This should be title "30 Years of Pioneer" - Technics and Sony had broadcast CD players with pitch control, cue, and jog wheels in the 1980s. They were being used by forward thinking DJs at the time in clubs as well. The Denon DN-2000F came out in 1992, and was a standard in every single club (along with subsequent Denon models). Pioneer CDJs weren't widely used until the CDJ-1000 in 2001.
It's important to note that these CDJs were mostly released by Pioneer under the Pioneer DJ brand, you can see when the innovation stops and they just become slight improvements from one to the next after the Pioneer DJ brand got sold around 2016. Really sad seeing such an innovative company slowly going into bankruptcy.
I tune out after 2 minutes because the flow was so stupid with immediately to the heavy translation ... just bad directing and editing. But gad I read your comment because I missed all that BS then1 ;)
I hear that Pioneer, now under the new brand of AlphaTheta are moving towards making everything subscription-based on future products. You'll have to now pay all sorts of extra fee's on top of buying the units to use certain features etc which will kill the brand and price out a huge chunk of the market. If that's all true, it's seems Pioneers days as kings of the DJ box may soon come to end... I hope I'm wrong or misinformed on that, but if not - what a pity... i guess as they say, all good things must come to end.
Unfortunately this is the goal for most corporations. They are no longer content with making money from good products, they must exploit their customers in ever changing ways to extract as many cents from the customer as possible.
It is called enshittification (alternately, crapification and platform decay) and it is a corporate plague that is present everywhere from Netflix to Pioneer. It is very real and happening.
+1. Not allergic to playing analogue or digital. Hyperallergic for companies that think they are an insurance company with their subscription based business model.
15:20 I used to animate all the new gear as it came into the UK from Japan, so it would often get to my studio first so I could take lots of photos, scan it (using a flatbed scanner) and fillm all of the LEDs. This is one of mine. I was also lucky enough to make CDJ Promo videos with James Zabiela, DJ Yoda and Sander Klienenberg. It was a really exciting time.
I remember attending the CDJ 1000 launch at a club. I happened to speak about USB drive and then lan cable to connect to Internet and mix music from now what the music apps we used. I was so embarrassed then as so many people made fun of me. But now look at the transition 🎉❤
After using double CD Players for a few years i bought two used CDJ-500 II LTD wich was a blast to me. Then I bought two CDJ 800, later CDJ 400. Now I'm using a DDJ-1000 controller with rekordbox 6 because I think the current CDJ/DJM products are highly overpriced for what they do. 2600 € for an MP3 Player? com'on... But I still like the feel and workflow of Pioneer wich i never expierienced on other equipment.
This should be marked as a 30min ad for pioneer. Pioneer has stopped being innovative for very long now, rekordbox is a pain and struggles to come with updates that fixes their real issues. The feel of playing with flagship pioneer hardware is hard to beat, but heir overpriced products with outdated software will cause their slow death, the competition is starting to do better and cheaper.
I was thinking the same thing. That said, I think they've peaked their innovation and need to allow time for the industry to catch up. It's not like its competition is doing any better. Look at Native Instruments or Denon, for example. AlphaTheta need to just capitalize on their products and get good ROI from subscription based revenue models.
The first cd for djing was Denon dn2000f, i was used to play this player from 91, that was 4 years before pioneer release that cdj500 that actually was pretty hard to use in the clubs because was jumping at the smallest vibration, they release very fast the mk2 to fix a lot of issues of their famous cdj.
I bought a pair of Pioneer CDJ-500Gs in 1994 for $1,500. I built an accurate ATA flight coffin for those and my Peavey rackmount mixer. Those CD players were friggin' amazing... I am proud to own the Pioneer DDJ-REV7 30 years later...
Noticed the same thing, to be fair I think they were all playing it down quite a bit, as it is annoying to some that it has allowed almost anyone to play. Many DJs had spent years learning to beatmatch by ear! The truth is the sync saves time - the bpm is written on the screen anyway - far more time to focus on song selection in the moment.
@@mrlewis_dj This was it that made me stop dj it became to easy like what am i doing here the tech has gone so far the ears are not needed. In a few years ai will do it all for us anyway :P
CDJs are fine and practical and all, and I appreciate using them for genres that I don' have a large collection of vinyl for, but NOTHING in regards to DJ'ing beat waking up on the weekends and hitting all of the record shops in NYC, running into everyone you knew + other DJs etc. Community, yo.
When I moved over from vinyl I started my CD djing on a brand new denon 2000f in the early 90s. And every pub and club in my area used denon as the cdjs where far too big to go into a dj booth at that time.
I'm glad I learned using vinyl turntables! I compare it to the analogy of learning to drive a car: Learn to drive using a standard transmission and it'll be even easier to drive an automatic transmission 😄
@DJMag Correction to a statement made throughout this video: the American DJ ProScratch CD player was the first digital scratching cd player , it beat the cdc-1000 to the market by a few months. The Pioneer CDJ-1000 was the first where the touch would stop the playback (the pro scratch would only take over by movement of the platter, until the pro scratch2 which was released with capacitive touch jog wheels (I believe again the first in this category). PS American DJ was also the first with vinyl time code controls (before Serato), but that is for another subject.
