Today, Pioneer DJ announced a killer new standalone DJ system leaving little daylight between it and their flagship NXS2 setup used by pros worldwide.
Introducing the Pioneer DJ XDJ-XZ, a four-channel, standalone DJ system and controller that combines Pioneer DJ’s best professional features with flexible media and software options.
Update: 3/12/20 Serato DJ announces full support for Pioneer DJ XDJ-XZ. Updates regarding production delays below.
At a glance, XDJ-XZ is astonishingly reminiscent of the CDJ-2000NXS2 + DJM-900NXS2 setup. Full-sized jog wheels and intuitive displays are familiar from the CDJ-200NXS2. Meanwhile, 14 Beat FX and 6 Sound Color FX come straight from the iconic DJM-900NXS2 mixer. Beyond that, consolidating three units into one with grab-handles eliminates wires and drastically reduces the price compared to the NXS2 rig. And it’s fully integrated with Serato DJ out of the box.
We explore its most interesting features and discuss potential limitations below.
2020 Production Delays
The biggest issue with the XDJ-XZ has been getting one.
The unit, first schedule for full release in November 2019, experienced production delays which were later compounded by supply chain disruption by the corona virus outbreak. As of March 2020, few units have been released to the market with most DJs having to preorder 1-8 weeks in advance to secure a unit from the few dealers receiving them.
If you’d like to secure a unit with 5% down, with the balance due when the item comes in stock, follow the instructions here.
This Denon SC5000M review produced by DJs Are Not Jukeboxes, a Chicago-based DJ advocacy group focused on progressing music culture and education.
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One day after Technics announces its ferociously anticipated, but ultimately conservative Technics SL-1200 MK7, Reloop dramatically ups the ante with with RP-8000 MK2.
While Technics took a nine-year nap on DJs, Reloop has been powering the new guard of world champions – DJ Brace, Vekked, Kris Karns (fka DJ Vajra), Fong Fong & IFTW.
The RP-8000 MK2 may be their single most impressive contribution to the DJ community to date. We take a look at how it stacks up against the new SL-1200 MK7 below.
This review produced by DJs Are Not Jukeboxes, a Chicago-based DJ advocacy group focused on progressing music culture and education. [/alert]
The Pioneer DJ DDJ-1000 is positioned as the king of Rekordbox controllers. Almost comically so. At a time when a newer, shinier, more expensive piece of DJ gear is released every few months, it appears Pioneer DJ’s product team decided to improve everything about the previous flagship DDJ-RZ and drop its price $800 at the same time.
It’s the kind of thing that makes you squint, “what’s the catch?”
Very rarely does a product come along that makes us ask, “is this a category killer?” But the DDJ-1000 does.
Several months after it’s release, many are in love while others aren’t swayed from tried-and-true Serato alternatives. We wanted to dig into the DDJ-1000 to see if it lives up to the hype or if it’s too good to be true.
We asked decorated DJ/Producer and Thre3Style competitor MaddJazz to put the DDJ-1000 through its paces and let us know his thoughts.
Watch the video above to see his performance. We’ve transcribed his review as well as our own DJs Are Not Jukeboxes review below.
MaddJazz’s DDJ-1000 Review
I really like the platters. They feel great. To me, they feel better than a lot of Serato Controllers.
If you’re familiar with Pioneer [DJM]-900, this is definitely really easy to use. It’s pretty much the 900. I love the fact that you have your [beat] effects on the side and the Color FX [on each channel] which you control with a knob. Pretty much just like a 900.
I also love the pads – the fact that you have different pages between pads so you can do more cue points. [You can also use them to control] the effects that are built in from the [Rekordbox DJ] software. You have your sampler, with different options you can go through.
Everything is pretty much setup like a [DJM]-900 with CDJ-2000s, but you have the advantage of [pad-based] cue points.
DJs Are Not Jukeboxes’ DDJ-1000 Review
The Pioneer DJ DDJ-1000 Rekordbox controller is a performance-based piece of DJ technology. It’s an incredible value based on its $1,199 price point and is a great piece of gear for DJs and performers of all levels.
The first thing we noticed about the DDJ-1000 was the pads. Excellent feel, lightning response time, and are positioned perfectly under the jog Wheels. There are 8-pageable pads on each side, resulting in 16 cue points for each Channel.
As usual with Pioneer DJ, the build quality is stellar and will feel familiar to any DJ who has used the Nexus products in the past. The platters feel very solid and similar to the industry-standard CDJ-2000. The mixer section is laid out in the same vein as the DJM-900.
