Nice pics Giz! I think I can barely afford this one over the CDJ-2000

When the full review comes around, I would be curious to know if there is a way, on the 2000, to make the Hot Cues assigned to the first three cue points of the current song, a la SSL.

everything except vinyl is for kiddies :D

@rs - you define the cue points in rekordbox and then load them in on a track by track basis. If youload a track, you have to manually load the cue points into memory.

@vinyl 4ever - even now people are still making comments like that?

Just finished reading your first look. I will be looking forward to your full review. Them seem like great decks, just a bit too expensive for my taste.
And you are always so humble about your scratching....

Which part of "on topic" isn't clear? C'mon Mudo - you've been here long enough to know the rules.

Did you try attaching an external HD with thousands of songs on to see how it handled it ? Like 500 tracks in one directory ? Can you use and external keyboard to search for tracks ?

thanks for the review giz. i was hoping there'd be more exciting features, but i guess you cant evolve the species too much.

i'm happy these came out though, maybe we'll see a drop in used CDJ800 and CDJ1000 prices?

Sorry but I disagree with your statement:

"Pioneer did it with CDs, and now they will do it in the entirely digital domain.

Make no mistake - the new CDJs will define the next club standard and establish the future of DJ digital audio."

I won't get into a p vs d debate, but these don't set any new standard and will be nothing more than oversized paper weights, kind of like that technics cd player that came out in the mid 90's. Aside form the price, they have just added pretty graphics and took features from other manufacturers and called it NEW! There are other "CHEAPER" players that will put this thing to shame and then some, and they have been out a while.

If you own a CDJMK3, you may as well stick with it as there is no improvement on what you have, if you want midi and hard drive - add a DN-HD2500 to your setup and you'll have the best of both worlds.

Thank you Giz for this first look.

I'm not getting into a Pioneer vs Denon debate either. I state that "the nearest competitor" is half the price and has more features. But the fact remains whatever the merits of competitive units, the likelihood of club owners making balanced buying decisions is slim - they will simply rip out the old CDJs and install the new ones, thus ensuring that the prepare and play principle (started by other manufacturers) gets wide acceptance. Let's remember that Pioneer are aiming these new units at clubs and superstar DJs - traditionally the mainstay of Pioneer users.

As for no improvement - well I'd say the Rekordbox is a huge improvement, as is the ability to share one source between decks.

+1,000,000 for using Z3 MC's in the video. Beauty and the Beat was one of my fave labels back in the day.

If you get a chance, try to see how they handle networking multiple USB sources. One place where digital really falls down IMO is handling the workflow of changing DJ's, plugging and unplugging DVS' sucks. You really need to be able to plug a USB into one of these, have all of them see it over the network, then have the next DJ plug his and and have that take over as the active USB while the old one continues to play.

@frequency.m - that's exactly how it works. You can share any number of single devices (one per unit) across all the connected CDJs, and swap ad change as you wish.

And no - you can't use a keyboard.

all you guys on the this site need to get a life... Pioneer have doing nothing wrong but because they are at the top you all hate them... Yes nothing major has changed but if they did they would loose out. They are a business that at the end of the day need to make sales. They are a good product just admit it and give them some credit where it is due.....

Is all this bitterness coming from the price tag? The fact that has to be accepted by everyone, is that they're aiming to the mainstray users, superclubs, megastar DJs, gear collectors and the show-offs that think the gear makes the DJ. It might seem unfair for people that not having this players kind of moves them out of the road directly to DJ stardom. It may be partially true, just maybe. But it's the people who put the standards where they are now right? Let's not forget that gear is a tool. Can't afford them? Suck it up. You still have options to rock the world. If you have what it takes (and not just money), then you might end up owning a pair and even more.

LOL @ the opinion of a Numark Axis 9 CDJs and Numark DM3002X owner.

Nice Giz. I like the CDJs and I think the features are pretty sweet but at this moment in time the most revolutionary DJ product out right now is the NS7 with Itch. IMO of course. But kudos to Pio none-the-less. If you can afford 'em, go for it.

I cant believe at all the negative comments on the 2000's just because of the price. Not just here, every forum is the same.These are not for everybody, if you dont have the dinero, keep saving up brother.You know you want them, stop hating .For those that are tight on money, shop around you shouldnt be paying retail for them. i paid $1360 shipped for mines.

These are meant to be affordable for everybody, they not for a bedroom dj.Im pretty sure Pioneer will never want to be the Hyundai of the Pro DJ market, leave that to Denon and Numark

All this comparisons with the S3700 or other players reminds me of those hilarious Hyundai commercials comparing the the Genesis to a 5 series because it has just as many features or more. Who you fooling?

The new CDJ's are another option/tool for djs that dont want carry their laptop everywhere they go. im almost made the switch to a dvs set up with my 800mk2 but never was a fan of the whole laptop. Just want do it because of the direction the market was going.With the the 2000's i can do everything that serato and traktor users are doing now, even though we all know Pioneer is late in bringing this technology. Im glad i waited it.

Cant wait until Nov.15th

Thanks again for the review Gizmo, i know i was a PITA on Twitter.

everything except vinyl is for kiddies :D

It seems that the aspirational value of the product is higher than I thought. I guess Pioneer are the Apple of the DJ world.

Funny thought though - even though this prepare and play workflow is nothing new, what's the betting that because of Pioneer, the industry now adopts it as a standard? Give it 12-18 months and we'll see more units like these with software (better be cross platform - yes I'm looking at you Denon), bigger screens and shared media.

Prediction: DJ specific hubs will appear. You'll be able to buy what looks like a router, but is in fact a media sharer - USB devices, CF cards, SD cards, iPods etc connecting to your players - maybe RJ45, or even wireless. One hub to serve all your devices. There may be technical limitations of course, but Pioneer seem able to do it for each CDJ just fine.

Cutting remarks from the pro vinyl brigade. I'm sure however that Pioneer will console themselves with the global industry wide saturation of their product, immense respect that the world's top DJ s hold them in, and by counting the piles of cash that they earn from making said product.

The lack of external keyboard is going to make searching through large collections are real PITA.

I feel for the other manufacturers who are much more inovative but don't see the cash flow that Pioneer do. I also wonder how long it will take Pioneer to make the software bug free and stable. They are 2 years behind the others at the moment.

Should we be blaming the superstar DJs for being so reluctant to champion other manufacturers?

Lack of keyboard input does sound like a stupid mistake, but I guess they expect those with large collections to have the Rekordbox software hooked up.

As far as I know, these players are unique in that they can be used as "standalone" players whilst being hooked up to the library software - meaning you can play CDs, flash drives -and- still be able to search, load and play songs from the computer.

The standard at the moment is DVS and I'm sorry but I don't see Pio changing the game with these decks. Not trying to hate this is just how I see it. Are the decks nice? Hell yes and they have some great features. And due to the quality and Pio's historical M.O. I even understand the pricing. But there's nothing about them that's gonna over take the DVS scene. DVS was an easy implementation because it pleased everyone eventually. Turntablist, Old Skool Vinyl DJs and Nu Skool CDJ DJs. This is the computer era whereas everyone's world is controlled by a desktop or laptop. DVS subscribes to this industry making it a economically viable DJ solution to the DJ masses.

Let me just say on the price that I have many friends whose life passion is music. Many of them own instruments that cost $10,000-$15,000. They pay this much for them because it is there life passion. If you ask me, if djing is your life passion and livelihood then these are for you. But if djing isn't that big of a deal, then there are many more affordable options out there for you.
Just my opinion

They are really nice decks, but I think their main shortcoming is where their main focus is.
They plan to revolutionize the dj workflow, but my opinion is that making playlists, and transferring all the songs in the playlist to a usb stick everytime isn't really any benefit over dvs at all! I think it's much too limiting, and less creative than having all your songs in a fullscreen library that my MBPro is.

Creating playlists and putting them onto usb sticks is a lot more hassle than just plugging in your laptop and having a much bigger library and good overview of lots of tracks!

My sets are spontanious and original because I improvise a lot. I scroll trough my library and see a song that didn't cross my mind before, and most original mixes are born this way. Something these Pios don't offer..

Again, they're impressive players, but I don't see any benefits in them.

@ Gizmo-Up until 3-5 years Denon was the Apple of the high end Car audio world and Pioneer was the mainstream brand. I have a Denon cd player laying around that cost me over $2000. They started slacking and wasnt changing up with the times. no advanced dsp, no other source choices other than cd. Now the high end single cd player Pioneer also controls it.

@ djsdjs- I owe you a drink if i ever meet you The good thing with Dj is that at least you can make some money and break even, compare to other hobbies out there. Like you said, these are people that make djing their livelihood, life passion or simply have the money out there to buy the latest and greatest.

I would luvv to have some of these. Nice work G!

If your complaining bout the price, then you probably dont charge anywhere near a decent rate for your performance time,...


get a job haters

I've never been a huge fan of CD decks in general, but these have honestly changed my opinion. I love my MIDI setup to pieces, but there are some days where I feel like doing something a little more manual. These CDJs look absolutely ideal.

2 things I think will help Pioneer:

1- If they release their software for free to everyBODY!
SSL did it and I know a couple of people who downloaded the software and started building their library that way, and then eventually bought an SL1.

Especially with the initial investment of these. I think people would like to set up tracks on the software and see which clubs carry the new decks and work it that way. Plus to demo at the store with your songs and cues would be a big benifit I think.

Second- Has to play nice with other DVS, from what they say it's suppose to. I have the CDJ-400 and I love how it integrates with my SSL setup. I have cues, loops, library scroll and 3 buttons I can assign. Would love to walk into a club and connect my USB to these new toys and just go to work. No need for midi controllers.. Just an SL whatever, a laptop and headphones.

I know some say what a waste could you could just bring your USB, but I like the DVS setup. Library search is quick, I know where crates are, sampler, multideck, etc...

Either way the new CDJ's look solid

For those complaining about the screen size or lack of keyboard ... keep using your laptop. The screen is big enough to do what you need to filter and search for songs. There may not be a keyboard but there are a boatload of methods for sorting and filtering your songs as well as doing a keyword search via the touch-strip and an on-screen keyboard (think iPhone).

No, this deck isn't for everyone but I think it's just as well that way. If everyone used the same gear there'd be no competition or growth.

Hey,

It's not really lack of standarization of the units. It's more like they're just updating 800's and 1000's and I'm glad they left those tiny differences that characterized them (like different reverse and vinyl switches).

Great art btw. Keep on!

Hey,

It's not really lack of standarization of the units. It's more like they're just updating 800's and 1000's and I'm glad they left those tiny differences that characterized them (like different reverse and vinyl switches).

Great art btw. Keep on!

Ahh the great price debate. Well here's my 2 cents coming from the point of working for Pioneer as designer and artist liaison for almost 2 decades. We here at Pioneer neither like to raise our selves up or put other manufactures down to define our position in the market place. Our name, history and impact on the industry stands on it's own. The simple fact that we are the standard for all Top DJs and Top clubs speaks for itself. (For the record, we don't pay any DJ to use our equipment and most go out and buy the gear themselves). I don't say this to "impress you" but more to "impress upon you" that these Top DJs/Clubs do this because of Pioneer's reliability, ingenuity and intuitiveness. There's a certain comfort that comes from knowing that when you're playing in front of 60,000 people your gear to won't fail.

My favorite metaphor is to equate this A vs B vs C product debate to Formula 1 races: You will never see a Hyundai, Toyota etc, in those arenas because drivers want the best to give them the edge to win. You may not be racing in those kind of races so it's perfectly OK to continue to drive your Toyota and use the product that suits your needs now. At the end of the day, all cars get you from point A to point B and a good DJ can still Rock a crowd whether with Pio, D or N.

