Contemplating my first pair of CDJs… Possibly my first Pioneer products…
I’m working up a budget for CDJs this year, ready to step outside the laptop. I primarily use Traktor with a Midifighter and external mixer, and I may use the CDJs with Traktor… but I’d ultimately like to be able to leave the laptop out of my setup for most of my gigs. Also, part of the reason I’m going this route is to learn to dj on standard club setups.
I don’t have a solid budget set yet, but somewhere around $600 or less for a pair of CDJs is choice. My main considerations are (second hand gear of course) the Pioneer CDJ-400 and the Gemini CDJ-700.
Features I need:
USB slot for flash drives
accurate scratching (minimal or no tape-drift), backspins, pitch bending, looping
reliability and durability!!!
similar workflow to the club standard (aka mega-expensive gear I can’t afford)
…ability to easily integrate into Traktor is a definite plus, but not necessary
Thoughts? Suggestions? Warnings about either of these CDJs? Alternatives?
very limited unfortunately with that budget. the cdj 400 is a solid choice but i have found is glitchy in certain live environments. (platter is not steady). I would recommend at least cdj 850’s imo.
I prefer 400s over 850s, especially with the built-in WAH effect, which works like a filter. I have 350s at home, use 850s at the venue I play weekly at, and mess around with my friend’s 400s every week or so. If you have money to spend, use it on a good mixer. As far as CDJS are concerned, IMO, go with the 400s. Cheap and straight to the point.
If I were to learn on 400s, then get booked at a gig where I’m faced with 800s / 900s / 1000s / 2000s, would I be fairly capable of operating those models?
Is the pioneer workflow pretty universal across the CDJ models?
400’s don’t use Rekordbox and the 850’s do. You’ll have to resort to CD’s for use on all CDJ’s. I wouldn’t pick the 400’s for a silly effect that you can recreate on a mixer.
Makes most sense… save up instead of wasting. You do want to play your Tracks via Rekordbox instead of CD’s. It will be much easier to use the full potential of the gear in the club. If you really can’t wait get an XDJ Aero at least that way you will use rekordbox and can control Traktor via the standard available midi mapping. The aero has a similar workflow as to what you will have on any Pioneer gear.
The xdj-aero is a much better solution for preparing yourself for using a club installed setup, you can use the same rekordbox prepared USB sticks that you’d use on an 850, 900 or 2000 and it’ll work with traktor as a controller.
The guy already has a mixer. He wants to leave his computer out of the setup in the long run. Why would he consider a Aero when it shows less information on screen (For RB) compared to the any of the modern Pio CDJ’s?
Because he can’t afford any of the RB compatible CDJs and he wants a laptop free system that can prepare him for the CDJ workflow. That is the xdj-aero.