the SZ is way better than the SX/SX2... it uses the same DAC's as the DJ2000

I notice the sound quality difference massively between my SX and a standard CDJ2000, so much so I am considering just using the clubs DJM900 Nexus in Club Kit mode to link in to their CDJ2000s in HID Mode

I can't afford to upgrade to the SZ and it's also huge and not as easy to lug around as the SX

you guys are aware that pioneer is not the only brand?

absolutely, but i like the fact that the layout is familiar to CDJ/DJM setups which I flit between on occasions

I've heard the Roland DJ-808 is a much better quality sounding (and build) controller but I really don't want a bloody drum machine stuck at the top that I know I wouldn't use

I was going to purchase the roland 2 channel mixer but I'm not going to utilise the drum machine and I didn't like the layout

I realize that but why would Pioneer say that the sound card in these controllers are practically the same yet there is a big sound difference I feel like Pioneer is ripping us DJ's off

of course they are. that's been their strategy since the first cdjs and djms.

most aggressive marketing not only to monopolize but also to be able to sell their stuff for more than what it's actually worth. and it worked great for them. as long as enough customers fall for it why should they change it?

Please point me to where Pioneer stated they use the same sound card in all their controllers.

Have not heard the SX2 so I can’t really compare it with my SR2. I actually like the sound quality i can’t tell much difference from my Pioneer S9. What system and what kinda cables did you test this on?

did you actually look anything up before you asked the question Rebelguy??? you sound so sure of your self Are you working for Pioneer by any chance??

DDJ SB2 Sound card 24 bit/44.1 kHz
www.pioneerdj.com

DDJ SR Sound card 24 bit/44.1 kHz
www.pioneerdj.com

DDJ SR2 Sound card 24 bit/44.1 kHz
www.pioneerdj.com

DDJ SX2 Sound card 24 bit/44.1 kHz
www.pioneerdj.com

DDJ SZ2 Sound card 24 bit/44.1 kHz
www.pioneerdj.com

wow the only controller by Pioneer that has a better sound card is the

DDJ RZX Sound card 24 bit/96 kHz

Roland controllers Sound card 24bit/96kHz

we are getting ripped off here boys we still paying top dollar and pioneer is using cheap parts from china and telling us its High quality stuff this is some bullsheeet

Specs mean nothing. Use your ears. My kontrol s4 has is a 24/96, but I have heard better sound cards at 24/48.

if you read my first post ears are the only thing that can tell the difference there NUDISComg

So basically it doesn’t say they have the same sound card. It just shows the spec of the card.

How about this...

This focusrite card specs are 24 bit/192 kHz and costs $600.

www.sweetwater.com

This apogee card has the same spec and is $4300.

www.sweetwater.com

Specs don’t mean a thing. Open up two units and see if they have the same model number sound card. If they do then Pioneer has some explaining to do.

ok I don't think we're on the same page here Rebelguy,
we are not talking about stand alone sound cards here
we are talking about internal sound cards built into the controllers,

also open up the unit??? Why? because you don't believe what the spec sheet says??
Im a consumer and if the specs say they have the same sound card specs then they should sound the same? right.... only makes sense.

ok I hope this is not confusing for you but the whole point Im trying to make is these controllers have the same sound card specs yet they sound different, Do you know why Rebelguy?? without tearing apart 2-3 controllers :)

that makes no difference. what Rebelguy said goes for controllers as well.

and do u know why controllers sound different? RAC

the sound of a device is the sum of all components working together so for an exact comparison you'd have to check each chip, resistor and so on and look for differences in comparison to other devices.
that's why Rebelguy said the devices would have to be opened. no way to tell what's in there otherwise.

in practice that means: always try before you buy. specs like 24bit or 96khz are so general and only one link of a long chain that they tell pretty much nothing.

wow the amount of warranties voided because of this, and you might not be able to find out anything.



that's why companies have spec sheets so u don't have to rip open devices and void warranties

you 2 have not helped out at all, my conclusion is Pioneer has not been honest with us DJs and ripping us off , so you get what you paid for and if you want a better sounding controller buy an expensive one, or look at different brands, pioneer are using cheaper components in there controllers and still charging us top dollars

that's not the point at all. specs only tell a small part of the whole story. if you wanna know what you're dealing with there's no way around having a look inside.
that's neither Rebelguy's nor my fault. that's just how it is.

