Help With Choosing The Right Portable DJ Mp3 player

Hi guys, I explained yesterday in the newbie section I'm new to the forum, I'm an acoustic guitarist/singer just getting started in the pub acoustic covers game, and what I'm looking for is a simple to use mp3 player that I can use to play a bit of background music during the break/interval

I was originally looking at the Gemini MD500 but kind of got put off by the reviews from people who had bought them or had previously owned Gemini kit, the message was basically....STAY AWAY ha ha

So that left me back at square one again, so I had to do a bit of digging and so far have narrowed it down to the following:

Reloop RMP4
Numark NDX 500

I don't want to spend more than say £150, although I was looking at some of the more higher end units and they look AMAZING but overkill for what I want it for and I can't justify the spend really, so if you guys can think of anything similar or better, then that's be great

I was just thinking about getting a basic MP3 player like a sony walkman kind of thing, but liked the idea of seeing the waveform and a big play button just in case it's dark in the venue, I don't want to be messing around with a tiny screen

So I'd be HUGELY appreciative of any input/feedback from you guys who know about these units based on my need, as I say, I not a DJ and I don't intend to ever go down the route, but just a reliable, solid unit, that I can place next to my PA system (Yamaha stagepass 1K MkII) and when I've finished playing a song at the end of my first set, I can just hit play on the unit and that'll play a bit of background music while I take a little break

Thanks folks

Personally, I'd just get an Android tablet and run Spotify on it - it has a fair "automix" feature, and you can download the playlist in advance so you're not relying on wifi.

Easy to build the playlists in advance.

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Originally Posted by rth_discos

Personally, I'd just get an Android tablet and run Spotify on it - it has a fair "automix" feature, and you can download the playlist in advance so you're not relying on wifi.

Easy to build the playlists in advance.

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Agree, or just use an old phone and pop some music on, can also have spotify too for requests.

BTW - Mastermix Grandmasters are great for what you are looking for.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rth_discos

Personally, I'd just get an Android tablet and run Spotify on it - it has a fair "automix" feature, and you can download the playlist in advance so you're not relying on wifi.

Easy to build the playlists in advance.

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And technically illegal. :Naughty:

As is my preferred option. Windows tablet/Chromebook, memory card/stick running Media Monkey. Very powerful tool.

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Originally Posted by Excalibur

And technically illegal. :Naughty:

As is my preferred option. Windows tablet/Chromebook, memory card/stick running Media Monkey. Very powerful tool.

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The best piece of software I have purchased and still (as proven a couple of weeks ago) still used regularly

Hey, thanks for the feedback guys, remember I said in my OP I only wanted to spend £150? Well, that was until I came across the Dennon Prime Go, it just looked SO good to use for other things as it's battery powered, that I thought, what the hell, you only live once, and it'll look & sound the part too, albeit COMPLETE overkill for what I'm going to use it for

I don't think I'd go down the laptop route as I'm trying to keep everything as minimalistic as possible, use the least amount of wires etc etc, I've got most of my guitar/vocal fx running off a power bank, and my PA system is a line array, I'm probably going WAY OTT with my setup for an acoustic pub gig, but I do want it to look & sound the best it possibly can to try and leave a good impression with any potential pub/bar owners

Ahhhh man, what I have got myself into hey? Ha ha

Cheers guys

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Originally Posted by Lefty

Hey, thanks for the feedback guys, remember I said in my OP I only wanted to spend £150? Well, that was until I came across the Dennon Prime Go, it just looked SO good to use for other things as it's battery powered, that I thought, what the hell, you only live once, and it'll look & sound the part too, albeit COMPLETE overkill for what I'm going to use it for

I don't think I'd go down the laptop route as I'm trying to keep everything as minimalistic as possible, use the least amount of wires etc etc, I've got most of my guitar/vocal fx running off a power bank, and my PA system is a line array, I'm probably going WAY OTT with my setup for an acoustic pub gig, but I do want it to look & sound the best it possibly can to try and leave a good impression with any potential pub/bar owners

Ahhhh man, what I have got myself into hey? Ha ha

Cheers guys

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To be honest, if you want a response system that will let you play music on demand, you've made the right choice.

Now may be the wrong time to mention the Numark Mixstream Pro Go which basically comes from the same manufacturer as the Prime Go, but £200 cheaper.

