CDJ-2000: all the hype for this...

[kelsey7k]

i've seen this in another post on here and i agree: it would be cool if pioneer made a VCI-ish controller with two of those CDJ platters (with the same feel)

but yeah, the new species hype was just that.

[musiclover]

Here is Dancetracks take on it:
http://www.dancetracksdigital.com/wp/?p=1017

[Adrian5]

This can all be summed up with one line "its time for a new standard" . I don't think that pioneer has brought it to the table.

[midifidler]

I think rather than the 900 they should have done a midi/HID shell, no ethernet, no interface, no cd drive, but worked with NI/Serato (itch most probably) to allow the screen to display info from the software on the screen.

You would still have you laptop but the most crucial info could be displayed comfortably on a screen of that size, and more importantly the decks would not be in the space which avoids the stationary problem which is often forced on you due to booth space constraints.

[midifidler]

wow just realised for some reason I was thinking 2200 NZD not USD, that is fucking expensive, thats about 3,300 NZD a piece, and no doubt the price will be elevated even futher in the stores here.

[kevinmcdonough]

lol,

A post i just put on a sound engineering forum that i have been a member of for a long time now. Their general consensus (not really being digital DJs and most not being DJs at all) was best described as quietly positive. They were by no means blown away but were interested to see and play with it.

My reply was the following, and basically summed up everything we've been saying...

hey

there have been BIG discussions on these on a DJ forum i also post on and the overwhelming consensus is To Little To Late. And WAY too expensive.

In releasing these with their USB support, Poineer is trying to counter some of the ground that has been lost to DVS systems like Traktor and Serato. In the past the discussion was whether DJ's should move away from vinyl to CD, and the same thing is happening here. ("oh it just doesn't 'sound' the same." "Your not a 'real' dj if you use a laptop.") But the problem is that for a lot of people this decision has ALREADY been made. MANY big name DJ's have moved away from CD's now and are using laptops, MIDI controllers and DVS to play their music. You get much more flexibility in your song selection and the amount of songs you carry, ability to loop, cut, trigger samples, play video and VDJ, add a huge selection of effects, built in recording, the list goes on.

Yes there are issues with DVS systems, and (serato in particuluar's) sound quality, laptops weren't really designed to be in a noisey, hot and often busy DJ box. But these issues are being worked on.

Pioneer if they are really intent on creating a "new species" and remaining the market leader should be at the HEAD of this movement not trying to hold everyone back to what is quickly becoming an older system by adding a few scant features onto ther excisting product.

Pioneer are making the same mistakes Technics did in becoming slightly lazy as the dominant player in the market, this deck with these features should have came out 3 years ago minimum, Denon have had all of these features out for some time now.

In their rather cryptic lead up videos during their marketing campaign the make a big noise about the time needed to set up equipment in the DJ box. When i turn up to DJ I take out my macbook pro and press the power button. In the 60 seconds or so it takes to boot up and then load Traktor I have plugged in the two USB cables i need to connect it to my external sound card and MIDI controller (a Vestax VCI 100) and the single audio cable from that soundcard into the soundsystem.

Thats it, done. ready to go. With that done I can mix between 4 built in decks (easily having all 4 playing at once or any combination needed), add all of the effects and all the other stuff I mentioned above.

They have also made a BIG push in their marketing about DJ's who 'stare' at the laptop screen, which makes me laugh. When I bring my music collection to a club on my laptops 13" screen i can see about 40-50 track names at once and all of my folders and playlists down the side. I can order all the tracks any way I like, and change whenever I want as I go, by artist, song name, BMP, genre, whatever. If I somehow cant see the track i'm looking for straight away i just type the first few letters of the song name or the artist name and it pops right up straight away.

On the new pioneer screen I can see maybe 8 tracks tops, and have to jump back and forth between menu's to get to the screen showing the playlists etc. I have no function to search by typing in an artist or song name. I will spend FAR FAR longer staring at the wee pioneer screen than the laptop one! LOL


But those are all just nimor points compaired to one thing. The price.

The problem with this system is that to make the best of it you dont just rely on your local club and venue (who are all skint in the current finantial world) shelling what'll probably be minimum 3 grand on a pair of these, but you also need to shell out that same 3 grand yourself so you can do all the work in the house sorting your playlists and editing your tracks so they are ready to stick onto your USB stick and take to the club.

A) Yes for big name DJ's this is possible, but as said many have already made the step to DVS (people like Richie Hawton, Grandmaster Flash, Pete Tong, Dave Morallez, Carl Cox and Josh Wink on the Traktor side and like Sasha, Juniour Sanchez, Rob Swift, the Nextmen, DJ Yoda to name a few on the Serato side) and will they be willing to move back again? Yes there will still be a significant amount of "names" using these (and being paid by pioneer to do so) that they will shift some units to the public on reputation, but not all that.

B) Yes for mid level, professional DJ's who make a living DJing in local clubs this will probably be possible, but again a significant portion of them have already moved on too.

C) But here's the killer, for the bedroom DJ and up and coming DJ? Dont think so. Why drop 3 grand on two CD players and then hopefully another one on a pioneer mixer (lol sound quality and sound engineer opinions aside! LOL ) when you can get far more functionality on a laptop, software and sound card for under a grand. Or maybe £1500 if you buy professional level stuff and a midi controller.

As THESE people start to move into DJing and the older DJ's who were stuck to CD's move out (again just as what happened with turntables) the CDJ will go the way of the 1210 and be the dusty box taking up space in the DJ box that you rest your drink on while you DJ.

Pioneer have at best a couple of years tops to pull it out the bag and ACTUALLY release a "new species" and not a CDJ with a USB port to leapfrog back to the head of the pack, or they're gone!

k

[kevinmcdonough]

wow just realised for some reason I was thinking 2200 NZD not USD, that is fucking expensive, thats about 3,300 NZD a piece, and no doubt the price will be elevated even futher in the stores here.

Yeah i'm the same. over here in the UK the $4300 for a pair should equate to about £2500 maybe just a wee bit more, but after pioneer have marked them up as they always do here I can't see them being any less than £3000 a pair, which would be nearly $6000 US

[Jester]

For that price they better come with a gram and two hookers lol

[Lantau]

Yeah i'm the same. over here in the UK the $4300 for a pair should equate to about £2500 maybe just a wee bit more, but after pioneer have marked them up as they always do here I can't see them being any less than £3000 a pair, which would be nearly $6000 US

Spot on! Sapphires have got them in at £1500 for a CDJ-2000 and £1100 for a CDJ-900

I can't even believe that CDJ-1000 mk3's are £1100 now too, I remember them being £750-800 a piece a couple years ago...

[MisterMoleyMole]

I hear you !! ... when i bought my cdj1000 mkii it was only about 600-700 i think and that was when they were brand new.

I know the mkiii has mp3 capability but thats about it with differences isnt it ?