julamy0109 setup evolution!

[julamy0109]

NEW UPDATE!!! CLICK HERE

Hey guys! So here's my setup evolution! It's been a work in progress since I started mixing in Dec. 2012, just a few months ago, but I really got hooked so I do put a lot of time and effort in both learning and upgrading my equipment.

So it started with a house party at one of my boyfriend's friends place. His house is the HQ of the group, it's pretty much a homemade club, where you can have 2 different DJs playing in 2 different rooms in the summer (but that's his setup, not the point here lol). I mixed for the first time, not knowing what I was doing at all (it was 5 in the morning, I was hammered, I didn't really care of how it sounded, horrible is not a word strong enough to describe my first performance). I was still able to figure out the buttons and to load tracks and at least there was some music in the house. Thank God, another one of my boyfriend's friends came to save me. He's one of the DJ in the group and started to show me the ropes. And that's when I fell in love. Less than a week later, I found this on Craigslist for 350 CAN$: pretty much brand new, with software, no scratches, NOTHING.
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It's great to have a controller, but I needed to have somewhere to put it. I read online and decided to build an Ikea DJ booth. The result looked great and fitted my S2 and my laptop perfectly!
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I started mixing more and more, decided to sell my DJ Booth to a friend and build another one with a bigger top (boyfriend pressure, but you'll see, it was a great idea!). I scored my first "gig" for New Year's Eve, at a friend's house. 1hr set (I was scared to mix for longer than that), that went really really well. I fell in love with DJing a bit more.

January came around and I started building the new DJ booth. The pieces that I was missing ended up on sale at Ikea and I completed it to this point:
223574_10151321313913051_1529220099_n.jpg(I'm still missing the top shelf on this pic but I like it because it really shows how massive it now is. Under it are my two Sony speakers and the black thingy half cut on the left side is my sub.)

Not being able to control the master volume that much on Traktor and because I've been having more and more friends over lately who bring their CDJs or Traktor, I decided to buy a Numark DM1090x just to be able to have everything connected together. There's nothing special about it, but it does the job.

And now, last week. I decided to go look at a vinyl store next to my boyfriend's workplace and I fell in love. I decided to invest in some decent but basic turntables (I'm getting them tonight) and an Audio 8 DJ. Let just say I'm thankful that the BF pushed me to get a bigger top, everything should fit like a charm. While waiting for the turntables, I decided to clear the booth a bit. I cut parts of the top and incrusted the DM1090x in the booth, like this:
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The white plates that you see on the right side are gonna be used to hide all the wires between the mixer and whatever equipment on top. So if I want to plug in some CDJs or a backup iPod, I can just plug them in those rca plugs, no need to play with the mixer. So right now, it looks like this:

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(You can kind of see the plugs on each side of the mixer.)

So now, what's missing? My TT that I'm getting tonight! My Audio 8 DJ that will be put under the top shelf for easy access to all it's ports. I installed some LED lights in each of the squares at the bottom (can't see them though) and I'm considering buying some tinted plexiglass to cover those boxes. At one point, I'll add some racks for CDJs but I'm not there yet.

So, later tonight, I'll take a picture of what it looks like all loaded with the S2, the TT, the Audio 8. On this, I'm out to the hardware store, missing a few things to finish this up!

----February 21st, 2013 EDIT----

I picked up the turntables on Friday, they look great but they're still not plugged in (shame on me, I know, BUT I'm still waiting for my vinyls to get here, it's taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R...). After a party on Saturday, I was convinced to buy an S4 to upgrade my S2. My friend who gave me my first lesson was DJing that night and I haven't seen him since that lesson back in November so we catched up and talked gear a bit, and he convinced me that the S4 was probably better for my setup. Let just say that the boyfriend was really happy about this because he scored an S2 (he's buying my S2 to finance my S4 - C-R-A-Z-Y -) and he proved his point. This is happening tonight, and I'm quite excited about it. So pictures of that to come. So here's a picture of what the DJ Booth looks like right now:

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And this one is just the mixer and the RCA plates (look a few replies down and I have more pictures of those)!

