Hello all you web surfers and mobile disc jockeys! Deciding on what kind of a DJ you want to be is a key factor in what kinds of equipment you want to invest your money in. After all, there is a major difference between buying cheap radio shack equipment and dj gear that will keep the party going all night long without interuption. Having the right gear for the right event is essential to accommodating the size of the crowd, size of the venue and how technical your agenda is.
Everyone's opinion of the best equipment is different, but until you've tried just about everything than you may not have as much expertise on equipment. I have tried just about every brand and model on the market. From microphones to amplifiers and speakers to CD decks. There are numerous factors to consider when buying equipment. What kinds of events are you going to specialize in? What size events are you going to specialize in? Are you an extremely interactive DJ or are you more behind the scenes? Are you going to be performing at school dances or small to medium sweet 16s?
The top DJ equipment brands in the industry are Crown, QSC, JBL, Peavey, Pioneer, Nady, Shure, Chauvet, Gemini, Numark, American DJ, and several others I haven't mentioned. But in sales and popularity these brands have been the most used in the industry. If you're going for the club style, prom dj setup than a popular system is 2 pioneer CD decks (most models do the job) or a numark ns6 or ns7, Crown XLS 602 and above or a QSC RMX amp capable of running at least 400 watts per side. A Vocopro wireless microphone or Shure wireless. LED lights from Chauvet or 2 vertigo led lights are very popular to start. Your speakers can be Mackie or Behringer but take a listen to how they sound. Some are powered speakers and some are not. I personally prefer un-powered speakers and I will tell you why. If you have an issue with a powered speaker you also have an issue with an amplifier built into the speaker. So you will be losing your amp and speaker. But if a speaker goes down than all you have to do is change out the speaker and not risk losing both. Others may disagree and powered speakers are great as well.
If you're the type of DJ who does mostly small to medium size weddings and parties than a more simple setup will do just fine. A rack case with a dual CD player combo and some standard 15 inch powered speakers would do the trick. Many people have told me that the types of speakers and equipment we buy for our company are junk. But then when they hear us in action ask how we got the equipment to sound so great. Having an equalizer such as a sonic maximizer or behringer eq system can make or break your sound. Just remember the right combination of equipment can really help your performance. Vocopro wireless microphones are great for everyday events and Shure microphones are expensive but have a great rich sound for those doing large performances. Same with a laptop for DJing. You don't need the best Mac Book Pro in existence to sound like a pro. We have Acer laptops and compaq laptops that have 2-3 gigs of ram and a 500 gig hard drive that are amazing in running programs and sound.
There is so much more to expand on and numerous combinations of equipment available. To save money go to the store whether its Guitar Center, George's Music, Sam Ash and look at the equipment you want. Then go home and order online to save a load of money. You can order the things you "KNOW" will work on ebay and the rest from the store. Save yourself a few hundred maybe even a thousand dollars. Leave your questions and comments here and I can elaborate!
- Billman
DJ Port St Lucie
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