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My review of the DJM800
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| SPAWNmaster |
Well, my Pioneer DJM800 arrived just yesterday!!! FINALLY!!! As promised in another thread I'm going to write up a little review just to keep around for anyone interested to read in the future.
Initial Impressions:
WOW this thing is big! The box came in weighin 22lbs and for some reason the first thing that came to mind when i opened the box was "this mixer is BIG". It had the new Pioneer product smell which is always a good thing ;). This is a big upgrade for me from my Vestax VMC004XL (which has served my so very well to learn on).
Design:
A word on the design- the 800 feels solid as a rock...VERY sturdy, built like a tank...i cant stress enough how sturdy it feels. The faceplate is kind of glossy and reminds me of marble for some reason its just really nice to look at lol. The pots provide a tough grip with their thick rubber exterior which is nice but it doesnt feel as sturdy as the vestax knobs i was used to! This is pretty much my only gripe and its more of an opinion thing...
Setting up:
I had to make some space on my desk in order for it to sit right, and it looks kind of funny sitting between my tiny CCDJ200's. (Pics will be up in the Bedroom DJ thread soon). I specifically went out and bought some SPDIF coax cables about 2 weeks ago for the 800 and im glad i did that! Setup was pretty easy, just plug in the dig. cables, plug in the power cable (which feels very heavy duty) and your all set up. I also ran a line from the MIDI out to the MIDI on my audio interface.
Sound:
Before saying anything else let me just say the sound on this mixer surpassed my expectations 10-fold. I'm not sure if its just from using a completely digital setup but the sound is AMAZING. Very crips, very loud output, and definately pleasing to the ears. Note: I still need to test out the mixer using RCA cables to see the difference in quality between digital and analog connections.
The low end is noticeably designed to create a sharp, punchy kick that definately overshadows any other mixer i've heard or played on. The EQ's though I still need to get used to them, seem to be designed specifically for longer and smoother blending. I kind of miss the kills on my vestax although Im sure i'll get used to it!
Display:
the VCU meters and the displays as well as every light on the console look amazing. The colors stand out and match the console well and don't tire your eyes. The CUE buttons all light dimly until activated where they light brightly. In both cases the cue buttons look great in a dark room or club environment. I have a feeling that in a smokey club the 800 is easy to see what you're doing with.
The interface is very straightforward for the most part and just takes some getting used to if you're used to a different mixer (obviously).
Effects:
I havent played around with these all too much but I'll still let you guys know what I think. The color effects are VERY solid and very well designed. Note: all the effects including the color and beat effects are all DSP driven and although they sound digital in nature they are all VERY clean and very well programmed. The filters are absolutely amazing. I'm a big fan of the "crush" effect already...I haven't had much time to mess around with the Harmonic mixing yet though. I'm not sure I'll be using it too much to be honest but I could be wrong, its only day 2. All the beat effects are sturdy as well, some of them such as Reverb, Send/RTN (which allow you to hook up an external effector or use your computer for effecting), filter, phaser, echo, roll, rev. roll are all very effective and useful. The roll effects are really cool!
The reverse roll sound really sick when your track builds towards a breakdown. I had some fun mashing up Pink Floyd- Money with Chris Micali's 25 using the roll effect as a sampler. As a sampler its very cool and sticks (for the most part) with your BPM...although I wouldnt rely on this as not all tracks have a stable tempo.
Ableton Live:
ok well this one of the big reasons that I bought the 800 as opposed to the nuo4 or something else...basically the entire mixer is mappable for MIDI control!!! I was hoping to have a lot of fun with this but was having trouble with my audio interface. I reinstalled the interface and finally got it going right before going to bed so you'll have to give me more time to mess around. Basically all the controls on the mixer as i have said are mappable and the MIDI clock sync is by far the COOLEST THING ON THIS MIXER! You can now mix between the physical and digital domain 90% more accurately! It's not dead on because you have to push the "start/stop midi clock" button exactly on a downbeat so sometimes it will require small adjustments...I can already tell though that it's something that just requires more practice. JZ and rik parkinson seem to have a dead on grasp of it lol.
Overall:
my overall impressions are that the sky's the limit with the 800. I need much more time to figure it out completely and im somewhat overwhelmed with all the new possibilities I have with it. The 800 will definately change my set a lot. I might update this as I keep learning more tricks and new things about the mixer. Feel free to ask questions and Ill try and answer as best I can...
