The art of DJing is rising to the fore across the media, music and entertainment industries – it’s a seriously hot topic! DJs now occupy top spots at festivals, gigs and concerts all over the world. DJing is exciting, it opens opportunities and also, it’s highly accessible.

DJing used to revolve around expensive setups of turntables and analog mixers but the digital age has ushered in a new generation of DJ controllers that come packed with top features at awesome prices.

The DJ industry is highly competitive for manufacturers and this has brought many advantages to those looking to enter the industry and buy their first controller. Controllers are available for incredible prices, bringing the fun, passion and excitement of the DJ world into the hands of many worldwide.

Controllers, as we all probably know, are powerful units which basically combine decks, mixers and FX, etc, all into one unit. This cuts clutter, cost, complexity and it opens up a wealth of creative opportunities for DJs to experiment with new styles.

The DJ controller generation is now!

In this article, we’ll overview the very best budget DJ controllers. They’re super cheap, highly usable and punch well above their price-tags.

Name	Bundled Software
Numark Mixtrack Pro 3	Serato DJ Intro	PRICING
Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 200	DJUCED DJ Software	PRICING
Numark DJ2GO2	Serato DJ intro	PRICING
Pioneer DDJ-WeGo4	Virtual DJ LE	PRICING
Numark PartyMix	Virtual DJ LE/Serato DJ Lite	PRICING

Budget DJ Controller Guide

Budget controllers are more powerful than ever. As competitiveness between manufacturers intensifies, the price of technology drops. Buyers can now choose from an array of awesome DJ controllers for cheap prices.

Build Quality

Budget controllers aren’t built from single blocks of machined aluminium, nor do they have tons of flashy multi-coloured LEDs and they won’t feature super-sharp smooth faders, etc.

However, these things aren’t really necessary. Cheaper plastic controllers tend to be strong and durable – plastic is a superb material because it absorbs shock, probably even more so than top-priced metal controllers!

If you’re jamming at a house party and someone smashes into your controller and knocks it to the floor then you’ll be glad it’s made from thick ‘cheap’ plastic – it’s strong stuff and it won’t crack a wooden or tile floor!

Features

Cheaper controllers tend to be smaller and more compact than more expensive controllers. They have fewer features and they’re more selective to the bare essentials. Obviously, the essentials is often all you need. Some pro DJs won’t even touch a super complex setup, they’ll just want a couple decks and a mixer – don’t assume you need everything from a DJ setup.

By the essentials, we usually mean jogwheels, faders, EQ and maybe some loop / FX buttons. Cue buttons, gains and master volume are all standard.

One key cost-cutting aspect of cheaper controllers is their lack of 3-band EQ. Many actually opt for a 2-band EQ which just has ‘high’ and ‘bass’ EQ pots. This isn’t as limiting as you might think – cutting bass or highs is usually the priority when blending two tunes in a simpler transition.

The mid frequencies are still cut by these knobs, think of them as splitting the entire frequency spectrum by half – 50/50 – rather than into 3rds – 33/33/33. Essentially, high mids are factored into the high EQ control and low mids are factored into the low EQ control.

Software

So controllers are only half of the setup when it comes to controller DJing. Software is the powerhouse – it brings a controller to life, quite literally.

There are virtually no controllers you can use without software. Controllers run via USB into a laptop or computer loaded with DJ software.

Software is where DJs really fork off into their different camps. Currently, there are 3 major DJ software providers. You’ll probably have heard of all of them. They’re referred to as the ‘Big 3’:

RekordBox

Designed by Pioneer, RekordBox is quite a recent addition to the Big 3. It’s designed specifically for Pioneer products and comes with any Pioneer controller. Pioneer have never been known for their budget products but there is one Pioneer product which makes this list.

Traktor

Traktor somewhat went into hiding around 2016 and really went off the radar. It’s now back with a fantastic new version. Traktor comes with Native Instrument’s controllers. Like Pioneer, these controllers aren’t really known for their favourable price-tags!

