Both the microphone and headphone outputs come with new drivers and new effects: Echo, Pitch, Reverb and Megaphone. A new phantom power input on the DJM-A9 allows high-end condenser microphones to connect to the mixer.

Smoother Faders and Knob Controls

DJM-A9’s channel strip carries more spacing on its EQ knobs and brighter LEDs for more accurate sound leveling. Like the new sound engine, an improvement on the EQ knob curves provides better frequency responses to match modern music productions. Smoother channel faders and a new Magvel crossfader provide a better mixing and transitioning experience.

Three New Effects

A full-color LCD screen is now available on the Beat FX panel along with a more responsive X-Pad for sharper movement through effects. Three new effects are also added to the 14 common effects on the DJM-A9.

Mobius, a melodic oscillation effect, rises and falls with the beat and works in conjunction with the Sound Color FX. Triplet Filter and Triplet Roll work the same as the Filter and Roll effects, but they use a triplet beat to create more unique modulations.

Additionally, the channel select knob is replaced with eight buttons for each channel, microphone output and crossfader effects. Two-band EQ adjustment for the booth controls the high and low frequency, complementing the master output.

Bluetooth and Other Software Updates

Bluetooth technology on the DJM-A9 allows for adding tracks into your sets from smartphones and other devices while using the mixer’s features and effects. USB Type-B and Type-C ports allow multiple computers (PC or Mac) to connect to the mixer for more seamless transitions between sets. DJM-REC, Serato DVS, and Rekordbox software can connect to the mixer for advanced recording and performing.

The Pioneer DJM-A9 is available now and costs $2,699. Find more information and purchase the DJM-A9 on the Pioneer DJ website.

Each model focuses on different user experiences in its design.

DDJ-Rev-1

The REV-1’s entry level build is for users on Serato DJ Lite, which also looks like the DJM-S Series of mixers. Paddle FX levers, performance pads with Hot Cue, Sampler and Scratch Bank all outfit the REV-1’s layout. Each channel on the REV-1 also has a three-band EQ and dual pass filter.

DDJ-Rev-7

The REV-7’s design focuses on Serato DJ Pro users. This model carries an entire suite of features that work right alongside the Serato DJ Pro interface.

The REV-7 has motorized jog wheels, and its center looks nearly identical to the DJM-S mixer’s design. The REV-7’s platters come with a seven-inch full-color display showcasing waveform and track information. The REV-1’s aforementioned features are also present in the REV-7’s layout.

What sets the REV-1 and REV-7 apart is its functionality. The REV-1 needs Serato to trigger FX and other features, while REV-7’s effects and samplers are built right into the controller. Rev 7 also has 22 FX that can apply to both channels whether or not a computer is present. An additional Color FX section adds five more channels to the device. Plenty of input and output options are available with the REV-7, including phono amp inputs, two mic and aux ins, ¼-inch jack booth outs, an unbalanced RCA master out, and balanced XLR outs.

Purchasers of the REV-7 will also receive three months of TIDAL HiFi for free.

The Pioneer DDJ-REV-1 costs $259, while the DDJ- REV-7 sits at a much higher price point, $1,899. Both controllers are available now. Find more information on the Pioneer DJ website.

The turntable will be a limited edition run with only 50 units available. It will glow various soft neon colors as a record plays. As of now, the only way of purchasing it is by enquiring with the gallery via their website. No price is listed, though many expect it will be high. Each turntable will have Eno’s signature and edition number engraved on the side.

Speaking about his invention, Eno said, “One of the great breakthroughs of evolution theory is that you can start with simple things and they will grow into complexity. This is very unintuitive – it’s one of these things that the human brain isn’t immediately capable of grasping. It doesn’t make sense until you see it.”

Born in the U.K., Brian Eno studied painting and experimental music at Ipswich Civic College. He has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of glam rock band Roxy Music. Throughout his career, he has worked as a producer with numerous influential groups such as Devo, Talking Heads, U2 and Coldplay. He also produces sound installations, including the sails of the Sydney Opera House.

A recent report from DJ Tech Tools delved into why DJ equipment is so hard to come by these days, citing factors such as inflation, cost of labor, and more.

