Category Archives for DJ Gear

My old Stanton DJ Pro 2000 headphones finally broke down about a year ago, and I was looking for a new pair. I came across Shure SRH750DJ for a good price on Amazon and took the plunge. Here is my review of these cans after using them for around 15 months.

The SRH750DJ come with a 10 ft / 3 m coiled, detachable audio cable, a carrying pouch and a pair of spare ear cushions. The pouch is made of faux leather and has the Shure logo pressed on it. The spare cushions are definitely a nice touch because we all know how quickly those can peel off and get destroyed.

The headphones had some sort of small plastic paddings attached on the sides, apparently to prevent damage during transportation. At first I thought those were part of the headband but then I saw a little diagram telling to throw them away. Duh!

In part 1 of this two-part post dedicated to DJ setups, I have covered the history as well as the pros and cons of vinyl, CD and software-only DJing. In part 2, we're moving on to more modern gear such as DVS, DJ controllers and modern digital decks. Read on to better understand these options and find out which one may be the best for you.

Once it became clear that DJing with MP3s from a computer was not only possible but also had some unique advantages (see "Software-Only" in part 1 of this post), a search began for a better way to control DJ software than a mouse and keyboard. In early 2000s, the first digital vinyl systems began to appear, which let you scratch and mix MP3s as though they were vinyl records.

Back in the day, if you were serious about DJing, you'd pick up a pair of vinyl decks, a mixer and that was it. Today, the choice is not so obvious. You have vinyl, DJ controllers, DVS, CD/digital decks as well as some more exotic setups. In this two-part post, I will try to navigate you through the sea of the DJ setup options you have these days and explain the pros and cons of each. (You can find part 2 over here.)

I will try to present the different kinds of DJ setups in the order that they came about historically. This should help you better understand the common patterns to all of them. Things become much easier to grasp once you realize that there are always two players and a mixer, no matter what kind of setup you are looking at.

I have had a Serato DVS setup for a couple of years but I recently decided to sell my Denon DS-1 DVS box and go for a DJ controller instead. I was initially looking at Pioneer's DDJ-SB/DDJ-RB range of entry-level controllers but I was uneasy about some key limitations of those. I went with Denon MC4000 in the last minute, and I'm really glad I did! Here is my review of the controller after using it for about a month.

A lot of the MC4000 reviews that I read mentioned that it's a truly businesslike, professional controller, and I have to say that it's the first thing that jumps at you once you unpack the unit. The build quality is very good with a dark metal top, and the controller feels heavy and sturdy. It doesn't project quite the same "built like a tank" feeling like, say, the Technics SL-1200 decks, but it's still reassuringly solid.