April 11th, 2013
News & Opinion
A Pioneer DDJ-WeGo powered by Algoriddim’s djay software running on an iPad.
We had lots of questions when Pioneer announced its DJC-WeCAi cable, to enable an iPad to be used in place of your laptop with the Pioneer DDJ-WeGo and DDJ-ERGO controllers.
The cable is designed to plug from the iPad via an Apple Camera Connection Kit into your controller, while simultaneously plugging into any USB power source (such as your phone USB charger plug), in order to provide power to the controller. In the following video, Rik from Pioneer explains exactly how it works, what you’ll need, the limitations of the set-up as it stands, and what’s possible using the cable.
Read more
12 Comments »
April 10th, 2013
News & Opinion
The Pioneer DJM-750 replaces the DJM-700, and comes with as cool new effects system. We get the lowdown, and a comparison with the company’s other mixers.
With this week’s anouncement of the Pioneer DJM-750, we thought we’d track one down here at Musikmesse 2013, and find out exactly how it fits in to the Pioneer range against the other two ostensibly similar mixers, the DJM-850 and the DJM-900nexus.
While all of these devices offer four channel mixing (and ultimately, all are descended from the iconic DJM-600 of years gone by), they all have their particular strengths and so are suited for different purposes – and for different pockets.
Read more
12 Comments »
April 9th, 2013
News & Opinion
The Pioneer DJM-750 adds an innovative ‘one knob’ multi-effect modulator that reacts to how quickly the knob is turned – cue more gratuitous over-animation from DJs in the booth…
Pioneer today announced the DJM-750, the latest addition to its four-channel club performance mixer range and a clear upgrade from the DJM-700. It boasts new effects innovations, while retaining the digital DJ-friendly built-in four-in/four-out USB audio interface and full Midi control, as featured on its similar bigger brother, the Pioneer DJM-850.
A new “Boost Colour FX” knob adds a second effect to the currently enabled Sound Colour effect, which uniquely allows DJs to change FX parameters depending upon how fast the knob is twisted, and a vinyl brake effect has been added to the beat FX options.
Read more
18 Comments »
April 4th, 2013
News & Opinion
by Staff Writer
Plug in a Camera Connection Kit, an external USB power supply or battery pack, and your iPad and Pioneer DDJ-WeGo or DDJ-Ergo, and you can now use Algoriddim’s djay and vjay programs with your controller and the Pioneer DJC-WeCAi cable.
Want to use your iPad instead of your laptop to DJ with? If you own a Pioneer DDJ-WeGo or Pioneer DDJ-Ergo, now you can, thanks to the DJC-WeCAi cable, announced by Pioneer today and available as of May 2013.
The cable allows you to plug in to the iPad and use Algoriddim’s djay and vjay software, “out of the box”. That also means that you can experiment with video DJing from your Pioneer controller, too.
Read more
13 Comments »
February 8th, 2013
Reviews
RekordKrate a new iOS app to assist with choosing that next track in the mix.
It’s a long time since DJs moved away from well-thumbed records boxes as their music library system. Nowadays, laptop and iOS DJs, of course, tend to select their tunes through lists, virtual crates, smart crates and so on. But for pro and semi-pro DJs playing from USBs plugged in to CDJs in dark clubs, all they had to replace their lovingly packed record boxes were small LCD displays on CDJ players.
The new RekordKrate app aims to put some of the big-screen library navigating power enjoyed by laptop DJs into the hands of USB (and CD) DJs, by allowing them to use their iPads (and soon iPhones and Android devices) to browse their music libraries easily. Crucially, it also allows them to quickly choose a next song based on harmonic key and BPM.
Read more
13 Comments »
January 25th, 2013
News & Opinion
Serato DJ comes to Pioneer’s DDJ-WeGo, from ‘Q1 2013′, Serato announced today at the NAMM Show 2013.
Pioneer DDJ-WeGO owners will be able to use Serato software with their controllers as of “Q1 2013″, Serato announced today at the NAMM Show 2013.
Users will be able to download Serato DJ Intro from Serato DJ package for US$129.
