As a high level overview (what really helped me grok it): 1. Two songs play simultaneously (mp3s, cds, turntables), and a mixer controls what is fed to the mai

As a high level overview (what really helped me grok it): 1. Two songs play simultaneously (mp3s, cds, turntables), and a mixer controls what is fed to the main output. The mixer has a separate channel to headphones so you can adjust without affecting what comes out of the speakers. 2. The songs need to be adjusted so they play at the same speed(tempo), or they will drift apart over time. You generally adjust the speed of the muted input so it matches the current bpm. 3. Songs have a definite phrasing, often broken into recursive layers. Think 4 beats in a bar, 4-8 bars in a phrase, etc... You'll need to listen to the new track and position it on the first beat of a phrase, and start it playing when the current track hits its first beat. If the tempos match, you may still need to nudge it forward / back to line up the kicks / snares exactly. 4. _only now_ should you really start mixing the new track into the main output. if everything is in sync, its just a matter of balancing the Hi/Mid/Low to avoid them summing too loud. (mixers will show an output meter, we try to sit below 0dB or the sound starts to distort) Software like Traktor, Virtual DJ generally have two controllable players and a virtual mixer, often controlled by MIDI controllers that mirror the layout with faders, knobs and jogwheels. quality is often judged on road-worthiness so don't be afraid to try cheaper gear. The main difference will be resolution of controls and extensive mapping to effects and other features, which you shouldn't focus on at first... If you have any other questions, fire away. There's so so many options these days, and everything's so accessible. Think of the above as 'driving a stick', there are automatic syncing options if you just want to mix, STEM files (multi channel audio files) if you want to control vocals / drums / bass / lead directly rather than filtering frequencies, check the features pages of some of the DJ software if you haven't looked into it much. Its a lot of fun, best of luck mate.