Pioneer DDJ - Anyone Have One?

ironclaw

Hi Folks,

Been offered a good deal on a DDJ T1 at the moment. Was going to go CDJ for a long time but decided against it as I'm mainly digital after a good few years of CD's.

Anyone used one or have one? Reviews seem positive on the whole. Anyone hear of any problems or faults with them?

DrGreenthumb

if you want info on any issues or problems why not get it from the horses mouth,

http://serato.com/help/pioneer

heck out the native instruments site for the tracktor version

copeyhagen

he said T1 not S1

gorilla_ie

ironclaw wrote: »

Hi Folks,

Been offered a good deal on a DDJ T1 at the moment. Was going to go CDJ for a long time but decided against it as I'm mainly digital after a good few years of CD's.

Anyone used one or have one? Reviews seem positive on the whole. Anyone hear of any problems or faults with them?

tbh man its looks like the dogs bollocks.. and the fact that its pioneer i would jump at the chance of getting one !!

mick.m

Got the T1 last week. Although still getting used to it, the general concensus is its a solid piece of kit. Having owned CDJ800 mk2s, the size difference is difficult to become accustomed to. Faders and pots all very well constructed though.

Apparently, compared to the S1, the T1 feels a little cheap and plastic-y, but it's definitely solid enough to gig with. Fits into a flight case built for the CDJ and DJM400 series, so in comparison to the majority of MIDI controllers there's plenty of space on the unit and everything is very well laid out.

Soundcard is built into the unit so latency is not really an issue, however, the pitch faders seem slightly laggy sometimes. Could be just me though. Buttons and jog wheel practically came off the CDJ400, so if you've used pioneer kit before you'll know what a pleasure the clicky cue and play buttons are to use.

If you use a mic during sets, the mic volume control is possibly the only bad decision pioneer made layout-wise, situated on the front right of the unit; a tiny knob and mic/aux switch.

Traktor of course is famous for it's effects and the new traktor pro 2 has some brilliant and versatile examples, but the special pioneer edition of traktor comes with the T1 and is missing a fair few of the effects found in the new traktor. The effect paramater knobs are all solid and well spaced. One thing I would also mention here is the fact that the needle search strip can sometimes be accidentally activated while using effects, possibly destroying an otherwise clean set. There is a "function" button that locks the needle search though, so this isn't usually an issue.

Other bits and pieces; two headphone outputs, two master outs (I think), nice smooth crossfader that does not have a curve control, hot cues are brilliant, "filter" knobs on either deck make access to the common BP filter easy, auto loop function works beautifully, sync and master buttons on each channel work fantastically 90% of the time if you would use them.

Lovely looking unit overall and gives more of a CDJ/DJM feel to a MIDI controller, which are usually smaller and "toy" looking. Also, pioneer quality, 'nuff said.

Hope this helps.

ironclaw

Cheers mick.m. Was looking for someone with some hand's on. I though the S1 and T1 had the same build quality, the price was just a software shift?

mick.m

I dunno man, the price difference between the two just doesn't seem worth it. The T1 has four channels compared to the two of the S1. And by the looks of serato itch, I can't see why it'd be worth more, let alone 200 euro more than the traktor version. I suppose to be fair the S1 does look a bit nicer, black instead of the grey T1. There's also the LED "display" which seems a rather useless addition considering all track data will appear onscreen anyway..

I wonder who pioneer were targeting with the S1 anyway? It's battle style mixer and serato software hint at a potential market of turntablists, but I can't imagine anyone being able to scratch (half decently) on the CD sized jog wheels. How they are justifying the 200 euro price difference is beyond me...

holystungun9

mick.m wrote: »

I dunno man, the price difference between the two just doesn't seem worth it. The T1 has four channels compared to the two of the S1. And by the looks of serato itch, I can't see why it'd be worth more, let alone 200 euro more than the traktor version. I suppose to be fair the S1 does look a bit nicer, black instead of the grey T1. There's also the LED "display" which seems a rather useless addition considering all track data will appear onscreen anyway..

I wonder who pioneer were targeting with the S1 anyway? It's battle style mixer and serato software hint at a potential market of turntablists, but I can't imagine anyone being able to scratch (half decently) on the CD sized jog wheels. How they are justifying the 200 euro price difference is beyond me...

Most hip hop / r'n'b guys in the states particularly, got into serato originally because of its association with the Rane scratch mixer (very popular, have one myself) and at the time if you were used to using two 1210s well then the two channel serato was the obvious choice. Bit of a 1s and 2s mindset. As regards not being able to scratch on jogwheels, check these guys on the tiny jogwheels of the S4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zLeaAysuvg

holystungun9

ironclaw wrote: »

Cheers mick.m. Was looking for someone with some hand's on. I though the S1 and T1 had the same build quality, the price was just a software shift?

This is a u.s. review and not a hands on one but it gives you an idea, just go to youtube when researching gear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wl_H78kitU

ironclaw

holystungun9 wrote: »

This is a u.s. review and not a hands on one but it gives you an idea, just go to youtube when researching gear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wl_H78kitU

Saw those guys and I've bought from them before. Couldn't recommend them enough, great bunch of lads.

I think I'll make the plunge and get a T1, the S4 is just too small in my eyes.

Fran1985

very solid piece of kit, that is highly recommendable. Very easy and convenient, although only problem i found, was that it wouldn't work on PC. tried it on a few different PC's. Works great on Mac tho (Mite have just been that it was something simple that needed to be switched over but after hours, and i mean hours and 3 different PC computers, eventually got it goin on mac. Good video demo here

http://www.youtube.com/user/dapdublin?ob=5#p/u/1/DzzMVkNX-CA

NIALLCONLY

have bothe the S1 and T1 in stock drop over and have a look!

Niall, Aquarius