Review of DJ equipment?

[restorer-john]

I think it's just a matter of sending it in for test and understanding that there is quite a queue and it's not always FIFO.

@amirm has considerable onboard buffer storage and random access in his current reviewing system. A bit like anti-shock on CD players and DVDs. He reads it in 2x/4x and clocks it out at a constant rate (except on holidays and weekends). That way, he reduces jitter and general errors in the review stream. Better quality output.

 

[restorer-john]

Even an old Denon MC-6000 that served me well for years.

I must be old, that thing looks awesome. I had Denon DNS-5000s back in the early 2000s and even a pair of Technics SL-DZ1200s (which looked gorgeous, sounded great but were an utter fiasco in the DSP)

The Denons blew my mind back then. Playing two tracks at the same time off one CD, even one could play backwards or be pitch changed with respect to the other. With two of them, you had 4 sources at once into a mixer.

 

[restorer-john]

The audio in the CDJs and the Denon players was actually pretty good. I have a few Denon machines floating around here which sounded just as good as any standalone CD player and tested fine. The trouble with any DJ player is you just can't resist playing with it. They are not for sit down and listen audiophiles.

You may be listening to some fabulous audiophile track and you just go "f#$k it" and hit the flanger on the highs, slowly kill the low end, play it backwards or just do a slow stop fadeout. And they just look stupid sitting alongside "proper" HiFi gear.

 

[Mariner9]

Is DJ equipment considered "audiophile grade"? Worth reviewing in that context?

Some of the rotatory mixers, perhaps. E.g. the Allen & Heath Xone V6 (now discontinued). Or the Bozak AR6 (essentially a re-make of the famous 1970s unit). There are also a couple of small start-ups making rotary mixers which are supposed to have more emphasis on sound quality, e.g. E&S Audio.

 

[ThePracticalPeasant]

@ThePracticalPeasant What kind of music did you spin? What years were you active?

I was hitting local events in the early '00s, except a few underground parties in the late 90s, primarily '01-'05.
My vinyl collection ranges from happy hardcore from the mid nineties to progressive house/trance in the mid aughts., bit of goa/psy, bit of oldschool garage, breakbeat... I was always hunting for cool tunes that I enjoyed and putting together little sets out of them... Many nights of 1v1, deck v deck, mix sessions with other local DJs.

Digital killed it, not because it's not a physical record, but because it's so widely distributed/copied/accessible.
Just like how these internet based games have ruined what was awesome about a local LAN party, where you could throw your empty (or full) redbull can at your buddy as he spawn-kills you for the 5th time... seems the personal touch is gone...

Or I"m just old.

 

[ThePracticalPeasant]

You may be listening to some fabulous audiophile track and you just go "f#$k it" and hit the flanger on the highs, slowly kill the low end, play it backwards or just do a slow stop fadeout. And they just look stupid sitting alongside "proper" HiFi gear.

Not that I have an issue with voyeurism... but I really didn't know anyone was watching...

The audio in the CDJs and the Denon players was actually pretty good. I have a few Denon machines floating around here which sounded just as good as any standalone CD player and tested fine. The trouble with any DJ player is you just can't resist playing with it. They are not for sit down and listen audiophiles.

Still my go-to CD player when I need a CD player...

Did all those dual-deck denons have digital outs? My 2100s do, if that has any value to testing...

 

[Katji]

I was hitting local events in the early '00s, except a few underground parties in the late 90s, primarily '01-'05.
My vinyl collection ranges from happy hardcore from the mid nineties to progressive house/trance in the mid aughts., bit of goa/psy, bit of oldschool garage, breakbeat... I was always hunting for cool tunes that I enjoyed and putting together little sets out of them... Many nights of 1v1, deck v deck, mix sessions with other local DJs.

Digital killed it, not because it's not a physical record, but because it's so widely distributed/copied/accessible.
Just like how these internet based games have ruined what was awesome about a local LAN party, where you could throw your empty (or full) redbull can at your buddy as he spawn-kills you for the 5th time... seems the personal touch is gone...

Or I"m just old.

Is 60 old? ...I think so. Just not as bad as 70.
I think not more than about 3 days pass without me listening to a mix by a Canadian Dj/producer. Clubs/events, I wouldn't know, just that not nowadays, every interview says something about it now. ...And maybe / quite likely, most of them are women. I suppose mostly Vancouver. ...That's the last 6 years or so, before that I was still working, so I didn't spend the time on Soundcloud.
...Oh and if it was CDs, no way, I wouldn't be saying this. Just no way.