Familiarity is key in today’s DJ world so the fact that Pioneer DJ essentially combined their Nexus line into one portable unit is a major plus for any DJ looking to get into the game, move to controller, or simply pick up a new piece of gear for the road.
Speaking of portability, the DDJ 1000 is very lightweight making it perfect for mobile, tour, or Club gigs.
Does Pioneer DJ DDJ-1000 Work with Serato DJ Pro?
A year after publishing this review, we’re excited to update the Serato diehards with the release of DDJ-1000SRT, built from the ground up for Serato! Nearly a carbon copy of the original, the SRT combines DDJ-1000’s most beloved features, namely CDJ-2000 jog wheels, full-color displays, Magvel cross fader and effects section with dedicated controls for Serato DJ Pro’s proprietary functionality.
It’s important to note, the release off the DDJ-1000SRT does not mean that the original DDJ-1000 will work with Serato DJ Pro. There remain no official Serato DJ Pro mappings for the DDJ-1000.
The only noteworthy loss from DDJ-1000 to DDJ-1000SRT is pageable pads, giving you access to 16 cue points per deck since that functionality is only available in Rekordbox DJ and not Serato DJ Pro.
Another implication of the DDJ-1000SRT is that the suspicion that Pioneer DJ is slowly divorcing themselves from Serato can be put to rest. We can probably expect that Pioneer DJ will continue to release hardware innovations for its Rekordbox platform first, but whenever possible, will eventually roll them out for Serato as well.
What do you think? Will the DDJ-1000 find a home in your setup? Why or why not? Any outstanding doubts or personal experiences? Let us know if the comments below.
Shout out to the homie, OP Miller, for this awesome breakdown
This is a big one. Serato DJ just got rebooted. Its name: Serato DJ Pro. Its users: A-Trak, Jazzy Jeff, Mix Master Mike, Questlove, and Fatboy Slim. Its availability: right now.
Creating a sequel to an industry standard is never easy. Serato DJ has been trusted by DJs globally since its launch in 2012. Replacing the popular Serato Scratch Live and Serato Itch software, it offered extremely stable DVS control, plug-and-play support for some of the most innovative DJ hardware, and a rock-solid platform for learning and mixing on.
DJ technology has always had to balance the efficiency and portability of digital with the timeless feel of analog. As DJs, we’ve been skeptical of anything that hasn’t adequately fulfilled both.
Over the past decade, we’ve seen various attempts at a needless turntable with varying levels of success (most recently, the highly anticipated Rane Twelve), but MWM, the French manufacturer of the Mixfader bluetooth crossfader for portablists, is approaching the challenge from a different angle.
These are the movies I watched when I first fell in love with DJing as a teenager in the early 2000s. I just missed the 90s underground rave scene. Any concept I had of the art form strictly came from my imagination or a handful of pre-blog websites and forums.
These films were my first connection to a musical lineage outside of Lake Zurich, Illinois. They gave perspective to what I was doing and influenced how I wanted to do it. They made me proud in a way that wasn’t always accessible when playing records for drunk people.
Below is my list of essential films every DJ should watch to understand the artform and the cultures that gave birth to it. Together, they are a bonafide DJ curriculum. If you watch them, you’ll know more about this craft than 98% of people today. Enjoy.
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Only Love has been a labor of love. The project had no corporate funding and we’re giving it away for free. We created it because we felt it should exist and you should have it.
Our ability to create and fund projects like this depends entirely on your support. We hope it inspires you the way Coldcut’s Journeys by DJ, DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing and the movie Scratch inspired us. If you appreciate it, help us support the future of DJing.
On behalf of The DJ Hookup & SLEEPER, thanks and enjoy![/alert]
In 2005, Alex Pyatetsky (then “Xander”) was 19. A regular on DJ forums, he became friends with DJs all over the world. Upon learning that gear was way more expensive in Europe than the US, he became the hookup to cheap, US prices for his international friends.
A few bucks were made. But mainly it was fun.
5 years later, that experience would inspire him to cofound The DJ Hookup, one of the leading DJ, studio and pro-audio e-tailers in the United States today.
This podcast marks the relaunch of The DJ Hookup, the debut of its new website and release of a new brand focussed on “serving friends” – just like Pyatetsky started 10 years ago.
In this interview, we go behind the scenes of the DJ equipment industry. Pyatetsky reveals how the company almost went bankrupt and the pivot that turned everything around. He shares the biggest lessons learned from serving 1000s of DJs and producers all over the world. And how he intends to make TheDJHookup “the Zappos of DJ equipment.” Continue reading The Monday Morning Podcast #1.5: Meet The New DJ Hookup with Cofounder Alex Pyatetsky→
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