out in a club on 1000s for first time last week and i knew the basics straight away no problem. go for 800s and a djm 600 mate bang on!

Cool Thanks for replying. I was thinking that the 800's would suit me real well, I definitely can not afford a 1000 setup (it would be around $4k US). I can swing the 800's and a DJM600 mixer though. Gaining reassurance that the Pioneer setup is good eases the pain my bank account is going to feel in two weeks when I buy everything.

2 800's MKII & 1 DJM 600 mixer is just fine!

i'd say that the 400's are better than the 800's even though they're cheaper! many more effects n fun stuff to play around with..
but anyway any pioneer is the way to go if you ask me

deevid wrote:i'd say that the 400's are better than the 800's even though they're cheaper! many more effects n fun stuff to play around with..
but anyway any pioneer is the way to go if you ask me

i agree. i've used a cdj 400 before but not an 800. but from the stuff i've herd about the 800 in terms of effects and stuff. the 400 is better

Dont buy a DJM600 mixer. Basically its crap its old and past it.

Pioneers CDJs are all very good. It depends on what you want to do with them as to which you should buy. The CDJ400s ar pretty new and you can play tracks from a flashdrive rather than burning CD's all the time. Its a great little CDJ for home use and straight mixing. The CDJ800 is also very good.

More modern pioneer mixers like the DJM400, DJM700 and DJM800 are all good but you can get better mixers for the money as they are VERY over priced. Only the DJM400 isn overpriced in their current line up.

I currently use a Ecler NUO 5 mixer. Ecler mixers are fantastic and well worth considering. I also havve Denons DNS3500's but would recommend going for pioneer CDJs rather than Denon

My set up
[img]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/s4pseid/decks/decks006.jpg[/img]

I have to say I quite like the Denon DN-S3500's. I think they are a little more instantly accessible then the CDJ1000's and I think have a better feature set. The effects are nicely laid out to the left of the platter and you can also use the platter to selectively control the main source (CD/MP3) or the built-in sampler. There's a new 'version' of the DN-S3500 called the DN-HS5500 and that little box o' tricks is just mind blowing! It takes the S3500's look and combines that with some unique features like actually being 2 decks in 1 (with two stereo outs!) you can even play both tracks from the same CD or the optional HD or a combination of both. Its got MIDI capability, USB, computer controllable and all sorts! Its truly an astounding bit of kit and its easier to list what it doesn't do!

Anyways, if you can afford I'd still go for the CDJ1000's for the moment as this is what you are most likely to encounter out in the real world.

As far as mixers go I'd take a look at the brand new Behringer DDM4000, this uses the Pioneer DJM800 as a target, takes all its features and then just goes completely mad!! Internally its a digital mixer (using high quality DACs) and as such you can do some completely insane things with it, far more than a 'traditional' analogue mixer like the Pioneer. Effects can be assigned here, there and everywhere, it is a MIDI controller, EVERYTHING can be tweaked, changed and user profiles stored! Best of all its very cheap for the what you get too... Behringer has certainly just raised the bar with that little powerhouse!

I ended up grabbing the CDJ-800mk2's and I love those things. I bought a crappy Behringer mixer for like $175 but am going to order a nice mixer this week. I was planning on getting the Pioneer 600, but now I am not sure after what a few people have said in this thread. I am going to have to look into the Behringer DDM4000 and the DJM 700. Thanks guys for the input on the CD players though, I think the 800's are great and I got a CRAZY good deal on them because I used to work at the store I got them from. Now I have to decide on a mixer.

you don't have any vinyl? so what, get some used technics 1200's for like 450 then cop the rane ttm 57sl mixer. built in serato!