 

[ThePracticalPeasant]

Is 60 old? ...I think so. Just not as bad as 70.

Not if you're bouncing around on a dance floor with a big grin on your face anticipating the next drop...

One of my favs from 2005, makes me want to set up some gear and crack the record cases

 

[Mountain Goat]

https://www.vinyloftheday.com/vestax-audiophile-dj-mixer-houou/

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JSmith

Neve should chop the outside four channels off an 88 and weld the monitoring to it. They could charge 20K.

BRB, googling to see if they offer that...

 

[ThePracticalPeasant]

I think not more than about 3 days pass without me listening to a mix by a Canadian Dj/producer

Anyone in particular?

 

[Chrispy]

How about Wicked Lester ?

 

[jsrtheta]

Is 60 old? ...I think so. Just not as bad as 70.

Trust me. 70 starts to look downright juvenile as you get older. It's a sliding scale.

 

[ThePracticalPeasant]

Since the last one got a few likes, more from Lee Haslam, with an assist from Samuel L
First time I listen to this one since I put the Tech-12s away upwards a decade ago

 

[pozz]

Since the last one got a few likes, more from Lee Haslam, with an assist from Samuel L
First time I listen to this one since I put the Tech-12s away upwards a decade ago

One of the anthems from when I partied.

 

[Simfunk]

I've just discovered a small Youtube channel in which a guy disassembles and measures DJ mixers: https://www.youtube.com/@mixersinside. I was particularly interested in his measurements of Ecler WARM2, which I own.

His introduction:

My name is Kamil and i'm an electronic engineer with more than 5 years experience in circuit design. I want to reveal you some secrets. There are too many myths in DJ mixer industry and my mission is to spread knowledge and make people more conscious and marketing resistant.

I think this guy really merits our support, he's got the right spirit!

 

[nagster]

This is the AP dashboard for the Pioneer CDJ-2000NXS2.
The firmware is version 1.87, which was the latest as of last week.
Measurements were taken with the MASTER TEMPO switch ON and OFF.
The signal source was a 16/44.1kHz CD and a 24/44.1k 48k 88.2k 96kHz file from a USB memory stick, Sine 997Hz 0dBFS. (The CD was Track02 on the APx-CD1 disc that came with the AP.)
When the TEMPO RESET switch was ON, the results were the same as when the TEMPO RESET switch was OFF and the slider was at 0.0%.
When the TEMPO RESET switch was OFF and the slider was moved, sidebands appeared depending on the amount of change, but the THD+N barely changed.

 

[Waxx]

From my own subjective (not measured) experienc as being a dj since the mid 90's (semi-retired since 2015) and sound engineer (untill about 2007) in the dj scene.

Pioneer cdj quality is ok in my experience, but their mixers are noisy. That's why i would not use them if i was still a dj, even the old Rodec mixers were a lot better, and those were warm (harmonic distortion) mixers, not superclean. The Pioneer mixers have high general noise. The reason they are so popular is they are very functional for many dj's, especially in mainstream genres, and they are build to survive a lot of abuse (so rental companies like them). They are also very tuned to work with the CDJ's, which are the new standard for dj players after the dj scene went digital.

Technics turntables are as clean as a turntable can be, other brands are worse, even some are loved by dj's. But their mixers were also noisy. Cheaper brands like Neumark, Gemini or Ecler were all noisy. The best mainstream mixers i know now are Allan & Heath or Rane. On rotary mixers, the quality of sound is often deliberate enchanged wih harmonic distortion (part of the wanted sound by many) but mostly low general noise.

I would love to see those measured here, so they can debunk (mine or others) myths and we know what we buy. But i don't know if Amir is interested in those and if someone wants to send them in (I don't, I live to far, and am semi-retired as dj).

 

[nagster]

This is the AP dashboard for the Pioneer DJ / CDJ-3000.
Measurements with the MASTER TEMPO switch ON and OFF. The test signal source is a USB memory stick. (This model does not have an optical drive.)

 

[egellings]

One classic for another.

Lateral offset angle, anyone?

 

[nagster]

Measurements of the Pioneer DJ / CDJ-2000 NXS2 and CDJ-3000 with TEMPO slider set to 0%, +0.15% and +15%. MASTER TEMPO is not used.
TEMPO RESET: ON gave the same results as TEMPO RESET: OFF + TEMPO slider: 0%, so it is not included.