it kinda depends on the crowd (especially in seattle). a lot of serato going on out here but some people shy away from the heavy digital stuff (like a completley digital controller). some crowds don't care but a lot of them will look to see if you got your scratch set up on absolute to see if you are "for real" or not.
If your planning on starting out djing to get some extra money your gonna walk in a bit of a hole.
off top
-them techs (industry standard but you can get away with a pair of stantons) used are gonna run you about $400 - 600 each unless you get a deal.
- Mixer can run you anywhere from $500 - up to ungodly amounts if you want a good one. if your just starting out though you can get a numark mk3 for about $120 but be prepared to upgrade when you feel your ready for the big dance.
- a serato sl-1 (the entry level interface that i think they may have discontinued in favor of the sl-3) is $500 or so used and usually comes without the power supply or the records (relatively cheap stuff to get but annoying having to buy it all seperate.
- laptops can vary but your definently gonna want one that has a fast processor, preferrably core2duo (which i think they all come with now so you should be fine) we'll say $1000 for this one.
- ortofon needles will run you $150 each(again industry standard but not required. a pair of shures can get you buy if your starting out.
- a crisp pair of comfortable and clean sounding dj headphones start at around $150 (theres a sony pair whose name escapes me at the moment).
so your looking at dropping a little under $3000 to get started.
there is another and much cheaper route which is to get
a Vestax VCI300 (don't get the typhoon or 100 get the 300 its a monster) if you don't mind getting ragged on by the old heads for not having a "true" dj setup. its very responsive and easy to use. i picked one up a while ago and was able to rock a show (from completely not knowing how to dj at the time) in about 1 1/2 weeks. thats not a brag on me but on the machine, i would suggest going the hard way and getting the vinyl though so when you use those machines its a cakewalk rather than them being a crutch.
Good luck bro, I hope this helps you.