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to disrupt global supply chains, the prices of simple components such as audio cables have gone up. Factors such as forced lockdowns and a decreased labor pool have made raw materials like copper (commonly used for audio cables) much more expensive and hard to come by. Within the last year, the price of raw copper has nearly doubled according to research from Macrotrends.

DJ Tech Tools‘ report also cites overbooked ocean freight as a factor. The U.S. side of things is no better, with ports experiencing unheard levels of congestion.

The article quotes Kent Qi, a contributor to the Brilliant Group Logistics newsletter, as saying, “The extraordinary congestion seen at American’s main two West Coast ports is far worse than the port lockout days of 2002 and 2004.” This backup results in higher prices due to companies paying a premium for guaranteed space on a ship as well as paying air freight prices to ensure timely delivery.

One of the largest factors appears to be the ongoing semiconductor shortage.  According to Reuters, it is predicted to last well into 2022.

Like the SL-1500C, the SL-100C does not have the pitch fader found on turntables designed with DJs in mind. Streamlining the device further is an Audio Technica VM95C cartridge, which a news post on the manufacturer’s website says helps deliver “a cost-effective solution without significant compromise.” Meanwhile, Technics hallmarks like the iron-coreless drive motor, two-layer chassis, and S-shaped tonearm remain on the SL-100C.

The Return of Technics

Technics, a Panasonic Corporation subsidiary founded in 1965, was the first audio company to introduce motor-driven (as opposed to belt-driven) turntables with 1969’s SP-10. Two years later they released the SL-1100, a device that inextricably linked the company to disc jockey culture after DJ Kool Herc incorporated them into his first U.S. sound system. The SL-1200, released the following year, raised the bar even higher with upgrades that led to the development of scratching among early hip-hop DJs.

The SL-1200 remained an industry standard for decades to come, but the advent of CDJ players led to Technics discontinuing their line of turntables in 2010. With vinyl record sales picking back up over the past decade, however, the company re-entered the market with the SL-1200G in 2016.

The SL-100C Direct Drive Turntable will retail at £799 when it releases in July. More information is available on the Technics website.

CDJ-3000 Firmware Update 1.08 brings full auto-caching of already loaded tracks. Prior to its update, when a USB or Ethernet link in the rear of the CDJ-3000 is unplugged, the CDJ goes into an “Emergency Loop” mode. Once this happens, a (usually unquantized) four-beat loop begins playing. Canceling this mode is only possible by either loading a track or stopping the CDJ altogether – a worst-case scenario for many disc jockeys in live settings.

CDJ-3000’s auto-caching eliminates this mode entirely, saving the whole track into the device’s temporary memory. This feature finally curbs the all-too-common accidental unplugging during setup. The CDJ 3000 updates via USB by placing the device into into firmware update mode.

Pioneer’s social network, KUVO, is also now CDJ-3000 available. KUVO’s network helps DJs and clubs using Pioneer’s family of Rekordbox-compatible devices to promote their mixes or showcase their venue’s events. Registration on the Pioneer DJ website grants one access to KUVO and other Pioneer DJ networks.

Cache is King

Pioneer — now the AlphaTheta Corporation — remains a staple in DJ culture since 1994. Their flagship CDJ-500 was the first flat-top CD player with pitch control for DJs. In 2001 the CDJ-1000 again changed the DJing the landscape, introducing a vinyl-like element to digital performing. The CDJ-2000 and CDJ-2000NXS in 2011 brought smartphone capability and introduced file organization software Rekordbox.

The CDJ-3000 was released in September 2020. More information on the CDJ-3000 Firmware Update 1.08 is available on the Pioneer DJ website.

In the video, TheRasteri loads the game up via one of the controller’s USB ports and plugs a keyboard into the other. Doom then loads, and the user is able to play the first level of the classic game in a seamless manner. In the description of his video, TheRasteri gives clear-cut instructions of how to try the hack at home.

The instructions are full of tech jargon, so the YouTuber has also offered help to anyone having trouble with the process. Now, instead of playing around with the flanger, DJs who are looking for something to do during those nine-minute tracks can opt for a little bit of retro gaming fun instead.

Serato, Pioneer DJ, Native Instruments and Denon DJ are a few of the brands that offer SoundCloud DJ integrations. The service costs $19.99 a month, and SoundCloud claims that it’s “the largest catalogue of any offline plan at a lower price than the competition.” The Virtual DJ and Algoriddim integrations also offer in-app track data, and they plan to introduce more tools for DJs in the future.

