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Djing is an increasingly popular hobby among kids and teens, and the Christmas season is the perfect time to buy them some affordable yet good quality DJ gear. Before you know it, your kid might be flying around the world in a private jet from gig to gig, and you might be allowed to tag along with him/her 🙂 In this article we discuss some awesome gift ideas for young Dj’s that offer excellent value for money, and more importantly, allow your kid to make their first steps in the world of DJing using decent gear.
DJ Headphones
DJ headphones are a key part of any DJ setup, and they need to be light but solid, with a good punchy sound so DJ’s can properly monitor and beatmatch. Below we suggest a few ideal pairs for starting DJ’s.
Hercules DJ M 40.1
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*Price Ranges in USD: <100:$ 100-150:$$ 150-200:$$$The Hercules DJ M 40.1 is the entry-level DJ headphone in Hercules’ range, and they make quite a solid impression. The build and sound quality are really acceptable for the price. The body is full plastic but feels solid, and th earcups do a good job of isolating external noises.
The M 40.1 fold into a compact form for transport and thus take little space in your gig bag.
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Numark HF-150
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*Price Ranges in USD: <100:$ 100-150:$$ 150-200:$$$The Numark HF-150 are basic DJ headphones but are more than good enough for young, starting Dj’s. The HF-150 are well made but don’t expect a detachable cord at this price.
They sound good, with clear low and mid-range. The ear cushions are 40 mm in size and do a good job of properly isolating your ears when playing.
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Senheiser HD-205 II
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*Price Ranges in USD: <100:$ 100-150:$$ 150-200:$$$Finally, we have the legendary HD-205. These are a bit more expensive than the previous two but really worth the investment. The HD-205 II is extremely well made, and above all, have an outstanding sound quality, and a sound spectrum ideal for DJ’s.
These pair of headphones are affordable enough for starting DJ’s and will certainly last a long time.
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DJ controllers
The DJ controller is the essential part of any beginner’s DJ setup. Below we look at a few models that combine quality and features with an attractive price.
Numark Party Mix
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*Price Ranges in USD: <100:$ 100-150:$$ 150-200:$$$The Numark Party Mix is a simple yet well-featured DJ controller. It comes with Virtual DJ LE, which is both powerful and easy to use and understand. The jog wheels are of very good quality considering the price, and the layout emulates a professional DJ setup. To top it all off, the Party Mix comes with a built-in light show, and it has outputs to connect the Party Mix to any external speaker.
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Hercules Instinct P8
| Price range*: $$ (check current price) |
*Price Ranges in USD: <100:$ 100-150:$$ 150-200:$$$The Hercules Instint P8 is a small buy very well crafted DJ controller. It has very decent performance pads that feel (almost) like the real deal. The layout is simple to learn and to use and the components are all of good quality.
The downside of the P8 is the tiny, plastic jog wheels that aren’t any good for much more besides track search. That’s not a big problem since the P8 is strictly for beginners, and beginners can probably live with inferior jog wheels. The P8 comes with Hercules own DJ software, DJuced 40, which is easy to learn and to use.
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Hercules DJ Control Compact
| Price range*: $ (check current price) |
*Price Ranges in USD: <100:$ 100-150:$$ 150-200:$$$The Hercules DJ Control Compact is a very compact and basic DJ controller with limited functionality, but very cheap and enough for a beginner that wants to find out if DJing is for him/her or not. The pads are nice and support several performance functions.
The controller works with DJuced 18, which is very straightforward and easy to use. The compact size saves a lot of space, but the tradeoff is that the controller doesn’t have any line faders.
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Numark DJ2GO2
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*Price Ranges in USD: <100:$ 100-150:$$ 150-200:$$$The Numark DJ2GO2 is very similar to the Hercules DJ Compact, with a few notable differences. The DJ2GO2 comes with Serato DJ Intro, which is superior to DJuiced, and it also has a dedicated audio output, which makes it easier to connect to speakers.
The DJ2G02 is ideal for beginners because as they move on, they can still use the DJ2GO2 as a backup controller as it will work with Serato DJ!
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DJ Monitors
Any speaker will serve as a DJ monitor, but having dedicated DJ monitors is always the better solution. DJ monitors are designed to deliver a neutral and clear sound so that DJ’s can easily mix. It’s possible to spend thousands of dollars on professional studio monitors, but for beginners, any of the sets below will do the job well enough.
Samson MediaOne BT3
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*Price Ranges in USD: <100:$ 100-150:$$ 150-200:$$$The Samson MediaOne BT3 are compact active speakers, and pack a decent amount of power per channel. Each speakers produces 15 Watts, which is sufficient for any bedroom DJ setup.
The can be paired using Bluetooth, which means they can be used as all-around speakers for smartphones and tablets as well.
To BT3’s have a single RCA stereo input to connect a DJ controller. The sound quality is decent (lacking a bit on the low-end) but don’t expect professional quality at this price range.
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Hercules XPS 2.0 60
| Price range*: $ (check current price) |
*Price Ranges in USD: <100:$ 100-150:$$ 150-200:$$$The Hercules XPS 2.0 60 is a small & compact DJ speaker set with 15 Watts of output power per channel. There are knobs for volume, bass & treble on the front. Also, you will find an AUX input to connect external media sources (such as smartphones and tablets) and a headphone jack.
The volume output is enough for a small room, and the sound quality is, as expected at this price range, decent.
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Mackie CR3
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*Price Ranges in USD: <100:$ 100-150:$$ 150-200:$$$The Mackie CR3 is a versatile monitor speaker set, although Mackie doesn’t market them as studio or DJ monitors, more as multimedia monitors. There is an AUX and a headphone socket on the front, and on the back, there are RCA and even TRS inputs.
The sound quality is pretty good for the price, and will certainly be more than enough for beginning Dj’s. The total output power is 50 Watts.
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This is it for now, in the coming days we will add a selection of headphones and accessories to this article.
Happy Holidays and happy shopping!
