#ddj-t1

I used to be a manufacturer's rep for Pioneer DJ USA before I found my home here at Unique Squared. I remember first getting the gig with Pioneer and thinking "YES, I've made it!" because, as a DJ, I have had the opportunity to use their products for many years and they are considered to be some of the best in the world. There is a reason why a lot of other DJ products in the market closely emulate a Pioneer CD player or mixer in their looks, features, and even their name. The point is that they have long been considered to be the industry standard in DJ mixers and CD decks in the DJ empire. ENTER THE NEW ERA OF DJ CONTROLLERS. Can the Pioneer DDJ series controllers steal the pole position in the DJ Controller Grand Prix? Are they still the Yankees of the MLDJ?  Okay, that will do. We gave the DDJ-T1 a spin and the results did not disappoint.  It comes with Traktor Pro Pioneer Edition giving you 4 decks of simultaneous mixing, an award winning FX selection, a vicious looping section, and a silky customizable layout that allows you to tailor the software to your specific needs. The controller itself mirrors 2 CDJ400's and a DJM series mixer although still staying light and compact making it extremely portable. It even has a built in laptop dock underneath so you can further streamline your DJ presentation. It's very easy to navigate your folders with the large rotary browser knob, search tracks alphabetically using the dual function Needle Drop strip, and quick load your tracks by pressing the deck buttons conveniently located at the top of each channel. These features are exclusive to the Pioneer DDJ-T1 and will definitely make you faster. The jog wheels are identical to the CDJ400's with the rotating LED's and responded with the same meticulous touch sensitivity and accuracy one would expect from a Pioneer product. We have our demo video coming soon and I will go into further detail about the mixing experience at that time. Until then check out our video review and enjoy! Transcript:

Hi, this is Scott Magno, DJ MadFlip, I’m here with UniqueSquared.com. Today we are going to talk about the DDJ-T1 DJ controller.

Let’s check it out, right out of the box you’re going to see that it has a very lightweight plastic construction, still has a really good size. So, if you’re making the transition from turntables or CD players and a mixer you’ll feel right at home with a really good layout.

Alright, let’s talk about the master outputs first, you’re going to have a ¼ inch balanced output and an RCA output. Now, this is going to be controlled by one knob, so you don’t  have separate control of those.

You also have an RCA auxiliary input right on the front, so if you want to put another source in like another CD player, it’s located conveniently right on the front, you can do that.

You also have your microphone input right on the front of the controller, stick your mic in there, you’ve got a volume control on there. You also can switch that to auxiliary, so it is convenient if you need to use an iPod or an MP3 player, you can put it right in there and you are good to go.

Your headphone output is also on the front of the controller, convenient right there are well.

Now the Pioneer controller has a computer dock so you can take your laptop and slide it there, you don’t have to fumble through, you can make your way through all the features of the software just on top of the controller.

The layout of the controller is exactly like the Traktor Pro, Pioneer edition software, so it makes it really, really easy to not have to map anything, it’s ready to go right out of the box.  Let’s talk about the Jog wheels in the player section, standard, very much like the CDJ 400.

Your transport section, big huge buttons, really long pitch control right here, you also have large jog wheels with the rotating LED.

You can select which deck is playing right on the front, so it is convenient to see which one is playing.

You have your auto loop function here so you can select the size of your loop, hit that button, and you can even do the loop roll, really convenient to do that and loop out right there.

Your hotkey section, you got four hotkeys on there, so if you want to take kick and a snare or a vocal and be able to play that like an instrument, you can do that as well. Dual function, you hit the function here and you can actually move through your tracks as well.

So, I want to talk about the needle search function right here.

Conveniently right on top I can go though my track, find the build, find the breakdown and boom, drop it like it’s hot, ready to go; I like that quite a bit.

Now, it has a dual function so if you got your laptop in the dock here and you need to search for a track, hit that and it’s going to scroll alphabetically through all of your tracks so you can find it really, really quick; I like that too.

Now, let’s talk about the effects section of the player.

Now in Traktor, you can use advanced section, take one effect and really tweak it out, or you can use the chain effect: that’s what I like to use.

That allows me to put 3 different effects in chain on effects 1, 3 different effects in chain on effects 2, so at any point I can select an effect, tweak it out, and I can select which channel it goes on, right with the effects button, effects 1 and effects 2, boom, boom, really nice.

You also have your filter here, hit that button to apply it, and then do a filter sweep using the knob.

Alright, let’s talk about the mixer section, as I said before, with the computer dock, you got your laptop in there, you don’t want to fumble through, you can use the browse section right here so you can go through each one of your folders, and when you want to load, you can load A, B, C, or D.

Right in line, just like on the software; that’s convenient because, if you are using four turntables you don’t have to fumble through and load, that’s kinda exclusive to Pioneer’s controllers: that is really cool.

Alright, moving onto the EQ section, how many times have you been in a dark environment and you are trying to figure out which one is the high, which on is the gain?

I like this because, on the rotaries, got your low, mid, high but your gain is a little bit smaller, so you can use the force, be blind, and figure out where your gain is: I like that, very convenient.

Typical, you got your mains here, your headphone volume right here, cue and mix, then, moving down, your effects selectors right in line. Once again really convenient.  Your cue buttons to hear exactly which turntable you are monitoring.

If you like to sync your tracks, your master sync buttons are right there, followed by your long throw; typical Pioneer DJ sliders here, and then your crossfader.  Boom, boom.  I like that.

So, pretty basic, really good setup, Pioneer has done really well with this, I cannot wait to do the demo and get in the mix and really, really put it to the test.

If you have any other questions about it, please leave me the comments here, or you can e-mail me, UniqueSquared.com blog: find me there and we will be happy to take care of you.