Why not just call Pioneer and ask them which Soundcards are in the Pioneer controllers?

The different controllers have different Signal to Noise ratios; and different distortion ratios. This might contribute to the difference in sound; but I'm not a sound guy, so I don't know for sure.

SB S/N 90 db; distortion <0.005
SR2 S/N 105 db; distortion <0.003
SX2 S/N 107 db; distortion <0.003
SZ S/N 111 db; distortion <0.002

It's all down to the DACs (Digital to Analogue Converters) and then what quality of operational Amplifiers they use along with the quality of resistors and capacitors in the analogue amplifiers on the back end of the DACs that feed the audio signals to your amplifiers and speakers.

Every type and manufacture of DACs have many different specifications, and vary in price depending on how good the spec is.

I use in my studio RME digital sound cards and interfaces that boast to have some of the very best quality DACs in the world and I wish my SX2 would sound close in quality to my RME sound card, but it doesn't come anywhere close.

Pioneer is supplying crap sounding controller, that is true!

I'm sure the SZ/SZ2 does sound much better than the sx2, but it is far too big and heavy to lug around to every venue.

What I don't understand is why Pioneer don't up there gain and start getting a bit more credibility and produce a pro quality mid sized controller (SX2 size) with pro audio for the DJs that don't want crap quality sound.

pioneer use to have a good name years ago in high quality Plasma TVs and HiFi but most of there DJ equipment is built cheap and sounds very very average is quality.

Maybe they should take a serious look and lesson from Roland and make a mid sized controller with ultra high quality components and at the same time stick an optical and SPDif out on the controller.

The crazy thing is the quality of the digital signal doesn't really differ, it's all about converting that signal back to analogue in the best way possible!

I should state when I said the digital signal doesn't really differ, I was referring to any one given audio file playing on different hardware. Obviously there are many different digital file formats and bit rates.

But in an ideal world any one given digital track should sound the same after its converted to analogue, but sadly this is not the case.

And pioneer proves this across there range of controllers!

Well said Johnny H thank you

awsome thats more like it thanks Rebelguy

Damn, this is a disappointment as I heard some users saying the SR2 had far improved sound quality. I wasn't holding my breath...

Yeah I'd pay $2k for an SX3 that had the same sound quality as a S9 or 900NXS2. But SDJ needs to fix its end of the SQ equation too.

Would be interesting to have OP test his SR2 via an external CDJ hooked in thus bypassing SDJ altogether.

if this is the way that pioneer is going to play the game then we should let the DJ Community know about this so they can make an informed decision when purchasing a new controller and maybe then pioneer can listen and do something about it, be honest with what they have inside the controllers, for me personally I would get a controller for the sound quality as well, this is important to me cause when your beat-mixing quality is important, if its poor you find that you have to play around with your equalizer a lot

The hardest thing I faced when moving from my CDJ 2000s & Xone92 Mixer over to an SX2 and Serato was the sub standard sound quality, which bugs me every time I DJ each weekend. It's very very poor, compared to other equipment I own & use.

I only use Wavs and know the quality is still there even though Serato DJ and the pioneer SX2 can not deliver it fully.

I long for the day that I can get back the sound quality using a DJ controller, preferably using Pioneer & Serato as I have used Pioneer kit since hanging up my Technics and Vinyl.

I too would pay top dollar $$$ for an ultra high quality Pioneer Mid Sized controller and I guess there would also be many smaller venues too that would.

From the very first moment I powered up my sx2 and heard it, I have never been happy with it as can be seen in previous posts.

It's about time Pioneer got there act together with DJ controllers.....

Why would Pioneer want to cannibalize the sales of their 900 and CDJ market by doing this. I’m sure those have the biggest profit margins.

u could be on to something here "Wile" seems like it gradually increases with high end controllers

Some only some of the specs from my RME sound card, look at the Total Harmonic distortion figures !!

