CDJ's and Controllers

Hey Mitch,

Just my two cents worth on the subject (and as you probably know by now I empty out my piggy bank on a regular basis, so never strapped for pennies!), I don’t think it is something as simple as old vs new skool.

I have worked with a controller (MC6000) pretty much since it came out and I loved it too death. The only things that bugged me were it was a bit crowded for my big fingers and, although excellent in quality, the jogwheels are (like on many a controller) too small. A third thing was that if I only took my controller (and my customers pay a nice amount for me to bring gear) it just wouldn’t “look” right, if you know what I mean.

I alwasy carried around two old and tired American DJ CDI-500s (just CDs nothing else) as backup in case my laptop died on me, so two of those next to my MC6000 made it look a bit more impressive to the layman’s eyes again.
My CDI-500s were about ready for replacement and I figured, I’d get some CDJ style players that could also handle USB and have midi, so I could control two decks with the CDJs and still have the two decks on the MC6000.

I ended up getting two full size Denon SC2900s (same size as CDJ2000s). And when I was fooling around with those nice 7″ jogwheels with big LED rims around them I found that I really don’t want to use the MC6000 anymore. So I ended up getting a Denon X1600 (midi)mixer instead.

It gives me great flexibility, I can use it standalone (analogue style) with just CD’s, toss in USB sticks and such, use an iPad to control my Engine (Denon’s alternative to Rekordbox) database or hook up my MacBook with Traktor and have every feature I could ask for.

The good thing about big players (even if you use them as midi controller for DJ software) is that they are .. well .. big. Big buttons that are easy to hit, full length pitch faders, big hot cue and loop buttons and above all big platters.

If you go to watch one of the big names in DJ-ing, you (the crowd) kind of expects them so sit behind a big mixer with at least 4 CJD2000s, a number of Yamaha pads, a laptop and what have you. They might be able to replicate all that on a S4 controller, but let’s face it, that doesn’t really impress on that big screen :-).

Another thing obviously is that venues they go to either have or will rent Pioneer CDJs. So, they stick their flashdrives in their pocket and off they go. Walk in, plug in, play, plug out and leave. Pretty sweet deal after toting around 30 kilo recordcases for years.

Greetinx,
C.

[quote=” what is the true difference?
There’s no difference beside of sizes and price. Some controller do play cd’s.
BUT you can do more with a controller even that now cdj’s and mixers are catching up and becoming “controllers”.

[quote=” I am 100% certain I can do everything ANY controller can do with my two SC2900s and X1600 mixer (the mixer alone gives me 16 rotary and 16 press buttons for midi control of ANYTHING I like to map it too and that is on top of being able to switch all channel controls between midi and analogue.

now cdj’s and mixers are catching up and becoming “controllers”.

Here’s a thought (and I obviously have no clue about what things are like where you live).

Try finding a DJ that is resident to a place that has CDJs. Ask him to help you. Maybe you can go in to the place in the afternoon or maybe early evening (say an hour before opening) or something and meet up. Especially if you can show him that you actually can DJ on a controller and that you are trying to make the conversion to CDJs and you would really appreciate his expertise to show you a little about what he does, you might get a nice contact out of it and who knows, if you impress them they might actually hire you some day!

Greetinx,
C.

CDJs are passé and they are already dying out in the big scene also.

Yes a lot of “older” DJs still use them and most of them as controllers for Traktor or Scratch.

Many of the top producers will make their whole setup very complicated to take the most out of it.
I think it was van Buuren who had this ton of K2s several mixers and 2 maschine on stage last I saw him.
Remember they do nothing else and money is no issue, so they can trick their setup out.

Take my controller for example: Terminal Mix 4
It can do loads more than any CDJ ever will be able to do, without at least 2 more lauchpads and a top notch effects mixer.
So we are talking 7000 bucks or more to do the same as my TM4.
Also I know how to DJ fine with me TM4, so going into a club connecting my laptop or USB stick to CDJs if they have a complete Nexus setup is no problem and I can DJ with those as well. All you need is not being intimidated by them if you hit them and are to lazy to setup your controller.

And never forget: Fake DJing is most easy on CDJs.
Why else would Getta use them on stage, when 99% of the work he does is in Ableton… still he does not use Ableton live? Ever wonder why?
But in a pre-mix CD, set the CDJ to ignore mode and dance around.

Both controllers and CDj’s have their advantages IMHO.

Bars and clubs often have CDJ’s set up already, and while controllers are portable, I much prefer not having to setup and plug in my controller, especially when there are other Dj’s playing before me. Furthermore the ‘feeling’ of a CDJ or TT is very different. While I started on controllers, after having used CDJ’s I love that I’m not looking at a laptop screen the whole time, I find it really distracts from the music when you have big, colorful waveforms. When I bought my secondhand CDJ’s I was paying more attention to the music, which I highly prefer. Also, CDJ’s are just bigger, they feel nicer to use to me, especially the jogwheels.

Of course, controllers are much cheaper, which is a huge plus. And they are easier to transport to like a house party for example. And yes, they can do the same or more then CDJ’s, though personally, I haven’t moved into the crazy realm of controllerism, and I doubt I will in the future. I just like mixing 2 tracks (maybe 3-4 in the future), nothing fancy, just picking the right song at the right time, which is more important anyway then mashing up or remixing things live in my opinion.

So my ideal setup would be, 2 CDJ’s with USB (and recordbox or Engine for easy searching) and a mixer, and a controller for backup or those small house parties (which I love to do btw). I’m also really wanting to try good old vinyl, cause I love having a piece of music in my hand. So for me, it’s very much about the ‘feeling’ of DJing and being in touch with the music, not only about the functionality or the price.

And good CDJs have waveforms on them….
The DDJ SX does feel exactly like CDJs but can do so much more…
Recordbox is a totally unstable software….
The jogwheels on most cheap CDJs, especially OEM ones, are totally bad for anything past beatmatching, whereas you can get a 300 bucks controller with jogs you can pull off any scratch routine on.
Except music selection I rarely look at the laptop, except when looking for a scratch phrase (where the waveform is lovely), but yes you can get lured into staring.
But then the large display on CDJ 2ks has almost the same information on it and has colored waveforms…
CDJs are already going into controllerism… check out the Nexus line, they are basically very expensive controllers that can also play CDs.

The only time I play on CDJs is when I am too lazy to pack my controller and know the club has a decent setup. Mostly when I just do a short guest set and come only with my USB stick to the gig…
Setting up your controller is as easy as it gets, most clubs have a good mixer, plugging your pair of cables into 2 unused ports should not make you sweat and blending over from a DJ using the CDJs is a non-issue.
Even in my tiny home-town we already have 2 clubs that do not even have any CDJs anymore and expect you to show up with your controller, as they see it as the future.
Given 5 years when most club gear is in the replacement cycle, I imagine many clubs doing the same.