Every year in early December we publish our holiday gift guide for DJs and producers. It’s always chock-full of creative and unique gifts that make great presents all types of music creators and curators. This year is no exception, we’ve got a ton of great ideas. Use this guide for your fellow DJ friends, or send it to family who are wondering what the heck they should get you this year.
What about DJTT’s Holiday Sale?
We have special deals available on select gear along with free 2 day shipping anywhere in the US to make sure your gifts land on time. Click here and check them out!
Guide to the Gift Guide: We’ve separated this year’s guide into a few sections. Scroll through to see if you find a section that fits you – or your DJ/Producer friend!
Good For (Nearly Every) DJ – Under $50
JackIn
It’s a headphone jack adapter in a stainless steel carrying case. Perfect for never, ever being without a headphone adapter.
The perfect keychain addition for any DJ.
Price: £19.99 (~$27)
Chroma Cables
(USB + USB-C)
We just launched a new variant of Chroma Cables, USB-C. Forget adapters, plug your MIDI devices + controllers straight into your new laptop with this new version.
Price: $14.99
(Metal) Flash Drive
Every year I buy at least one new USB and leave it on my keys. This metal-enclosure drive is only one to survive more than 6 months without physical failure. Get at least 64GB or larger.
Price: $24.99
Serious Home DJ Gear ($600+)
Pioneer: XDJ-RX2
Pioneer DJ might have released their most powerful standalone gear ever – and its not a CDJ. If you’re looking for the ideal alternative to a NXS2 rig for your home studio, this is probably it.
Price: $1,699
Roland took their DJ-808 and compressed it into a smaller form factor. You still get the sequencer and high quality controls. This controller has an impressive level of integration with Serato DJ.
Price: $699.99
Traktor: Kontrol S5
Earlier this year Ean explained to us why the S5 is an ideal home and mobile setup for Traktor lovers. Versatile and modern – it might be perfect if you don’t care about jogwheels.
Price: $799
For DJs Trying To Have A Renegade Party
Soundboks 2
This massively powerful battery-powered Bluetooth speaker can get up to 122dB and run for up to 40 hours on a single battery. Easily one of the best ways to bring bumping beats anywhere.
Price: $899
Power Bank With Outlets
Everyone has those typical USB power banks to charge their phones. Instead, grab a 42000mAh powerbank with AC plugs. Now power your laptop and/or DJ gear off it.
Price: $179.99
Battery RGB Lights
You’re going to want (some) light when you throw that underground party. A pair of Chauvet DJ’s battery-powered RGB pars could come in handy. Remote control, DMX, and auto modes.
Price: $159.99
Emergency DJ Kit
Bluetooth XLR Receiver
Live PA brand Alto have a small device – Total – that seems like perfect backup kit. Throw one in the back of a PA speaker, and boom, it’s a Bluetooth speaker. Stereo pairing is an option too!
Price: $49
USB Adapter for Android
You get to a gig, and you need a way to quickly add a last-minute track or two onto your thumbdrive, analysis be damned? This cable will do that for Android devices. Get yourself a file manager too!
Price: $5.99
Gaffer Tape
If you’re in any way involved with throwing an event or party, having a roll of this tape will always come in handy. It leaves no marks or residue, use for cables or decor or fixing things that break.
Price: $15.99
For DJs/Promoters With Residencies
Custom Stickers
If your DJ (or producer) friend has a logo, getting them stickers will always be appreciated. They’re great to pass out to fans. We use Sticker Mule for our stickers – but there are many other shops.
Price: ~$50 for ~50 stickers
Dry Erase Whiteboard
In a club environment, with hearing damage, requests are hard to hear. I know many DJ residents who use a handheld whiteboard to ask someone to jot down a request.
Price: ~$7
Hybrid Instax Camera
Photos are one of the best ways to get people to remember your DJ night. This hybrid Instax camera can print your photos for quick handing-out – but you’ll still have the digital images for later.