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I also added some LED light strips from Ikea and glued the remote under the table top for an easy access when I'm mixing:

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Next upgrade: I'd like to fit the S2 somewhere on the table with a 2nd computer OR figure something to have the S4 running in Traktor Scratch Pro 2 and the S2 running in Traktor Pro 2 on the same computer at the same time. And on top of that, I have to find a way to fit 2 CDJs somewhere because we have our house-warming party coming up and expecting at least 6 DJs to be mixing that night, some with CDJs, some with digital, and I'd like to throw some vinyls in there! See you for the next update!

----March 7th, 2013 EDIT----

Hey Guys! So I went a bit crazy over the last weekend and found a hell of deal on a DJM-600 and 2x CDJ-400 for 500$!!! So I now own my own CDJs. I'm currently selling the DJM-600 for 500$ (and I have someone to come check it out tomorrow!) so the final cost of my CDJs will be 0$. I can't really get better than that for a starting setup. I'm starting to fill up my shelves with vinyls ( )so check the thumbnails to see what it looks like!

Things to do now: well as you can see, there are too many things on that DJ Booth. Way too many things. So I decided to keep the DJ Booth as the "Party Booth" and move my equipment that I'll need that day from the soon to be build office/studio. The booth will stay where it is, with the S2 on it at all time. And when I have people over, I'll move whatever is needed from the studio. So Part 2 of this project to come!

Summary of my equipment:
- DJM-2000
- 2X Traktor Kontrol X1
- Akai LPD8
- Novation Dicers
- Traktor Kontrol S4
- Traktor Kontrol S2
- Traktor Audio 8 DJ
- Macbook Pro 2013, 13 inch, I5, 8GB
- Numark DM1090x mixer
- 2X Stanton T.62 (should be upgraded to some good looking Technics by the end of the spring, yes, some SL1200 )
- 2 CDJ-400
- Technics amp + 4 speakers (all revamped, changed some of the components in them) and a subwoofer (I'm currently building another sub, the box is HUGE, should be done by the summer as well).

So, comments, ideas of how to improve this?

[boarderbas]

Nice handywork!

Judging by your DJ name, you're a chick. Rare to see one doing speaker upgrades!

[julamy0109]

Gotta like getting your hands dirty! The truth is that my Dad worked for Sony for over 10 years so he had a bunch a old but quite powerful speakers lying around in the basement. I "borrowed" them when I moved out (my Mom loves me for that LOL) and I changed the components that were too old or falling apart. It was a lot cheaper than trying to find a set a good speakers for cheap (And I do love the look of big speaker boxes ). For the sub that I'm working on, it doesn't look like much for now, but it should be something soon!

[boarderbas]

Speakers and all audio sound nicer when you did stuff to it yourself.... I modded my CD player, build a tube amp and modded my dynaudio speakers...so nice

[julamy0109]

Getting me excited here

[DarioJ]

good for you. Your BF should either be ashamed or extremely loyal and supporting for you to take this task on yourself .

As you may already know, you're gonna be spending a lot of $ with this "hobby". Enjoy it though. Nothing says I love you like DJ gear!!!

Oh yeah, just an FYI I love the Idea of the RCA ports so much I am going to steal it

[Jester]

Nice one! Welcome to DJTT

[JesusJuice]

Oh yeah, just an FYI I love the Idea of the RCA ports so much I am going to steal it

that idea is just golden! pure genious. cant wait to see the update

[julamy0109]

Thanks a lot guys! This DJ Booth is the thing that I'm the most proud of, it just keeps on improving, and so are my skills.
So here's a few more pictures of the RCA ports. It's really easy to make, but if you're using the vika amon tabletop from Ikea, don't forget to pick up some 90 degree RCA cables because most cables won't fit.

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(As you can see, the booth is still a mess, screwdrivers, cables, needles and cartridge...oups)

The plates are like DIY wall plates for speakers, but instead, I put some RCA inserts. In Montreal, Access Electronique (on Des SOurces in the WI have them) and Addison probably have them too. Around the world, I don't know but if you have basic electronic store that sells components, I'm sure you can find it there.

[cpetticrew]

Those RCA plates are ingenious im putting some into my booth today. Thank you for the idea I have been trying to find a way to manage my cables and also allow for others to use there gear on my booth without much hassle of constant plug unplug replug. You did a great job on your booth and it's great to see the progression you have made. Keep pushing boundaries and buttons!