I had cdj’s almost since their inception… I had a buddy that was sponsored by Pioneer and was an early adopter of the cdj-100’s, which I too was also able to grab a pair, along with the djm-300 mixer… I was doing things that other local dj’s couldn’t… I had a HUGE library of CD’s, so this worked in my favor - Every genre available at my fingertips… I had all the dnb/hip-hop tracks that people wanted to hear… and I would create insane mashups with acapella’s as well - It was indeed revolutionary, AND I WAS HATED MERCILESSLY FOR IT!… 😂 When cdj’s first came around, they were pretty controversial with the “elite’s” and “purist’s”… Good times!… 👍
My first pair of CDJ’s where the CDJ-400 and I’ve tried almost any CDJ except for the 3000’s actually. I always wanted a pair of 2000’s and a djm-2000 wich I know own 🙌🏼
Where Technics (and Denon) missed the mark when it comes to their professional CD DJ players and UX, Pioneer did a real good job within an evolving and changing dance scene 👌🏻 The future of CDJ depends on for instance the future of mega EDM or mainstream Techno parties. In the 90s and early 00s the DJ started traveling a lot more, and moved from being a residence DJ at a local discotheque or smaller club to those big international venues and parties. With the vinyl and live performance revival in more but smaller scenes, and also the trends in interactive IX, I think the ever expanding ‘growth’ of CDJ devices has come to an end. The AlphaTheta move and developments also indicate this for me.
@@gaz909909 early 90s yes, when the DN-2000s were used in addition to the SL1200s. Most of the time placed above the mixer. After that Denon simply tried to catch-up with Pioneer by bringing spinning platters etc. as ‘technical innovation’, but missed the mark when it came to usability… and more importantly, smart business development. As said before, the scene was changing and Pioneer took way better advantage of it.
The very first CD player with pitch control is Technics SLP1200. ...The year was 1986...... This machine can not scratch but you can speed-up or slow down the tempo and that is all that you need for mixing the music.... Denon have the first double cd machine with pitch in 1991 - DN4000F Pioneer start an era in 1993 with CDJ-300 and after with CDJ500II... First mp3 player was Pioneer CDJ1000 MKII... First hybrid CD player that combine vinyl , HDD, and CD player is Numark HDX First player without CD drive is Denon DN-HS5500---this is frist controller (2008) First hybrid turntable (combination of turntabe and CD player) was Gemini CDT-05.. First Minidisc unit with pitch control (for DJ) was Sony MDS-DRE1 The smalles CDJ unit ever was Denon DN-S1000 It is honorable to mention : Technics SL DZ-1200 , Denon Dn-S3000, Pioneer CDJ-2000 Nexus
Thanks Pioneer! All the great memories and Raves that naver would be possible without you fellas working your magic! Sync button bit make me chuckle having a Vinyl background then getting the RX3 I always wondered what that button was now I know many thanks!
The sync button can be, for Djs that utilize all of the technology in the CDJs, a useful tool to more quickly get out of a track and into a new one. DJs don't need to leave it on. however, if you are mixing five tracks very quickly, and need to drop the next track in with percision and the fader open you can get from one track to the next in seconds. I have several DJ sets that have groups of tracks that I have literally seconds to get from one to the next to meet a cue point. But I sometimes immediately turn it off. Use it as a tool, not a crutch.
Heck yeah. Denon is really taking over. Its just hard to get people to truly see it as pioneer is all they've known. I played on denon gear and was blown away.
@@eklektek5032I have Denon but with a DJM A9. Until Denon don’t do a good mixer, there is no chance to take over the industry and they don’t look to hurry…
I liked how the CDJ-500 was a "deck". I was never a fan of those smaller rack-mounted CD players, but you could shuffle and play. Even better when scratch/vinyl mode happened.
This is not really about the evolution of CDJ's in general, just an advert for Pioneer. They were not the first to produce a cd player for DJ's, not by a long way, nor did they bring out the first dj controller. They may be the biggest name in that market now, but this makes out they invented the whole thing! An unbiased history of digital dj'ing would be more interesting.
Fun video, proud owner of a 500S (sadly it's refusing to stay fixed) - my only beef with this great series is, when you remove the actual CD player, don't call it a CDJ. I saw XDJ model naming somewhere recently, that works. But no CD mechanism? Not a CDJ!
I'm still buying vinyl all the way up to 2024 and have a Pioneer controller that gets used rarely, FUQ the sync button that I first had to ask a DJ what it was around 2010
Started with the 500s when the club I was resident at finally got them in 2000AD The thing I still miss is the picture association you get with vinyl. I don't think I am the only one; I could just see the corner of a record in my box, or flip through the covers and FEEL the music embedded on the disc. This style of intuitive selection is/was missing with black and white text on a screen, or marker pen on a burned cd. I am hoping the 3000s and beyond can change this.
Why not speaking about Denons? The professional CD standard in the late 90s at the DJ booths? I still remember the classic square red/green cue/play buttons and rubber pitch bend too.
The CDJ-3000 NXS (or next up) will need to feature live stem separation for there to be any advancement in sole standalone media players. The marketing has been razor sharp for 4 years now- it's arrested development, as InMusic Brands discovered.
30 years, eh?! I've never used CDJ's or anything like Serato. I have the same set-up from 12 Years old, 2 basic belt drive MOSTT1000 and a Numark M3. Considering Numark scratch mixer or DJ Controller! Unsure of what to get though, It's a hobby for me and I enjoy the nostalgia from vinyl!
Controllers were (and still are) vastly overlooked. I suppose the problem was there was never really the ‘standard’ (I know Traktor S4s were popular but it never cemented itself for venues and lineups
My mate bought a couple of CDJ500's, I thought they were crap. Stayed with turntables, used scratch live, and stuck with turntables until I got a controller.
