You’ve dug through the virtual and physical crates; you’ve curated your set lists; and you’ve booked the gig — the hard work is out of the way, right? The proper tracks, techniques, and tools are essential for ensuring the night’s success, but the all-too-commonly overlooked accessories are the connective tissue of your rig. Spanning vinyl turntables, DJ controllers, and beyond, these are Sweetwater’s top choices for DJs.
- Best DJ Headphones
- Best DJ Stands, Tables & Facades
- Best DJ Lighting Effects
- Best DJ PA Speakers
- Best Vinyl DJ Turntables
- Best Turntable Accessories
- Best DJ Cases, Cables & Accessories
- Best DJ Controllers
- Best DJ Controllers Under $500
- Best DJ Controllers Under $1,000
- Best All-in-one DJ Systems
- Best DJ Media Players
- Best DJ Mixers
- Best DJ Effects Units
Best DJ Headphones
Audio quality is always important. But for DJs practicing at home and hitting the road, when it comes to headphones and deciding what to use, the words you want to hear are “durable,” “reliable,” “clarity,” and the like. How you listen to music at home is vastly different from the practical needs of staying on cue and perfecting your performances.
When you’re at the gig, your ears are competing with the live sound system, the crowd, the track currently playing, and the track you’re cueing — this last point is especially important to consider if you’re going with a split cue mixing method.
Best DJ Stands, Tables & Facades
Practicing or performing, DJs need a reliable leg to stand on — literally. Whether you’re using a controller with a laptop, an all-in-one DJ system, classic vinyl turntables, or the club-standard setup, physical reinforcements that provide focused support, tailored to your mixing workflow, are imperative. Plus, learning the limits and opportunities of the physical space you’ll have at a gig via practicing with the same laptop stand, table, or facade ensures consistency between rehearsing at home and igniting the booth.
Best DJ Lighting Effects
Sound may reign supreme, but raising the bar of your performance goes beyond the purely sonic dimension. So, let there be light! From house parties and local shows to special events and festival stages, captivating lighting arrays and synchronized effects elevate every set to the utmost capacity of audiovisual extravagance. Powerfully deployed and effortlessly tailored, the best lighting and effects for every DJ are here to supercharge your show.
Best DJ PA Speakers
From extended deep-house journeys to slamming tracks between bass-heavy bangers and everything in between, the proper PA speakers for your performances are critical cornerstones of dance-floor-filling sets. When outfitting your DJ rig, attributes such as weather resistance, battery-powered operation, height adjustment, channel capacity, I/O connections, weight, and overall portability will go a long way to streamline and enhance your opportunities. In other words: you need to get loud, but anything less than your best doesn’t sound any better when you’re only turning up the volume!
Best Vinyl DJ Turntables
The art of vinyl is alive and well! When it comes to the advanced craft of turntablism, technique is only the beginning. Mixing, scratching, back-cueing, and beat-juggling on physical vinyl — including hybrid DVS setups — requires a far deeper understanding of a turntable’s inner mechanics. If the term “battle-style” means anything to you, then you’re in the right place to find the best vinyl turntables for DJs at Sweetwater.
Best Turntable Accessories
Once your auditory odyssey at the listening lounge reaches its final destination, offstage support for vinyl-fueled setups is the key to enriching the longevity of your hardware and record collection. Replacement styli, backup cartridges, rock-solid slipmats, and record-cleaning equipment promise the best listening experience, optimized for the long haul.
Best DJ Cases, Cables & Accessories
For any DJ, cases, cables, and accessories are easy to overlook, but their importance can’t be overstated. The last thing you want is to be one piece short of a successful performance!
Best DJ Controllers
DJ devices fall into three general types: DJ controllers, all-in-one DJ systems, and DJ media players.
DJ controllers make up the biggest slice of the market. These devices are designed simply to control the software, which is also where the music lives. In other words, a DJ controller’s job is to send commands to the software based on what you do with the hardware. Fortunately, thanks to the combination of advancements in computing technology and the onboarding of streaming platforms into the DJ space, many DJ controllers can work with just a smartphone or a tablet. Using one with a laptop is common but not the requirement it once was.
