Why do people…

Actually, all Pioneers from the lowly 100’s up have Master Tempo. It was one of the features that helped set them apart from the competition when they first broke into the dj market. Most mid to high end CD decks would have similar features now regardless of builder.

Going on memory here as it has been awhile since I busted out CD’s as part of a show, but I found it to be the same on the units I played on (the 100’s vs. 1000mk1/mk2’s). The sound quality was fine, but it caused a little bit of speed wobble that required very minor corrections during longer mixes – nothing that should scare someone away from using it. Can’t comment on newer units as I haven’t used them.

ADHDJ, post: 18928, member: 1864 wrote: I’m currently on the fence about this myself.

Right now I use Traktor on an old macbook with a S4 controller. My laptop has been acting funny lately and making me really nervous that it’s going to crap the bed during a gig (I’m going to have a lot of gigs in the next few months at lounges/bars in NYC).

So before I go and drop $2K on a new macbook pro that I’ll use for nothing but djing, I thought I would consider CDJs. I already have an ok mixer that I use for my 1200s (don’t want to go the vinyl timecode route because they are too heavy to be dragging to gigs).

My other issue with my current setup is the tiny jog wheels and pitch fader on the S4. I think I’d be much better off with the large jog wheels and long throw pitch fader on CDJs. I would think that if you are serious about djing then this would be a huge plus right?

Another question I have is, how do those of you using CDJs feel about losing the key lock feature that Traktor has?

The size of the jog wheels and pitch faders has nothing to do with helping you do a good mix. On the S4 you use the side of the wheel to tempo nudge if you need to. The top surface is used to scratch. This was the same in the Mixtrack pro I had before the S4. It is also the same on my DNS5000’s.
The tempo / pitch adjust fader on the S4 is great and highly accurate, you can get down to very small differences in BPM if you need.

CDJs are just another way to control your media. They work in the same way as controllers (ie simulate a turntable) and just like controllers, some do it better than others. The great advantage of using a controller as opposed to CDJs is portability. Having said that the Pio 2Ks can read from USB, and these are normally installed in clubs so you could just carry your USB to the club…….. BUT……. for all the times where you had to take your own gear to the venue, I’d prefer to take a laptop and controller as opposed to CDJ coffin and crates of CDs all day.

The overall outcome should be the same. It’s not about the gear its about the tunes!!!!

ADHDJ: How about a Numark V7 or something like Denon DN SC 2000 instead of a real CDJ? – I wanted to buy the Denon MC6000 but I am also thinking about buying a Denon DX1600 with 2 Denon DN SC 2000 and use Traktor with it (since timecode upgrade would only cost me $119 with that set-up).

My friend uses nothing but CDJs…he came over last night to try and record since i have the s4 setup with traktor and can record very easy using that.

It took him less than 10 mins to figure out my S4…The hardest thing for him was learning what all the additional buttons do.

The Jog wheel and pitch fader he had no problems with and was able to beatmatch very quickly.

The larger the jog wheel has nothing to do with how accurate your inital drop is for beatmatching.

If you are used to the CDJ style u only use the jog wheel to line up ur beats…CDJ is more cue cue cue play…as oppose to vinyl where you have to hold ur record and let go on beat.