DJ Equipment

A controller, a standalone unit or a full mobile DJ rig:

the three start from very different places. A controller is a deck-and-mixer surface with no brain of its own: it runs DJ software on a laptop, and Pioneer DJ’s DDJ line, Numark and Hercules make most of the ones people learn on. A standalone unit, Pioneer’s XDJ or Denon DJ’s Prime series, has its own screens and plays from a USB stick, so there is no laptop to freeze halfway through the waltz. Turntables with a separate mixer are for vinyl and scratching. A working rig adds a pair of powered speakers, a subwoofer, a wireless microphone for the MC and lights, from simple PAR LED cans to moving heads.

Channels, a microphone input and speakers sized to the hall:

decide whether a setup fits the work. Two channels are enough to learn on. A controller with four, or with a proper microphone input and its own level control, saves a separate mixer when the MC has to talk over the music or a musician joins for the ceremony: a keyboard from pianos and keyboards or an electro-acoustic from guitars can go straight into the spare channel. For speakers, a pair of 12-inch powered boxes fills a living room or a small hall, while a garden wedding wants 15-inch boxes and a subwoofer. JBL, Yamaha, RCF and Electro-Voice are the brands most buyers will recognise.

An entry controller and a branded powered speaker:

sit closer in price than most beginners expect. A two-channel controller from Pioneer DJ or Numark runs around Q3,000 to Q3,500 new, and a single 15-inch powered speaker from one of the big brands starts near Q5,000, so the sound, not the decks, is where a rig’s money goes. Used controllers turn up barely touched more often than anything else, because plenty of people buy one to learn and stop after a few months, and each new model in a line drags the price of the one before it down. Branded speakers hold their value better, as long as the original drivers are still inside: a box repaired with a generic woofer is worth noticeably less.

Woofers, amp plates and the badge on a used speaker:

show how many weekends a rig has worked. With the speaker switched off, press gently and evenly around the woofer cone; any scraping means the voice coil is rubbing. Then play a bass-heavy track at a decent volume and listen for rattles, and switch the music off with the speaker still on to hear whether the amplifier plate on the back hums. JBL speakers get counterfeited, and a copy is often lighter than the genuine model and fails early, so read the serial label and lift the box before trusting the logo. On a controller, try every pad, knob and button, plug a microphone into its input and run both outputs into a speaker. Moving heads should sweep their full pan and tilt without a jolt, and a fog machine should push out a steady stream rather than spit.

A mobile DJ rig, or the controller you learned on:

sells on model numbers, because that is what buyers type in: name the controller, each speaker and the subwoofer exactly. Photograph the woofers with the grilles off, the back panels and any scuffs from loading, and record a short clip of the speakers playing loud enough to hear the bass. Say how many seasons the equipment has worked and whether any driver or amplifier plate has been replaced. Keep the stands, power cables and covers with the piece they belong to, since a buyer who has to replace a pole or a cable before the first event will take that off the price. Someone driving in from Zacapa for a pair of speakers will arrive with a pickup and want to hear them at full volume, so pick a place where that is possible and have a cable and a track ready.