Pioneer R1 Vs Pioneer 800-1000 CDJs

No idea why if you want to take the CDJ route, you even considered the 1000 series into your range of selection
Hard facts, the 1000 series doesn’t support USB nor the Rekordbox feature, so you pretty much taking a giant leap of faith in these…backward

The only thing to get the full feature benefits, if you still taking on the CDJ route, is to get the whole set of NEXUS series.

The review of Pioneer R1 controller itself is so and so compared to the other flagship series of Pioneer controller, the SX, SB series, those two proved to be much better controller compared to Pioneer R1 controller

Review for Pioneer XDJ-R1 http://www.digitaldjtips.com/dj-controllers-guide-2014/12/#xdj-r1
Review for Pioneer DDJ-SX http://www.digitaldjtips.com/dj-controllers-guide-2014/11/#ddj-sx
Review for Pioneer http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2014/04/review-video-pioneer-ddj-sb/

Which the XDJ-R1 scored only 3 stars, compared to the other two.
The Pioneer DDJ-SX can pretty much “cloned” to what the 800-1000 series, and then some, wayyy some.

Keep in mind also when you DO get the 800-1000, you still need to get the mixer (means more $$$ out of your pocket) cuz ya know just two CDJ’s without a mixer kind of hard to operate =)

With the controller route you basically set for “all-in-one” straight of the box solution

Thanks Ter =P

Why would you go with CDJ’s? Rekordbox is not needed for controllers as the software is doing the actual work. There is no reason for the SX to work with Rekordbox.

I am sorry but this argument is totally bogus.
The R1 will NOT prepare you to use Rekordbox how you use it with, lets say a Nexus setup.

Rekordbox alone will do that and it is free to download for everyone. It will work on its own and let you export your analysed songs and playlist to USB sticks for use in the club.
Now the R1 will work TOTALLY differently with that USB stick than any CDJ.

So getting an R1 so you are “better prepared” for a club setting with CDJs is total nonsense (and not why the R1 was build).

The R1 was solely build for mobile DJs that still want to be able to play CDs and the rest from USB and carry only a single controller without a laptop. It has NOTHING to do how a club setup works.

No it wont.

If you have a club setup today (in a decent club) they will have a Nexus setup.
A Nexus setup is much closer to using a good midi controller with your laptop.
80-90% of the DJs use a Nexus setup WITH their laptop.
What a Nexus CDJ display displays is actually much closer to (for example) what Serato displays on its decks, than what the R1 displays.

Todays CDJ club setups are nothing more than an oversized DDJ-SZ with displays that happen to be able to play CDs and USB media.
If you need something to prepare you to put an USB stick into something, then get a USB hub, it is much cheaper than an R1.

Everything else the skills learned to DJ on a controller transition WAY more easy to a CDJ 2k Nexus as the layout of any DDJ-SB is more like a Nexus player than the R1.

If you are a skilled DJ already and know your DJing skills, than transferring that from ANY midi controller to a CDJ Nexus is an easy transition, as all you need to do is learn where the buttons are and that you actually have less hotcues and loop functions than on any cheap controller.
Any big club (Ministry of Sound, Octagon, Blue Beach, ….) that is world known, will expect you to bring your DJ controller and laptop anyways and have CDJs solely for backup and a technician will do the setup.
Any not world renowned club that is still somewhat professional will at least show you where to setup your controller.

No matter investing into the R1 for that reason is wrong, same as it is totally bogus to invest in low end or second hand CDJs, as they are as different from a Nexus setup than a turntable and a faderfox. So I agree investing into CDJ 800s or 1ks is also not practicable.

However in the end it is not about gear, it is about music.
So if you buy an R1 for reasons of your workflow, then go ahead. But to buy it because it will prepare you for anything like a Nexus setup, is the wrong reason.

Trust me on this, I have DJed for over 20 years and played it all in front of thousands of people.

The R1 is essentially two CDJ350s. And I can say that you will not find those in any club worth mentioning. What you WILL find is 800s, 1000s both of which do NOT support USB, so the whole RekordBox discussion is out of the window there. You’ll also find a few scattered 400s that DO support USB, but not RekordBox. And finally the venerable 900s and 2000s in standard and Nexus versions.

