Pioneer is moving into the cheap controller category

its like a cheap RMX with jogs. Pioneer is really going for a different customer base here.

Nope … now they are covering now they are covering nearly all the customer bases with the exception of midi fighter style controllerist DJ’s.

Typical Pioneer, $299 for a $150 product.

I dunno, its cheaper than the Hercules 4mx, with the exception of inputs, and seems to have more controls over FX … I would have expected higher priced TBH.

there not covering anything but cdj’s and mixers… their controllers are terrible in feel, price and features compared to the competition. They treat their controllers range as toys when they could easily make better gear, but that would mean less sales of cdj’s and mixers to bedroom dj’s which is probably 90% of their sales.

I honestly haven’t seen anyone say their controllers felt bad, in fact quite the opposite - that they felt pretty much like their CD decks (400’s) and mixers, just a tad too expensive compared to the competition when they were originally released.

sorry I’m comparing them to equally priced gear… I don’t like the jogs as the ball bearings are noisy, I don’t like the faders as you cant easily slam them as they have so much resistance… the crossfader is the same although a little looser.. knobs also have too much resistance for my taste… basically everything that is important is lacking… When I pay pioneer money I expect pioneer djm feel on the mixer and they haven’t even come close to delivering that. the rest is not as important to me but it’s nice to have good jogs and buttons.

I don’t think you could ever expect a DJM feel considering the price of the entire controller is almost equal to that of just a mixer, scarifies will be made unless you fancy shelling out 2k on a controller.

I have yet to touch any all-in-one controller in the sub $1000 dept that can come close to feeling like a decent DJ mixer - numark NS7 is definetly the best I can think of @ $1200 (ns6 was released after pio - so not comparing it). Come to think of it with the exception of the Technics sl-DZ1200 (useless CD player but felt beautiful looking and actually feels like a distant cousin to the sl-1200), I cant think of a CDJ either that feels any less like a toy than a 15 year old Gemini Turntable.

I’ve just come to accept that electronic gear is built to be disposable these days - and cheap plastic does in fact last as well as metal in most cases when not abused, or at least until the device is made redundant by the next model.

Sad but true.

the ddj-t1/s1 both are around $1400AUS for that much coin you could almost get the cdj400 & djm400 bundle at $1600AUS “street price” what is hard to take is the bundle has higher quality components throughout and runs standalone with usb/cd or as a HID controller… The ddj’s on the other hand are hollow, don’t have any running gear and require a computer to use adding about $1000 to the overall price to get up and running. All pioneer really need to do is use better components similar to their better gear but they choose not to and still charge as much as if they did. These decisions have lost my confidence in pioneer as a company, hopefully they will realise that you can only cash in on your reputation without backing it up for so long before you lose everything.

Well clearly they have you screwed big time down there :smiley:, I was going by US prices where they are now sub $900 (and with the exchange rate more than $640 above US prices).

I just don’t see any argument over a $300 controller vs pro quality .. It just seems decent enough, nothing to scream about but its a reasonably cheap all-in-one controller that will get the newbies using Pio Gear without breaking the bank and providing an update channel, which I’m guessing is the goal.

Seems good for a cheap portable backup, sometimes it’s an effort to take a big bag with an s4 to a mates for a party

the faceplate looks ok.
but this plastic tank on the bottom side looks so fisher price toy style.

300 bugs a cheap backup? nah come on. the controls are way to basic. for 300 bugs you can get way better stuff with more ability to control your software.

What sort of “bugs” are we talkin? if you mean something like a cockroach that may not be so hard, but a honey bee or a wasp no way I’m catching 300 of those just to give to Pioneer :stuck_out_tongue: LOL

Theres not too many controllers for $300 that are “Way better” or gonna give you “more ability”.

Pretty much seems on par with Denons new offerings…I just think its splitting hairs over $50 or $60 between other low end controllers from relatively unknown (And I mean to newbies) brands such as Reloop, cheap brands such as Gemini and midrange like Numark to the brand they see in every music video, every stage and every dj box in the world being used by their “heros”.

$299 is IMHO the magic psychological number of affordable while being able to say “I’ve got pioneer gear”.

Between the Denon and this - 10 buttons and 4 knobs in the difference and the Denon does not have VU meters and looks just as cheap IMHO. I just cant see 10 knobs and 4 buttons being the difference between a killer performance and a mediocre one.

BTW I’m not normally a Pioneer advocate, and for a long time felt they had they had the entire industry stuck in a rut, but their recent innovations have them in my good books, so credit where credit is due.

If you want the biggest brand name trainers you are gonna pay extra over the next best brand, that goes for everything, beans, tomato soup etc etc …

People will spend a bit extra for the name on this.

Looks OK for the entry market. I wouldn’t consider due to lack of FX controls.

hate the layout of the buttons, not really a fan of the software, like the diffrent collors (has a disadvantage too) love the position of the rca out’s.

it has pioneers name on it and is cheap… this toy is designed for the “bro” who wants to be just like Avicii and SHM

Bout a year ago I wanted a small back up controller (2 x 1200s & Pio 800 main set-up). Ended up getting getting a Numark Mixtrack Pro. Wish this was around then I was in the market for a cheap backup controller.