For years, I'd been meaning to eventually pick up a pair of turntables and a mixer, and more recently, I'd been looking into picking up a pair of the Pioneer CDJ-200 decks and the DJM-400 mixer. They're all the entry level models of Pioneer's Pro DJ equipment. I've noticed that Amazon seemed to have the most affordable (and legit) means of purchase, and with the CDJ-200s being $350 each, and the mixer at $400, that would be $1100 before tax for ENTRY LEVEL. Don't get me started on the CDJ-1000s. (>_<)
Keep in mind that I can pick up a pair of actual vinyl decks and a decent mixer for a fraction of the above mentioned prices, but I don't think that I'm ready to devote myself to a collecting vinyl (especially since the closest decent record shop is in Santa Cruz, which is about a 40 minute drive from Marina).
This morning (during my usual hours-long check-my-mail-for-a-minute session), I stumbled upon M-Audio's Torq Xponent Advanced DJ Performance/Production System (wOoOo, fancy terminology for a turntable-shaped midi controller). I initially passed it off as another crappy laptop controller like that Mixman DM2 that I suckered myself into buying a few years back, but after reading some reviews and watching a some videos of it in action on youtube, I realized that this is actually something that I NEED RIGHT NOW.
What I appeals to me about the unit is that it takes just about everything that I need to get started (minus the laptop and a pair of headphones) and stuffs it into one piece of equipment. It has the two touch-sensitive jog platters, mixer/crossfader, EQs, various effects, a touchpad (which doubles as a mouse pointer and a Kaoss Pad-like FX thingy) and it even has its own soundcard built in so I'll be able to properly cue tracks in my headphones while still pumping out music over loudspeakers.
The original MSRP is $750, but it's available on Amazon for $600! By the way, everyone, my birthday is August the 23rd. Heh.
Anyway, this looks perfect for me. I'd love to rant on more about it, but I gotta run... For now, enjoy this demo/review that DJ Mag TV did!
Here are some other videos of the Xponent in action!
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