I have yet to make a mixer upgrade, after checking out the finances it may be a little bit. I am going to have to looking into the rane ttm 57sl because I would love to have serato. I would love to have some vinyl, then I got to start building a record collection. Vinyl is definitely something I would to have around, it just seems essential for a DJ to have some vinyl IMO.

i rekon that cdj 800s are defiantely a good thing to have at home. most clubs seems to have cdj 1000s but if you can mix on the 800s then youll be fine on the 1000s and thus save yourself a few hundred pounds/dollars. the best mixer i think is the djm800 but it is expensive

the 800's are the best all around value. 3500's are nice but you rarely find them in nightclubs.

that setup is insane....

Yeah, the pic of the sey-up is pretty hot.
The Gemini's dont work well when 'Master pitch' is enabled though which is disappointing.
They are fantastic for playing acapellas on tho.
Ecler mixers are so under rated, basically they are a Vestax with a better lay out.
(or in some cases a Vestax with a different badge!)
Why dont they get more recognition? Spanish girls are hot, whats wrong with their PA equipment?!?
The S3500's are good fun to play with but so is a Vauxhall Nova GSI.
If anyone from Denon R&D reads this post, take note.....
Stop being tighter than a ducks arse and use micro-switches!!!
The only excuse for your crappy carbon contact buttons would be to make money from
servicing!
And as you dont even service your products yourself you cant use this as an excuse.
At least Charles Hyde & Son will keep a roof over their head!

[Ouch, and rant over! Tired and grumpy]

Got to tell you the denon 3500's tend to get a little wacky when they get hot, speeding up and slowing down in the middle of a song. Ecler is under rated, but you're not gonna see them in the clubs, so IMO practice on what you'll be using in the club. CDJ's and DJM's.
As for the DJM600 being crap, nothing could be farther from the truth. Probably the best entry level professional mixer on the market, and again, once you know it mixing with the 800 is a cinch.
Are Pioneer products over priced? Absolutely. But A-B test them with any other manufacturers product and you'll see (or hear) why they have us over a barrel with them being the industry standard.

njslipmat wrote:Got to tell you the denon 3500's tend to get a little wacky when they get hot, speeding up and slowing down in the middle of a song

My Denons have been used and abused for 18months now for hours at a time and have never had any of the above issues and have been 100% reliable. How long have you owned some Denon 3500's

njslipmat wrote:As for the DJM600 being cr*p, nothing could be farther from the truth. Probably the best entry level professional mixer on the market, and again, once you know it mixing with the 800 is a cinch.

The DJM600 is cr*p compared to other mixers that sell for around the same price. The new pioneer DJM mixers are great but the DJM600 is old and inferior to pioneers current DJM line up

Hey DanTheManc Where did you get your cd stand from?

badbrotherinc wrote:Hey DanTheManc Where did you get your cd stand from?

I got the deck stand and CD player bracket from decks.co.uk They was quite expensive but it very good quality


http://www.decks.co.uk/products/storage ... efour/x_30
http://www.decks.co.uk/products/storage ... our/ucd001

Edited to say I have just noticed you are from America. The stand and CD bracket are made by sefour if you wanted to check if they are available in any stores in America?

Sorry took a while to reply, been busy as hell. I work in professional audio sales and tech at the largest location on the east coast. The problems that I mentioned with the DNS3500's have been first hand. I was really thinking hard about getting them and within the last 6 months I've had three different clients complain about them overheating and getting wacky and then one of the demo decks started doing the same thing. But if yours have been trouble free their probably gonna stay that way. I definitely think the features and layout are great, thats why I almost got them as a second set of decks.
As for the 600, it's not much more than the 4, a lot less than the 8, and has been prob free for me for years. And with the layout being real similar to the 800, going from that to an 8 when playing a club is a cinch. though I gotta say I still use my 909 once in a while and think its the best of the 10".

A little update of my rig, I am loving the CDJ-800's and could not be happier with them. I have a Vestax PMC-500 coming today that I snagged brand new for $700, I am really excited to play around with that thing today. I have played around on the DJM-800 and its quite a nice mixer and easy to transfer to.