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Disc Jockeys, what are the basic pieces of equipment that are needed to DJ with a laptop?

I have a question for any Disc Jockeys. My 13-year old nephew wants to start DJing with his laptop. I was wondering what are the basic pieces of equipment that are needed? Is it just a mixer, turntable, laptop, and speaker that he needs? And is it possible that he can just use the laptop to DJ without the turntable? What are some good programs to use to DJ using only a laptop, mixer and speaker (minus the turntable)?

Public Comments

1. May B, u need DJ Mix Station software.. (easy for do mix and scratch). U also need a good mouse to do scratching and play.
2. All depends on what kind of DJ he wants to be. If he's looking to scratch music, he'll need turntables (or digital turntables like Pioneer-800s). Basics for mixing music (equipment enough to dj a wedding, club etc...) includes: Laptop connected with a y cable (a cord with a headphone jack on one end, and Red and White (RCA) on the other end. The RCA end plugs into one of the channels on the mixer. Mixer plugs into either 1) an amplifier which plugs into speakers, or 2) powered speakers ('powered' means the speaker has an amp inside it). For software, I would recommend Virtual DJ. You can get a trial version at www.virtualdj.com, and to purchase the full set up with external sound card it's about $499. But for now, he can just practice. Learn beatmatching, learn how to program a dance floor, and he's good to go. Feel free to contact me through my website at http://www.orangemanproductions.com and I would be glad to give more tips, as it gets too technical to explain through text alone. Good luck, I hope to see him at the club some day!