Price: $219 + film
Book Club
Push Turn Move
This tome is an immaculately designed history of dance music technology. It touches on every element of electronic music gear, and is a great book for anyone at all interested in the history of gear design.
Price: $83
Fowre #1: Synthesizers
It’s not a history of synthesizers, it’s instead “like a small exhibition at a county art museum—drawn together and organized by topic, ringed around with a little prefatory or commentary material”.
Price: $35
DJ Coloring Book
We get it, not every DJ wants to read. Here’s a completely different option, a coloring book of DJ gear and phrases! Sometimes off-the-wall choices are the best gifts – or maybe you know a DJ with kids who might love this!
Price: $15.99
Synth “Toys” That Are Anything But
PO-32 Tonic
Teenage Engineering never fails to amaze – they’ve made a new Pocket Operator that has a microphone for importing/exporting data (sessions from other POs), and has a ton of new sounds and FX. Plus, it’s battery powered.
Price: $89.99
Novation Circuit Mono Station
A standalone groove production box and sequencer- but Novation went overboard and added a paraphonic analog mono bass synth to the top of it. You’re unlikely to find much else like it in on the market.
Price: $399.99
Roland TR-08
Roland cleverly remade their original 808 in a modern, portable version. It’s a boutique but cheap recreation, and a must have for anyone who loves the sound of an 808 who doesn’t want to throw down thousands on a used original model.
Price: $349.99
Production Powertools
Push 2 with Live 10 Upgrade
Ableton has already announced that in upcoming Live 10, the Push 2 will reap many, many benefits. With this bundle, get a discount on a Live Suite upgrade when getting a Push 2, and upgrade to 10 for free when it is released!
Price: $1,398 (or less…)
Maschine MK3
In the year of “make everything more portable!”, NI wasn’t about to miss out. They shrunk down the Maschine to a more portable size, added HD displays to the unit, scaled up the pads, and added an audio interface.
Price: $699.99
Midi Fighter 3D
Remember playing in the arcade? Wasn’t it FUN? Shouldn’t music making feel fun and not frustrating? Meet the 3D: 4 banks of 16 buttons means this is all you need to play a full song. The fully customizable LEDs let you create bright, eye-popping light show.
Price: $175.00
Other Miscellaneous Ideas!
We had a few items that didn’t really fit into any of these categories, so we’re throwing them down here at the end:
Sustainable Vinyl Shelving
What if DJs could choose a more environmentally conscious type of record shelving option than the popular Ikea shelves? Way Basics has a great option – pictured 2-shelf version coming later this month.
Price: $35 for 1-shelf / $69 for 2-shelf
A DJ Pool Subscription
Buying music is a very, very personal thing for DJs. We don’t recommend it unless you have intimate knowledge of their collection. Some working DJs will appreciate a record pool subscription instead – read our roundup reviews!
Price: Monthly fee, varies.
DJTT Gift Cards
Need something more flexible?
In the DJTT store, we sell gift cards good for anything we carry. That’s a pretty great gift for any DJ regardless of what they do!
Price: $25, $50, or $100
That’s the end of the list for this year’s holiday gift guide. Haven’t found the perfect gift? Check out what we suggested in previous years:
2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017
Special thanks to DJTT friend fatlimey contributing some suggestions to this write up.
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For the bottom end, cheap and way better than you might imagine, LED rotating party lights for less than $9.
https://www.amazon.com/Enabled-Rotating-MGL801A-3-Watt-RGB-XL14/dp/B00BLVOQB6
Good stuff. But the Kontrol S5 looks a lot like the Kontrol S8.
Hey I would buy a DJ tech tools brand d metal USB stick :]
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Good list! But gaffer’s tape shouldn’t be $800.
That tape better come with Richie Hawtin taping my shit down for $800
Sorted now, thanks for the heads up!
Yikes, great catch 😉