In the end all that matters on any media player is knowing where to stick your media (USB or CD), how to browse for tracks, how to manipulate the sound (jogwheel, pitch fader, play and cue buttons, track search and fast fwd/rev and possibly nudge buttons), use (hot)cues and looping. And quite frankly that all looks awfully much the same as it does on any decent controller. Even the icons are the same everywhere and every knob and fader is clearly labelled.

Browsing is usually done using a one rotary knob system that you push to enter a current value with.

Know how to use your gear (with the exeception of jogwheel-free controllers) and what it is your are trying to achieve and going from controller to CDJs is a walk in the park. 15 minutes has you playing, 1 hour has you comforrable with the basics and one 3-hour gig has you pro!

Agreed. It’s usually our (moderators) desire to give people the advice/info needed to prevent them from making the mistakes we have made and/or have witnessed many others make. We don’t try to enforce our opinion on anybody and I hope we don’t come across like that. Many a time people will ask for our advise and then come back and report that they went and did the exact opposite. We respect that decision though and wish people luck with their choice.

My point here is really that playing out on CDJs with/without RekordBox is pumped up to be much more than it really is. Just because it’s the stuff you find in the big(ger) clubs and what the “pro’s” expect, doesn’t make it all that special. In essence it’s still a CD-player with a speed-control and a few extra’s. For some reason it seems that aspiring DJ’s associate a CDJ/DJM setup with “having arrived”, “the big leagues” or “going pro”. Whereas, imho, that is just tools to get a job done. I have seriously played on total bogus gear (and I mean the absolute total crap) for 4 monthly gigs at the Hunting Club in Baghdad (the hangout for all the rich kids from Sadam’s clan at the time) and managed to make a great party. I brought all the records I thought I’d need (like we prepare a set for a gig now) from the hotel where my residency was and went to work. It’s days like that when you realise it really, really doesn’t matter what you use to toss the tunes together, but what tunes you decide to toss together at what moment in time.

So, for everybody in awe of “CDJ heaven”, don’t worry. If you can handle a modern controller, you can make the step to CDJs, as long as you realise they have LESS features than your controller, not more. Sure there are a few quircks and some things are different (for example, setting the starting cue point, is press PLAY, press PLAY again to PAUSE, find the right spot with the jogwheel, press CUE) but that is a one-time only learning curve and a short one at that.

Frankly, if I go to a place that has somewhat modern CDJs, I bring my laptop and two USB leads, hook up the players to my laptop, fire up my DJ software (that supports all midi compatible CDJs in HID mode) and use those ridiculously priced CDJ2000 Nexus players as oversized midi-controllers :-). I carry a prepared memory stick with RekordBox prepared tracks/playlist, but only for emergencies or when the CDJs are pre-midi.

Most important is not to be overwhelmed by brands, models, what pro’s use, but to stay close to yourself, trust what you can do, enjoy what you are doing and how the people react to it. At the end of the day, if the audience had a good time, you had a good time, then it was a succes and everyone’s happy (including the venue owner).

XDJ-R1 does work with Rekordbox. And the files prepared for XDJ-R1 on Rekordbox can work on those CDJ-2000s. And 5 other types of Rekordbox compatible CDJs. And regarding CDJs which do not have rekordbox compatibility, I can still use the XDj-R1 to practice with CDs if I want to, which is nice as I may end up in that situation in a club.

And compared to CDJ-350, I think it’s much better than them in terms of value. XDJ has a really nice mixer section with color effects, great sound quality, and more functionality. Sure you could get a nice mixer for 350s but will be much more expensive.

I bought an XDJ-R1 because I wanted to have a more traditional setup since I own a Novation Twitch (which is cool btw) and I know that in some ways you can do less than with a DDJ-SX (although it’s only worth it if you use all those features). I use the Twitch or other DJ’s traktor controllers when playing out, but I’d prefer to be able to use CDJs in future. Where I am they often have newer CDJs in the bars and clubs. I tried the DDJ-SR and SX, which are nice, but I just wanted to go for the XDJ-R1 after trying out it in the store. I don’t particularly like the feel of Traktor controllers either, although I don’t mind Traktor. And they have good traktor mappings for the XDJ-R1 too if I want to.

I agree with you Vintage that it’s not all about gear, it’s about the music and what you do with it. But this gear gives me a lot of options and ticks many boxes for my situation. And maybe the original poster too, I don’t know. I feel it could be suitable for many others which is why I want to throw in my thoughts here.