Cheers! |
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| Demoted |
| I 'rly dunno how you all afford these things :wtf: Especially being younger than I am. Congrats though... I so want an 800 now that I've gotten used to my 500 and love it. |
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| miamitranceman |
| Great review man. Makes me wanna sell my 400 for it. :wtf: |
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| Prism |
| had mine for 6 months now, never looked back despite the hole in my pocket, the mixer is absolutely fantastic, I am using it just as a MIDI controller right now. |
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| discobiscuit |
| probably a stupid question, but is there a way to go digital through serato? i know i could go digital from the cdj to the mixer, but what about through serato? |
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| SPAWNmaster |
im not an expert so dont quote me but i dont think the interface that comes with serato has spdif coaxial or optical ins/outs which means your completely analog....does anyone know if you can use a generic interface with SSL? if so then there's your solution...
cheers
btw i just got off work and holy the more i play with the 800 the more i realize the seemingly endless possibilities with it! |
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| Polt |
| quote: | Originally posted by SPAWNmaster
im not an expert so dont quote me but i dont think the interface that comes with serato has spdif coaxial or optical ins/outs which means your completely analog....does anyone know if you can use a generic interface with SSL? |
I believe the Serato interface uses only rca conenctions. Also, I beleive that you have to have the serato interface to use SSL. |
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| miamitranceman |
| How're you liking the "color" filters so far? How different sounding are they from the "filter" time effect on the right side? Just trying to compare from my 400. |
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| discobiscuit |
| quote: | Originally posted by Polt
Also, I beleive that you have to have the serato interface to use SSL. |
really?! :)
how much better is the 100% digital sound over using the standard rca jacks?
i got my cdj1000mk3's in the mail earlier this week and am still waiting for the djm800. I just checked ups and its scheduled for delivery tomorrow... i can't freekin wait!!
lol spawn! that's funny thinking about cdj200's paired up with the djm800. i bet that looks soo odd... |
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| discobiscuit |
Spawn, when you're using the djm with ableton, what exactly are you doing?
loading tracks (whole songs) into ableton and playing/manipulating them through your djm?
dropping loops and manipulating them with the djm (jamming out)?
using your cdj's to play tracks and using ableton to drop loops/samples to play w/ the cdj's?
mapping out ableton audio effect controls on the djm and applying those effects to the tracks playing through your cdj's?
or something else?
i just got ableton 6 and i'm overwhelmed... it is sooo extensive and i feel like i'll never learn how to use it... not to mention, it doesnt even seem like there's that many loops (should i buy vst plugins or something). another problem i'm running into is i get error messages when i try to drop some loops or whatever into the set. it says not supported or something about getting the ableton sampler or something... kinda bored/unhappy w/ it..
i'm trying to figure out how i'm gonna use it w/ the djm... i'm trying to figure out how to use the damn thing (i spend hours on creating sets and then just say f it and close w/out saving).
share some experience brotha ;)
bisco
ps: according to this site, i'm a supreme tranceaddict... my ass!! i'm a half retarded idiot who still has sooo much to learn... |
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| SPAWNmaster |
LOL!
to answer some of your questions:
as far as the filters are concerned the color filter is completely manual control and allows you to use either high-pass, low-pass, bandpass or notch type filters depending on which of the 2 effects you have on. compared to beat effect filter they are exactly the same in quality but effect differently. the beat effect filter basically oscillates in and out according to the time and depth of the effect that you set. so it typically goes from cutting the low end and shifts to cutting the high end and back and forth depending on how slow/fast and intense you set it.
digital compared to analog = you can defiantely hear the difference. i rehoooked up my 800 with analog RCA (not unbalanced line) and not spdif's and now i can hear all kinds of background noise and interferenc that i hadnt noticed at all previously. the digital connection is definately going to spoil me...although i cant wait to get some monitors that have XLR inputs!
about the ableton thing...
if you're having trouble don't be discouraged, have you ever produced before? going from Cubase SX3 to ableton live was a bit like doing grammar school over again after going through college...the learning curve for live is much much easier than it could be! Don't be discouraged there are plenty of resources to help you on the web including me (pm if u want) or you can go to
http://www.abletonlivedj.com
Basically what i've been doing so far is just mixing with a hybrid set up, back and forth between the physical domain (ie my CDJ's) into the digital domain (actual tracks within ableton) in addition to this, resampling, remixing, effecting (through ableton and the 800) firing off samples and loops. basically its a combination of jamming out and proper mixing in a hybrid setup (like i said, physical and digital control). I have several midi controller (not sure i'll use the 800's midi cababilities too extensively to be honest) and i'm expecting the Novation Remote SL ZERO!! to arrive within a week. Once my new macbook gets here as well I should playing out like crazy.
Don't get me wrong though Im just starting to get into ableton, mostly for its loop-based jam cababilities and the endless possibilities that arise when you combine the 800 with physical decks and a computer (ie rik parkinson).
hope i answered well enough...keep the questions coming if u guys have any
edit:
as far as wanting digital in/out on your serato interface...yea the sound quality might be a concern however it's not going to ruin you're who signal chain if you have a couple peices with regular RCA connections...if you can add digital or balanced analog connections somewhere in the chain then youve upped the sound quality enough already ;) the 800's sound is damn good enough anyways to make up for a completely RCA setup. analog sound is great, dont get me wrong, though those tiny RCA wires are prone to interference...if you're going completely analog atleast use line inputs. |
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