Upgrade Your DJ Gear With These Tips In Mind
December 10, 2024
They say the one constant in life is change. Such is (or will be) the same for the equipment you use as you progress in your entertainment career. You may have saved up and purchased the perfect sound system, or you may be satisfied with doing your thing with limited gear. Either way, you will have to upgrade your DJ gear at some point if you consider DJing a business.
Why Should You Upgrade Your DJ Gear?
If you’re satisfied with your setup, you may wonder why you should upgrade your DJ gear at all. The simple answer is you cannot always tell with the naked eye what’s going on under the hood of your gear. And though we don’t think it as often as we should, no gear lasts forever.
That being said, you need to consider normal wear and tear as the first reason why you should upgrade DJ gear. Some equipment will wear out definitely before others. You’ll most likely have to replace cables before any bigger hardware because cables are more nimble. A good rule of thumb is: if you use it often, chances are it will wear more quickly. In other words, you may use your computer and mixer together, but your fader or mixer knobs probably get a more strenuous workout than your laptop keyboard.
You may also want to upgrade your DJ gear just to keep up with the times. Technology is changing at a breakneck pace today. Also, computer operating systems change more frequently, and that could affect your entire operation if your CPU is outmoded. If a brand stops creating the model of equipment you have, chances are the technical support will shortly end, and that won’t be good for the long run of your business.
Upgrading gear may simply be a decision of growth because of business expansion. If you’re regularly playing larger venues than when you first started, you may want to get a bigger or better sound system. Or perhaps you need more mixing capabilities than your current mixer or controller has. Some growing pains don’t hurt as much, and this is a great example. You definitely want to be prepared with the right setup if bigger, higher paying clients knock on your door. Keep in mind it’s not always just the capability to a gig, the look can be just as important to high paying clients. If your equipment looks banged up & unprofessional, you look unprofessional! Upgrading your DJ gear can help the growth of your business in ways you might not be thinking about!
When to Upgrade Your Gear
Finding the right time to upgrade your DJ gear is tricky. You don’t want to spend money on things you may not need, but considering upgrades after your equipment has failed is too late. As the old saying goes, though, “the time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining.”
The short answer is you want to consider upgrading before your gear starts to show wear. That timing will vary based on how many gigs you do each month. Generally speaking, you’ll start to notice wear and tear on your major equipment after the first few years of using everything collectively. If you start having issues with connectivity, shorts in wires, or something being “off” from the occasional bumps due to equipment mobility, you should notice and inspect those things early.
There is a caveat to this thinking. While it’s not technically an upgrade, you may want to consider buying more than one backup drive for your digital music collection. And you may think about buying extra plugs and cables when you buy your first set. These are too crucial for your business functioning at all. A glitch in your hard drive can damage digital files instantly and disrupt your ability to gig. Skimping on these extra purchases is never worth the worry or headache of losing your library.
The key to making any upgrades to your gear is paying attention to your own routine and how hard you work your setup. If you’re going hard with gigs, your equipment may need a tune-up sooner. Keep an eye out for abnormalities in connections or any irregular glitches. Your equipment will let you know, but you definitely want to be prepared before that happens.