Pioneer have to rename their next upcoming Media Player as XDJ or DDJ 4000. Cause Its just no longer a ''CD'' Player ! However i started and learning to Djing back in 2002 . from then on i owned two Iconic Technics SL 1210 MK 2 ,until late 2008 ! Then i sell them ( of todays View unfortunately ) . because i no longer was playing at the Club anymore . At the Beginning of this Year i bought two Technics SL 1210 MK 7 besides my DDJ 1000 Controller after more than 15 Years ago . Pick Up my two ''100'' Recordcases of my basement , and put the Vinyl on the Platter and put the Needle on after more then 15 Years ago ..A Pure nostalgic Feeling after 15 Years ago again ! Then i start to buy again Vinyls on Discogs ,which i just can't afford or dont know about to be released back in the Days .. Of Course they are no longer as cheap as their Original Release Date from Back in the Days , But for me its absolutely worth every single Vinyl 🥰💙 and i will buy still so much more good Vinyls in future from Discogs :) Modern Technique like all the CDJs from the first 2000 One Model mybee rules the Clubs and Festivals Today , but never can reach the Feeling of a Legend ! TECHNIC SL 1200 / 1210 MK 2 MK 5 MK 7 .. 🙏🙏🙏
Paco Osuna and Joseph Capriate - Wope, thank me with a thumbs up. By the way, especially at the time this track was released Osuna used to play with Timecode Vinyl, not CDJ.
I like see Pioneer Dj bring back CD’s for the last time. Only reason the feature gonna mention. If so will be it enough bring it back for the last ? I have a good idea be awesome reason bring it back. Hint is studio side of it. Where i can send PM to Pioneer Dj with a awesome idea may like well ? Can anyone know how i contact Pioneer Dj. Least here me out ?
I wasn't interested into all this stuff, but back when 2021 covid hit everyone kept talking about this "Hey, we got nothing to do anyway, there's people selling these DJ decks around used marketplaces!"... And well, people start to buying them and fiddle around with knobs. The cool people bought CDJ's, but the people on a "budget" went for an DDJ's or Serato products. As it goes for myself, i managed to get DDJ-400 at that time and its quite neat product just to fiddle around from time to time with it.. Its an wild journey, from flying through clouds to all the way to fast highway. Such an great experiences to have when you put two tracks together and see how they both play.
Im close to 25 years true vinyl now 🙃 But I also have a 6 gear manual in my car and think people who can’t operate it shouldn’t drive one. You see the pattern. I guess I’m old school.
It’s a long story but as a DJ I went from mixing vinyls directly to modern USB file consoles. It makes me laugh to see so many DJs who really deny or refuse the Sync button, come on it’s helpful in many situations, but they are too proud or afraid to admit to use it.
Personally as a dj who has experimented on all platforms. The cdj still has its flaws opposed to laptop dj processing power. The cdj standalone has much to improve. My laptop with xdj is more precise and has more functionality than the current cdj3000, which has a latency problem.
My 1st mixer & decks was a controller the Vestax CDX-12 that had the wood on the front looked like a video game controller haha it worked tho, then after that the Denon DN 2500F MK2 with the American Dj XDM-3633 Commander with the goose neck light. that was fun tho limited. But the xdm 3633 mixer had the best cue mixing ive ever used 1 ear 1 cue track the other ear the track playing with a fader. Now i use the Pioneer XDJ-R1, again it's an older system but ill leave Pioneer i need to get a newer controller. The stuff you can do with pioneer is 2nd to none, & people going to do gigs @ clubs pubs raves so on pioneer is there near 100% of the time. & to think over all the years ive been dj'n 1999 ive seen & used some funky silly units had to learn them on my own, the hardest transition was pioneer tho with that said once i got it down took me about a week it was yeah ok i love the usb feature & im never going back to the older stuff. Keep up the great work Pioneer your cdj's the mixers & controller's are amazing.
LOL 23:25 They say do not use THE SYNC button most DJs use a form of sync just looking at the bpm is a form of SYNC. To all the DJs who say they do not use the sync button how about removing the BPM reader then? or just put tape over the BPM counter.
Find it funny that they all claim and proud not using the sync button, but they all have in big Number in their screen screaming the current BPM so yeah there is no need to use the sync button then is there?
Yeah its kind of a weird cope. "Nooooo I dont use the sync button that will make everything too easy" meanwhile theyre praising the big screens with waveforms and tempo information etc. Like boy, youre basically using sync but youre just scared of a word. I use sync, I have no shame in this. Sometimes I do without just to keep myself fresh etc but if someone goes their entire career using sync, let em, who cares.
Pioneer are still more robust, but it’s not a million miles away. My advice is buy a pair of 1210s and use DVS, best of both worlds then. My 1210s with Serato are way better featured than a CDJ.
Denon started of good in the early 90s, but never could beat Pioneer in the club from the year 2000 on. Since SC5000, and even more with SC6000, Denon has a product that is as good as the CDJ3000. This is a huge leap closing the gap. To some extend the Denon out performs the the CDJ3000. I don't think Denon will be a the industry standard any time soon. In the end everybody has to make most out of the gear you got. Anyone comfortable using the pitch, the platter and the cue and play button could start playing in the club. All the rest is just there to overcome boredem or boosting energy to the music. But all of this is less important with good choice of music. You could bring something extra with the functions available, but sometimes less is more. If you can dj on an old CDJ, you could as well do the same on later CDJ models.
Unfortunately having every feature under the sun crammed in and being a pinch better won't make Denon the industry standard. Denon needs something ground breaking to truly break Pioneers dominance.