Best DJ Controllers Under $500
Consider this the price point for those looking to take their first steps into the DJ world — prior music experience, optional. While every piece of DJ software needs to be used with a DJ controller, the most important thing to understand is that hardware is creatively secondary to software. In other words, while it may be tempting to think that a smaller, beginner-friendly controller is “less capable” than the club-standard units, the fact of the matter is that the world’s best DJs could as easily throw down a stage-blazing set on a controller that fits in your backpack as they could with a unit that needs its own flight case!
Best DJ Controllers Under $1,000
This is where you’ll find controllers that are the perfect level up from beginner or that offer a greater degree of longevity for people new to DJing yet experienced with and educated on rhythm, key signatures, and tempo management. Plus, these controllers are built with performance in mind — they can handle the rugged life on the road!
Best All-in-one DJ Systems
All-in-one DJ systems are essentially a combination of the two sides of the coin described above. By design, the software needed for mixing music, manipulating audio, implementing effects, and directing the signal paths of the music you’re playing is installed inside the unit — no external devices are necessary. Many all-in-one systems support expanded compatibility with laptops and other devices, but whether you elect to use them depends on your personal, workflow, and software preferences.
The all-in-one DJ system is the perfect choice for those ready to level up their setup, thanks to their ability to support comprehensive, laptop-free arrangements. Moreover, plenty of — but not necessarily all — DJ systems include onboard Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, allowing you to stream tracks directly from external devices and digital streaming services. And with their effortlessly portable designs, you never have to compromise your creativity for any and all shows running the gamut from local venues to inventive pop-up events.
Best DJ Media Players
DJ media players blend the inclusivity of all-in-one DJ systems with the modularity of DJ controllers, resulting in an ecosystem approach that mirrors the vinyl-focused format of turntables with audio mixers. Many clubs and venues use this layout, often with 2–4 CDJ-type units (as popularized by Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta) that run through a central mixer.
A DJ media player can be thought of as a single-deck version of what you’d find on an all-in-one DJ system. The necessary software is built into each DJ media player, but the vast majority of routing the audio, adjusting levels, manipulating the EQ, and applying effects happens in the mixer, which allows for extensive customization and tailoring of your DJ setup, including the option to assign a mixer channel to a laptop running a DAW, a standalone instrument, or anything else that sends an audio signal!
If you’re eyeing the big leagues of club-standard performances, then look no further. DJ media players — often described with the shorthand, “CDJ” — are the cornerstone of the most-galvanizing festivals, top-tier nightclubs, and arena-grade performances. Thanks to the artistic and technological innovations of manufacturers such as Pioneer DJ/AlphaTheta, the CDJ-style media player mixes the end-to-end capabilities of an all-in-one DJ system with the modularity of classic, vinyl-focused setups. All you need is a mixer to complete the DJ media player circuit.
Best DJ Mixers
While DJ mixers are essential for setups built around DJ media players, vinyl/DVS turntables, and hybrid arrangements, the creative versatility and sonic character unique to each DJ mixer is effortlessly integrated into rigs driven by DJ controllers, laptops, or all-in-one DJ systems. Plus, a DJ mixer expands your opportunities for bringing additional instruments and sound sources into your arrangement. Tastes vary widely on mixers and the style of DJing or music in which they’re more- or less-optimized for use, and this expands further when you consider the performance capabilities supported by one DJ software compared to another as well as the physical or digital formats of the music being mixed.
Best DJ Effects Units
Seen more often in the worlds of turntablism and vaunted nightclub sets, effects units and DJs have a long, rich history together. From global and track-specific sound shaping to explosive, hands-on expression, an external effects unit is a straightforward, flexible, and powerful method of distinguishing your sound and cementing your personal style.
Get Expert Advice on Your DJ Gear
Not sure which pick is right for your setup? Your Sweetwater Sales Engineer is standing by at (800) 222-4700 to give you expert advice tailored specifically to your needs.
