Pioneer CDJ-400: Issuing a final blow to vinyl

Tags: pioneer, usb, digital music, mixer

Right, we're sticking our neck out here. Vinyl is dead. Even if you're a DJ, those glorious analogue discs are starting to pale in comparison to CDs and other digital music. There will be people reading this who will tell you we're wrong, ignorant and just plain stupid. But hear us out: there are compelling reasons why we think 12-inch format music has had its day. The Pioneer CDJ-400 is just one of them.

There used to be a time when CD just didn't cut the mustard for DJs. If you were lucky, a CD deck would allow you to seek through the track and adjust the pitch to beat-match, but having the tactile response of vinyl just wasn't possible. That meant vinyl remained the preferred medium for club DJs the world over.

But vinyl is heavy and bulky, very fragile and easy to ruin if you have a little Red Bull accident. CDs, on the other hand, are resilient to energy drinks, much lighter and compact and can store a more diverse range of digital music, including MP3s. This makes them easily replaceable, too. So what are you waiting for? Throw the Technics SL1200s in the bin -- or post them to Ian Morris, 5-11 Lavington Street -- and grab yourself some CDJ-400s.

The CDJ-400 strengthens its case by almost totally removing the final advantages of vinyl, with its cunningly named 'vinyl mode'. This feature allows you to interact with the CD in exactly the same way as you would with a record. Touching the 'platter' will stop the disc. Moving it backwards and forwards will allow you to scratch, and queue the next track ready for that epic mix. There's even an outer ring, which allows you to push and pull the CD and decrease and increase the speed the track plays at.

But it doesn't just end there. The CDJ-400 will happily chew through your MP3 collection -- you can either dump a USB stick into the USB socket, or as an MP3 CD. But that's not all, you can even connect the 400 to a computer, via USB. This, in turn, allows you to control a MIDI-compliant piece of software, for example Traktor DJ studio. From there, you can access your entire MP3 library, and because all of the controls on the CDJ-400 are assignable, you can create a custom control file that suits your needs.

The CDJ-400 costs around £450, but let's be honest, you'll need two of them, plus a mixer. Pioneer sent us the DJM-400 to go with our pair, which is a very useful, simple mixer which should allow you to do the whole DJ thing pretty well. Even so, you're looking at more than £1,000 in total, but if you're desperate to DJ, this is a great setup. -Ian Morris

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Comments

ChristopherFri 16 May, 2008 10:45pm

I love Pioneer's CDJs - the best on the market, far outstripping other manufacturers' devices (aside from maybe Denon who hold their ground against them, but the Pioneer ones in my opinion are easier to use) - and for those who can't afford CDJ1000s the CDJ400s are the best entry into incorporating a CD deck into your setup.

However, no matter how loudly people proclaim that vinyl is dead, if you ask any proper DJ who plays out at gigs on a weekly basis, they'll tell you that vinyl is alive and well - and healthier than ever. If you stick your neck out a little too much you might find it being off with a flying 12" one of these days ;)

AnonymousSat 17 May, 2008 1:36am

CDJ 800's are whats mostly found in clubs.

Good to see DJ/Audio tech articles on Crave!! :) very surprised indeed. Perhaps a section on Traktor 3 and MIDI Controller Laptop DJ'ing ? :)

AnonymousSat 17 May, 2008 8:00am

I completely disagree with the whole throw away your technics bit.
Yes, CD's are great and easier to use - but with the advent and availability of digital systems like serato and FS1/2 its still worth keeping hold of the standard decks.

Also, for anybody thinking of buying these my advice is to save up for a bit and get the 1000 series or 800 series. IMO there much nicer.

Ian MorrisSat 17 May, 2008 3:08pm

Hey guys, good comments, thanks!

I'm kind of interested in DJ stuff, so I'll try and get as much in as I can for Crave, it makes a nice change I think!

I've been playing about with the MIDI function of the 400s and a copy of Traktor. It's really rather good, although I can't help feeling you'd be better off with the timecoded CDs because it's slightly easier to get up and running and you keep the traditional 2 deck and mixer configuration and just add a laptop.

And, on the subject of the decks, yeah, I know what you mean, if you have them already, it's worth hanging on to them, but with products like this new DJs may well feel it isn't worth spending so much money on turntables. Of course, some will disagree, but that's life!

AnonymousSun 18 May, 2008 12:36am

Technics SL-1200 turntables are very well crafted - they will last you a lifetime, and are known throughout the world as the DJing staple turntable - now why would you throw that away?

At the end of the day it comes down to what you want to do and how you want to do it. Some people like touching a big vinyl platter, others need to work with CD's as that is what they are used to. It appears that today we have more choice than ever before to find the perfect set-up... it is no longer an issue of 'this' or 'that' - you now have systems which do both.

If you want to scratch and beat juggle and all of that a standard 2 decks + mixer turntable set up would make sense... You could incporate timecoded vinyl + software + soundcard to add the laptop on to your set-up.

Dance DJ's have been using CD's for a while now but it seems like CD's are on there way out. Besides, they don't seem like the are very eco-friendly.

Allen&Heath and Vestax make some very high-quality equipment which brings the 'decks' + mixer hardware controlling into the world of digital mp3/wav music played on Traktor.

AnonymousSun 18 May, 2008 12:50pm

Word. Vinyl ain't dead bruv. There's room, and more importantly valid uses, for all formats.