By JJ Warwick
Last night we attended the worldwide launch of the new Pioneer CDJ2000 at the Ministry of Sound in London: a product launch tagged “Dawn of a New Species”. Because Pioneer rule the world of DJ CD players, it was one of the most important events to happen in DJ equipment this year and they delivered with two products, the CDJ2000 and the CDJ900.
Pioneer CDJ2000 vs CDJ900
These products don’t replace the CDJ1000 and CDJ800 which are the currently the industry leading CD players and have been for years. Both the CDJ2000 and CDJ900 are additions to the range bringing digital media control to the existing range.
Pioneer cannot be accused of being first to market with these players. This is perhaps unusual given how important the CDJ1000 was as a pioneering CD player. Pioneer had maybe become a touch complacent with the completely dominant position they hold in the market. They waited for Denon, Numark and the like to do the groundwork and have now delivered the killer blow. Pioneer have experimented with digital DJing as seen in the likes of the MEP7000 and CDJ400 but these new products aren’t just a case of adding digital media support to an existing product; the CDJ has evolved.
If you need a list of all the new features, take a look at the product pages for the CDJ2000 and CDJ900 – where you’ll find everything you need to know; manuals, videos, images etc. What we are going to look at here is the clever stuff and the differences between the two models.
First impressions are that they look very familiar: they both have the Pioneer jog wheel you know and love, the familiar transport controls and loops buttons. The CDJ2000 has a slightly larger footprint, to accomodate the large and gorgeous 6.1 inch full colour screen.
Rear connections include analogue and digital SP-DIF outputs, Ethernet ports (you can connect 4 units together via a ethernet hub) and USB for connection to a computer. They also have a Kensington lock slot, which is a nice touch.
The USB port brings HID (human interface device) support sending control data from the player to an attached computer, and so both players can control Traktor Scratch Pro, Serato Scratch Live, and Virtual DJ software natively without timecoded CDs. You can use the built-in soundcard on both the CDJ2000 and CDJ900 with Traktor and Virtual DJ removing the need for an external soundcard. You’ll still need your SL1 or SL3 box if you use Serato Scratch Live as the hardware acts as a dongle for the software. Another nice touch is that the USB connection is bi-directional; this means the software can send information back to the player which is something you don’t get with DVS systems.
All of this support for DVS software raises some interesting questions. Pioneer’s presentation went to great lengths to highlight the fact that you don’t need a computer to use the new products. They are keen to get DJs can get back to the art of performing rather than looking at a laptop. It is a bit of a mixed message to say “don’t use a laptop” but you can if you want. This cross-compatibility is probably an admission of how significant DVS products have become.
Another big selling point is the new Rekordbox software included with both new players. Rekordbox allows you to manage your music before you gig, setting up loops and hot starts, then transferring your music onto your storage device. While it seems like a good idea in principal, I don’t know how much use it will get in the real world. Pioneer confirmed that there will be Rekordbox support in future products.
We also really like the Needle Search even if we did see this a year ago on the Numark NS7. However, having the Needle Drop right next to the waveform display makes it much simpler to use.
Load times are virtually instantaneous – no need to wait unlike other media players on the market.
In terms of layout, changes have been kept to a minimum. Pioneer have managed to add the required navigation controls without making it too complicated.
Navigation has been made simple – it’s simple to jump from a track on a CD to a track on a USB stick.
Ethernet isn’t just a link connection. It’s not available yet, but we believe the IP awareness provided will open up a whole new world in the future releases.
So what are the key differences between the CDJ2000 and CDJ900?
At first glance both machines seem to offer the same in terms of performance but what makes the CDJ2000 worth £400 more ?
Beautiful full colour display (the CDJ900 is flourescent)
Illuminated Jog Wheel/Navigation
Supports SD Cards (CDJ900 is USB only)
Adjustable Feel for the Jog Wheel
Hot Cues
Needle Search
It’s hard to say if the features listed above are worth a £400 premium per deck, but after playing with both machines side by side, we would still go for the CDJ2000 as it just feels like a higher quality product. While the CDJ900 is excellent, the CDJ2000 is the superior of the two.
The CDJ2000 is scheduled to arrive in the UK in November.
The CDJ900 is scheduled to arrive in the UK in December.
Pioneer Rekordbox software will be bundled with the CDJ2000 and CDJ900. It won’t initially be able on it’s own – but that may change in the future.
Source:
Djstore
