Hi all.

Could somebody briefly explain to me what a HD DJ Controller is please?

Is it similar to a Laptop?

Is it better or worse than a Laptop?

Many thanks.

Apologies for the noob questions. Another ten or so of these should see me graduate to Noob with a bit of nous.

Now, you are opening yourself for two conflicting opinions here. You will get the die hard laptop / pc users telling you that laptops and pc's are the best, and then you'll get the HD DJ controller camp stating that their chosen DJ HD player is the best, along with the obligatory scaremongering that laptops will always overheat and PC's will make you impotent, well the last bit was an exaggeration but its an indication of how skewed these debates get from time to time, so expect to hear both sides of the story, warts and all!.

Basically a hard drive Dj controller, looks and operates just like a double cd player, but with the difference that instead of CD decks , you get one or more hardrives. You simply convert your cd's or vinyl to mp3 / wma format, load them onto the drive and then find, play and dabble with them, as you would operate a normal CD player

There are an increasing number of these players now on the market, all with different features and different price tags. You can find units with built in hard drives, and those which operate from a huge number of external USB controlled devices such as portable HHD's, SD Cards, USB sticks etc, some will even connect to Ipods. Some players also incorporate a built in CD / DVD Player(s) as well as the HDD and digital functionality to give you the best of both the CD and Digital worlds all in the one unit.

Here are some example models of HD-DJ Players currently on the market

http://www.djkit.co.uk/product.php?id=3552&cat=323

http://www.djkit.co.uk/product.php?id=1398&cat=323

http://www.djkit.co.uk/product.php?id=3853&cat=323

if you are seriously considering any of these, or other models, try doing a search on the forum, as they do tend to get reviewed or commented on from time to time.

One thing which unites these two different methods of playout is the requirement for you to obtain a Dubbing License from the MCPS which will cost you from £250. This is required to convert your original media to MP3 / WMA or other digital format, regardless of whether you work in pubs or do private functions. Cd users do not need this license.

This is a top quality answer.
Thanks for taking the time.

I take it a USB controller is the same thing then.

As far as I can gather then, a HD controller and a Laptop/PC are extremelly similar except a Laptop/PC appears to have more functionality and can be upgraded easier with a software update?

There is a lot more to being a DJ than playing music it seems....lol

Well playing the right music at the right time ... yes. Essentially that's what the punters want.
They don't care how or what is played from, as long as it is the right tunes and as long as the sound is good (loud) enough.
Flashing lights are a bonus, though they tend to add the atmosphere.

Sorry for this slightly synical view, but most of us get a bit excited from time to time over our rigs, but the first is what swings it with the customer. They always want the right music. If you get that right, you're on to a winner.

Good luck with whatever you choose. I went down the HD Controller route with a Denon HD2500. Great machine. I use a laptop as backup.

I went down the HD2500 + X500 + Transcension DMX Controller route and am very happy with it.

I would like to try a laptop set up though just to see how it fared against the Denon setup. Something like a Macbook with Traktor for music and MagicQ for DMX control with Traktor being controlled by one of them new Vestax USB controllers.