Technical Specifications

Analog

AD, Line In 1-8, rear
• Resolution AD: 24 bit
• Signal to Noise ratio (SNR): 113 dB RMS unweighted, 116 dBA
• Frequency response @ 44.1 kHz, -0.1 dB: 5 Hz – 20.8 kHz
• Frequency response @ 96 kHz, -0.5 dB: 3 Hz – 45.8 kHz
• Frequency response @ 192 kHz, -1 dB: 2 Hz – 92 kHz
• THD: < -110 dB, < 0.00032 %
• THD+N: < -104 dB, < 0.00063 %
• Channel separation: > 110 dB
• Maximum input level: +19 dBu
• Input: 6.3 mm TRS jack, electronically balanced
• Input impedance: 8 kOhm unbalanced, 12 kOhm balanced
• Input sensitivity switchable to Lo Gain, +4 dBu
• Input level for 0 dBFS @ Lo Gain: +19 dBu
• Input level for 0 dBFS @ +4 dBu: +13 dBu
• Variable gain: 0 to +12 dB
• Minimum level for 0 dBFS: +1 dBu, -1.2 dBV

Microphone In 9-12, front
As AD, but:
• Input: XLR, electronically balanced
• Input impedance: 3.4 kOhm
• Signal to Noise ratio (SNR): 115 dB RMS unweighted, 118 dBA
• Gain range: 75 dB
• Maximum input level, Gain 0 dB: +18 dBu
• Maximum input level, Gain 75 dB: -57 dBu
• CLIP LED: 0 dBFS • SIG LED: -60 dBFS

Instrument In 9-12, front
As AD, but:
• Input: 6.3 mm TS jack, unbalanced
• Input impedance: 1 MOhm
• Signal to Noise ratio (SNR): 114 dB RMS unweighted, 118 dBA
• Gain range: 42 dB
• Maximum input level, Gain 8 dB: +21 dBu
• Maximum input level, Gain 50 dB: -21 dBu

DA, Line Out 3-8, rear
• Resolution: 24 bit
• Dynamic range (DR): 115 dB RMS unweighted, 118 dBA
• Frequency response @ 44.1 kHz, -0.5 dB: 5 Hz – 20.8 kHz
• Frequency response @ 96 kHz, -0.5 dB: 5 Hz – 45 kHz
• Frequency response @ 192 kHz, -1 dB: 5 Hz - 89 kHz
• THD: < -110 dB, < 0.00032 %
• THD+N: < -104 dB, < 0.00063 %
• Channel separation: > 110 dB
• Maximum output level: +19 dBu
• Output: 6.3 mm TRS jack, servo-balanced
• Output impedance: 75 Ohm unbalanced, 150 Ohm balanced
• Output level switchable Hi Gain, +4 dBu, -10 dBV
• Output level at 0 dBFS @ Hi Gain: +19 dBu
• Output level at 0 dBFS @ +4 dBu: +13 dBu
• Output level at 0 dBFS @ -10 dBV: +2 dBV

DA - Stereo Monitor Output XLR (1-2)
As DA, but:
• Output: XLR, balanced
• Output level switchable 24 dBu, Hi Gain, +4 dBu, -10 dBV
• Output level at 0 dBFS @ 24 dBu: +24 dBu
• Output level at 0 dBFS @ Hi Gain: +19 dBu
• Output level at 0 dBFS @ +4 dBu: +13 dBu
• Output level at 0 dBFS @ -10 dBV: +2 dBV

DA - Stereo Monitor Output Phones (9-12)
As DA, but:
• Output: 2 x 6.3 mm TRS stereo jack, unbalanced
• Maximum output level at 0 dBFS, High: +19 dBu
• Maximum output level at 0 dBFS, Low: +2 dBV
• Output impedance: 2 Ohm
• Max power per channel @ 32 Ohm load, 0.1% THD: 210 mW (2.6 Vrms, +10.5 dBu)

Now if Pioneer could deliver DJ controllers with DAC specs like this, it would be a step in the right direction!

I agree bro

German engineering vs Pioneer made in ????


