lap top dj equipment help

:sptongue:
hi I'm new to djing and a friend and I are planning on buying a dj system, to simply dj at house parties, family parties, and college parties and so on.

The way i want my dj to be set up is through a laptop, i currently have a lap top 2.2giga hertz and im running traktor dj studio 3.

My question is what equipment do i need other than speakers to have a decent system for house parties and parties where its ina huge open area. Thank you very much for your help!!

Hello slick.

First off, How much money do you have??

House partys and college type events are night and day different, and will require two different approches to do correctly...

Grab a set of Mackie SRM 450's on close out. About 500.00 each. Buy a mixer like a Denon x500 for 450.00. You will spend about 1500.00 and this should get you by for a couple of years or until you are ready to upgrade.

Grab a set of Mackie SRM 450's on close out. About 500.00 each. Buy a mixer like a Denon x500 for 450.00. You will spend about 1500.00 and this should get you by for a couple of years or until you are ready to upgrade.

As far as speakers: He's asking about house and other small parties.
I HIGHLY recommend 10" EVs ( Electro-Voice) for this purpose. Sound like you wouldn't believe, matching others' larger speakers easily, light and small enough for easy transport, built in limiters, virtually un-blowable ( I made up the word, and I'm keeping it), and a bit over $300 per. You just can't do better for small venue speakers ( in my semi-humble opinion, of course...).


Update Edit: I just checked EVs site, and it looks like the 10 inchers are history, so it's a move up to 12", which, though more expensive, sound, and ARE, as good as anyone else's 15s

Would you say that they are as loud as JBL EON G2? I'm looking for smaller replacement.

Would you say that they are as loud as JBL EON G2? I'm looking for smaller replacement.


Rather than me just yappin', your best bet is to go demo them. I think you would even be amazed by their 8" speakers. Although you don't see a lot about EVs on this forum, I would match their quality, engineering, and sound against anybody's..

From my experience, you can literally replace anyone else's speaker with the next size DOWN from EV.. That is, of course, a subjective opinion.

.....and no, I am not connected in any way with EV, I've just had great experiences with them.

yeah i was thinkingof getting2 mackie srm 450 v2s thanksfor the help

im spending around 2000 and i was thinking of getting 2 mackie srm450 v2s and the numark total dj control thing, is that agood combo?

im spending around 2000 and i was thinking of getting 2 mackie srm450 v2s and the numark total dj control thing, is that agood combo?

Slick, in honesty, you are asking a question for which there is no answer. If it serves your needs, it's fine. You actually haven't given a full description of the system you have in mind, but the fact is you will get as many yes or no answers as there are opinions in the forum.


So consider the following checkpoints:


Sound: Not only quality speakers, but the type of sound you need to play the venues that you have in mind. Also, will you need subs? Almost a must for a dance DJ, not so much for karaoke, and either way for some types of events. Which leads to......


Power: Enough wattage ( with speakers that match ) for the venue sizes you need. You can get by in tiny venues with less than 1000 watts, but that's not gonna be enough for large or crowded venues.


Mixing ability: These needs are determined by you and what you want to do, as well as your abilities, which will grow. BTW, if you want to include karaoke, you will definitely need more mixing capabilities than the standard DJ rig.


Vocal ability: Both mechanical, and YOURS. Even if you are doing straight DJ work, you need a high quality CLEAR sounding microphone for announcements, as well as a clear voice, enunciation, and verbal skills. A lot of new DJs come in with great equipment and absolutely no ability to speak. Even if you think that you sound fine, practice couldn't hurt. It probably saved my career.


Power conditioning: You will find that the AC power in many venues can be very sketchy. You will need a power conditioner of some sort to protect your equipment.

Routing: All cables, wires, and connectors MUST be of quality manufacture, and specified to meet your needs- no way around it.


Portability: Self-explanatory


So your question must come back to you. Does the system that you have in mind meet all of your needs?

Strong Recommendation: Take a short course in electronics, even if it's a correspondance course. That way, not only will you be able to answer all of your own questions, but will be able to save a BUNDLE of money, on repairs. You will also save a lot by being able to buy from specs rather than labels..


That's my 13 cents. Hope it's useful...:sqwink:

im spending around 2000 and i was thinking of getting 2 mackie srm450 v2s and the numark total dj control thing, is that agood combo?


You need also a mixer and good cables !!!

thanks alot for your help, i ended getting the numark total computer dj combo thing, a new laptop 2.8ghz 1gig ram, 2 amplifiers, equalizer, four - 2 way JBL speakers, powerconditioner, all the cables needed, the mic, headphones, and the lights yesterday and tried everything out and it works perfect so far.

Congratulations Slick sounds like a nice set up to test the waters.

Dj Slick!
Nice setup but i like to know what kind of events you do(weddings,Bar gigs...)??
If you will do some outside gigs you will be needed some Subs and which mixer you use?

Your going to need subs if you want to impress larger crowds. Good luck!!

Its easyer to impress larger crowd wit good Music as with subs.

thanks alot for your help, i ended getting the numark total computer dj combo thing, a new laptop 2.8ghz 1gig ram, 2 amplifiers, equalizer, four - 2 way JBL speakers, powerconditioner, all the cables needed, the mic, headphones, and the lights yesterday and tried everything out and it works perfect so far.



Way to go! Now go out there and book your brains out! :sqcool:


PS: Would give a little more info on the amps and mic?

my main plan is to dj at house parties and college parties, once i get better i might do clubs, i already have a sweet 16, 1 ucla, and one USC party coming up in 2 weeks , the numark controller pretty much is a mixer by the way.

the mic was a a 50 dollar digital reference mic i got at guitar center, as for the amplifiers i got 2 QFC Audio RMX 850s.

2 of my 2way jbl speakers are in a big box and are hooked up to 1 amp, which is dedicated to my lows and mids; and the other two 2way jbls are on a lighter speaker box and on a stand which are also linked to their own amp and dedicated to my highs and mids.

i was experimenting with everything all day saturday and sunday and as of now i think they produce enough bass for a decent open area; for instance i was standing around 50-70 feet away from the speakers and felt the bass, as for a djing inside an area i even feel using all four is way too much lol.

one more thing from going to soo many parties i sometimes noticed that alot of djs have way to much bass, to the point where you cant hear nothing but bass and i think sounds quite horrible know what i mean. i'm trying to keep a balance with my highs mids and lows.

my main plan is to dj at house parties and college parties, once i get better i might do clubs, i already have a sweet 16, 1 ucla, and one USC party coming up in 2 weeks , the numark controller pretty much is a mixer by the way.

Yes, but its still a controller and if youre laptop crushes - you become blackout.In any case you need a mixer and something for backup(cd player,mp3 player...):sqwink:

one more thing from going to soo many parties i sometimes noticed that alot of djs have way to much bass, to the point where you cant hear nothing but bass and i think sounds quite horrible know what i mean. i'm trying to keep a balance with my highs mids and lows.


You are a quick learner! :sqwink: