CDJ 850 vs CDJ900 Comparison help

[psykx]

Context:
I'm comparing the two CDJ to upgrade my setup, I have a traktor setup which I've been using for a couple of years and I've played out in a couple of clubs. I can beatmatch on vinyl and using a controller. I don't need effects really as I'm producing my own tracks at the moment. I just want a simpler setup and tear down and to be as comfortable as possible when playing live.

Questions

What is Frame Accuracy and why do I want it?, I can guess but I want a guaranteed answer, I've looked on the internet to no avail.

Are there pictures on the internet of the 900 wave display and the 850's wave display? I've seen the 800's irl and I've seen the others in youtube videos but not a direct comparison.

I've read a lot of the threads here but there doesn't really seem to be a consensus. I really can't afford the 2000's.

[makar1]

The main featuers on the 900 that are missing from the 850 are Quantize for your loops and Link so you can share a USB stick between two players.

The 900 has more screen space for browsing tracks and the waveform looks a little better.

900:


850:

[Big Panda]

and slip mode?

[johney]

CDJs divide the track into frames, one frame is 1/75th of a second or 13ms. IIRC. They are important for looping and for setting a cuepoint when in CDJ mode, when setting a loop (don't quote me on this) the beginning and end point of the loop snap to the closest frame available.

For cuing, you pause the track, then you hear the CDJ stuttering at the point where you paused it. then you can get to the exact point using jog wheel, press CUE and you have your cue point.

CDJ-850 has a 1 frame, while 900 has (according to this http://www.djresource.eu/Topics/story/25/) a half frame accuracy, meaning it's two times as precise. It really depends on if you want to use loops a lot. if so, the higher accuracy might come in handy, but for cuing, 1 frame is more than enough. (besides, only pussies use the CDJ mode )

hope i helped

[psykx]

@johney thanks, thats is a perfect answer. I think that I'll probably go for the CDJ 850, it's likely if I ever want to upgrade I'll get the 2000 then.

[makar1]

900s have quantized loops which are much easier to use, and the 900 has Traktor HID support which the 850s don't. If you're fine without these and the Link feature, getting a pair of used 850s is a good option.

[psykx]

I don't really use loops I know when my tracks are about to end. The 850's do have HID support, check the pioneer website, I know they didn't at one point though. I don't really need a link feature for £500 not when I can use traktor when I don't want to have to prepare a set. You don't want to rely on a club having a 900 or above anyway, loads around here still have 1000 mk3's.

@markar1 thanks for posting pictures earlier they were really useful.

[makar1]

The 850s do have HID support but not in Traktor.

I would guess that by your "£500" statement that you're buying new? You could save a huge amount with getting a used set, which are readily available here in the UK.

[psykx]

ah bugger.

Yes that was the plan, I'm a real sucker for warranties and I've been stung by ebay before.

[Ever]

Regarding quantized loops on the 900 - I watched some demos of the Xone DB4 and it looks like it has built-in beat detection. Is this so? Just trying to understand how important quantized loops are.