Read more
9 Comments »
January 24th, 2013
News & Opinion
Now you can control MixVibes with Pioneer CDJs, and let MixVibes use the CDJs’ sound cards, so you only need show up with two USB cables and a laptop at the club.
Pioneer’s rekordbox software developer MixVibes has dropped a NAMM 2013 bombshell of its own: The new MixVibes Cross 2.3 DJ software gives HID integration with Pioneer’s full current CDJ range, giving tighter, richer control, including the ability to use the CDJs’ sound cards and to scratch video.
Now DJs can roll up to the club and DJ or video DJ with nothing more than laptop and two USB cables.
Read more
10 Comments »
January 22nd, 2013
News & Opinion
Limited edition Pioneer gear, for the DJ who has it all…
The picture says it all really – Pioneer has outed a limited run of some of its pro gear in extremely shiny platinum, with white LEDs to complement.
The gear comprises the CDJ-2000NXS-M, DJM-900NXS-M and RMX-1000-M, available in Europe as a complete set including a stand for the RMX-1000, for the not insubstantial fee (here in Europe, at least) of €7,499 / £5,999.
Read more
29 Comments »
December 10th, 2012
Reviews
The Pioneer XDJ-Aero isn’t the first all-in-one DJ controller that doesn’t need a laptop to work, but it is the first that can connect to its music sources wirelessly.
In today’s Pioneer XDJ-Aero review we look at this innovative DJ controller that you can perform on wirelessly using music stored on your iPhone, iPad, Android smartphone/tablet or laptop, and without being connected to computer DJ software.
The XDJ-Aero is the first all-in-one consumer controller by Pioneer that uses the company’s rekordbox software and workflow, and also the first that does so cable-free – although you can hard-connect devices if you wish, DJ from USB, and indeed you can also use it as a “normal” Midi controller with software such as Traktor or Virtual DJ.
Read more
14 Comments »
December 1st, 2012
Equipment
Two Pioneer CDJ-350s and a DJM-400 mixer: This set-up can work fine with Traktor without the need for a separate audio interface.
Digital DJ Tips reader Jon writes: “I have made the transition from the Traktor Kontrol S4 to two Pioneer CDJ-350s and a DJM-400 mixer. I would like to integrate Traktor into my sets, but I’m a little unsure of what audio interface to purchase.
“I will not be using any extra hardware; only what I mentioned previously. I’ve been told so many different things, from not needing any interface at all, to needing Traktor Scratch not Pro. Also, the cheaper, the better, so any help with would be much appreciated. Thanks!”
Read more
14 Comments »
November 21st, 2012
Reviews
The Pioneer DDJ-WeGO is unashamedly a controller for beginners and the ‘just for fun’ crowd, but it’s a serious contender at this price point, as we find out…
The Pioneer DDJ-WeGO is a small, entry-level DJ controller, aimed squarely at consumers and those who are wanting to learn to DJ. It comes in a number of colours, and you can even adjust the colours of the software skin and the jogwheels on the controller too!
But this isn’t all style, no substance; the Pioneer DDJ-WeGO is, as it turns out, a serious contender at its market price point. It has everything you need to learn to DJ, in small, affordable and stylish package. Let’s review it in depth…
Read more
79 Comments »
November 8th, 2012
News & Opinion
Pioneer’s take on what a modern DJ effects unit should be like – the RMX-1000, now in white.
Clearly designed to match its white edition mixers, Pioneer has announced that its RMX-1000 Remix Station is now also available in, erm, white, as the RMX-1000-W.
The unit, first launched in June 2012, brings high-quality and powerful effects to the DJ booth, operating via the send/return loop from pro DJ mixers, and is designed primarily to be mounted immediately above a standard-size DJ mixer for “always there” effects access.
Read more
3 Comments »
October 3rd, 2012
News & Opinion
The Pioneer DDJ-SX is a heavyweight contender, with a full standalone mixer, four channels of Serato control and just about every performance feature ever invented crammed into its brushed aluminium control plate.
Update: We’ve now published a full Pioneer DDJ-SX review. A new DJ controller – the Pioneer DDJ-SX – will be the first to come bundled with Serato DJ, Serato’s latest software. Today’s announcement of both controller and software gives a launch date of November 1. Scroll on for video, pricing, photo gallery and more.