Julian

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Originally Posted by DJ Jules

To be honest, if you want a response system that will let you play music on demand, you've made the right choice.

Now may be the wrong time to mention the Numark Mixstream Pro Go which basically comes from the same manufacturer as the Prime Go, but £200 cheaper.

Julian

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I read it that the OP wanted to leave music running on automix, rather than manually playing tracks, during his break from playing?

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Originally Posted by rth_discos

I read it that the OP wanted to leave music running on automix, rather than manually playing tracks, during his break from playing?

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Even I can get the Prime to play a playlist from an SD card. Even if it is as Mr Morecambe said " not necessarily in the right order ". :D

The Denon Prime is a powerful piece of kit, and is sooo desirable, eh Benny? ;) However, although it is packed with all sorts of features, in many ways, it's Jack of All Trades, and master of none. Don't get me wrong, I love mine to bits, and it's indispensable for me.

While it's a fabulous music player, and has microphone capabilities, it has its limits.

Cheers guys, I just couldn't resist buying it once I knew it was portable & battery powered, I never even knew such a bit of kit existed, then I was reading through all the comments & reviews and no-one had a bad word to say about it

So I was thinking, I could use it in the background as I'm setting up & tuning up for my gig, so imagine I was booked to play 8pm-10pm, I'd turn up @ 7pm, estimate it takes me 30 mins to set up, then I could have 30 mins of background beofre I play my first acoustic song, then at the end of my first 45 minute set, I could just hit play with the Dennon next to me, and at the end of my 2nd set, hit play again as I'm packing up, and that's my background music problem sorted

As I say it's DEFINITE:Y overkill for what I'm going to use it for, and I'm certainly no DJ and wouldn't even pretend to be, but now that I've bought it, I was thinking it could give me a good selling point to use when speaking to pub/bar owners to try & get a few gigs as if the night was going well and the party is in full swing so to speak, I could offer it as an extension or as an extra service to maybe play an extra hour of music

Another idea I have is to have a short throw projector behind me to display a load of music & Liverpool (My town where I'll be playing) related images & videos that I could create myself on my PC, render them into mp4 files, then play those back through USB stick or SD card so that I'm playing behind a visual backdrop, kind of like what you see with a professional band, but down the local pub/bar instead

I know if I walked in off the street into a pub and seen a guy playing guitar with a good visual music related background it'd definitely grab my attention, whether it would hold my attention or not depends on the song selection

So that's my initial ideas really guys, the method behind the madness is that in my hometown (Liverpool UK) there is a lot, and I mean A LOT of competition on the local pub covers music scene, there's guys that have been doing it for 30+ years who everyone knows and can play/sing everything & anything, then there's the up & coming younger ones playing all the modern stuff, then there's the pub crooner type of singers with backing tracks doing your Sinatra/Motown kind of shows, none of these which I really fit into, I'm more of an indie/rock guy

I'm playing predominately 70's/80's/90's acoustic covers with a Pop/Rock/Indie theme, bands like Oasis/Pulp/Stone Roses/Verve from the 90's, Pet Shop Boys/Human League/The Jam from the 80's, then Steve Miller/Cockney Rebel/Supertramp from the 70's, so it's aimed at a 40+ year old age group I'd say, my NIGHTMARE gig would be a room full of 20 year old's saying "Do you know any Taylor Swift?" I'd be like "Errrm no sorry, but I know Dennis Taylor & the matchroom boys 'Snooker Loopy' will that do? Ha ha

So, to sum up, I want to put on the BEST possible show I can that is something different from what my competition is doing and then try and sell that to the pub/bar owner as the reason why he should book me over any of the 100 other acts all asking to be booked, and if it doesn't work, then at least I can say I gave it my best shot

Thanks again guys, and sorry to make the post so long winded, but if you have any tips/advice/words of wisdom to offer up from your experience of speaking to pub/bar owners then I'd really appreciate that advice, as I'm not any good with that side of things, I'm more into music & art & being creative/imaginative than I am as opposed to being professional & business minded, but The scene from "Man ON The Moon" with Jim Carry always sticks with me when he gets fired from his comedy club gig when the bar manager says to him "It's show business....SHOW BUSINESS, without the BUSINESS there is no show" ha ha