Pioneer Setup - Starting from scratch again

DJ Gear & Hardware Hardware: Controllers, Mods and Gear
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Pioneer Setup - Starting from scratch again

Hello all

Long time forum lurker here. Background, started DJ’ing in 1998 with Technics SL’s and a Pioneer mixer. Still have my DJM 500 and want to get back into things, just for fun. I have a budget of £2kish to kick start my habit again and have been looking at some Pioneer DJ equipment.

I’m not entirely new to CDJ’s having used them in clubs before and have my eye on the CDJ-900 Nexus which if I bought two of would be the top of my budget. First question then… Any dramas using these on a DJM500? Shouldn’t be right? Just hope the old mixer still works :open_mouth:

Secondly, I’ve been looking at the XDJ-RX all in one controller unit. Love the features but feel I need access to CD’s as well so would contemplate an XDJ-RX and a CDJ900 Nexus together to get the best of both. Could I run these through the existing DJM without any dramas or be better forgetting about my old mixer and just connect the Nexus to the XDJ-RX? I understand that the Rekordbox info on the Nexus wouldnt be showing on the main screen of the controller but would still work right?

Basically I’m trying to cover as my angles as I can for the budget I have. I like the notion of USB and CD, although the older XDJ-R1 doesnt appeal - it looks dated for the price.

Any and all opinions welcome (be nice I’m new…) …

Thanks in advance

Jeff

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The DJM-500 should be fine.

The XDJ-RX has only two channels, so I think it will be pointless to buy it and 2 CDJ-900 Nexuses. You will either be able to use the XDJ-RX’s decks or the CDJs… Wouldn’t it be better to simply buy the CDJ-900s and a DJM-900 Nexus mixer? (roughly the same price of the XDJ-RX)

If you really like the XDJ-RX, stick to it and forget DJMs or CDJs. But I would personally buy CDJ-900s and DJM-900s as said before.

Now looking at all of this from a further point of view, IMO Rekordbox is a straight downward. Softwares as Traktor or Serato are getting so ahead from Pioneer stuff!

Have you tried softwares? Consider trying them before spending too much money.

Hope I helped.

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I think he was suggesting he would either get 2 x 900nexus (to use with his existing 500 mixer) or to get the RX and a single 900nexus. Both options would be just over £2k.

Without finding a great used bargain I don’t think 2 x 900nexus and a DJM 900/850 are going to be doable for £2k. Probably closer to £3k, or more if buying new.

Personally I would have a think about whether or not you really need to maintain that CD ability- I thought the same as you about CDs when I brought my old CDJ900mk1s and I ended up using the CD drives about 3 times. One of the big benefits of all of the new Pioneer units is their use of the Rekordbox system for preparing and analysing your music- and anytime you play off of a CD you lose all of this benefit.

I would either go for either:

-the pair of 900 nexus,

-the XDJ-RX on its own (there is no point paying an extra £1k just to add a CD player to it, especially when it only supports 2 channels at once),

-a pair of XDJ-1000 (a CDJ without the CD drive, plus a touch screen that is bigger than the 900Nexus, and has things like hot-cues & beat-jump etc that you don’t get on the 900 series). A pair of these would cost around £1,500 - £1,600 new, leaving you some decent budget to pick up a high-ish end DJM mixer second hand, ideally a DJM850.

I reckon a pair of XDJ-1000 new plus a used DJM850 would cost around the same as an XDJ-RX & 900nexus and would be considerably more capable setup (minus the CD capacity) and would give you a high quality 4 channel mixer at the heart of it should you wish to expand your setup later.

One thing I would say is to research all of the capabilities & features of the various decks in considerable depth before purchasing- unless you are buying the very top of the range decks (CDJ-2000nexus) Pioneer remove numerous features from the ‘lower’ models in the name of product differentiation, despite these ‘lower’ model players still costing north of £1k each…

This is further complicated in the current climate with the current top-of-the-line model (the CDJ-2000nexus) being several years old and consequently many people are remarking how the new XDJ-1000 & XDJ-RX have noticeably higher resolution displays, despite being significantly lower range models.