@@DJ.B_74 Well my Prime 2 has touch screen FX, an internal SSD (that is lightning fast for exports), the match feature on the library, more effects, better streaming capabilities, a sampler (admittedly basic) and various other functions that the XDJ-RX3 as a comparison doesn't do, and came in £700 cheaper. This is before we account for forthcoming updates that will add even more features, for free. Id call that a much more compelling option than its competitor.
Are CDJs still relevant? Controllers seem to be the new thing for the last 5 or so years and now it costs less to buy a 2 dec controller vs one single CDJ 3K.
After 30 years the cdj can not analized track without computer (personally I feel like I still use a pure deck than a propar maschine witch a strong precossor aloud analized material itself). More marketing renovation than revolution is such a shame for that great company like a pioneer is. Regards
I remember when but I hated it. Growing up from wild style at age 7 to 13 I was all about becoming a dj and all of a sudden cd came in and in a small town all I saw was cd bends. Sucked and vinyl was the only way to mix. Still is
The Sync button is not a far stretch from a quantized loop. You don't want your loop going out of sync, so why would you want to drop your track in and have to adjust? DJs that will make fun of another DJ for using sync, is kind of silly because the only thing it helps with is dropping the track in at the right. Millisecond. But those same djs will run a loop and half the loop and trigger hot cues. Triggering a hot cue is the same as usinng sync for dropping a track in. just a different method. A lot of the DJs that I know that don't use Sync but make near perfect mixes without ever going off beat. They use a tonne of hot cueing with quantizing on. It's the same except for the whole keeping your track locked into sync which a lot of djs turn sync on and off a lot during a set. Because they are control freaks. ABsolutely nothing wrong with Sync. I've seen many very big DJs use it. It gets to a point where. The best thing for the audience and the quality of the set rules over any hit to your ego. I've practiced for years to be able to drop a track in at the right time. And I still do it without sync. But I also use sync. It's a tool
I own 6x CDJ3000s and the PIONEER DJ V10. All because of the team of TRIBEXR I DJ academy on the META QUEST. I’ve literally learned how to DJ on Pioneer DJ gear because of virtual reality. It’s amazing, I can even use rekordbox and use that in virtual reality. Iam ready to go real-life Dj-ing now ❤
I hope Roger was wearing prescription sunglasses as otherwise he probably won't be able to see WTF he was doing at night; display brightness only goes so far!
What was your first CDJ? 👇
100.s
500s
100’s…
200 and 800 mk2
Pioneer 200 ❤
This should be title "30 Years of Pioneer" - Technics and Sony had broadcast CD players with pitch control, cue, and jog wheels in the 1980s. They were being used by forward thinking DJs at the time in clubs as well. The Denon DN-2000F came out in 1992, and was a standard in every single club (along with subsequent Denon models). Pioneer CDJs weren't widely used until the CDJ-1000 in 2001.
This… Denon DN-2000F was what I first started playing CDs on… Super reliable… Everyone went and copied them
Yes..i skiped these Hi Fi CD players bu Denon and Sony in late 80s.. But, i agree :)
@@dorsetengineering this was the club standard in the 90s (along with 1200s)
None of them use beat sync, but love looping and quantise.
Sensational
Syncowanie bpmu to standard.
Not a bad 30 min Pioneer DJ ad!
It's important to note that these CDJs were mostly released by Pioneer under the Pioneer DJ brand, you can see when the innovation stops and they just become slight improvements from one to the next after the Pioneer DJ brand got sold around 2016. Really sad seeing such an innovative company slowly going into bankruptcy.
Completely agree.
You need to understand that this dj world is a small, barely profitable market. On top of that most dj's are stubborn when it comes to change.
Go Denon or go broke
@@DJ.B_74DJs aren't much open to alternatives or big changes but sure are fast to put the latest generation of CDJ on their riders
The more the video progresses, it starts feeling more like a commercial and less like a documentary.
Agree...
I tune out after 2 minutes because the flow was so stupid with immediately to the heavy translation ... just bad directing and editing. But gad I read your comment because I missed all that BS then1 ;)
i think of it as a pioneer documentary lmao
@@LightestEvening brilliant take.
The quasi-religious moment they present the 3000.
I hear that Pioneer, now under the new brand of AlphaTheta are moving towards making everything subscription-based on future products. You'll have to now pay all sorts of extra fee's on top of buying the units to use certain features etc which will kill the brand and price out a huge chunk of the market. If that's all true, it's seems Pioneers days as kings of the DJ box may soon come to end... I hope I'm wrong or misinformed on that, but if not - what a pity... i guess as they say, all good things must come to end.
Unfortunately this is the goal for most corporations. They are no longer content with making money from good products, they must exploit their customers in ever changing ways to extract as many cents from the customer as possible.
It is called enshittification (alternately, crapification and platform decay) and it is a corporate plague that is present everywhere from Netflix to Pioneer. It is very real and happening.
+1. Nice sponsored content tho
+1. Not allergic to playing analogue or digital. Hyperallergic for companies that think they are an insurance company with their subscription based business model.
I feel like nowadays Denon is the best option, double the features for half the price 🤑
15:20 I used to animate all the new gear as it came into the UK from Japan, so it would often get to my studio first so I could take lots of photos, scan it (using a flatbed scanner) and fillm all of the LEDs. This is one of mine. I was also lucky enough to make CDJ Promo videos with James Zabiela, DJ Yoda and Sander Klienenberg. It was a really exciting time.