We sincerely wish all manufactures continued growth because, as Pulse said, competition helps all. If they do good it means our industry is healthy and growing and we can continue be manufactures and you guys can be artists earning money being DJs. There is room for all levels of customers and products and no one should look down or up at the other in judgement. Yes Pioneer is expensive, just as a Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari are expensive. Some people in life need to have the best and want to pay for workmanship and quality. In the long run, for them it makes a statement about the kind of DJ they are and the kind of service they want to deliver to their clients/clubs/audience. However, top of the line quality, materials and engineering come at a price that must take the test of DJ/touring/festival abuse. All I am trying to say is there no need to criticize those that wish to be on a different race track because you may be there as well someday

Karl Detken
Director Product Planning & Artist Relations
Pioneer USA

ps: Great job Gizmo. You're reviews are always subjective and honest and that is appreciated by your readers.

@Karl - Thanks for the kind words, but not everyone appreciates the subjectivity and honesty though. Some even dare to ask me to remove such things from reviews. It'll never happen - despite some thinking that it already does. I'd be sat on a pile of cash if I did that sort of thing, instead of wondering where the next mortgage payment is coming from.

@Karl Detken @ Pioneer USA
Actually Toyota (even Honda) was a Formula 1 car company. But I get your point.

Hey Karl,

So, one question-completely removing the install standard factor, are you telling me flat out that Pioneer makes higher quality products than Denon?

Straight up your stuff is ridiculously overpriced, all of it. It's not just your pro dj gear. Everything Pioneer makes is overpriced, car stereos, HDTV's, those 350 dollar magnesium headphones!!! There is no justification for it and to imply that your gear is fail proof, I have seen many a djm-600 blow up mid set under the hands of pro dj's for years before the 800 dropped. "My favorite metaphor is to equate this A vs B vs C product debate to Formula 1 races: You will never see a Hyundai, Toyota etc, in those arenas because drivers want the best to give them the edge to win." You are an idiot!!!!!!! "Toyota follows Honda Motor Co. as the second major Japanese automaker to withdraw from the sport in the last 11 months." USA Today 11/4/09 "Toyota follows Honda Motor Co. as the second major Japanese automaker to withdraw from the sport in the last 11 months. Honda pulled out last December amid worsening economic conditions. Brawn GP, which took over the old Honda team, won the 2009 F1 championship." Do you not have google?

Look at the companies that make great innovative gear, Rane, Allen and Heath, Akai, and Vestax's fantastic Midi lineup. Face it, Pioneer is a day late and a dollar short to the revolution. Go to any big party and what do you see, Serato, Traktor, Ableton, CD based DJ's are a slowly dying breed in all levels of the DJ world. With the current economy, along with the price cuts and relative affordability of most DJ technologies how can Pioneer sit in the tower they have created, look down and not see Technics all over again. So tell me 3K for two CDJs or $1200 for the A&H DX?

Thnx SpAzZ for understanding and not taking litteraly the examples in my metaphor that some seem to miss.

I think people should realize that although many might not be able to afford these, you will be happy to see these in your local major club.

Why?

Because you have options. For me, I can bring my laptop with Traktor and just plug in 2 usb cables or I can just bring a couple of usb sticks. No more headaches with rewiring to get my set up going and no more bringing extra gear that I will have to babysit all night.

Pioneer did good with their new line of dj gear. I think they tried everything to make their gear compatible and easy to use for all djs, that's the bottom line.

@Wyley-it won't work like that. The CDJ's have no audio device aggregation, so you can't just plug in two usb cables as Traktor cannot route two audio interfaces. You may be able to use Core Audio device aggregation on a Mac, but I don't trust the latency introduced.

@Gay Zombie

My 2x DN-S1200 works with TSP in the same manner. (I aggregated them and have no issues).

Traktor hasn't yet allowed for multiple-individual-soundcards as an in-application solution, thus we have to use external aggregators such as ASIO4All or Mac's built-in CoreAudio. They add negligible latency and in the case of ASIO4All, even offer the ability to compensate).

So yes, you plug in two USB cables (one for each player) and so long as it's configured for an aggregate, away you go.