The Pioneer DDJ SZ DJ controller is probably the most exciting announcement at NAMM 2014 for us DJs. For DJs doing the rounds in clubs up and down the country lucky enough to get to play on a set of CDJ 2000 Nexus and a DJM mixer of some variety, it's a painful experience coming home to something inferior (we're not on about the Mrs by the way). In an era where DJ tech seems to be more and more accessible and affordable the DDJ SZ brings elements of the top-line CDJ including jog wheel tension adjust and Serato DJ intergration like we've never seen before.
Serato DJ Accurate Synchronisation
Both the CDJ central LED display and the rotary display on
Serato is a vital tool in showing that your music is acctually playing, these two are linked in harmony with the added benefit of another red ring display to show a countdown to your next cue point.
Visually the unit is stunning and
Pioneer have not only created the largest velocity-sensitive drum pads out there on a
DJ controller, but the brightly back-lit led pads are another thing that is seamlessly connected with Serato DJ. Many of you more organised DJs will have colour coordinated your hot cues, and this colour coordination replicates onto the pads themselves.
One of the few things missing from predecessors of the
DDJ SZ is the tension control adjust – The brand new SZ however has the same control over jog wheel tension making it perfect for your style of Djing and for more hands-on DJ control such as scratching and beat juggling.
Back To Back Djing with Dual USB Soundcard
We know some great DJs come along in pairs. If you and your mate fancy yourselves as a Disclosure, Knife Party or even a Daft Punk, Pioneers 2 USB ports make life easy for when your not Djing on your own. In club situations as laptops become more and more of a DJ tool this makes the switch over between DJs easy as pie. The Pioneer DDJ SZ 'USB A' and 'USB B' display highlights which laptop is feeding which mixer channel which is also displayed clearly on the software. The controller and laptops run very stably using two laptops at once, and when one laptop is disconnected all mixer channels will default to USB A so theres no over-complex setup procedure.
DJM Mixer Style FX & New Oscillator Section
The
mixer works as a stand-alone unit with time code intergration too. It's taken the
sound colour FX style from the DJM 900 Nexus and DJM 850, this time with echo, jet (flanger), pitch and filter controls. The new oscillator section also gives you the chance to creatively layer sounds over the top of your mixes with a reverse cymbal, horn, siren and noise sweep effects.
We're happy to see that Pioneer have adapted some of their most sought after features from their top of the line products into a DJ controller! The Pioneer DDJ SZ is due for release early march March, you can pre-order the new controller for £1749 here.
For those who want to ask any questions about the new DJ controller or new
RMX500 effects unit we are hosting a
Pioneer open evening at our Birmingham Store which will also feature top tips of the right DJ controller for you and how you can make use of the various file formats and Dj software packages out there. This open evening is on Wednesday 29
th January 7:30pm – 9:00pm
