Short list of gear to avoid at all costs.

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Dj's making the switch from home spinning to club spinning.....

Don't buy the Pioneer DJM-500, the individual bass controls will constantly need to be sent to Pioneer to get fixed.

Save you money, get the DJM-600
 
Also, (for the bedroom dj's)...........................

Don't skimp on the turntables.

Purchase Technique 1200's (or 1210's). You will be commiting an injustice to yourself if you buy one of those "All-In-One" dj in a box setups.

If you don't have the cash for a pair of new 12's ($800-$1,000 for the pair), then buy them used ($250 to $500 for the pair). If they have a lot of scrates on them, then buy some covers for them ($25-$35 USD). If the need new patchcords, replace them ($20 USD).

If it needs a new arm, replace that ($70-$80 USD).

If it needs a new pitch control, replace that ($20USD).

Post Script: Another solid turntable is the Numark TTX1 Direct-Drive Turntable (our member Flo' Dolo sold me on those ;), they are actually GREAT for pitch-shifting).
 
I've had a samson headphone amp for 2 years and it's been fine even with being abused pretty badly too. Though honestly I don't view it as a critical piece in my setup and as long as it produces sound without magic blue smoke I'm content.
 
Samson headphone amp is pretty good and the volume is consistent between the channels. Not bad for the money at all. But i still wouldnt trust it for monitoring (if you happen to monitor through your headphones). But ive had mine for a year and a half or so and ive been satisfied with it.

ron82 - I started with a Mackie 1604 VLZ Pro and at times i always wondered the same thing. That was until i actually used one. The gain is horrible compared to the mackies. They are very dull sounding preamps, pretty much muffled sounding, and i had a hard time using them with live shows. But, you have what you have and their is a really big price difference between a mackie and a behringer. I own 2 behringers which i use for easy portable mixers for either DJing or some other small things where i need to power a mic.

Joro - Wait till you try a better mixer and you will quickly change your mind on how the behringer sounds. Its not unusable though thats for sure.

I think if theirs anything that is decently usable made by behringer it is their mixers. They work but they definately arnt great. So far i havnt had any inconsistancy problems with the behringer mixers i have bot. Which includes the 2 XLR channel, the 8 XLR Channel, and a 32 Channel with 24 XLRs. I dont own the 32 channel one but i use it, i wish i could have convinced the people who bought it to just get a smaller but nicer mixer, because they dont have much use for the 32 channels when they could have bought a 16 channel for around the same price. But either way, no inconsistancy problems between the channels at least.

It seems like all DJ mixers are crap to me. I would rather have a 8 channel $120 behringer mixer than a $600 dj mixer. I guess the looks have a big roll in it though. The turn tables are probably worth it.

Danny
 
MannaZen said:
Well so far I have learned this little fact "You get what you paid for"

As long as you keep that in mind you will always know what is cheap gear!

I'll add any stomp box made by Dan Electro. They are cheap, and break very easily.


I disagree. The more expensive pedals are awesome. I've got the dan-echo and the fabtone and there are pretty solid. Now the smaller cheaper pedals, that's the crap right there.

Stay away from Digitech effects boards, Alesis products across the board (okay MAYBE some of the ADAT stuff is okay.) and ziljian zbt cymbals.

And Behringer (cause QQ says so.):D
 
wow, I'm surprised. I've beat up on two different Fabtones (one was a loaner.) I've never had a single problem from them.

I guess YMMV really applies here:)
 
YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary

or you may get different results than me, or think differently about a product.:D
 
Dethska said:
YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary

or you may get different results than me, or think differently about a product.:D

I figured it meant something like that, but I wasn't sure about what the letters stood for,

Thanks
 
the dano reverse tape delay pedal is really cool! i also like the tremelo.
 
darnold said:

Joro - Wait till you try a better mixer and you will quickly change your mind on how the behringer sounds. Its not unusable though thats for sure.

Danny

I just bought a MACKIE 1402VLZ-Pro...........



mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... :D
 
The new pres in the UB series Behringer mixers are a HUGE improvement over the older MX series. Quite good, I think. Definitely worth considering if you're looking to compete with the VLZ-PRO series Mackie pres.

Chris
 
All Chinese Squier Telecasters
Second HOSA cables
Shure PG series mics- just buy the real thing used
Oktava MK219
Second Presonus Blue Tube, Bellari
Have to disagree with Blue Bear on *all* Rolls gear- I have found
the HA RA62 headphone amp to be reliable and functional.
(Notice I'm *not* talking about the signal chain here.)
Add AKG C3000B to the list of AKG mics I don't love.-Richie
 
hey regebro how come u dunt like the u;tramizer by behringer, i got that and 2 other effects for 150$ i havent hookeed it up but is ita piece of shit? and why
 
This is a bit late but.....

I will have to say my behinger products are working and have worked well for me, my latest is a ub1202 mixer and its still n warm and working well.
I use to work for mars music and sold so many of those buy doing the old blind taste test and asking the customer which sounded better with out them knowing which was which they always chose the Beh over mackie or spirit..................
Only reason I have sold any was financial or dumbness......
I love there Composer Compressor too.
-Reco
 
I have yet to run into any gear that I found so offensive that I would avoid it. Every piece of gear has it's own personality. I never bought a 100 dollar mixer or guitar expecting 1000 dollar manufacturing quality... but I did get interesting tones that the other tools didn't offer.

Right now I have a Radio Shack reverb unit in my signal chain for guitar. It gives me THE Neil Young tone for Hey Hey My My. No distortion unit I ever heard could do that. I also have a Zoom 3030 floor unit that has gives me a perfect raw Industrial futz sound.

So, if you get a piece of gear that doesn't make you sound like whatever you imagined it would, figure out what it wants to sound like and work with that. You wouldn't hire Luciano Pavrotti to sing Stones songs would you? Match the gear to the song.

That said.., I would avoid using any Nvidia video cards for sound recording at all costs. They come across too "yellow".
 
Fostex sucks....

I had a Fostex keyboard mixer--It sucked so bad I gave it away (No ground on plug--always hummed, every input needs a ground lift adaptor, bad design)... I have a Fostex RD-8 ADAT, totally less reliable than a regular ADAT. (which is saying something)

(to be fair, my Fostex DAT machine works fine, and one of my newer Fostex ADATs has been fine... but I don't consider 50/50 good odds)

A band I work for has a Berhinger Stereo EQ in their rack, it sucks. I bypass it whenever possible, set perfectly flat it still manages to make the mix muddier.

I do like the BBE in a live sound rig... but not in the studio.

I have a Rolls headphone amp... not too bad. I have a better one now... but it got me started.

Beware Iomega.
 
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