VirtualDJ - Best / Worst DJ Gear investment? Fastest ROI?

DJ Dash El Mas Guapo Country: US

PRO InfinityMember since 2021

DJ VinylTouch wrote :

Best DJ Software Investments

VirtualDJ as the main DJ mixing software
No brainer with an Infinity Licence - if you are DJing for the long haul (>= 6 years for the lowest priced "major" software options), you'll definitely be breaking even or saving money. It's a shame I didn't discover this earlier
Kid3 (or other tagger)
Indispensable for making batch modifications before adding to the library (I use Kid3-cli within python scripts to automate most of those edits based on some base stste of the tags). kid3 is open source and free
fre:ac
Audio Conversion utility (I archive in flac, but add to the collection in 320 kbps mp3 by choic, to save on space. Open source and free
Handbrake

Video converter. Open source and free
FreeFileSync

Open source directory sync tool (use it to mirror external drives). Open source and free

Harware investments

DDJ-1000
Closest to a club setup feel without breaking bank for an actual club setup.
Traktor kontrol Z2

One of the firat battle mixers I ever used. Class compliant = (theoretically) support on my Mac indefinitely (Serato just mapped it)
DJM-S9

Workhorse battle mixer, always reliable and have the infinity fader upgrade

thanks for sharing man. This is the first time I've heard of Kid3. I used to use Tag&Rename. Handbreak I used before when I used Serato Video. I had a lot of files Serato Video wouldnt play, so I used handbreak to little luck. It wasnt the software's fault, but rather Serato relying on Quicktime....an outdated faulty 3rd party program to run video. That was the reason I switched to Virtual DJ. The fact that I can play virtually any video file flawlessly on VDJ without the need of conversion is fantastic.

Best Software: Virtual DJ
-hands down the best $300 spent, I made it back in a single gig.
-As a single op wedding DJ, the automix feature is a God send. With Serato I had to be glued to the laptop because their automix feature had a akward silence inbetween tracks. VDJ Automix allows me to step away briefly to coordinate formalities, coordinate with videographers/[photographers, wedding coordinator etc. It also comes really useful during cocktail hour.

$0.00 YouTube Channel
-I have secured 9 out of 10 gigs just by giving clients links to my video gig logs, anyone can talk the talk, but its different when they see clear cut video of what your parties and set up look like

--Good Gear Investment--
$1,600 QSC K12.2 Speakers, tote, xlr, tripod, mic package
-Made my money back in roughly 4 or 5 gigs
-Very reliable and powerful
-Have never seen them redline

$1,000 Pioneer DDJ SX2 w/ Serato Video Voucher
-Havent had to upgrade since it does exactly what I need it to do
-I have had it completely soaked in the middle of a thunderstorm (nightmare outdoor gig) and once I air blew it and dried it has worked flawlessly

$900 Used QSC KS112 Sub
-Compact and relatively light
-packs a punch and I dont have to carry the larger kw181

$120 Wired led pars (for uplighting)
-made my money back in one single gig
-upsold the customer uplighting before even owning it, they bought it for me pretty much

$1,200 Wireless LED Uplights
-I rent these outs to colleagues and have made my money back within a handful of rentals and client upsells

$450 Dancing on a cloud machine
-Made my money back in 3 rentals

$200 Epson projector
-Made my money back in a single gig, pure profit after that on the monogram upsells

$0.00 Gimp
-Free open source image editor, similar to photoshop
-I use this for creating my own monograms.....in 2025 no one should ever pay for monograms, so easy to make
-Logo Creator, promo images, flyers, business cards all free

$100 Pair of Led Moving wash lights
-I made my money back in 2 gigs upselling the dancefloor lighting

---Bad Investments----

$250 Behringer Eurolive b212d
-I made my money back in a single gig, but...
-This is the shttiest speakers on the planet, they sounded even worse than the Harbinger passive speakers I used to own.
-Stay away from anything Behringer
-Fortunately I sold it for $240

$700 EV ELX200 18SP
-I owned it for about 2 years, but only used it once or twice
-Didnt pack too much punch
-Would limit easily and couldnt keep up with my k12s
-Fortunately I sold it for $750 lol

-$200 Alto Stealth Wireless
-I only ever upsold it twice as an added bonus for multiple locations
-I charged $55 for this function so I have made $110 back

-$150 ADJ Jellyfish
-This crappy light was the clear plastic shell, the light patterns were dots, so it was outdated and the handles broke the plastic it was attached to.
-Never used at a gig, just for house parties and a bar where I bartended and DJed at the same time

$240 Chauvet 4Play CL
-Outdated moonflower effect that wasnt very bright
-Never used at a gig, sold it for $200

$70 Fifine Lavadier mic
-Trash mics with lots of signal cutoff

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