Serato

Serato dominates ‘the rest’ e.g. any controller not manufactured by Pioneer or Native Instruments. Serato controllers include anything from Numark, Denon, Gemini, etc. Serato is awesome because of Serato Lite, which is totally free. Serato Lite is the ultimate software for many of these cheap DJ controllers. It’s powerful, stable, smooth and runs great on many laptops. Also, it’ll map easily to nearly any DJ controller.

Numark Mixtrack Pro 3

Bottom Line: For a couple of hundred dollars or less, the Numark Mixtrack Pro 3 is the bomb. It packs so many features – it isn’t limited in any way by its price tag.

Numark have focussed on creating awesome controllers for cheap prices and they’ve pulled out some awesome models, including the Mixtrack Pro series. The Mixtrack Pro series have ruled the budget bracket for some time and the Pro 3 is one of the best in the series. This controller really is the king of the budget range right now!

However, $200 is still a fair bit – there’s some awesome controllers here which cost less but the Mixtrack Pro 3 does deliver the goods, it actually comes with nearly everything an expensive controller comes with.

The Mixtrack Pro 3 is large, wide and spacious. It doesn’t make any attempt to be small. It’s not perfectly suited to travelling and is probably best at home on a relatively large desk or small table. It’s not massive but it’s the biggest controller here by a fair margin.

It has full-size 100mm temp faders, large metal jogwheels, 3-band EQs, a set of FX and sample pads for each deck and even a touch-strip which allows for the navigation of tracks easily. Serato Lite tops it off in an all-in-one cost-friendly quality mixing package.

Pros

A tremendous controller for the price
Large and fully-featured
Serato Lite compatible – no need to buy software

Cons

It’s large!

DJ Control Inpulse 200

Bottom Line: Hercules are an awesome manufacturer of budget DJ products. The Inpulse 200 is super-cheap, portable, reliable and packs some cool features with its special software, DJUCED.

This controller by Hercules is absolutely tiny. It’ll comfortably fit on your lap, nevermind a desktop or table! It has two small jogwheels, faders, all your usual gains, etc, and a 2-band EQ with high and low cut/boost. That’s basically the barebones but for the price, it’s easily enough to get a party rocking!

Perhaps most notable is the custom software Hercules use for their new controllers – DJUCED. Let’s start by pointing out that you don’t have to use this software! You can switch to Serato Lite for free, or any other DJ software.

DJUCED has been designed with up-and-coming DJs in mind. It has several innovative features that can enhance your mix and teach you both basic and advanced mix skills. It links up to a video academy where you can watch guided walkthrough of mixing with DJUCED to help cement your DJ knowledge and progress your skills.

DJUCED also features a number of ‘modes’. For example, you can switch on tempo suggestion mode which helps you nudge the tempo of a track for a perfect match. You can turn on beatgrid alignment mode which helps you lock your tunes into time. You can analyze your playlist for mix suggestions using key analysis which is awesome for creating harmonically tight mixes. Finally, but probably coolest, the ‘Energy’ level display meter glows either red or blue to indicate the energy of a track based from rhythm and key. You can use this as a guide to transition your mix between songs which match the energy levels of your tracks and the mix.

That’s a cool set of additions and it certainly provides Hercules some points for innovation, especially at this ultra-cost effective price.

Pros

Compact and solid controller
Awesome suite of software to aid learning DJs
A nice extra feature: Energy level

Cons

2-band EQ

Numark DJ2GO2 Serato DJ controller

Bottom Line: This tiny DJ controller is perhaps the cheapest available! Designed for portability, Numark have done it again by providing something that is super-useful and effective for DJs of all types.

This tiny controller really fills a gap in the market – quite a big gap for such a tiny controller! It’s incredibly portable and will fit in any reasonable back-pack or similar sized bag. It’s barely longer than 35cm!

