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introduction : types of CDJ : functions : CDJs Quite simply they are crap. Utter crap and I don't want one. I'm not into CDJs and was totally put off by the poor versions of yesteryear. It was like standing in a booth and operating a hifi. No hands-on stuff and the drawer ejecting itself if you caught it with your belt. Not good whilst in mid mix. Even worse if its playing on its own. A couple of places I have played at had them and its safe to say the TTs always stole the available space in my heart and that my fellow DJ's why I've always been into TTs and vinyl. Casting all that into the deepest Pits of Doom (and very much the past) I am very happy to announce that my eyes have been well and truly ripped open and there are in fact some serious bits of kit now available, giving digital mixing its well earned place on this website. I used to hate them. Now I want one. I never thought I'd say that......in fact I promised myself that in a naive way many moons ago and a few people may even have heard those words pass my lips.
As with turntables there are several price brackets to be seen in this area, as with all DJing equipment. The principal is the same - the more it costs you the better the overall quality and functions will be. A top line CDJ can costs far more than the best deck on the market, but is it really worth all that extra? Once you've finished reading this, check the CDJ tutorial in the dj tutorial section for a brief example of what a CDJ can bring to your mixes. The main let down with the cheaper models, just as an example is scratching. Although all CDJs will play a single track on a CD some limit you (by the poor componentry and limited technology within them) when it comes to the more precision required actions like scratching. Imagine you are holding a piece of vinyl stationary on a turntable. When you push the record back and forth, the stylus reads the information stored in the groove and the sound produced through your speakers or headphones will be accurate to the movement of your hand on the vinyl. The speed at which you do this back and forth action is irrelevant and the playback will be accurate as long as the TT is calibrated properly and the needle stays in the groove. On a CDJ this isn't always the case. The CDJ reads information from the CD via a laser as it would with any stand alone hifi separate. If you do this simple scratching movement quickly on a low-end cheapo CDJ the technology may not be able to reproduce the small section of the track which will cause a digital and audible glitch in the playback. Quite simply it can't keep up with you and misses bits out. This when scratching can sound appalling and will ruin the controlled and accurate sound you are trying to produce. CDJs are a definite try before you buy. It is also worthy of note that compatibility of the CD itself will be an extra you will pay for. A common misconception is that all CDJs will read CDs that have had MP3s burned onto them. Its not an original format for a CD so if you want this feature make sure you check it has it before you go spending. Scratching on CDJs I don't want to get into product details but will say that there is also a considered industry standard CDJ that the big clubs tend to use. Very much like the Technics is to the vinyl set up, clubs will mostly have Pioneer CDJ1000s. These may be out of your price range as they are a serious wedge of cash. However, if you wish to progress to playing at the more established clubs in your area what better way to prove how good you are by learning (and practicing on) what you will mostly use playing out. Yes some will say buy the Numark CDX if you are into scratching but there is no point buying one, practicing 8 hours a day until you're a Mini-Qbert then finding out the place where you have been booked only has the Pioneers. You can see where I'm going here ...... On this note anywhere that does cater towards hip hop /turntablism will have decks nonetheless so you are better learning to scratch on a TT. I personally prefer it anyway having hand on vinyl but the scope and functionality of a CDJ can bring a whole new dimension to mixing. Scratching on a CDJ can be awkward on certain models as the jog wheel can be seen to hinder the movement. You have less space for hands on movement basically so some people prefer vinyl because of this. Also I have never seen anyone entering the DMC with CDJs. Not sure if that's a rule in there or not but if not then there must be a very good reason. Personally if I could afford one, I'd have one. I have a 2 channel mixer and would want to be able to layer all three together. Maybe if I had 600 quid I didn't know what to do with then maybe I'd get by! Availability Most CDJs are relatively expensive when compared to a TT and the reason is this. A CDJ can be programmed as you are playing a track to loop sections or even at the press of a button skip to an exact point of a song you are playing. This isn't possible on a turntable as it would mean lifting the needle off the current groove and plonking it exactly where you want on the record without pausing the music. And hoping no-one will notice. Not very likely. instead you'd need two copies of the record one on each TT and cut between them. You're almost in the realms of turntablism here whereas some models of CDJ can do this at the press of a button, mid track and it will leap there instantaneously. As with TTs if you buy the best you will be able to sell them for relatively little loss further down the line should you decide you want to give up DJing (God forbid) and pursue the life of a Monk. The loss you make will be little and you'll sell them no problems I guarantee you. People will look to upgrade from starter CDJs once they've had them a while. If you want cheap crap ones Ebay will be full of them. Forums are a great way of getting free and impartial advice so I'd suggest you read those before buying the first type you come