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[SIZE=12px][B][SIZE=15px]Pioneer DDJ-S1 Serato ITCH Dj Controller Review[/SIZE][/B]
Big, brash and bearing an uncanny resemblance to its CDJ and club mixer products, Pioneer’s DDJ-S1 (along with the Traktor-optimised DDJ-T1) marks Pioneer’s entry into the digital DJing arena. But is it any good? We find out in this video overview and in the full review at http://www.digitaldjtips.com [SIZE=11px][COLOR=#666666]From: DigitalDJTips
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7 [SIZE=11px]ratings[/SIZE][/SIZE]
Time: 10:49 [SIZE=11px]More in Education[/SIZE][/COLOR][/SIZE]

Hello Everyone :);
My name is Emma; I am 24; and I live in England;
My first introduction to the World Of Music came when I was 9 years old; I spent a lot of time in my Step-Father’s Recording Studio; and a Rockabilly Band allowed me to Master one of their Tracks;
From then on I wanted to become a Record Producer; but having approached a number of ‘Big Names’ I was told to write back when I was 16;
I couldn’t wait that long; so when I was 14 I used Most of the money that my Dad left me when he Died to buy 2 Pioneer Decks; a Pioneer Mixer; a Sony Amp; 2 AKAI Cassette Decks; and used my Step-Father’s 5 foot x 3 foot speakers for my PA when performing Live;
When I was 19 my Daughter died of Meningitis; and 2 years later my Husband Died of Cancer;
I had spent a good 5 years away from the Decks (and even listening to Music) before I decided to try again in 2010; I began making Remixes to build a little Confidence; and when one of my Remixes hit 20,000 on YouTube I decided it was time to Accept some of the offers of Radio Work that had been offered me;
Last year I was asked to play Live in Rome; Miami; Toronto; and Spain; however; as I have Leukemia and my Bone Marrow Density is quite low (meaning I can’t move around much anymore); I had to turn them down;
I have been following DDJT for over 13 months now and have gained an Incredible amount of Knowledge;
I am Thrilled that this Forum has been made now; and I Hope that I can Learn and and also Help Others;
With Kind Regards;
Emma 🙂

I Posted this on the DJTT forum not too long ago. Thought it might help out some folks here:

[FONT=verdana]”Stopped in at a Guitar Center last weekend and they happened to have all three on the floor for me to get my hands on. Unfortunately, the extent of my hands on testing was only ‘kicking tires’, as none of them were hooked up to computers. I’m definitely gonna have to dig deeper into the upcoming Itch developments as well as anything in the works for Traktor.

DDJ T1 – I’d have to agree with many and say that Pioneer crossed over too late and threw together a sub-par piece of kit. I was not impressed. For those who care a lot about the jogs, they were cheap and flimsy, not smooth and they made quite a bit of racket when spun. EQ knobs were awful; short, stubby and required unusual amounts of torque to twist. I’d imagine that would make for some difficult fine tuning. Cue buttons were too small, definitely too small to pull off anything fancy. It is also the biggest of the 3 which makes it difficult for traveling. Plus side, faders were smooth. I also dig the two in one filter knob, makes the most sense and it is nice to have my most frequently utilized effect readily available. Although one selling point was that the configuration was supposed to ease my transition over to CDJs, I’m not at all convinced of that. The Pioneer appeal was just not enough. I’m gonna have to pass on this.

S4 – The S4 is the smallest, which would make it easiest to lug around. The knobs all felt solid, and the jogs are smaller than those found on the other two, but still ten times more smooth than the DDJ T1. For me, the biggest things for the S4 are the effects and the option to seamlessly integrate vinyl into your rig, the latter being more important as I’d definitely like to master vinyl at some point with out having to buy/learn an entirely new controller/program. Well, maybe not master it but at the very least bring it in. I dig the whole cue/looping section, but don’t think that rapid cue point smashing in decent time could be pulled off, the buttons are really firm and require a bit of force to click. I’d have to test this out with the software to see if that holds up. Right now it is a close second to the NS6.

NS6 – I’m just loving everything about the NS6 right now, EXCEPT the lack of seamless vinyl integration. Granted it’s been shown that it can be pulled off with little difficulty, but I don’t feel like purchasing an entirely new program, DVS interface, etc, to add on a turntable for some baby scratches. I can only hope changes are en route for Itch so that this can be done with the NS6 in the same way that it is done with the S4. Now that I got that out of the way, I’ll elaborate on the good stuff because it appears to me that the NS6 combines the best of the previous two controllers. The size is between the previous two but it is the heaviest due to the metal construction, which for me rocks. Looks way more professional. The jogs are the best of the three. No competing with the 3600 ticks of resolution. INCREDIBLY smooth and solid and sturdy, feel like they can be spun for ages and won’t let up. The EQ knobs have the rubbery S4 feel to them and are just as smooth, except the mixing section is not as cramped as the S4, definite plus. Meters, definite plus. Strip search which indicates track position, great. The smorgasbord of inputs/outputs is sure to accommodate any setup. Curve adjustment for the cross fader is nice, as I planned on pulling off some simple scratches with it. Cue buttons are all solid plastic, and would definitely be good for some mashing. They are smaller than those on my Mixtrack, but feel the same. Nice and springy. Features such as fader start, split cue and booth output are also a HUGE plus for me.

Right now I’m leaning most towards the NS6. Although it is tempting to just go with the S4 so that I can destroy tracks with the plethora of effects, I know that isn’t really mixing Itch appears to be behind, but offers a simple layout. I’d like to keep it simple anyhow. I wanna make sure I master the basics of mixing before I try and use the hell out of effects. Not to mention I hear that the sync on Itch sucks, which would leave me with no choice but to learn beat matching, definitely a good thing for me Overall, the features, build quality and lay out of the NS6 are too good to pass up.

But if you are all about effects and customization and definitely want to add a turntable or two, the S4 wins.

As for the DDJ T1, I think it belongs in controller purgatory

Software is an entirely different discussion, sort of. But like I mentioned, Itch is simple, limited. Traktor is a powerhouse, a beast to be tamed!”
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