Pioneer DJ (formerly Pioneer Pro DJ) is a brand of Pioneer Corporation that represents the company's range of DJ products. In March 2015 KKR acquired an 85.05 percent stake.[8] The Pioneer[9] DJ product range comprises DJ mixers, decks, headphones, effects units, all-in-one consoles,[10] DJ software controllers, monitor speakers and various accessories.[11] The current professional grade CDJ-2000nexus[12] decks and DJM-900nexus[13] mixer can be seen in DJ booths all over the world.

if i remember correctly the DAC converter are Wolfsberg.. which pioneerdj said that it is in the SZ,900nexus and the cdj2000 nexus..

i dont think those DAC are in the SB, SR, SR2, SX, SX2


the nexus2 stuff have better DAC's and folks seem to say the sound quality is better than the regular nexus..

Pioneer is more than capable of delivering quality sound, but it is reserved only to their insanely priced top models.

They already do, it’s the SZ. Or it’s supposed to be.

I’d pay even more than the SZ/SZ2 for them to make it in the SX/SX2 form factor.

I’d get an SZ and deal with the size but their bug/failure/issue with their master out and horrible distortion past 0db was an absolute no go. I dunno if they fixed it in the SZ2 because SDJ waveforms are so f’d up post 1.7.8, I haven’t bothered to try. I’m not wanting to get a migraine every time I’m prepping tracks and doing library work in offline mode with the blurry-ness. Unacceptable.

+1

Is it not possible to use a controller and a separate soundcard? Would anyone point me where to look to find out why?

It is not, it has been requested but i think it will never arrive.

The manufacture of all controllers should add a digital coax spdif and optical out on all controllers

Then anyone can use whatever grade of rac they like

From £50 to £1000

Then we would not have to put up with the crappy sounding cheap and Nasty DACs they fit in most of the controllers

It’s about time the children designing these controllers grew up and started offering professional solutions

I have the SR2 and think it sounds perfectly fine. I used my QSC K10’s with a Yorkville 2x12 sub lastnight for a Prom and the sound was very clean. Not sure what everyone is hearing...🤷🏼‍♂️

to sum up all of your posts, "Pioneer DJ sucks and is inferior to Rane", oh and the Rane 72 DAC takes a hot steamy one all over the S9.

Yes! guess that sums it up,

and the sound quality of Pioneer CDj 2000s crap all over the sound quality of any Pioneer controller I have heard.

Not sure why it's so hard for pioneer to make a great sounding controller, it's not as if they are new to this game ? or am I missing something ?

Not hard, but you would need to care.... and Pioneer clearly has other priorities...
i.e. Moneys > Sound Quality / good DAC/ADDA converters

And since 80-90% of DDJ buyers do not care or notice that their controller sounds like ass on a decent system, why change it and spend more money on good components...?
People vote with their pockets, and manufacturers will cut corners based on their primary & secondary goals (and sound quality is clearly not among the top 5 for all but the highest-end of the Pioneer gear).
c.

Well said,

But it's about time for a serious company like A&H or similar to wipe the floor with all the pioneer poor sound controllers.

Would love to see an serious well built industry standard serious quality controller out there for the few DJs that do care !

I returned an SR2 partially because of the sound quality.

I'm testing out the DDJ 1000 right now and it actually sounds pretty good. A/B'd against the Roland 505 and it's actually closer than I expected. Lows are a little thinner and the highs are a little brighter, but sounds better than most pioneer controllers I've heard.

Shame that it only takes rekordbox tho.

They haven't put out a proper DJ controller since the DX and that was never that popular and A&H refusing to port the controller over to SDJ pretty much killed it immediately.

The unfortunate reality is that most people don't care about sound quality. Most aren't going to sit down and A/B different solutions and the majority of people are now used to listening to low-bitrate files and youtube streams on shitty, iphone earbuds.

Too many people have drunk the pioneer kool aid and it's going to take something huge to move the industry away from them.

Real shame! I own xone 92 Mixer , Formula Sound FSM600 mixers and though they are vintage 10 Years+ they sound better by far than any pioneer controller and built better too.

Even the pro kit in the late 80s was built and sound better!

Such a shame everything today is so crap sounding and that goes for music quality too.

I've been reading these last few posts with interest. I DJ just as a personal hobby. What I do for a living, and I'm very good at it, is setting up audio systems to achieve the highest possible sound quality for the money spent. Its been my life's work since my late teens.

For those complaining about poor SQ, I think you anger may be misplaced. There's some very legit technical reasons why some type of products sound better than others. But one of the main things I see in forums like this, is a general lack of knowledge as to how to set this stuff up properly. Pioneer didn't fail you guys by making poor sounding controllers, Pioneer (and the whole industry, for that matter), failed you by not giving you the info you really need.