I remember attending the CDJ 1000 launch at a club. I happened to speak about USB drive and then lan cable to connect to Internet and mix music from now what the music apps we used. I was so embarrassed then as so many people made fun of me. But now look at the transition 🎉❤
After using double CD Players for a few years i bought two used CDJ-500 II LTD wich was a blast to me. Then I bought two CDJ 800, later CDJ 400. Now I'm using a DDJ-1000 controller with rekordbox 6 because I think the current CDJ/DJM products are highly overpriced for what they do. 2600 € for an MP3 Player? com'on... But I still like the feel and workflow of Pioneer wich i never expierienced on other equipment.
This should be marked as a 30min ad for pioneer. Pioneer has stopped being innovative for very long now, rekordbox is a pain and struggles to come with updates that fixes their real issues. The feel of playing with flagship pioneer hardware is hard to beat, but heir overpriced products with outdated software will cause their slow death, the competition is starting to do better and cheaper.
alphatheta* :D hehe
I was thinking the same thing. That said, I think they've peaked their innovation and need to allow time for the industry to catch up. It's not like its competition is doing any better. Look at Native Instruments or Denon, for example. AlphaTheta need to just capitalize on their products and get good ROI from subscription based revenue models.
consider switching to a mobile phone DJ 😂 Like the trash laidback luke I use rekordbox and xdjrx3 with 0 issue come on lets go Mobile
Not to mention they ALWAYS change the layout - ffs
The first cd for djing was Denon dn2000f, i was used to play this player from 91, that was 4 years before pioneer release that cdj500 that actually was pretty hard to use in the clubs because was jumping at the smallest vibration, they release very fast the mk2 to fix a lot of issues of their famous cdj.
Denon Dn2000f is one of the more fun cd players to use, as you have to use your ears to mix, no bpms nothing fancy just pure fun mixing
Cdj 1000 mk3 still the best looking cdj ever made in my opinion it hasn’t dated and still looks sleek regardless of no usb
I don’t have any newer CDJs , but i recently bought 2 x CDJ400s and they sound amazing !
Well I used to hire out the 1000, but never used them. Just got back in the booth after 10yr and I now use the 3000 every weekend. I love it!
I bought a pair of Pioneer CDJ-500Gs in 1994 for $1,500. I built an accurate ATA flight coffin for those and my Peavey rackmount mixer. Those CD players were friggin' amazing... I am proud to own the Pioneer DDJ-REV7 30 years later...
You own an important piece of history.
Wont use the sync button but loves beat grid and quantise🤦🏼♂️
@@johne160 exactly. Goobers.
Ha! Exactly.
Noticed the same thing, to be fair I think they were all playing it down quite a bit, as it is annoying to some that it has allowed almost anyone to play. Many DJs had spent years learning to beatmatch by ear! The truth is the sync saves time - the bpm is written on the screen anyway - far more time to focus on song selection in the moment.
@@mrlewis_dj This was it that made me stop dj it became to easy like what am i doing here the tech has gone so far the ears are not needed. In a few years ai will do it all for us anyway :P
Stay mad boomer, even though it’s led to a ton of mid artists - tons of djs/producers have been made from using it to their advantage.
CDJs are fine and practical and all, and I appreciate using them for genres that I don' have a large collection of vinyl for, but NOTHING in regards to DJ'ing beat waking up on the weekends and hitting all of the record shops in NYC, running into everyone you knew + other DJs etc. Community, yo.
I think you missed 1989-1993 where denon was the inventor of cd djiing. Not pioneer. Denon also had looping and key adjustment on the 2500f first.
When I moved over from vinyl I started my CD djing on a brand new denon 2000f in the early 90s. And every pub and club in my area used denon as the cdjs where far too big to go into a dj booth at that time.
True, but barely anybody was using them in 89 - 93
Love the fact that they used "Pronto Arpeggio KiNK Remix" and its cover art for the showcase of the CDJ 3000
I'm glad I learned using vinyl turntables! I compare it to the analogy of learning to drive a car:
Learn to drive using a standard transmission and it'll be even easier to drive an automatic transmission 😄
More like a portrait painter, compared to a paint and decorator.
@DJMag Correction to a statement made throughout this video: the American DJ ProScratch CD player was the first digital scratching cd player , it beat the cdc-1000 to the market by a few months. The Pioneer CDJ-1000 was the first where the touch would stop the playback (the pro scratch would only take over by movement of the platter, until the pro scratch2 which was released with capacitive touch jog wheels (I believe again the first in this category). PS American DJ was also the first with vinyl time code controls (before Serato), but that is for another subject.
I had cdj’s almost since their inception… I had a buddy that was sponsored by Pioneer and was an early adopter of the cdj-100’s, which I too was also able to grab a pair, along with the djm-300 mixer…
I was doing things that other local dj’s couldn’t… I had a HUGE library of CD’s, so this worked in my favor - Every genre available at my fingertips… I had all the dnb/hip-hop tracks that people wanted to hear… and I would create insane mashups with acapella’s as well - It was indeed revolutionary, AND I WAS HATED MERCILESSLY FOR IT!… 😂
When cdj’s first came around, they were pretty controversial with the “elite’s” and “purist’s”…
Good times!… 👍
Still are lmao
The 400 was actually the first player that took USB. Great little player.
My first pair of CDJ’s where the CDJ-400 and I’ve tried almost any CDJ except for the 3000’s actually.
I always wanted a pair of 2000’s and a djm-2000 wich I know own 🙌🏼
Where Technics (and Denon) missed the mark when it comes to their professional CD DJ players and UX, Pioneer did a real good job within an evolving and changing dance scene 👌🏻 The future of CDJ depends on for instance the future of mega EDM or mainstream Techno parties. In the 90s and early 00s the DJ started traveling a lot more, and moved from being a residence DJ at a local discotheque or smaller club to those big international venues and parties. With the vinyl and live performance revival in more but smaller scenes, and also the trends in interactive IX, I think the ever expanding ‘growth’ of CDJ devices has come to an end. The AlphaTheta move and developments also indicate this for me.
