Only got five bills to play with? Get a controller, speakers, headphones, Serato, the works! Find out how in this budget guide for the best DJ gear under $500.
Best DJ Gear Under $500: Budget Booth
The Best DJ Gear Under $500
DJing is expensive. We know this. Whether you’re a turntablist jonesing for the new Technics SL-1200MKX or a digital DJ with your eye on a RANE ONE, it seems like no one is getting out of here without parting with some serious dough. There has to be another way!
Thankfully, there is. With a little frugality, you can certainly put together a full DJ set at any budget level. For example, today we’re looking at the best DJ gear under $500. Not just the best budget controller but a full set, complete with controller, speakers, headphones, DJ app and even a streaming service. You’ll have to supply your own computer, though.
I’m hoping to make Budget Booth into a series. If this story does well, what price point should I tackle next?
Let’s get started.
The Best DJ Gear Under $500: Hercules DJLearning Kit MK3
Starting from nothing can be intimidating for any hobby. But especially so when you want to be a DJ. That’s because you need a lot of stuff! You need the controller, of course, the decks to play the music. You need some speakers so you (and the party people) can hear what you’re spinning. And you need a pair of headphones to audition tracks and cue up the next song. Thankfully, Hercules does a kit that puts all of this together in one package that makes it easy to get started. It’s incredibly affordable too, which is what we’re all about today.
The latest package, which just dropped this week, actually, is the Hercules DJLearning Kit MK3. Inside, you get a DJControl Inpulse 200 MK3 controller, which is a fully featured two-deck controller that connects to your computer to play tracks. There are two touch-sensitive jog wheels, faders and crossfader, four performance pads per deck for cues and effects, and lots more. It supports streaming audio mixing and it’s got a built-in virtual sound card so you can do live streams if you like. And of course you can play through speakers too.
Speaking of speakers, the MK3 kit provides a pair of Hercules DJMonitor 32 speakers. These feature 3-inch woofers and pump out 15 watts of sound. And, with a frequency response of 60 to 20000HZ, you’ll hear everything you need to.
Of course, you also need some headphones. Your ears are covered too (literally) with the HDP DJ45 closed-back cans. They can do 95dB with a frequency range of 20 to 2000Hz and even feature swiveling cups.
The Hercules DJLearning Kit MK3 is available at Thomann* for $197, putting us well within our budget and making it some of the best DJ gear under $500.
The Best DJ Gear Under $500: Serato DJ Pro
How about that? We’ve already covered controller, speakers and headphones and we still have $300 left in our wallets. Let’s move on to DJ software now.
The DJControl Inpulse 200 MK3 includes Hercules’ DJUCED operating system, which is aimed at beginners and will do you well… for awhile. At some point you’re probably going to want to step up your game, though. When you do, consider Serato DJ Pro as the controller is already compatible with it. (You could stay with the included Serato DJ Lite but I’m betting you’ll eventually want all of the features.)
Serato DJ Pro just hit version 5.0 this week, so it’s a great time to get into the software. The big selling point in the new OS is Lucid Beatgrids, functionality that automatically detects fluctuating BPMs on tracks during analysis. If you’re a beginner, you may not know, but getting a human-played beat onto a grid for beatmatching can be a challenge. Lucid Beatgrids takes the grunt work out of the process.
Pro 5.0 also brings open streaming to the platform, letting you pull tracks from multiple streaming platforms simultaneously, not just one at a time. For example, it supports Beatport, SoundCloud Go+, TIDAL and Apple Music, among others, so you could mix a Beatport track into an Apple Music one. Nice, huh?
Serato DJ Pro is $11.99 a month, but you can buy it outright at Thomann* for $233. Doing the math, that’s the same as subscribing for about 19 months. If you plan to keep DJing longer than a year and a half, go for the outright buy. That puts our total spend so far at $430.
The Best DJ Gear Under $500: Beatport Streaming
We’ve got $70 left, right? Let’s finish up with a DJ streaming subscription. Odds are that you already have a Spotify sub, which works with Serato A-OK. But if it were me on this shopping spree, I would pony up for Beatport Streaming. Beatport is the main hub for modern dance music, after all, with lots of underground cuts you won’t get on big streaming providers.
Beatport’s most popular tier is the one that I’m suggesting: Advanced. It’s the minimum amount you can pay and still get DJ gear compatibility. It also includes stem separation compatibility, a free Traktor Play license, and a Pete Tong DJ course because why not? All of that for $15.99 a month. When you factor in the free 30 days, that’s five months for $63.96. And you’ve still got $6.04 remaining for a beer at the bar. Bob’s your mother’s brother.
Happy DJing!
More Information
- More about DJing
- Buy DJ gear at Thomann*
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