NAMM 2015: There's plenty of new DJ kit being showcased at the 2015 NAMM Show, and Pioneer's new XDJ-RX 'all-in-one' standalone controller could be the most significant arrival of all.
Its competitive price and wealth of familiar features will undoubtedly appeal to tune-spinners who want a pro-level Pioneer DJ setup at home without spending heaps of cash on a separate turntable-mixer setup - especially since a laptop isn't required.
We spent a good 30 minutes putting the XDJ-RX through its paces on the Pioneer stand. Songs are scrolled through and loaded using a single rotary in the centre of the mixer. If you're used to traditional CDJ mixing (where each CDJ has its own display screen), navigating tracks via one screen (and a single set of controls found directly on the mixer's middle) will take some getting used to.
Other than that, users familiar with Pioneer DJ equipment and rekordbox software will have no trouble getting tunes lined up and in the mix. The pad-based Loop Slice function makes stutters and loops a pleasure to work with, and the per-channel Colour FX and Beat Effects, while not as plentiful as on the DJM-900NXS, give you more than enough sound-mangling possibilities.
As the two turntables share a single centre screen, and there are no CD drives, it appears the Japanese manufacturer has keep its costs down, offering a tantalisingly affordable 'pro' solution for the DJ who's keen to board the Pioneer train.
“An enhanced application that is nonetheless reassuringly familiar and reasonably priced”: Native Instruments Traktor Pro 4 review
"The last 5 or 10 per cent drove me crazy - at one point I had about 130 mixdowns... I’ve come to realise that the perfect mix doesn’t exist": Ben Böhmer on overcoming perfectionism in production
“An enhanced application that is nonetheless reassuringly familiar and reasonably priced”: Native Instruments Traktor Pro 4 review
"The last 5 or 10 per cent drove me crazy - at one point I had about 130 mixdowns... I’ve come to realise that the perfect mix doesn’t exist": Ben Böhmer on overcoming perfectionism in production