Putting its size to one side, which is a headline feature in itself, it has two tiny jogwhels, 4 pads per deck (!), faders, a two-band EQ and your usual cues, etc. It’s not a toy – it’s powerful enough to allow for some awesome mixing and best of all? You can genuinely take that powerful portable mixing capability anywhere.

One key use for this controller is that it makes the perfect practice and prep controller. You can use it to practice and prep for live sets from anywhere, which is incredibly important but often difficult when you’re using a larger controller.

Pros

It’s tiny!
Surprising amount of features include 4 pads per deck for FX and samples
Durable plastic build
Perfect for practice, parties and mix prep

Cons

Naturally limited by its size

Numark PartyMix

Bottom Line: The Numark PartyMix is another excellent DJ controller from budget titans Numark. It’s super-cheap, super-cool and it really packs a punch in terms of features, build and performance.

Numark shows their aces once again with this awesome controller. It’s small and boxy like other Numark controllers and it looks like it could take a beating without falling apart. It’s basically the ultimate house party controller. You wouldn’t take this to a pro gig but it’s perfect for anything else!

It has a 2-band EQ, your usual gains, faders and jogwheels, 4 trigger pads per deck for FX and samples. But perhaps coolest of all, it has a quirky secret weapon…

The PartyMix actually comes with a built-in light show! 3 LED lights at the back of the controller provide a pretty effective little light show by pulsing and moving in time with the music you play. It’s pretty awesome and though it might seem tacky, just turn the lights off and add a budget smoke machine or lasers to create a serious disco-like environment in your own back room!

Pros

Decent jogwheels and faders
Durable
LEDs light show!

Cons

Just a 2-band EQ

Pioneer DDJ-WeGo4

Whether or not you can class this as ‘budget’ is debatable! However, by most accounts, it’s a serious controller with some pro-level scope. It’s worth including simply because it’s amazing Pioneer have tried to make something somewhat close to the ‘budget’ end of the spectrum. If you just really want a Pioneer, or maybe already own Pioneer CDJs or RekordBox then this controller could be the one.

Firstly, it’s genuinely portable at 38cm wide. There’s a lot of controls neatly packed in and it looks very sleek and stylish. The build quality is high – it’s typically Pioneer.

Some headline features of this is its PC master out which allows you to use your PC speakers. Basically, plug this into your PC and you can use whatever PC speakers you run. Alternatively, you could simply use your laptop speakers if you needed to practice at quieter volumes, etc.

You can trigger FX, loops, and samples from its cozy layout, the faders are strong and sharp, the jogwheels move nicely and overall, you can see and feel why this costs a little more than the other controllers here.

Perhaps disappointingly, it has a 2-band EQ, however, this really is quite inconsequential for the most part, you can still execute a killer mix with this controller.

Last but certainly not least, this controller comes with a full version of RekordBox, which you do have to factor in when taking into account its higher cost.

Pros

Very compact
PC master out
Great build quality
PC master out

Cons

2-band EQ!

Summary

The controllers here range from the super cheap Numark DJ2GO2 to the pricier DDJ-WeGo4.

They’ve all got their individual merits and they’ll all make a great intro DJ controller, travel companions, backup controllers, house party controllers or simply quality all-in-one controllers for either work and play.

The Numark Mixtrack Pro 3 is a near perfect blend of budget and performance. It has top features, it doesn’t slack on stuff like its 3-band EQ and it’s wide, spacious and durable.

If that’s too big then the Numark PartyMix is very cool. Even if you’re putting the LED light show aside, it’s a solid controller all around.

The Hercules DJ Control Inpulse 200 is super cheap and it comes with awesome software that can help teach DJs the techniques of the craft. Don’t overlook it.

Finally, the Pioneer DDJ-WeGo4 is the obvious ‘pro’ choice here, but that is reflected in its potentially non-budget price. It’s a great controller though and is well worth its place in the lineup.

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