What is it ???
The Pioneer DJM-800 mixer gives professional DJs the tool they need to expand their musical horizon, with capabilities for mixing records, remixing, producing and performing. The new DJM-800 incorporates features recommended by many professional DJs and club engineers, raising the bar on sound fidelity and ease of mixer operation
Reviews:
Originally posted by RobertStern
"Ok, so after playing with the 800 now for liek 6 hours straight, I have come to the conclusion I made the best choice possible. Definately way happier I got this over the Xone92. The only thing I liek better about the Xone, is the way the faders feel. The Pioneers faders are more stiff, although this can be good, as to an accidental touch, they wont move where as a Xone fader if you blow on it it will move. Personal taste there I guess. The sound on this thing is phenomenal, absolutely no noise whatsoever on any channel, even the head phone output. No hiss, clicks pops or any of that stuff. Big improvement over the DJM-600. As far as the Harmonic sound color adjustment, so far for me, I don't think I will really ever use it. It seems to me to be too sensitive to get it just where I would want it. I will have to play with it more to really give it a fair review.Now the other new Sound Color FX, like Sweep, Filter and Crush are all independent of the Beat Effects processor. With a seperate rotary knob for each channel. Pretty sweet. The Filter, seems to me to sound just liek the filters on xone. The sweep is really cool, like an adjustable crossover, giving you bandpass or notch filter. The Crush, gives you that digital Bit crusher sound. All of these adjustable with 127 different points available.The New beat effects are amazing. They automatically synchronize with the BPM of the song. Then you can choose how the effect will work in different intervals, like 1/4,1/2,3/4,1/1,2/1,4/1,8/1,16/1, as well as they are indepentdantly adjustable with a rotary knob, to any time you want to set. There is now a Reverse Delay, Phaser, Robot, Chorus, Roll (this samples the track in different beat increments that you set, as soon as you hit the on/off button of the effects, the track has been sampled and will replay over and over at whatever beat selection you set it at. Then you can use the Level Depth and bring in the sample over the track that is still playing. This effect is super hot! I love it. Then there is also Reverso Roll, same thing just in reverse.If the mixer is not getting an accurate reading of the BPM, you can always set it manually, by tapping the tap button.The new display is very clean and clear, with good lighting. over allt he mixer looks way better than anything Pioneer has made except for the DJM-1000. This is the DJM-1000's Newer Brother.. The SAME quality as the DJM-1000 with way more features and effects built in. Unless you need more than 4 inputs, this is a better choice by far!I must say the big advantage to this mixer is the digital inputs and outputs. This makes all the difference in making sure you have the same signal all the way across the board. Listening to tracks through the headphones, made me want to just sit here and relisten to stuff all night. Sounds excellent! Turn the volume all the way up, no hiss or anything. Turn the Master all the way up, and there is no clipping to my M-Audio Firewire 4/10, connected to the G5 tower. Giving the possiblility of pristine recordings, with no interference or noise.Almost every single fader, knob, button is completely midi assignable. And if I read everything correctly, I can use the DJM-800 to Sync BPM for Ableton. Will have to look into this more, as I ahven't played with that part yet, figuring it will take the most time. I did get Ableton running digitally out of my sound card into the DJM-800, and way mixing CD's over loops in Abelton. Pretty sweet.If you are looking for a High Quality, Studio or Professional mixer, definately spend some time palying with the DJM-800 before you buy anything. This mixer is the only thing of its kind right now. Taking every input and converting it to digital, makes sure that you have the best signal to noise ratio available on the market right now. the only thing I think that will compare will be the Xone 3d. But for well over $3000, it better be better."
Pioneer DJM-800
Introduction
Pioneer has been a major player in the DJ industry for over a decade. By integrating Midi capabilities on top of an already powerful DJ mixer platform, the result is a DJ “tool” that caters to even more users than any previous Pioneer mixers had in the past. The DJM-800 is helping to further shape the digital age of music production and performance.
Installation
I had a fairly standard setup using (2) Pioneer CDJ-1000 DJ CD players and (2) Technics 1200MKII turntables hooked to an external audio receiver with studio monitors sound output. Ableton Live software was used for testing Midi capabilities.
Getting StartedThe great thing about the DJM-800 is that it’s based off the industry standard Pioneer DJM (DJ Mixer) platform. I was able to get the entire system setup in a matter of minutes not needing the manual for any assistance. The mixer is very straightforward and not complicated in any sort of way. The instruction manual gives you instructions for anything from Connections to Troubleshooting and is very easy to comprehend.
