Pioneer CDJ400 MP3 CD USB Player Controller

Product Information

I think they offer a lot of possibilities but have not affected the accuracy and the other top models of the brand. So when the opportunity presented itself to try out Pioneer’s latest DJ-orientated CD deck I jumped at the chance.

So if you're like me, and will use these decks for recreation and general messing around then the Pioneer CDJ-400 is the winner. Just simply plug in ONE USB cable to each CDJ straight to the laptop and use any mixer of your choice! I shot for 20 years with Technic turntables MK (top), then I worked in parallel with Numark CD AXIS9 for 3 years. Despite being a vinyl lover and having resisted the lure of such small digital players, I have to say that the CDJ-400 is a whole lot of fun.But to balance this, Pioneer are at pains to stress that the CDJ-400 is pitched as a mid-range model that ticks a lot of pro boxes but doesn't cater for the high end needs of your Tiestos and Zabielas of this world. The Roll effect in particular is very useful for instant remixing or simple slam mixing from track to track. Pioneer has based the layout of the CDJ-400 on its industry standard front loading CD deck, the CDJ-1000. You can also personalise the jog dial by removing the transparent plastic top plate (using the supplied mini-screwdriver) and replacing the standard jog sheet with a design of your own. As well as the standard BPM counter, a horizontal bar graph provides a visual indication of the playback position within the current track, which also flashes when the track is about to finish.

Sorry - being a Mac owner, I have no FATwhatever USB drives to test, but having successfully thrown a number of different USB FAT32 formatted media at the CDJ, I have no reason to doubt anything but solid performance from FAT PC external drives. Don't stretch it more that 20% or cymbals begin to break up, but speed up as much as you like - the CDJ-400 is very impressive when pitching up and lacks the softness often experienced with overpitching in master tempo mode. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.Pioneer designed them for home use, although they have made their way into professional settings before, sometimes being favoured by both club and mobile DJs. Sitting proudly on the top facia is a pressure-sensitive jog dial, which can be toggled between Vinyl mode and standard CDJ mode via an illuminated button to the right of the jog dial. Rather than using cheaper inferior plastics, each cover is manufactured from Polycarbonate - a very hardwearing plastic used in bulletproof glass. The effects and exciting too, which are 'Bubble, Trans and Wah' when used in the vinyl setting, and 'Jet, Roll and Wah'. Not only that, but the whole drive feels like it has shock absorbers, making it less susceptible to jumping if it gets rough treatment.

If however the slightly dodgy BPM detection works properly, you can simply hit the Beat Loop + button and the CDJ-400 will auto slice you a loop perfectly on beat. The CDJ-400 is now one of the older CD decks on the market, but for me still one of the safest bets.The only negative in regard to the mix, it's time to load memory sticks (greater than 2GB) that is slow! But the competition soon caught up and even surpassed the functionality and feature set of the CDJs, leaving Pioneer in the enviable but slightly uncomfortable position of being the standard, but not necessarily the cutting edge anymore. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.