How did Denon miss the mark if they were the market leader for CDJ for years in the 90s... ?
@@gaz909909 early 90s yes, when the DN-2000s were used in addition to the SL1200s. Most of the time placed above the mixer. After that Denon simply tried to catch-up with Pioneer by bringing spinning platters etc. as ‘technical innovation’, but missed the mark when it came to usability… and more importantly, smart business development. As said before, the scene was changing and Pioneer took way better advantage of it.
Cdj's were fun for a while but you will never beat mixing vinyl. Vinyl is back!
Regardless of what pioneer produce, you will never beat the feel of vinyl
The very first CD player with pitch control is Technics SLP1200. ...The year was 1986......
This machine can not scratch but you can speed-up or slow down the tempo and that is all that you need for mixing the music....
Denon have the first double cd machine with pitch in 1991 - DN4000F
Pioneer start an era in 1993 with CDJ-300 and after with CDJ500II...
First mp3 player was Pioneer CDJ1000 MKII...
First hybrid CD player that combine vinyl , HDD, and CD player is Numark HDX
First player without CD drive is Denon DN-HS5500---this is frist controller (2008)
First hybrid turntable (combination of turntabe and CD player) was Gemini CDT-05..
First Minidisc unit with pitch control (for DJ) was Sony MDS-DRE1
The smalles CDJ unit ever was Denon DN-S1000
It is honorable to mention : Technics SL DZ-1200 , Denon Dn-S3000, Pioneer CDJ-2000 Nexus
Thanks Pioneer! All the great memories and Raves that naver would be possible without you fellas working your magic! Sync button bit make me chuckle having a Vinyl background then getting the RX3 I always wondered what that button was now I know many thanks!
I miss playing on CDJ's. I never was able to afford them, but playing out was so much fun and gratifying when they were available at gigs.
The sync button can be, for Djs that utilize all of the technology in the CDJs, a useful tool to more quickly get out of a track and into a new one. DJs don't need to leave it on. however, if you are mixing five tracks very quickly, and need to drop the next track in with percision and the fader open you can get from one track to the next in seconds. I have several DJ sets that have groups of tracks that I have literally seconds to get from one to the next to meet a cue point. But I sometimes immediately turn it off. Use it as a tool, not a crutch.
CDJ-1000 MK3 were a big thing to the industry.
still quite good piece of equipment
I miss the CD slot. It must come back
I can't wait to have the opportunity to try out devices that allow for greater artistic creativity in mixing frequency packages. I appreciate it.
we need denon
Heck yeah. Denon is really taking over. Its just hard to get people to truly see it as pioneer is all they've known. I played on denon gear and was blown away.
@@eklektek5032 yeah..prime series tottaly skirocket...wonder what denon now working
@@eklektek5032I have Denon but with a DJM A9. Until Denon don’t do a good mixer, there is no chance to take over the industry and they don’t look to hurry…
I liked how the CDJ-500 was a "deck". I was never a fan of those smaller rack-mounted CD players, but you could shuffle and play. Even better when scratch/vinyl mode happened.
This is not really about the evolution of CDJ's in general, just an advert for Pioneer. They were not the first to produce a cd player for DJ's, not by a long way, nor did they bring out the first dj controller. They may be the biggest name in that market now, but this makes out they invented the whole thing! An unbiased history of digital dj'ing would be more interesting.
True Facts!!!! Denon were "Industry Standard" 😉
@@andywilliams1947 problem is , no one gives a toss about anything other than pioneer , it’s the industry standard and always will be .
@@themenace3145I give a toss about other brands, and so do many others.
@@themenace3145 okay fansheep.
@@m-stat9 facts
Thank You Pioneer
Cdj's 1000 was my first then 2000nxs2..
Fun video, proud owner of a 500S (sadly it's refusing to stay fixed) - my only beef with this great series is, when you remove the actual CD player, don't call it a CDJ. I saw XDJ model naming somewhere recently, that works. But no CD mechanism? Not a CDJ!
I'm still buying vinyl all the way up to 2024 and have a Pioneer controller that gets used rarely, FUQ the sync button that I first had to ask a DJ what it was around 2010
Started with the 500s when the club I was resident at finally got them in 2000AD
The thing I still miss is the picture association you get with vinyl. I don't think I am the only one; I could just see the corner of a record in my box, or flip through the covers and FEEL the music embedded on the disc. This style of intuitive selection is/was missing with black and white text on a screen, or marker pen on a burned cd. I am hoping the 3000s and beyond can change this.
I have a pair of the early pioneer flip top CDJ's in a coffin case with a pioneer 300 mixer.
Why not speaking about Denons? The professional CD standard in the late 90s at the DJ booths? I still remember the classic square red/green cue/play buttons and rubber pitch bend too.
☮️ j’aime trop le vinyle pour utiliser ces machines 😉
same , I've given it a good go but just not for me
Roger, un maestro!!!!!
The CDJ-3000 NXS (or next up) will need to feature live stem separation for there to be any advancement in sole standalone media players. The marketing has been razor sharp for 4 years now- it's arrested development, as InMusic Brands discovered.
CDJ-500s & I still have them
Still going strong!
not skipping?