All things to consider, but just make sure that the model you go for does everything important that you want (invariably it won’t do everything you want unless you go for the 2000nexus because that’s how Pioneer sell them), and don’t get too hung up on CD capability these days as the main benefit of the new players is Rekordbox which isn’t compatible with CDs anyway.

Personally I would go for a pair of XDJ-1000 and either a used DJM-850 for around £2,400 total or used DJM-800 for around £2,100 total. :slight_smile:

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That’s great guys, thanks for taking the time to reply.

Irrational you have hit the nail on the head regarding the budget. After what you said, I’m leaning towards the pair of XDJ’s. I guess I’m just clinging on to the notion that I need physical media to remind me of the good old vinyl days!

Will check out the features of them and probably link them to my existing DJM mixer for now. Will spend the remainder of the budget on accessories ( new monitors and stands ) and then upgrade the mixer later. Really need to get my head around the software options, it used to be so simple now there is almost too much choice!!

Thanks again guys

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Hardware Question, Hardware Forum.

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Sorry, I’m new here. I treated it as an introductory post as well as a guide to what I should buy. Won’t happen again!:sunglasses:

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If you want physical media to remind you of the good old vinyl days have you thought about
2x Denon SC3900 for £1300 leaving you £700 for a new mixer?

Why stick with Pioneer?

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I just have always had Pioneer gear so defaulted to that choice really… I’ve looked at the Denon’s , nicely priced kit. I want something fairly future proofed and as I’d never used digital DJing stuff before the Rekordbox enabled CDJ’s seemed a good option.

Too many choices! We aren’t exactly spoilt for showrooms to visit here in N.Ireland either to play with this kit!

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The Denon kit is extremely well priced and is exceptionally good. Not just ‘for the price’, but exceptionally good full stop. The sc3900 is the best rotating platter media player on the market and the static jog sc2900 variant is fantastic too. Also their x1600 & x1700 4 channel mixers are superb and come with Traktor Scratch certified soundcards.

The great thing with the Denon stuff is that it is built every bit as good as the Pioneer gear (in some cases better), but you aren’t paying a huge premium for the name.

One thing I will say though is that in terms of their media players the sc2900 & sc3900 are getting a bit long in the tooth now vs their new Pio equivalents. They compared fantastically well against the CDJ850 and CDJ900mk1- offering more capability, being better built, and costing 50% less. (Despite what Denon insisted the 2900s were never really a direct sales competitor to the CDJ2000 and cost a 3rd of the price).

However, those two mid-range models have now been superseded by the XDJ-1000 and CDJ900 nexus respectively, both of those coming with the excellent high res full colour screen. And in this regard they now both offer enough of a step up from the Denon models to have a good stab at justifying the price premium- unless you specifically want the moving platter of the 3900.

If an updated 2900/3900 appears with a high res colour screen then no doubt they will once again represent a great alternative to those new Pio models, but sadly Denon seem more keen on pushing the ‘iPad browsing screen’ route- which is great for Apple fans but not really the same as having a complete standalone solution. Hopefully Denon’s acquisition by the inMusic group will lead to a change of direction in that regard and we will see a new high end media player in the near future.

But at the moment the mid-range Pioneer units (particularly the XDJ as the 900 nexus does not have hot-cues) do offer a better ‘stand-alone’ solution than the Denon units purely because of the bigger full-colour screens. It is a shame though because in every other regard the Denon players are brilliant- £800 would get you a pair of 2900s which have full network functionality, hot-cues, adjustable jog tension, a better jog wheel (no plastic bearings like the Pio jogs), all wrapped up in a much tougher case…

But if you have the budget then the XDJ-1000 currently makes more sense and is going to be significantly more future proof. And that is coming from a big sc2900 fan who has owned a pair since they were released.

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Great informative post, thanks! If I could find somewhere local to play with the Denon’s then I’m sure I would also be more comfortable purchasing them. I see what you mean about the quality though, some of the reviews are excellent. Presently, and I’m switching quite a lot on this, I am going to go for the XDJ-RX as my start up kit then add kit to it as and when. My thinking, perhaps flawed, is that I can integrate the XDJ into a new 4 channel mixer setup? Adding a CD deck and TT’s eventually too?