This is a huge topic. But if anyone's interested, do some general research on computer based audio systems. I guarantee you won't consider it time wasted. A good place to start would be computeraudiophile.com. Its not a website for DJ's specifically, but it doesn't matter. All computer based audio works pretty much the same way. DJ gear just has some additional features that regular gear lacks.

Thank you will have a look :-)

I played a gig last weekend and used an SR2 with a pair of K8s and I did notice things sounding somewhat muddy and a tad bit of distortion without even being close to red either. I don't recall it sounding that bad before, I used a much bigger system the the last time I took it out for a mobile gig. Then again, it was plugged into a mixer.

My question is, does connecting it to a mixer help for sure?

Yes because the amplifier is better quality than the SR2 which is why most use an additional mixing board to run the Microphone cause the mic preamp is terrible on the SR2.

Yeah I’ve never used the mic input since I’ve alwyas had to use two mics anyway. I’ve had a small Yamaha mixer with me in the past.

Word I just got the Yamaha MG06X just trying to figure out what’s the best way to combine it with my controller & QSC system. I got the KW181 and two K10’s. But would like to run full sound on the Yamaha mixer.

I have that mixer - it's alright. A little noisy but sounds pretty good. Just grab some XLR -> 1/4" cables and run the mains from your controller/mixer into one of the two stereo inputs and run the mics into the mic inputs. Run the XLR main outs into your soundsystem and you're good to go.

The one thing about the mixer that kind of annoys me is that the meters take into account both the channel and the master levels, but you can run it into the yellows with no issues.

Decided to pick up an SR2 as I’d seen it cheap at £499, and I’ve been reading about all the issues people are experiencing with the Mixars Primo.

Wanted to test the sound output and volume. First of all I noticed that my SX2 was way louder than the SR2 (both master volumes at 12 o’clock), and the sound just seemed generally less full.

The line inputs are also pretty quiet. I use my phone as an emergency backup solution, and I had to have the trim, high, mid and low all at max in order to get anywhere close to the volume coming from Serato (still a little bit quieter).

I’m using RCA cables at home, but when I play out on Saturday, I’ll be using XLRs straight into the speakers. Is there any chance the volume will be louder with the XLR cables? My main concern is that the volume output will be too quiet.

I have 14 days to decide whether or not I return the SR2, so if anyone knows of a 2 channel Serato controller (besides the Primo) with XLR outputs, line inputs and great sound please let me know 😂👍

It’s always better to use XLR anyway if you’re in mobile or club setting.

Roland DJ 505

Agreed, but my home speakers only have RCA inputs. Might check out the 505 next then. Impressed that it actually weighs less than the SR2 despite having all the drum machine stuff at the top

505 feel super cheap build-wise and there are widespread issues with the jog wheel. It's supposed to be fixed now, but I'd make sure you get a newer model when purchasing.

Sound quality is great on it tho.

Any way to visually differentiate between a newer model vs. an older one before I buy? 🤔

probably just via serial number - couldn't tell you what the number would be tho

The bottom of the unit should have a manufacture date that pretty tells how old it is but that doesn’t mean it won’t still have defects.

Pretty much*

Damn, the 2 channel market is a complicated one 😆. I wonder whether it’s worth waiting to see if anything gets announced at Namm

It’s not that complicated I’d say. In fact, there are only a handful of 2 channel, “mid-pro level” pro controllers that are dvs enabled. Usually those sort of features come in 4 channels, and there are a plethora of 4 channel controllers.

Is it the size of the controller why you want a 2channel? If so, there are compact 4 channel ones too. Is it budget?

IMHO Primo thread is a bit misleading one. Most of the issue posts date back to device launch, and if you read further, there's actually lot of "update seems to fix this" replies. Most of the late issues goes either with bad grounding stuff (solved), or firmware update sequence (solved). Of course it's not flawless "open box- plug in-start djing" experience, but with a little bit of tinkering you get a very solid controller.

Denon mc 4000, but than got it's own issues.

Was gonna recommend that if he didn’t need dvs ready or enabled.

