Pioneer DJM 900 nxs & 2x CDJ 2000 purchase advice

For 1200 bucks you could get a Denon MCX8000 and outclass this setup by around 400%.
For 800 bucks you can get a Pioneer DDJ-SX2 (still loads better than the crap non Nexus players) and go on vacation with the money you just saved.

Is it a good offer: No. It is that cheap, because people catch on that non Nexus gear is near worthless when compared to controllers and even Nexus 2 gear is just a glorified controller that can use CDs and has less features than a DDJ-SZ.
Hence even on Nexus gear used prices will start free fall once people are no longer following the “you need CDJs to be Pro” bandwagon and realise no pro uses them anymore unless they get payed for it.

You are welcome 🙂

Reading through this, I need help understanding what you are looking for. You rule out a few controllers because they aren’t four channel, but the CDJ setup you are looking at isn’t 4 channel either. So are 4 channels important to you? If they are, you’re going to be using software (or dropping a ton of coin on 4 CDJs). If you are okay with 2 channels, you have some options for standalone setups.

Sorry but you read wrong. Playing standalone is not “the thing” anymore. It is a relic, such is Nexus gear.
The whole Nexus2 setup is less efficient as ANY controller, even your S2.

As far as learning software: If you can DJ you do not need to learn a DJ software. They all work the same. Yes for my live work I primarily use Serato, but as a staff member here at Digital DJ Tips I am using all the software titles (Serato, Rekordbox, Traktor, Cross, DJay Pro,…) at home to keep up to date with features and development. And I can tell you Rekordbox is a 1:1 copy of Serato, but to each their own.

From what you are writing I have to assume you are at a beginner level as a DJ, to invest in outdated equipment will not help you in any way.

Then why do my local DJs tell me that Pioneer standalone is the thing?
Well honestly they are afraid. Instead of evolving themselves there is a growing number of older DJs that have started on CDJ and do not want to get over it. They see that a kid with a 200 bucks controller can actually do more then they can and hence they try to convince the kid that what he does is “not the thing” as when the club manager or promoter would pick up on it, they would not have their job anymore. That is why idiotic old DJ bricks tell you that is the thing.
The really good old DJs (like our very own Phil, Steve, Chuck and myself) we are all in the business 20+ years. We started out on record decks with self made mixers, went to real scratch turntables with real mixers, got into CDJs and now evolved to controllers.
The really big clubs (those that make industry policy) like Ministry of Sound (London), Octagon (Seoul), Pradise (Brasil), Boss (Barcelona),… they actually expect you to have that gear. Their tech will call you waht you bring and how he should hook it up for you. Even smaller clubs and bars in my home town have sold their CDJ gear as everyone starts bringing controllers, they only have house mixers that you connect to, end of line. Yes this is not the case everywhere in the world (yet), but it soon will be.
Same goes for festivals, I have played in front of 10.000 people on a Terminal Mix 4 + Maschine setup and blew the roof off them.

Then why does >insert famous DJ name< still play CDJs? Money. Pioneer pays high rolling DJs to use their gear. Secondly they would not care as their main task is actually producing songs and most of their sets will come pre-recorded on a USB stick as this is much easier to align lightshow and dancers perfectly to something they know. The few that play live (van Dyke, van Buuren,...) actually may have a full Nexus setup on the table, but their custon midi controllers and about 3 laptops and additional mixers are also on board, or like Skrillex they have a setup that they built themselves and have CDJs there that are not even connected for show. But by all means if you want to waste money on outdated gear, go ahead, but we cannot in good faith support that decission. A far better investment would be to buy a cheaper controller and get one of our courses with the money you saved.

Marnik I am well aware of this and I said it is happening. It always takes an initial club to do it in a town and the rest of the town will follow.

However I do not know where you are located, but everywhere I traveled, while CDJs still were there, many DJs had their controllers hooked up to the DJM and ignored the CDJs. They just were “still there”.

And the most important thing of all:
If you want to make it and stand out, you have to break the rules (not the law).
If you want to be generic DJ #1,212,212,564,123 who shows up with a playlist on a USB stick and all you can do is beatmatch and mix, then that is where you will stay. Some will do better than others depending on their music choice and crowd reading abilities, but you will never stand out.
However if you show up with your Controller and you are doing live remixing, slicing, flipping, stems, remix decks,… whatever flaots your boat and gets your creativity humming, you will stand out.
My greatest successes were back in the CDJ days, when I first brought my Roland step sequencer into the booth. I got recognized and landed my first successful residency.
The same happened a few years back (already semi-retired) I jumped in for a friend at a festival as warmup (worst slot ever, still hot 4pm afternoon so no real lightshow as it was sunny bright) and I simply had my Terminal Mix 4 and my Maschine. Honestly I did not really care and just wanted to try this live what I had been experimenting with. I got booked out that day for the rest of the year.

So what I am trying to say is very very simple actually:
– Yes you can still easily DJ on CDJs, they did not stop working
– Skills transfer, if you DJ usually on controllers, even if they make you us CDJs at your club, you can still do it (I charge extra if they do)
– CDJs are a bad investment as they are expensive gear for little they can do

If you care so much about CDJs you can buy a cheap DDJ-SB learn how to beatmatch manually by not using sync, learn how to nudge on the jogwheels and maybe loop and you know how to DJ on CDJs. The skills are transferrable without you spending 2000 bucks, you spent 200 and have actually the better equipment at home.
If you are afraid that you will not see anything on the CDJs and you need to practice? Well if you learned on your mixtrack and have all the skills down, you can easily ask at most clubs to get 30min for “gear checks and sound calibration” and familiarize yourself with the layout of the CDJ setup, which is easily enough. (The manuals for CDJs are also online…)

So what I am trying is to save a stundent money, as buying into CDJs is totally worthless and while they still may be present at your end of the world, it is only a matter of time. But then I am old enough to have seen enough DJs go out of business because they were only “conformists” and not rule breakers. So whatever floats your boat, I have only been trying to save you money and give what I feel an expert view on the matter. (Because another rule of success is: Give back – what I am trying to do here, but it will not cost me sleepless nights if you buy the Nexus setup.)

Well the NSz II and III are both fantastic devices. I have used the NS7 II extensively as I did some product presentations with it at a DJ store to show it off, so my routines had to be good and this thing works flawlessly.
Even though I use a controller with screens myself (I mainly use the Denon MCX8000) I am not 100% sold on screens on controllers. But I guess that is up to your workflow. I rarely look at the laptop (mostly to select the next song) and then do most of the controller stuff “blind” as I know the controller so well I do not need to look, excpet maybe if I scratch. So maybe depending on your style the version II will be sufficient.
Also the NS7 series has motorized platters. I really liked those (as I started DJing with vinyl and still have some record decks for DVS use when I feel the need to touch vinyl hehe) however it is something more that can die on you and it is mechanical parts moving…
So you have to decide if that moving platters are worth the extra complexity/weight and maintenance. I mean I loved them, but in the end I found that I could perform all my scratch moves on very good jogwheels as well with little to no adjustment, hence why I went for the MCX8000.
So if the NS7 is up your alley you can definitely not go wrong with it, it is an excellent controller, build like a tank and has tons and tons of features. I recommend getting a flightcase for it for gigs, yes it will make it even heavier, but in a gigbag it just wobbles around too much due to its weight.

Yeah it looks kinda flimsy, which is unlike Numark. As I said I only worked with the II version without displays, that was rock solid.
However my guess, updates are at least one year out.