DJ Equipment

There are many opinions about what constitutes the right DJ equipment. This is especially true since the advent of digital music, when the wedding DJing duties that previously required a van full of equipment and crates full of records and CDs can now essentially be performed by a guy with a pocket MP3 player. However, some standards remain the same for many aspects of DJing, especially in terms of basic equipment.

No matter what the current popular audio media is, be it CD, MP3, or anything else, the professional standard for DJs remains vinyl. While the convenience, size, and popularity of tapes, CDs, and digital formats has lead to common DJ use, records are still considered to deliver the highest quality sound when played through a high quality system.

Analog DJ Equipment

The reasoning behind this lies in the nature of vinyl records compared to CDs and MP3s. Records are an analog format, meaning the sound is physically contained on the surface of the record, and translated into audio signals as the turntable reads and processes the record's grooves with a needle. However, CDs and MP3s are digital formats. Digital formats can replicate sounds, but are still comprised of strings of data. Although digital formats are capable of full, highly detailed and clear audio, purists contest that they are incapable of replicating the physical contact provided by analog recordings. This is why vinyl has remained the favorite media of professional DJs.

An initial DJ system should feature two turntables, a pair of headphones, a microphone, and an amplifier, all connected through a mixer console. The dual turntable setup allows you to segue one song into the next without a pause, simply by starting one song as another is winding down, and then sliding the mixer control from one turntable to the next. This diminishes the sound of the first song as it fades in the introduction to the next one, allowing for an evening of seamless music. The headphones are necessary to locate and queue songs as another song is playing. And the microphone, of course, is your tool for communicating with the crowd.