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Yeah had a VCI 400 great bit of gear .. still have a Vestax 100 mk 2 as a back up .It’s sad that Vestax went out of business . Have a Reloop TM8 great controller for the price built well and is 4 channel and is not to big ( one of the reasons I chose it is that you can travel with it on as cabin luggage on the plane as I travel from Botswana to Australia and back a few times a year ) its going to be less expensive than the Pioneer SX2 .. Yeah the Denon MC 7000 looks great as does the Reloop Mixson 4 these are new love to see a comparison on these two controllers. . Both companies make great gear .

• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Pete Lindemann.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Pete Lindemann.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Pete Lindemann.

https://www.pioneerdj.com/en/support/software/ddj-sx2/

I know Terry is our in-house TM8 specialist. I know he has ridden his hard and often in all kinds of gigs and at home. As far as I know without a hitch. I know him and he has big hands and he is a strong fellow, so I know the jogs can take that kind of “abuse”.

Sounds like you have a unit that gave up, but I am not sure that’s indicative of overall Reloop quality. I’ll leave more comments on this over to Terry.

As for the 7000 and 8000. Totally different “animals”. The 7000 is more traditional and features a dual sound card for back to back DJ-ing (like the SZ). It is a standalone mixer but clearly made for Serato use. Build quality as you might expect from Denon.
The 8000 obviously (much) more expensive, about 50% more. Single soundcard, but it’s double USB ports add some hand-over options. Two screens and a bit of intelligence in the box. FX – if only three – can be used on channels 1/2 even with analogue standalone inputs. There are some odd things for some users, you can read about it on their new and improved forums. I suggest you sign up to them as well. The main drawback currently for standalone USB use, is the fact that Engine 1.5 is not the best software around. We are all anxiously waiting for the new release of the newly developed Engine Prime that will have a save in 8000 format option, not unlike Pioneer RekordBox has for it’s XDJ-RX.
This is expected to come with a new firmware version to make all things work smooth as intended. As Denon doesn’t report intended release dates, it’s a wait til they announce it’s ready. They are aware of the installed base, so hard at work. Hopefully very soon.

I’ve been using a DDJ-SX for years. Recently I’ve done a few gigs in a venue with Pioneer gear (CDJ-2000 Nexus and DJM-900SRT) with Serato in HID mode. To be honest: you’ll have to get used to it. It’s not totally different from DJing with a Pioneer controller, but it’s not the same either: a.o. the feeling of the mechanical jog wheels and another way of cueing comes to mind. As it is a wedding maybe perfect mixes may not be required… But if you do want a perfect set from a technical point of view, I would show up early so you can try everything out OR I would stick to my own controller and connect it to the mixer.

What is still unclear to me: everyone is always talking about the Serato Club Kit license but I’m rather sure I read somewhere on the Serato website that you only need Club Kit if you want to use CDJ’s in DVS mode. For HID mode a normal Serato license (which I bought) should be sufficient. I haven’t been able to try it though, as the DJM-900SRT comes with a built-in Serato license.

Hey! Isaiah is right. You need to get the specs on the gear you’re gonna play on. Not all Pioneer gear, and definitely not all brands works the same when it comes to hardware setups. If it’s an upper level of Pioneer gear, you can expect it to work fine with your existing software to an extent where you can connect your laptop to the mixer and use the HID mode on the player, giving you full control over the hardware like a giant big controller. The lower you get in the Pio range, the more sacrifices you have to make, simplistic speaking. From controlling an entire 4 deck/mixer (NXS2) with a single USB cable, to just use it as a DVS setup.

If this is a recent Denon equivalent, you will have a similar situation but with a less developed compatibility overall, but for Serato it should be fine. If this is something rare, which I hope not, like Reloop or Numark, they can be used but these are not trusted platforms for good reasons. For a once-in-a-lifetime wedding?, I wouldn’t want to rely on anything than proven hardware.

Hypothetically, if this is a fairly recent Pioneer setup, anything XDJ- or Nexus/NXS2, and you have a well organized music library, preferably even outside your current software, I’d consider installing Rekordbox and just import your music to it. There’s a program called Rekord Buddy that could be of help if you’re on a mac. If you’re on a PC and prepared to do a workaround, this article could help: https://www.digitaldjtips.com/topic/how-to-use-rekord-buddy-2-as-a-windows-user-today/. Or just import your music and create suitable playlist for the wedding.

This way, if the setup is properly done and a network switch is in place (or DJM-2000 with buid-in hub) you can connect your laptop and use it just to get the music in to the players, instead of using USB-sticks. Physically the players doesn’t care where from the music is loaded, as long as it is 🙂 . You just choose the source on the upper left side on/of the screen depending on model.