With velocity-sensitive performance pads, a four-channel standalone hardware mixer and a slip mode borrowed from Pioneer’s CDJs, the controller is a high-end model, in Vestax VCI-400 territory, with visual elements and build quality also reminiscent of the Numark NS6.
Read more
81 Comments »
September 6th, 2012
News & Opinion
The new Pioneer CDJ2000nexus updates the company’s top-end media player with wireless WiFi compatibility with rekordbox apps on smartphones and tablets.
Pioneer has today unveiled the CDJ-2000nexus, an update on its high-end club standard CDJ2000 DJ deck (update: there’s now also the Pioneer DJM-2000nexus club DJ mixer to complement it). The headline features are its compatibility with the company’s rekordbox software, wirelessly via smartphones and tablets – and the fact that it adds a Sync button.
DJs can prepare sets and playlists using the new rekordbox app on their smartphone or tablet. Music can then be loaded onto the CDJ-2000nexus wirelessly via a network, much in the same way that the Denon SC2900 and Denon SC3900 work with that company’s own Engine software on the iPad. Read on for features overview, press release, videos and hi-res photo gallery.
Read more
69 Comments »
August 23rd, 2012
News & Opinion
The CDJ-2000 showing the depth of integration from Traktor. Note waveform cover art and library browsing.
Traktor users who dream of rolling up at standard (read: Pioneer equipped) DJ booths, plugging in their laptops and – you know – just playing, will be fascinated by the news and video we have today.
The news first: Pioneer’s latest CDJs (the 2000, 900 and 400) now work seamlessly with Traktor, meaning any club equipped with the above is also now truly “Traktor ready”.
Read more
50 Comments »
August 22nd, 2012
Reviews
The Pioneer HDJ-1500s replace the ageing HDJ-1000s in Pioneer's range, bringing in some of the design aesthetic of both the HDJ-500s and the HDJ-2000s.
I guess it was only a matter of time following the introduction of the expensive but wonderful Pioneer HDJ-2000 headphones and the quirky, entry-level HDJ-500s that elements of both of those designs would surface in an updated mid-range model. So here’s our review of just that model, the new Pioneer HDJ-1500 DJ headphones.
While by no means cheap, the new HDJ-1500s take the overall design aesthetic of the HDJ-2000s, providing a less stratospherically pricey alternative for that headphone, and replacing the ageing HDJ-1000s in Pioneer’s range at the same time.
Read more
5 Comments »
August 9th, 2012
News & Opinion
The Pioneer XDJ-AERO is a wireless DJ controller that incorporates Pioneer’s rekordbox software, and can take music from up to four sources – including iPhones and laptops – without any wired connections.
Pioneer has just announced the XDJ-AERO, an audacious new DJ controller that combines the company’s pro DJ booth aesthetic with a killer twist: The XDJ-AERO is WiFi enabled and can take its music wirelessly from your iPhone, iPad, Android device, laptop or other sources. Yup, that’s right: No connections required. (Update: Here’s our full Pioneer XDJ-Aero review & video).
As well as a wireless mixstation for up to four such sources, the $1399/£869/€999 XDJ-AERO is also a Midi DJ controller for Traktor and Virtual DJ (the latter also with HID support), and a standalone mixer for analogue sources. We’ve got all the info including a full photo gallery, the official press release and a launch video. Read on…
Read more
67 Comments »
August 6th, 2012
Reviews
The Pioneer DJM-850: A club-standard mixer, with a Traktor Scratch-certified sound card built in, and at a reasonable price (at least, as far as this end of the market goes).
Why a review of the Pioneer DJM-850 club mixer on a digital DJ site? First, because it’s got a Traktor Scratch-certified audio interface built-in (meaning you can use it with Traktor, or as a sound card for any DJ software). Second, because you’re likely to come across it when you play in clubs, so you should know a bit about it (even if only to be able to use some of its effects when you’re controller’s plugged into it in a DJ booth).
And finally, if you’re a Traktor user who aspires to a club-standard set-up at home – maybe to help you make the transition from DJing on controllers to being comfortable with using club-standard gear – this mixer will probably be on your shortlist. So let’s find out some more about it…
Read more
24 Comments »