A number of factors

1) I’ll be getting a 1000SRT fairly soon, and I don’t feel I can justify owning 2 large 4 channel controllers that essentially do the same thing.

2) Whilst playing out I pretty much never use all 4 channels anyway.

3) Less weight, and money to carry around with me, particularly for gigs that require me to walk a long way from the car to get to the venue.

4) I do still need good sound quality, lots of volume, and loud enough pre-amps to wire my phone in as an emergency backup.

As for possible alternatives:

1) www.bopdj.com

Not sure if anyone has experience of using this unit? Could I in theory use it with any small controller, RCA input from the controller, then use the XLR outs to connect to the speakers?

2) Mixars Primo. Seems to tick all the boxes, just difficult to find one without ordering online.

3) Stick with the SX2, quit whining and hit the gym 😂.

1) Of course you can. But not having eq on stereo channel could be a bummer. Low end yamaha mixers tend to sound not too great, and have too much high... If i recall that one correctly. Plus many budget mixers tend to add some noises. Tested on allen heath ized8 and tapco mix 120. Maybe you should look at some of digital stuff, i.e soundcraft ui12 and such?

2) Why not have it ordered from thomann? 30 days moneyback, 3 years warranty. Always can get ur money back if you don't dig this unit. Btw one of deciding factors for me (besides aux channel, and butthurt from the price of ddj 800) was that it's actually smaller than sr2

3) Carry SX3 around long enough and far enough, and maybe there will be no need for gym)

No complaints with my Primo it sounds worlds better compared to my SR2 and I bet the SX2 even, has full pitch sliders, aux input, jogwheel indicator and very high volume output. A good explanation why it sounds so good is cause they are partnered with RCF who have a great rep for powered speakers/subs for years.

Thank you for all your advice NukeBox and DJ Tecniq. I think I’m leaning towards the Primo. Going to pick up the SRT first I think and see where to go from there.

Would you say the Primo had loud pre-amps for the line in/phono as well? When I tried to wire my phone into the SR2 I had the trim, high, mid and low eqs at maximum and still couldn’t match the output of the main mix coming from Serato.

I use aux for my notebook soundcard (cocktail hour/emergency stuff) output- and its pretty loud, have to tone it down sometimes. Didn't used line in tho, think Tecniq can answer that.

The first thing i noticed on the primo was the phono preamps they are much higher quality than the SR2 and sounded so much punchier with vinyl playback. The SR2 just sounds flat and not good quality at all. As for Line input I did not test that but I’m sure it would still sound quite powerful. And the mic input on the primo is solid. SR2 mic has way too much feedback.

Thanks Tecniq. Current plan then, I’ll hang onto my SX2 for now. Assuming nothing that fits the bill gets announced at Namm, I’ll be picking up a Primo probably around February.

Thank you for everyone’s suggestions 👍

Well on that note I’m hoping we see a DDJ800 SRT soon. I don’t care for anything 4 channel I would def sell my SR2 if a DDJ 800 SRT comes out it’s just a small watered down version of the 1000srt.

Well on that note I’m hoping we see a DDJ800 SRT soon. I don’t care for anything 4 channel I would def sell my SR2 if a DDJ 800 SRT comes out it’s just a small watered down version of the 1000srt.

+1 Probably would buy. I hope it would still have hardware effects though, I believe the ones on the original DDJ 800 are software based

I'm curious- why'd you need ddj 800srt and primo then? Think in that case 800srt would check every box for 2ch controller.

Gotta be honest mainly for the LED screen and aux input the SR2 unfortunately has neither of these and the DDJ 800 would be a nice backup I’ve also been told it has a better mic input. I can only hope we’ll see a Serato version soon I’m betting Pioneer will release one soon. A lot of mobile guys that don’t need 4 channels would really benefit from it but that’s just my personal opinion.

Too bad it’s for Rekordbox though 😕youtu.be

Forgot it has two mic inputs which is great for mobile gigs esp weddings. Primo doesn’t have that. In the future I’m sure we’ll see more compact 2 ch controllers they make everything more convenient and more space to work with. The 4 ch market is over flooded and sadly a lot of 2 ch controllers don’t have a good rep. It’s almost 2020 and we finally have some 2 ch decks w/jogwheel indicator...long overdue imo.