across. The Third Deck Option......now we're talking So you are researching this and thinking about a CDJ as a third deck cause you love your vinyl and that's how it is. Don't let me get in the way of that thought. I'd never sell my decks (there I go again - never say never). I'll be mixing when I'm 85. I shall be buried alongside my Technics. They'll outlive me as well I should imagine. First things first though. Before you rush out and purchase your new 600 quid mega-beast of DJing equipment and max out that newly acquired student credit card, you need to ensure you can attach it and have enough inputs on the mixer you currently own. If you want to be able to mix your two TTs and the CDJ all at once you'll need a three channel mixer. A two channel mixer with vinyl and CD line switches will be fine as long as you don't plan on playing all three together live in the mix. You'll only be able to play two TTs or a TT and the CDJ at any one time. So what's the scope? Just as a starter you could sample all you're own quotes from films or whatever (no infringement of copyright is being encouraged here and is just being used as an example), burn them onto CD and thy are there at the press of a button. Lots of them. Potentially hundred on one CD. Using the pitch slider as you'd find on a normal deck, you can then stretch it to fit over a breakdown for example. No one else will have done that sample how you have over that specific break before. It allows so much extra creativity to be brought to a mix. You can pre-prepare bits or just add them as you mix. Ocean sounds, wind through trees. If you can find it on CD you can incorporate it. And if you can't find it, make the noise yourself on software/via microphone, distort it and make it different using other software, then burn it with all the others. There really is no limit. And a CD costs you about 20p. Bit cheaper than £6.50 per 12" record isn't it. There is expense up-front in the technology itself, yes I agree but a whole new perspective and very cheap to add CDs to your collection. Legal downloads will see you getting the up-front tunes you want and you can even transfer all your vinyl to CD. In MP3 you are looking at anywhere from 100+ tunes per CD that are recorded at a decent bit rate. For more information on Recording decks to CD click here for the PC tutorial The Tutorials OK, so you've read all that and you're just as cynical about the whole affair as you were when you started reading it. I don't blame you. Honestly they are good. Really, yes. Not the cheap ones, they're still crap. I still hate those. For the purposes of this site with the help of Funked Up (Leicester based) I have created a some tutorials to not only help those budding CDJ-ers but to rip your cynical peepers open as well. Hopefully a two-pronged attack on the vinyl purists out there! Have a little looksie. They can be found by clicking here Summary In conclusion, this is not an easy decision to make and I'm certainly not here to make it for you. You may want me to but should that be the case you are going to be disappointed. Ask one person their opinion and they will swear you must have two technics 1200s and sod the CDJ. You can't get the tunes anyway so what's the point? This in fact a big old wives' tale. In fact most promotional tunes appear on CDs long before the white labels on vinyl and are far cheaper to produce. Smaller independent record labels are now finding it easier to get on the Tunage market and make a name for themselves by releasing via MP3 or by banging out CDs by the 100s. So in answer to that technically you can. If that's not the case why not buy the vinyl and transfer it to CD yourself? Some will say the convenience of the CDJ is just too good to miss and easier to carry to a gig than two whacking great big turntables in flight cases. A good point I think you'll agree. A carry case of 100 CDs will do you for just about any party scenario you are faced with and can also mean you can carry many different styles of music rather than just one or two. It brings diversity to your collection. 18 crates of records aren't so appealing. Some people think downloading an MP3 doesn't make them feel like they OWN that tune. A file on a computer essentially. I am one of these people. I feel there is a certain nostalgia about a tune when I buy it as its taken careful selection and me listening to it on a TT in a shop somewhere. That's half the fun of it for me is finding the tunes. Even playing it at a later date usually holds some form of memory as to where I've played it out. A bored Sunday afternoon downloading some tunes doesn't exactly stick in your brain doe sit? You're just another downloader on the internet. It doesn't feel so personal. "You're unique ............ just like everyone else". No idea who said that originally but it's one I agree with. Vinyl is usually only a limited press over a period of time. Some tunes are rare and you simply can't buy it for love nor money three years later. Not now. You'll find it available on the internet now if you look hard enough. You can't touch a CD when its playing like you can vinyl. I love that. A burnt CD has permanent pen on it or a home made label. Not so nice as whipping out a new bit of vinyl and dropping it on the spindle. We could go on all day with this. Where the TTs are lacking the CDJ excels and vice versa. It seems to me that having the best of both worlds, having your cake and eating it and various other poor phrases can be the only way forward if you want to offer the best tunes to your audience. Do they really care what format its on or are your personal tastes and opinions limiting you? That's something you'll need to progress further on your own but i hope there's at least some food for thought in there. There I go again ......I'll finish before anymore awful phrases fall out of my fingers.
On the buying side, again perfectly summed up by Funked Up and is just as applicable here.....
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