I’ll be the first to admit that what the CDJs brought to the market when they came out was the tabletop model with big, actually usable jogs and pitch faders. That was (whichever way you look at it) an upgrade from the relatively small controls on the dual-deck 19″ Denons. As said we have had units in our mobile setups that have run for over 20 years (including the LPM7 mixer by Dateq I might add 😀 ). We did however never play CDR disks (I was well aware of the problems with those on many platforms, not limited to our Denons) and our units went in every 2 years for full maintenance, cleaning, testing and laser realignment.
But enough about those. For every brand and model there will be people that have great experiences and those that had nightmares.
As for the 5000s, they are indeed a new breed. Some of the things don’t impress me as a feature as many of those have been on my controller for a long time. BUT … there are some really nice things and they are truly stand-alone capable (like Peter, I realize a laptop is always an extra break down) as well as great integration with now Serato but others no doubt to follow soon. The processing power inside these things is awesome and offers loads of future upgrade options. The built in key lock is second to none, the dual deck feature with dual sound card is nice – and Denon have finally added digital out which was something lacking on their gear compared to the NXS series imho.
Having played with them personally I don’t think they are cramped because of the performance pads, but perhaps that is because I come from controllers and these feel nice, big and “roomy”. Love the jog size, the large pitch faders and such. The 7″ touch screen is definitely an upgrade from anything out there (including the tour series bolt-ons).
Again, nobody says you have to buy them, they will work for some, not for others. And only time will tell what their impact on the way the future pro-DJ booths look like will be.
So, peace to all my DJ brothers and sisters, I am off to bed. Catch you on the flipside.
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