Found this mixer used for 1300$ about a month ago and i thought i'd outline some info/observations about the mixer ive owned it and played out with it(about 10x in a paid club envirionment)

-----
first, the experience ive had mixer wise since 05
pioneer djm 500
rane ttm 57
pioneer djm 800
native instruments z2
pioneer 900 srt
pioneer s9

the basics.

the faders and xfaders i really like. i think the smoothness/adjustablity of the upfaders would be better than a 900 for mixing house and techno.

front panel is well designed, 2 headphone jacks, and i really like having more control than the 3 adjustments on the mixer ala how the 4 channel pioneer mixer do it. especially the upfaders, those pioneer stock points never were satisfying.

the face plate is really dark in dark situations ie. you need a light in the booth unless you can do that in the dark ninja/jedi mixing. prob wont be hard after alot of experience but now it can get confusing.

the filter knob is silver and when it gets hit by light it shows a line in several directions meaning it can look like your filter knob is at 12 oclock when its at 10 or 3 oclock. I plastidipped my knob to make it black and then scraped off the white center line marker. works great and the knob is rubberized now

cue pads are great but very sensitive

fx paddles are great and very usable.

the scroll library and push SHOULD be scroll library and push to load track INSTEAD its move to the crate tree. seems weird.

4 beat loop DOES NOT have to be a 4 bar loop it can be changed before engaging loop instead of after. change in the utility(more on utility later)

efx sound great, makes the SDJ efx post fader and i specifically like the filter dub echo, sounds great, not sure what pack its in.

my faceplate looks fine with little scratching and i bought mine used so it was an early model. not sure why so many people had trouble. the SRT xfader markings were gone within a month.

headphone cue is like the ttm 57, which is taking time to get used to, but i think its a good system once you get used to it.

the Master attenuator is on the back instead of buried in the utility mode on the mixer. Its settings are at 0,-6,-12. on the 900 srt its 0,-3,-6, so a bit more control(or less depending on how smal you want to go).

------------
UTILITIES*************

now this is the section YOU MUST go to if you get this mixer.

the mixer utility is accessed by shift and wake up.

key areas include:
mic levels incl limiters/low cut/mic to booth
Master Limiter
Booth att - stereo/mono
Master out Stereo/Mono
LED Brightness -- prob have to turn it down
factory reset

all key areas for most djs

S9 UTILITY (in the Pioneer APP folder)********************

THIS IS THE CUSTOMIZABLE FUN PART

mixer input/mixer output pages. this is simply routing and usb output level. after reading the USB output level, im still not sure exactly what it does, if someone wanted to chime in, feel free. i left mine at the factory setting.

FX BANK

so this is the cool part

you have 2 adjustable banks for the 6 pads on the Pioneer efx side and they are listed
echo
backspin
flanger
reverb
vinyl brake
phaser

these efx are stock but can all be changed with more efx, listed in drop down menus
delay
hp filter
lp filter (both not a combo filter, but just dedicated filters low or high)
roll
spiral
trans
synth sine
synth saw
synth sqr (only on the top 3 buttons for whatever reason)

so now you can mix and match these efx for custom A and B settings

I'll get back to that but first ill go over the Filter knob(that i plastidipped, see above)

this knob is a combo filter like all Pioneer mixer EXCEPT you can change it from a filter in the utility to

dub echo
noise (white noise)
pitch
wide filter

so some of the 900 SRT color efx are available like dub echo and noise. PITCH i havent seen in years and i havent seen Wide Filter on too many pioneer devices.

What puts these efx over the top is the that they all have 2nd parameter efx that are adjustable outside of the typical level/depth and time ratio in fraction(those can be adjusted too). ex. Echo has a HP filter that can be adjusted from 1-9 or filter has resonance (i always thought the 900srt resonance was too high.

there are so many efx within serato and pioneer that you can completely rearrange the mixer to your standard.

ex. so if you want the dub delay instead of filter, you can assign that to the filter, and use a combo filter in SDJ.

and i forgot the synth parts. i guess these can be used to add musical elements and efx, which is cool. the upfader controls the pitch and you can use it with other efx via the filter knob although i think i found a bug when combining it with the dub echo in which it didnt work moving right.

--------------------


PREFERENCE page is the page for:

*****changing 4 bar loop to pre instead of post loop doubling or halving. SO normal its after you hit 4 bar, BUT after you check the box its before.

pad mode. dont use it, havent tried it

fader start(which i believe has been done away with in the nx2, could be wrong)

THE CUT IN - so turntablists (im sure some regular djs as well) always want to adjust this part and pioneer took it to the next level with a visual display of a xfader and the amount from 0.3mm to 5.5mm, with the factory setting at 1mm.

I use the factory default, which i thought i would want sharper, but if too tight, you really need have to watch the slightest nudges or movements. Not sure if any mixer utility software has ever had this feature but its cool, may be not even necessary, but its just kinda the level this mixer is at.

finally there is a tick box for 'function to avoid click noise generated by rapid volume change associated with quickly moving the crossfader. the choices are NONE, SMALL, and LARGE. i chose SMALL and dont hear clicks. im not sure if it was a placebo effect but i thought i heard small sounds in NONE. seems to be fine and it does seem to be proactive, well tested part of the page because why else would it be there? Never heard of any other mixer needing that or having it as a utility option so i do wonder why its like that at all??

software - computer info.
im currently using el capitan 11.11.3 and sdj 1.82 with dvs. MBP 2012 1tb hybrid drive 16 gb ram

------

So over all its a great mixer, worth the money given the feature set and overall customization possiblities, efx, and sound quality. BUT its NOT for everyone. i don't think most people are going to want or need most of the features and probably would be better in a 4 channel mixer with pioneer type efx.

Even 2 channel guys might find it cluttered and/or definitely taking some time getting used to. After using the other mixers i listed above, things like the pads being on the mixer (had an x1 and sp1 midi controller since the 57 way back) or the rotary scroll being in the upper corners of the mixer and the headphone cueing(again back to the 57).

I do think this is the mixer for people that like to get in the mixers and customize and take them out and use their mixer's functions. Also efx guys that want to really stretch these can. Most dj mixers efx are limited, the extra parameters seem to open up a little more possiblities. the only thing i was disappointed by with the pioneer efx was the pitch, since it was the perfect 'screw' effect on the 500, now it just didnt sound all that great. Everything else was typical pioneer dj efx which ive always liked. not much was missing from regular and color efx section in the 900 after opening the panel.


the exterior has been questioned but i dont have an major markings/fading on face plate although i did on the 900 srt. The mixer is a mix of plastic and metal construction and feels fairly solid for a a lighter mixer. i would have liked to see that all metal but prob would have added weight and money.

pretty solid work by pioneer 8-10