The time spared from not exporting the music to USB’s aside, this way you have the whole laptop screen to look at when choosing tracks and you can use the search via the keyboard as usual. This would be a huge difference in case it’s the first CDJ-900, which has a pretty bad screen but works fine with Rekordbox this way. Even if it’s the NXS2’s or the XDJ-1000Mk2’s with the new touch screen, it’s not as big as your laptop screen. Then, perhaps it’s better to be safe and have a couple of USB-sticks ready to rock just in case the laptop decides to die this evening.

If it’s not Pio gear, but Denon, you’d have to use engine instead. If it’s a less known brand, you need to just copy your music to the USB and hope for the best. The reason you need to prepare your music in RB/Engine is so you get the benefit of wave forms, beat grids, quantize, search options, prepared loops, hot cues and cues, and yeah… the sync too, just like you are used to with Serato. Without the analyze, you’re stuck with a complete manual and analogue way of mixing with only the basics available, and if it’s a CDJ-350 or CDJ-2000NXS2 won’t matter much.

So, this is in very general terms but if you get the specs and post them here, you’ll get a better answer to what your options are.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by Peter Lindqvist.

I do things similarly, although in Serato I can adjust the gain for the tracks within the software and it is stored so that the next time I load a track it comes back up on the deck to the spot where I set it previously… I’m not familiar with Recordbox or whether it has a gain adjustment inside the software like Serato.
Next I use the gain adjustment on the controller to get a level that most loud parts of tracks peak just into the yellow, some very loud sounds might get a little further into the yellow (never red), and quieter parts of the tracks at least light up part of the meter.
I use the master to get the volume needed for the circumstances. If I’m playing at home, I rarely turn the volume up anywhere near unity, it’s usually about 30 percent to 50 percent. If I’m playing at an event that a mellower level of sound is appropriate I adjust accordingly, and if it’s a full on dance party, I adjust the master to put out a strong signal which is lighting most of the green part of the meter, and only occasionally blinks the first yellow LED. This sort of signal is plenty strong for the input on my EV ZLX12P speakers when the input knob is set to 12 o’clock (there is a detent at 12 o’clock and that is where I usually set it for line level signals)
Now, I’m not using a Pioneer controller, so your mileage may vary… but getting levels where more than the first bit of yellow is blinking usually doesn’t sound as good to me, especially at the loudest parts of tracks. Getting the green lit up and an occasional blink of yellow is usually plenty at both the master stage and the channel stage so that I get a loud signal that doesn’t leave out any of the quieter details.
If I put out a signal that is peaking halfway up into the yellow or more, the input meter on my EV speakers is reading an overly loud signal, and it registers an “input clip” well before I ever see a RED LED blink. In general, I don’t usually alter the input level of the powered speakers, as they have a master volume adjustment which I set to ZERO as appropriate, or sometimes -3 or -6 depending on the event.
If I’m at home and decide to use a PA speaker instead of the home stereo in my living room, I adjust it to somewhere in the -18 to -24 range usually. If I’m using the home stereo, I set the stereo to about 11-12 O’clock on the volume knob, and then lower it from there if necessary.
So, to summarize, NEVER putting any stage into the red is usually good practice. My gains on my controller, as well as the master, are usually near 12 O’clock to get good signal, and adjusting the output device (Stereo, PA, etc) to get enough volume but not have distortion, is usually my starting point. I don’t typically mess with the master output once things are going, unless I need to turn things down a bit.
When there is a need for quieter music for a period of time, such as a contest, or some speaking or announcements, or a phone call at home… I use channel faders to reduce the volume.
Having levels set, and master consistent, allows me to also set the Mic volume to an appropriate level and keep it there. Altering the master messes with this setting along with the music. So I try to set it and leave it, unless I end up turning the whole system down a bit, and in this instance having the mic and music both come down together retains the balance I achieved in the initial setup…
Given your description of the metering on your Pioneer unit, I’d guess that loud bits of the track should peak just into the first yellow LED, and only very very rarely should your second yellow LED ever light up. As far as the master, I’d shoot for peaking at the highest green LED and occasionally lighting the first Yellow… See how that works out, but definitely stay well below the RED… knowing what you’re playing out through would also help… but as a general tip, I try and set my master to make the volume on my home stereo similar to what it would be if I was just playing a CD at that volume setting on the amp/tuner. Let us know how it’s all working out for you, and best of luck…
Sorry for the book, hope it’s helpful… and remember, my two cents is only really worth a penny…

I am assuming they will do what they are supposed to. It being Pioneer you do pay for the brand name. A set of 6″ KRKs will cost you roughly the same as the 4″ DM40s. It’s a personal choice, I have KRK 5″ currently and if they have to be replaced I will go 6″, because the low end is just a bit lacking. This will be more the smaller the speaker. So the 4″ will have even less bass.