30 years, eh?! I've never used CDJ's or anything like Serato. I have the same set-up from 12 Years old, 2 basic belt drive MOSTT1000 and a Numark M3. Considering Numark scratch mixer or DJ Controller! Unsure of what to get though, It's a hobby for me and I enjoy the nostalgia from vinyl!
Nice little Exodus free party clip at 6:38 unless I'm mistaken?!
best product ❤
Controllers were (and still are) vastly overlooked. I suppose the problem was there was never really the ‘standard’ (I know Traktor S4s were popular but it never cemented itself for venues and lineups
legendary!🔥
Amaaaazing!!!!!!!
10:45 I was wondering when Roonie G was going to make an appearance in this! I knew he was one of the first DJs to test and demo the 1000s.
My mate bought a couple of CDJ500's, I thought they were crap.
Stayed with turntables, used scratch live, and stuck with turntables until I got a controller.
DJ Roonie is a genius 📈🏆🏆🏆
Technics turntables, best dj tools ever.
YESS!!!:-)
horses, best mode of transport ever.
Agree the longevity is a definite plus I don’t think the old cdj are still around working
@@mkf628 pussy is ancient but it works. this is the important.
People can see through what this video is trying to do, they are not stupid you know.
DVS over CDJ
Best of both worlds
Pioneer have to rename their next upcoming Media Player as XDJ or DDJ 4000. Cause Its just no longer a ''CD'' Player ! However i started and learning to Djing back in 2002 . from then on i owned two Iconic Technics SL 1210 MK 2 ,until late 2008 ! Then i sell them ( of todays View unfortunately ) . because i no longer was playing at the Club anymore . At the Beginning of this Year i bought two Technics SL 1210 MK 7 besides my DDJ 1000 Controller after more than 15 Years ago . Pick Up my two ''100'' Recordcases of my basement , and put the Vinyl on the Platter and put the Needle on after more then 15 Years ago ..A Pure nostalgic Feeling after 15 Years ago again ! Then i start to buy again Vinyls on Discogs ,which i just can't afford or dont know about to be released back in the Days .. Of Course they are no longer as cheap as their Original Release Date from Back in the Days , But for me its absolutely worth every single Vinyl 🥰💙 and i will buy still so much more good Vinyls in future from Discogs :)
Modern Technique like all the CDJs from the first 2000 One Model mybee rules the Clubs and Festivals Today , but never can reach the Feeling of a Legend ! TECHNIC SL 1200 / 1210 MK 2 MK 5 MK 7 ..
🙏🙏🙏
If you mixed on decks for 20 plus years, then you can now use the Sync Button.
Paco Osuna and Joseph Capriate - Wope, thank me with a thumbs up.
By the way, especially at the time this track was released Osuna used to play with Timecode Vinyl, not CDJ.
When the new ones come out Ile be ready
I like see Pioneer Dj bring back CD’s for the last time. Only reason the feature gonna mention. If so will be it enough bring it back for the last ? I have a good idea be awesome reason bring it back. Hint is studio side of it. Where i can send PM to Pioneer Dj with a awesome idea may like well ? Can anyone know how i contact Pioneer Dj. Least here me out ?
I need to study the spoken Japanese in this. Wish I could have a written transcript of what they say. Im not sure of some words they use.
the best ❤❤❤❤❤
I wasn't interested into all this stuff, but back when 2021 covid hit everyone kept talking about this "Hey, we got nothing to do anyway, there's people selling these DJ decks around used marketplaces!"... And well, people start to buying them and fiddle around with knobs.
The cool people bought CDJ's, but the people on a "budget" went for an DDJ's or Serato products.
As it goes for myself, i managed to get DDJ-400 at that time and its quite neat product just to fiddle around from time to time with it..
Its an wild journey, from flying through clouds to all the way to fast highway. Such an great experiences to have when you put two tracks together and see how they both play.
Man the first versions of Rekordbox was a pain.
Im close to 25 years true vinyl now 🙃
But I also have a 6 gear manual in my car and think people who can’t operate it shouldn’t drive one.
You see the pattern. I guess I’m old school.
It’s a long story but as a DJ I went from mixing vinyls directly to modern USB file consoles. It makes me laugh to see so many DJs who really deny or refuse the Sync button, come on it’s helpful in many situations, but they are too proud or afraid to admit to use it.
People going mad about a button that does your 8 times table is wild
Best comment award!
Personally as a dj who has experimented on all platforms. The cdj still has its flaws opposed to laptop dj processing power. The cdj standalone has much to improve. My laptop with xdj is more precise and has more functionality than the current cdj3000, which has a latency problem.
Make tune, burn CD, play tune… It was never about vinyl vs cd, it was about dubplate vs cd….Revolutionary…
My 1st mixer & decks was a controller the Vestax CDX-12 that had the wood on the front looked like a video game controller haha it worked tho, then after that the Denon DN 2500F MK2 with the American Dj XDM-3633 Commander with the goose neck light. that was fun tho limited. But the xdm 3633 mixer had the best cue mixing ive ever used 1 ear 1 cue track the other ear the track playing with a fader. Now i use the Pioneer XDJ-R1, again it's an older system but ill leave Pioneer i need to get a newer controller. The stuff you can do with pioneer is 2nd to none, & people going to do gigs @ clubs pubs raves so on pioneer is there near 100% of the time. & to think over all the years ive been dj'n 1999 ive seen & used some funky silly units had to learn them on my own, the hardest transition was pioneer tho with that said once i got it down took me about a week it was yeah ok i love the usb feature & im never going back to the older stuff. Keep up the great work Pioneer your cdj's the mixers & controller's are amazing.