SoundCloud’s Second Chapter

SoundCloud’s journey to financial success has not been a swift one. Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss founded the company in 2007, but it hemorrhaged money for the first decade of its lifetime. When The Raine Group and Temasek Holdings purchased a dominant share of the company in 2017, Ljung stepped down as CEO to make way for former Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor to take his place.

Trainor’s tenure has seen SoundCloud add value to its subscription service and amass more paid users as a result. In 2019, the company posted double the revenue ($200 million) and a narrower net loss according to Music Business Worldwide.

More information on SoundCloud DJ can be found in this blog post.

Image credit: Brandon Erlinger-Ford

In conversation with Reverb.com, Carter discussed how he ended up with his staggering amount of gear. He explained that he wanted to own all of the different versions of each instrument in an effort to complete a collection.

“I was a completist,” Carter said. “I collected things, and my idea was to complete these collections and then have an original one—the OEM one—and then one that’s the ultra-modded one, and then levels of varying degrees in between, as if I was some kind of museum curator.”

Reverb.com shared a video of Carter going over his inventory on their YouTube channel. Those who aren’t looking to purchase anything can still find enjoyment in his stories. He details the significance of each piece and how they relate to his storied career – including a short aside about a Roland TR-909 borrowed by Jeff Mills.

Derrick Carter’s Reverb.com shop is now live, and at the time of writing it contains over 50 items. View his listings here.

For starters, the CDJ-3000 comes with a tougher aluminum build with an upgraded full-color display in the center of the jogwheel showcasing file artwork, titles and BPMs. It’s a big step forward from the hallowed “vinyl” mode graphic that brings the device up to date with the aesthetics of Pioneer’s other controllers. They notably upgraded the components where the most damage occurs on previous models by making the play and cue buttons more durable.

A new built-in micro-processing unit (MPU) allows faster load times as well as new features in its later firmware updates, and support for all playable audio formats in a high-quality encoding environment is now available. A Gigabit Ethernet upgrade to their Pro DJ Link software gives connectivity up to six CDJ-3000s when paired with compatible gear, such as their new DJM-V10 6-channel performance mixer.

The CDJ’s nine-inch LCD touch screen (with full search functionality) showcases the new Rekordbox 3Band waveform display that color-codes each track based on their frequencies from high to low. Dual waveforms also show smaller tracks being cued up rather than colored lights and simple lines for easier and more creative beat matching capabilities.

New additions to the performance and looping side of the CDJ-3000 include eight hot cues, four buttons added to the fold and placed below the LCD screen, an eight-bar loop button, beat jump buttons that adjust the looping into different quantized beats (1/2, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64 beats respectively) and a “key sync” and “key shift” function that matches the incoming track’s key to the one playing by changing its overall pitch.

The CDJ-3000 also continues smartphone connectivity. Users of the iOS version of rekordbox can DJ with the mobile software, connecting iPhones to the CDJ-3000 with a lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter Cable. Stage lighting integration is also available with the CDJ-3000 via the separately-sold RB-DMX1 interface, and light editing options are available in the rekordbox software.

 A New Dimension

The new and long-awaited upgrades are a result of some serious restructuring in the Pioneer universe – now a company named AlphaTheta that still holds the Pioneer DJ name. The brand has remained a staple in the DJ equipment industry since entering the market in 1994 with the introduction of the CDJ-500, the first flat-top CD player with pitch control for DJs.

Pioneer DJ came to prominence again in 2001 and dominated the market with its groundbreaking CDJ-1000 that emulated the feel of playing vinyl in a digital format. A decade later, they delivered the CDJ-2000 and CDJ-2000NXS line of media players that boasted smartphone capability and introduced their one-of-a-kind Rekordbox digital media and hardware software solutions made for DJs and live performers.

In March 2015, the corporation sold its Pioneer DJ Equipment division to KKR &Co, Inc., creating a separate entity of its synonymous parent company. KKR then sold it to Noritsu Koki Co., Ltd. (who owns the AlphaTheta Corporation) in March of 2020.

The CDJ-3000 is available for preorder at $2,299. More information is available on the Pioneer DJ website.