For me, it's like this: -
Good: -
Solid track selection - If a mix is technically impressive, then I don't mind hearing a bunch of tracks I've heard may times before, but I do like to hear tunes that are new to me.
Good technical skills - My favourite mixes are all multi-tracked. Qbert's DPSM. Babu's Comprehension. Buddy Peace's mixes. Spinbads mixes, etc. I love the technical side of DJing - not when a DJ overdoes it - but when a skilled DJ that really knows what they're doing does it right, it really does make the mix a lot greater than the sum of its parts. Not that I'm saying a mix has to be multi-tracked for me to like - far from it - but they are the supreme examples of pushing DJing as far as it can go.
Good sound quality - I'm not expecting to download mixes encoding in FLAC (although it would be nice), but good sound quality is a must.
Bad: -
Bland track selection - If you're just doing basic blends, then playing the same tracks that lots of other DJs are playing is gonna lead to a pretty dull mix.
Poor technical skills - If you're not a very skilled DJ yet, less is more. I would rather hear a DJ just fade between songs if they can't mix but have a good taste in music and want to get a mix out there. I will listen to a mix with terrible tech skills all the way through if it's for critique purposes, but then I'll never listen to it again.
Overusing technical skills in the wrong way - I used to record the Tim Westwood show when he had guest DJs on. Sometimes, he'd have Funkmaster Flex on and he's an example of a DJ that overuses tech skills IMO. For example, he would cut back and forth between an intro line of a hip-hop song, but he'd do it with nearly every track and he'd do it loads of times to the point where I'd think "just play the fucking song already!".
Bad phrase matching - Often this means clashing vocals, then the DJ realises and quickly fades the outgoing track out. There's no excuse for this!
Bad sound quality - One of the first things a DJ should do is learn how to set the levels properly (or use auto-gain) and how to record a mix. I don't want to hear mixes where the levels of the songs are all over the place, the overall sound quality is too low or too high so it's clipping (which is even worse), or where there's humming in the background cos the gear isn't properly grounded. If you're gonna use MP3s, use a decent bitrate. When you're using a mix of bitrates from various sources, it can be heard in mixes sometimes.
Short mixes - I don't mind mini-mixes that are deliberately short cos they pack in a bunch of tunes, but to me there's little point in posting up a 10-15 minute mix of 3-4 songs. It's OK if you're a n00b who wants to know if you're on the right track, but outside of that, don't do it!
Lazy/bland DJs in general - It's hard to stand out from the crowd, but DJs should at least try, whether it's with digging deep for great tracks, pushing the technical side of DJing, or both. I hate hearing hip-hop mixes where every blend is "lower the bass on the outgoing track and mix the outro with the intro of the next song" and there's no scratching, trick mixing or anything else that makes the mix interesting to listen to.
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