Whats the deal with CDJs?

[mrdorianjames]

clarification/correction:

most things that have firmware require an operating system. Computer peripherals may have firmware but they don't have an OS. However,they do need a operating system to function.

[Da171mastah]

Shishdisma, I agree with much of what you said besides the difference between a pioneer setup and a controller setup.

Although, pioneer setup is a streamlined and more reliable workflow, it still is about as different as a PlayStation is to a gaming PC. Both DJ setups are digital(unless you hook up your Pion setup analog,which lessens the quality), both use an operating system. pioneer's have two operating systems,one for the cdj and one for the mixer. Anything that needs firmware has a OS,However streamlined it is. The separation of the mixer and the cdj adds an extra unnecessary interface that isn't apparent in the controller. They both use RAM,(maybe not as plentiful in a pioneer setup). Even a old CD player has Random Access Memory for keeping it from skipping. CDJs use it for that same function as well as keeping hot cues and loading tracks from a flash drive for easy access. The mixer needs it for Delay effects if not for a handful of other functions that I'm not thinking of. Yes it's more reliable and less of a headache but the difference is very little.

The rule of thumb when dealing with the question of digital vs analog is to make the conversion as few times as you can. I don't think this knowledge has escaped Pioneer. If controllers aren't the way things are going then Pioneer wouldn't be spending so much effort on going the controller route.

I have a hard time seeing beyond the fact that while i still use vinyl, Everybody else has gone from CDJs to controllers. Even some rather big clubs have started using Pioneer controllers and Serato. I know very little have empty tables for "BYOG", but even if DJ's in Ibiza are still using High-end CDJs, wedding DJ's and Top 40 club DJs are still going for controllers for convenience sake. This is unfortunately a large portion of the market. Most Clubs aren't that mindful of how the music plays as long as people buy drinks at the bar. Just think of all the places that use those digital jukeboxes. I've worked for a business that put in a majority of the sound systems in bars and clubs in chicago. Rarely did they care about the means to which the music is played as long as the club is hopping. I also know that pioneers have very little profit margin compared to lesser brands and most of the bars and clubs won't care if they buy a gemini turntable or pair of techs as long as the money they make from the club is greater than the cost of repairing or replacing lesser equipment. The main reason they would buy a pioneer over something else of equal durability was because it makes their club look more top dollar. They could buy a Denon which is just as reliable but it doesn't have as much recognition. Just like how many clubs that carry Cristal champagne when there are plenty other great champagnes(cough..cough..Clicquot),but they take cristall because of it's notoriety.

Id have to disagree with some of this, literally every club in Chicago i've played at and been at has a pioneer setup, minus a few places in the burbs where its less of a club and more of a bar. Also this is awesome, I like using the controllers and always bring mine but CDJs and Pio setup is just so much fun. You can have a billion effects on traktor, serato etc but even in my case as well as alot of other people you just get a brain fart because your trying to do to much with all you have available when really the best effect you have available is just downright good mixing. But going back to the argument that controllers will or wont take up to much space, Id say controller would take up more, if you have 3 to 5 DJ's playing in one night with a whole bagload of controllers, itd be a complete nightmare to setup and disassemble, pio is so seamless, I can play with HID on traktor with my X1 n F1 and the guy after me can come and use his CD's or USB drive, I unplug a couple cable and bam thats it. Plus I love the big buttons on CDJs those little ass cue point buttons just irritate me lol. So whats next Pio vs A&H?

[alchemy]

Personally, I just can't "feel" the track playing with controllers, thats why I am progressively expanding my setup to a cdj style. Now i try to emulate the cdjs on traktor, I hide every bit of information available, I do not use sync and beatmatch manually with my Nanokotnrol and launchpad. OMG the difference, I actually feel that I am doing something!

I just cant wait to get my hand on a pair of cdjs! I want to be able to touch the music. not just pressing cue pointsss.

[Kwal]

Personally, I just can't "feel" the track playing with controllers, thats why I am progressively expanding my setup to a cdj style. Now i try to emulate the cdjs on traktor, I hide every bit of information available, I do not use sync and beatmatch manually with my Nanokotnrol and launchpad. OMG the difference, I actually feel that I am doing something!

I just cant wait to get my hand on a pair of cdjs! I want to be able to touch the music. not just pressing cue pointsss.

[ImNotDedYet]

Personally, I just can't "feel" the track playing with controllers, thats why I am progressively expanding my setup to a cdj style. Now i try to emulate the cdjs on traktor, I hide every bit of information available, I do not use sync and beatmatch manually with my Nanokotnrol and launchpad. OMG the difference, I actually feel that I am doing something!

I just cant wait to get my hand on a pair of cdjs! I want to be able to touch the music. not just pressing cue pointsss.

It's a world different, but IMO completely worth it. In fact, I'm going to go feel some vinyl..

[William Gibson]

Personally, I just can't "feel" the track playing with controllers, thats why I am progressively expanding my setup to a cdj style. Now i try to emulate the cdjs on traktor, I hide every bit of information available, I do not use sync and beatmatch manually with my Nanokotnrol and launchpad. OMG the difference, I actually feel that I am doing something!

I just cant wait to get my hand on a pair of cdjs! I want to be able to touch the music. not just pressing cue pointsss.

while your busy touching the music and taking up your time and mental capacity to do all that stuff manually, I'll be working on new, innovative things that no one is doing...

I kid, I kid. Well, kind of.

[no_rex4u]

i went from a controller setup->cd player setup-> modular setup

you feel the music a lot more with cd players ( i didn't have pioneers so i won't say CDJ's), but my main issue with cd players is if you are throwing a house party and you want your friends to DJ as well, most of them won't know how to use CD players, so you end up being SOL.

your audience can care less about the equipment you play on, they just want to hear the music (main reason why i didn't fork out pio-money) most CD players now can also be integrated through your software, whether they are Reloop, Pio, Denon, AA, NUmark, all of them can double as controllers. if you do go the CD route, i suggest you buy a mixer with a 4x4 sound card (either separate or built in) that way you can be the most versatile you can. I had a denon mixer with an input matrix, allowed me to run traktor on cahnnels 2,3 and normal cd's on channels 1,4

[Kwal]

while your busy touching the music and taking up your time and mental capacity to do all that stuff manually, I'll be working on new, innovative things that no one is doing...

I kid, I kid. Well, kind of.

Please share with us what those new and innovative ways of DJ'ing are lol

[alchemy]

while your busy touching the music and taking up your time and mental capacity to do all that stuff manually, I'll be working on new, innovative things that no one is doing...

I kid, I kid. Well, kind of.

I'm not a purist, I have an ableton live act prepared and it HUGE LOADS of fun, but at the same time HUGE LOADS OF work. for regular commercial gigs I just limit myself to classic djing

[William Gibson]

Please share with us what those new and innovative ways of DJ'ing are lol

Haha, Come see me at the double door next month...