DJ PAULETTE!!!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🎧🎚🎤🎶💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
I Love my XDJ-RX3!! Does that count? 😁
Here for the kickoffs
LOL 23:25 They say do not use THE SYNC button most DJs use a form of sync just looking at the bpm is a form of SYNC. To all the DJs who say they do not use the sync button how about removing the BPM reader then? or just put tape over the BPM counter.
dj software from 20 years ago, just using keyboard can do more than a current day cdj
30:01 - 30:10 No post-credits teaser of the next CDJ :(
Find it funny that they all claim and proud not using the sync button, but they all have in big Number in their screen screaming the current BPM so yeah there is no need to use the sync button then is there?
You still have to be able to line the beats up, then adjust that by ear when it drifts.
Yeah its kind of a weird cope. "Nooooo I dont use the sync button that will make everything too easy" meanwhile theyre praising the big screens with waveforms and tempo information etc. Like boy, youre basically using sync but youre just scared of a word.
I use sync, I have no shame in this. Sometimes I do without just to keep myself fresh etc but if someone goes their entire career using sync, let em, who cares.
@@levia2805 I use sync just like I use cruise control on my car. It's a great feature to use but you know you can't depend on it.
@@levia2805 Spot on
I have XZs, but there's a massive noise coming from the Denon users, does anyone know the difference between Pioneer/AT and Denon?
Pioneer are still more robust, but it’s not a million miles away. My advice is buy a pair of 1210s and use DVS, best of both worlds then. My 1210s with Serato are way better featured than a CDJ.
Denon started of good in the early 90s, but never could beat Pioneer in the club from the year 2000 on. Since SC5000, and even more with SC6000, Denon has a product that is as good as the CDJ3000. This is a huge leap closing the gap. To some extend the Denon out performs the the CDJ3000. I don't think Denon will be a the industry standard any time soon. In the end everybody has to make most out of the gear you got. Anyone comfortable using the pitch, the platter and the cue and play button could start playing in the club. All the rest is just there to overcome boredem or boosting energy to the music. But all of this is less important with good choice of music. You could bring something extra with the functions available, but sometimes less is more. If you can dj on an old CDJ, you could as well do the same on later CDJ models.
Denon offers more features for a lower price.
Unfortunately having every feature under the sun crammed in and being a pinch better won't make Denon the industry standard. Denon needs something ground breaking to truly break Pioneers dominance.
@@DJ.B_74 Well my Prime 2 has touch screen FX, an internal SSD (that is lightning fast for exports), the match feature on the library, more effects, better streaming capabilities, a sampler (admittedly basic) and various other functions that the XDJ-RX3 as a comparison doesn't do, and came in £700 cheaper. This is before we account for forthcoming updates that will add even more features, for free.
Id call that a much more compelling option than its competitor.
30 Years In 30 Minutes, that's clever odd :)
Someone finally noticed 😎
Are CDJs still relevant? Controllers seem to be the new thing for the last 5 or so years and now it costs less to buy a 2 dec controller vs one single CDJ 3K.
After 30 years the cdj can not analized track without computer (personally I feel like I still use a pure deck than a propar maschine witch a strong precossor aloud analized material itself). More marketing renovation than revolution is such a shame for that great company like a pioneer is. Regards
So why not use Traktor then with timecode vinyl?
I remember when but I hated it. Growing up from wild style at age 7 to 13 I was all about becoming a dj and all of a sudden cd came in and in a small town all I saw was cd bends. Sucked and vinyl was the only way to mix. Still is
best product ever ❤❤❤
The Sync button is not a far stretch from a quantized loop. You don't want your loop going out of sync, so why would you want to drop your track in and have to adjust? DJs that will make fun of another DJ for using sync, is kind of silly because the only thing it helps with is dropping the track in at the right. Millisecond. But those same djs will run a loop and half the loop and trigger hot cues. Triggering a hot cue is the same as usinng sync for dropping a track in. just a different method. A lot of the DJs that I know that don't use Sync but make near perfect mixes without ever going off beat. They use a tonne of hot cueing with quantizing on. It's the same except for the whole keeping your track locked into sync which a lot of djs turn sync on and off a lot during a set. Because they are control freaks. ABsolutely nothing wrong with Sync. I've seen many very big DJs use it. It gets to a point where. The best thing for the audience and the quality of the set rules over any hit to your ego. I've practiced for years to be able to drop a track in at the right time. And I still do it without sync. But I also use sync. It's a tool
just give me the STEMS on the next gen CDJ3000💀
Saludos desde México 🇲🇽 deberían de traducirlo al español 😂😂😂
924 Darrion Harbors
CDJ's killed djing, raves, and the club. Vinyl took skill and focus.
Now it's all tap into tempo and sync with a little beat griding.
I own 6x CDJ3000s and the PIONEER DJ V10. All because of the team of TRIBEXR I DJ academy on the META QUEST. I’ve literally learned how to DJ on Pioneer DJ gear because of virtual reality. It’s amazing, I can even use rekordbox and use that in virtual reality. Iam ready to go real-life Dj-ing now ❤
Next is Pioneer AI-DJ 5000
I hope Roger was wearing prescription sunglasses as otherwise he probably won't be able to see WTF he was doing at night; display brightness only goes so far!
Its crazy that we can do more with a $300 Controller and our Phone than we can on a 6K club setup.
Yeap! Its all about how you're gonna use it and how much limits you can push out from that device.
Shhhh, people might figure out that DJs don't need all that extra crap and reveal that they're not that special.
sync button 'i don't even know where it is' 🤣🤣🤣 yeah right 🙃