Thank you for checking out my post. A little about me, my name is Jorge Antonatos aka DJ Vision and I am a Full-Time DJ and CEO for Sound Event DJs Inc . This post is about how times have changed for the DJ.
It all started with the the Technics 1200. If you were serious about DJ’ing then you most certainly had or have a pair of these legendary decks. Incredibly enough this particular turntable was first introduced in 1972. In 2010 they had ceased production. I grew up on these turntables and seems like yesterday Power 96 had 3 of these sitting lovely on concrete blocks. Moving forward the technology, the marketing and manufacturing was introducing a new way to DJ with CD systems. Mainly 2 CD system styles #1 a dual deck with buttons, a digital reading and tempo faders and the other is more of a turntable style.
This was one I used to DJ with, the Pioneer CMX-3000. Great for DJ’ing with CDs, but of course lacks the DJ Vinyl Feel. This was great for some types of events and was still able to convey the DJ art, just in a different way. Making the Turntable to CD switch was controversial, challenging and very different.
Pioneer really pushed the envelope on this concept when they came along with the CDJ Deck series. This was as close as you can get to that Turntable style feeling. Doesn’t matter if you were a Hip-Hop, Dance, or Club DJ, this was a CD system that was easier to swallow. I recall my first experience with the CDJ. It was at the Disc Jockey Store that many DJs in the South Florida area would go to for the hottest music, and gear. My Jaw literally dropped to the floor with the response of these CD decks. It was like a turntable without the needles and records. Amazing step in the right direction. I ended up DJ’ing with a pair of CDJ 800s and really enjoyed them as much as the party people on the dance floor. Moving forward, the music was starting to shift into a new arena, welcome to the age of the mp3s. The next step was moving to a DJ Software Program that would be integrated with some type of Hardware. At the beginning it was not ready for prime time. The releases of Computer DJ’ing due to the Specs of Computers, Glitches, compatibility etc. made it dangerous to DJ like this. Stay Tuned for more about the advancements, changes and the history to the present times of DJ Gear.