I used to be a manufacturer's rep for Pioneer DJ USA before I found my home here at Unique Squared. I remember first getting the gig with Pioneer and thinking "YES, I've made it!" because, as a DJ, I have had the opportunity to use their products for many years and they are considered to be some of the best in the world. There is a reason why a lot of other DJ products in the market closely emulate a Pioneer CD player or mixer in their looks, features, and even their name. The point is that they have long been considered to be the industry standard in DJ mixers and CD decks in the DJ empire. ENTER THE NEW ERA OF DJ CONTROLLERS. Can the Pioneer DDJ series controllers steal the pole position in the DJ Controller Grand Prix? Are they still the Yankees of the MLDJ?  Okay, that will do. We gave the DDJ-T1 a spin and the results did not disappoint.  It comes with Traktor Pro Pioneer Edition giving you 4 decks of simultaneous mixing, an award winning FX selection, a vicious looping section, and a silky customizable layout that allows you to tailor the software to your specific needs. The controller itself mirrors 2 CDJ400's and a DJM series mixer although still staying light and compact making it extremely portable. It even has a built in laptop dock underneath so you can further streamline your DJ presentation. It's very easy to navigate your folders with the large rotary browser knob, search tracks alphabetically using the dual function Needle Drop strip, and quick load your tracks by pressing the deck buttons conveniently located at the top of each channel. These features are exclusive to the Pioneer DDJ-T1 and will definitely make you faster. The jog wheels are identical to the CDJ400's with the rotating LED's and responded with the same meticulous touch sensitivity and accuracy one would expect from a Pioneer product. We have our demo video coming soon and I will go into further detail about the mixing experience at that time. Until then check out our video review and enjoy! Transcript:

Hi, this is Scott Magno, DJ MadFlip, I’m here with UniqueSquared.com. Today we are going to talk about the DDJ-T1 DJ controller.

Let’s check it out, right out of the box you’re going to see that it has a very lightweight plastic construction, still has a really good size. So, if you’re making the transition from turntables or CD players and a mixer you’ll feel right at home with a really good layout.

Alright, let’s talk about the master outputs first, you’re going to have a ¼ inch balanced output and an RCA output. Now, this is going to be controlled by one knob, so you don’t  have separate control of those.

You also have an RCA auxiliary input right on the front, so if you want to put another source in like another CD player, it’s located conveniently right on the front, you can do that.

You also have your microphone input right on the front of the controller, stick your mic in there, you’ve got a volume control on there. You also can switch that to auxiliary, so it is convenient if you need to use an iPod or an MP3 player, you can put it right in there and you are good to go.

Your headphone output is also on the front of the controller, convenient right there are well.

Now the Pioneer controller has a computer dock so you can take your laptop and slide it there, you don’t have to fumble through, you can make your way through all the features of the software just on top of the controller.

The layout of the controller is exactly like the Traktor Pro, Pioneer edition software, so it makes it really, really easy to not have to map anything, it’s ready to go right out of the box.  Let’s talk about the Jog wheels in the player section, standard, very much like the CDJ 400.

Your transport section, big huge buttons, really long pitch control right here, you also have large jog wheels with the rotating LED.

You can select which deck is playing right on the front, so it is convenient to see which one is playing.

You have your auto loop function here so you can select the size of your loop, hit that button, and you can even do the loop roll, really convenient to do that and loop out right there.

Your hotkey section, you got four hotkeys on there, so if you want to take kick and a snare or a vocal and be able to play that like an instrument, you can do that as well. Dual function, you hit the function here and you can actually move through your tracks as well.

So, I want to talk about the needle search function right here.

Conveniently right on top I can go though my track, find the build, find the breakdown and boom, drop it like it’s hot, ready to go; I like that quite a bit.

Now, it has a dual function so if you got your laptop in the dock here and you need to search for a track, hit that and it’s going to scroll alphabetically through all of your tracks so you can find it really, really quick; I like that too.

Now, let’s talk about the effects section of the player.

Now in Traktor, you can use advanced section, take one effect and really tweak it out, or you can use the chain effect: that’s what I like to use.

That allows me to put 3 different effects in chain on effects 1, 3 different effects in chain on effects 2, so at any point I can select an effect, tweak it out, and I can select which channel it goes on, right with the effects button, effects 1 and effects 2, boom, boom, really nice.

You also have your filter here, hit that button to apply it, and then do a filter sweep using the knob.

Alright, let’s talk about the mixer section, as I said before, with the computer dock, you got your laptop in there, you don’t want to fumble through, you can use the browse section right here so you can go through each one of your folders, and when you want to load, you can load A, B, C, or D.

Right in line, just like on the software; that’s convenient because, if you are using four turntables you don’t have to fumble through and load, that’s kinda exclusive to Pioneer’s controllers: that is really cool.

Alright, moving onto the EQ section, how many times have you been in a dark environment and you are trying to figure out which one is the high, which on is the gain?

I like this because, on the rotaries, got your low, mid, high but your gain is a little bit smaller, so you can use the force, be blind, and figure out where your gain is: I like that, very convenient.

Typical, you got your mains here, your headphone volume right here, cue and mix, then, moving down, your effects selectors right in line. Once again really convenient.  Your cue buttons to hear exactly which turntable you are monitoring.

If you like to sync your tracks, your master sync buttons are right there, followed by your long throw; typical Pioneer DJ sliders here, and then your crossfader.  Boom, boom.  I like that.

So, pretty basic, really good setup, Pioneer has done really well with this, I cannot wait to do the demo and get in the mix and really, really put it to the test.

If you have any other questions about it, please leave me the comments here, or you can e-mail me, UniqueSquared.com blog: find me there and we will be happy to take care of you.