But what for then you'll need Primo?) The only reasons i could think of is size, and better sound quality (Pioneer will inevitably sound like.. Pioneer)). Being mobile guy myself i totally agree with you on 2ch controller market, to be honest, even most of non-mobile DJs use only two. But i personally don't think pioneer would make 800srt. 1000 was a blast. So much of, in fact ddj 800 was overshadowed by it, and, i might be wrong, but sold less. Demand for 1000srt was a very vocal one, for 800srt.. Not so much. But worst thing about 800... It's way overpriced. I came from Rekordbox software. Main reason i changed (but not ditched it. Sometimes you need that ddj 400 on cheapo gig) was the controller. I needed two bloody things: 1)Aux input. Need that for cocktail hour/emergency stuff. 2) XLR outputs. And optional- good looks of the device (impressions is important, right?)). I was actually quite comfortable with rekordbox (it's actually got some mobile-friendly things that serato don't. Not mixing up crates because of different drives is one of a huge ones) and so i was thinking: DDJ 800 is my way to go! And then i've seen the price. 800 USD, dammit. For two lcd screens apparently. Alternative was discontiniued ddj-rr, basically sr2 for rekordbox. But there's bummer- no aux. And that way i fully understood ingenious pioneer marketing thing. Basically they hook you up on rekordbox with giving it away with super-cheap ddj 400, but inevitably you want something more professional, and you look for some midrange rekordbox equipment, and THAT is the catch. There is none. There is hig-end ddj 1000, and there is slightly lower end ddj 800. But no SR2 equialent. No ddj 600. So you're either stuck on begginer, or forced to upgrade "slightly below premium". And there was it. That's when i feel an inevitability of buying serato controller. In today's market, with the features i need i got three options: denon mc 4000, mixars primo and roland dj 707m. Denon apparently still have nasty "random midi command" glitch, and getting my manly bits threatened by the bride for stopping their first dance was not an option. Roland 707m is a 1000usd unit, if i would've spend that much money i would've got ddj 1000 for the looks alone. And that chain of conclusions has led me to the final one- there is no unit for me in the current market, besides mixars primo. I think that one is sorta suffering from lazy marketing, most of people wouldn't buy SR2 when hearing about Primo featureset and price. So what's the point of this long and awfully dull story? I think Pioneer ddj 800srt would cost around 900-1000 USD, based on difference between 1000 and 1000SRT. Do LCD screens really worth that? I do not see that being so much needed feature in mobile djing. Apparently neither do Roland with their dj 707m. As for mics... I am from what they call "sound/lightguy" background, and i am more comfortable having a small mixer for controlling my mics, than using controller output. But that's a bit of personal preference thing. I like my 3 band eq with mid-sweptable one. Whew. Sorry for the longread.

I guess my main point is if they can make a 2 channel battle mixer with all the features then there’s no reason why they can’t do the same for 2 ch controllers. I understand most if not all professional gear is 4 channel which is unfortunate but not every dj needs 4 ch decks. The way this digital age is going it would be cool to see battle type controllers for us 2 ch guys. Since the beginning of the controller market 4 ch decks seem to be the standard if you want professional grade features which doesn’t offer much for dj’s that just need 2 channels.

When you come from the era of t-tables/mixers you don’t want to change that work flow which is why I’d like to see pro features added into 2 ch controllers which eventually I think that’s where the future will be headed. They basically created a battle style controller with the 1000 srt. I only hope we see that in 2 ch style. 💯👍🏼

You cant compare the tiny (shitty) jogwheels of the DDJ800 with the big mechanical CDJ style ones from the ddj1000.
So a (unlikely) ddj800srt release will be the same scaled down, overpriced upper class, bedroom-style controller like his recordbox doppelganger, not really a battle style controller.
A true 2 channel battle/performance controller would be great. CDJ, or slightly lager, sized mechanical jogwheels with that displays and a 2 channel mixer layout like the S9. With performance pads, hardware fx and fx paddles. And only transport control, loop and pitch around the jogwheels.
But i dont see that comming... :-/

800SRT would be a nice medium ground. I like my SR2 but the mic input sucks on a big sound system

Yup it’s horrible unless you run the mics into a sound board with better preamp.