Feature Review
Inputs/Outputs:
The Pioneer DJM-800 mixer gives professional DJs the tool they need to expand their musical horizon, with capabilities for mixing records, remixing, producing and performing. The new DJM-800 incorporates features recommended by many professional DJs and club engineers, raising the bar on sound fidelity and ease of mixer operation
Reviews:
Originally posted by RobertStern
"Ok, so after playing with the 800 now for liek 6 hours straight, I have come to the conclusion I made the best choice possible. Definately way happier I got this over the Xone92. The only thing I liek better about the Xone, is the way the faders feel. The Pioneers faders are more stiff, although this can be good, as to an accidental touch, they wont move where as a Xone fader if you blow on it it will move. Personal taste there I guess. The sound on this thing is phenomenal, absolutely no noise whatsoever on any channel, even the head phone output. No hiss, clicks pops or any of that stuff. Big improvement over the DJM-600. As far as the Harmonic sound color adjustment, so far for me, I don't think I will really ever use it. It seems to me to be too sensitive to get it just where I would want it. I will have to play with it more to really give it a fair review.Now the other new Sound Color FX, like Sweep, Filter and Crush are all independent of the Beat Effects processor. With a seperate rotary knob for each channel. Pretty sweet. The Filter, seems to me to sound just liek the filters on xone. The sweep is really cool, like an adjustable crossover, giving you bandpass or notch filter. The Crush, gives you that digital Bit crusher sound. All of these adjustable with 127 different points available.The New beat effects are amazing. They automatically synchronize with the BPM of the song. Then you can choose how the effect will work in different intervals, like 1/4,1/2,3/4,1/1,2/1,4/1,8/1,16/1, as well as they are indepentdantly adjustable with a rotary knob, to any time you want to set. There is now a Reverse Delay, Phaser, Robot, Chorus, Roll (this samples the track in different beat increments that you set, as soon as you hit the on/off button of the effects, the track has been sampled and will replay over and over at whatever beat selection you set it at. Then you can use the Level Depth and bring in the sample over the track that is still playing. This effect is super hot! I love it. Then there is also Reverso Roll, same thing just in reverse.If the mixer is not getting an accurate reading of the BPM, you can always set it manually, by tapping the tap button.The new display is very clean and clear, with good lighting. over allt he mixer looks way better than anything Pioneer has made except for the DJM-1000. This is the DJM-1000's Newer Brother.. The SAME quality as the DJM-1000 with way more features and effects built in. Unless you need more than 4 inputs, this is a better choice by far!I must say the big advantage to this mixer is the digital inputs and outputs. This makes all the difference in making sure you have the same signal all the way across the board. Listening to tracks through the headphones, made me want to just sit here and relisten to stuff all night. Sounds excellent! Turn the volume all the way up, no hiss or anything. Turn the Master all the way up, and there is no clipping to my M-Audio Firewire 4/10, connected to the G5 tower. Giving the possiblility of pristine recordings, with no interference or noise.Almost every single fader, knob, button is completely midi assignable. And if I read everything correctly, I can use the DJM-800 to Sync BPM for Ableton. Will have to look into this more, as I ahven't played with that part yet, figuring it will take the most time. I did get Ableton running digitally out of my sound card into the DJM-800, and way mixing CD's over loops in Abelton. Pretty sweet.If you are looking for a High Quality, Studio or Professional mixer, definately spend some time palying with the DJM-800 before you buy anything. This mixer is the only thing of its kind right now. Taking every input and converting it to digital, makes sure that you have the best signal to noise ratio available on the market right now. the only thing I think that will compare will be the Xone 3d. But for well over $3000, it better be better."
Pioneer DJM-800
Introduction
Pioneer has been a major player in the DJ industry for over a decade. By integrating Midi capabilities on top of an already powerful DJ mixer platform, the result is a DJ “tool” that caters to even more users than any previous Pioneer mixers had in the past. The DJM-800 is helping to further shape the digital age of music production and performance.
Installation
I had a fairly standard setup using (2) Pioneer CDJ-1000 DJ CD players and (2) Technics 1200MKII turntables hooked to an external audio receiver with studio monitors sound output. Ableton Live software was used for testing Midi capabilities.
Getting StartedThe great thing about the DJM-800 is that it’s based off the industry standard Pioneer DJM (DJ Mixer) platform. I was able to get the entire system setup in a matter of minutes not needing the manual for any assistance. The mixer is very straightforward and not complicated in any sort of way. The instruction manual gives you instructions for anything from Connections to Troubleshooting and is very easy to comprehend.
Feature Review
Inputs/Outputs:
- With 4 Digital inputs, 5 Line inputs, 3 Turntable inputs, 4 switchable Digital/Line inputs, 4 Fader Start inputs and 2 mic inputs, you are able to connect more pieces of gear than most small studios come equipped with. This allows you to create all kinds of gear combinations making the mixer quite versatile. This also gives you the ability to achieve a true digital signal by using a digital coaxial cable connecting a Pioneer DJ CD player to the DJM-800 which then runs to a digital input on a computer soundcard giving you the cleanest signal possible.
EQ’s:
- The 3-band EQ on each channel ranges from -26dB to +6dB. Moving all 3 knobs to -26db results in about a 90%-95% kill which is quite impressive. On each EQ knob, the 0 mark has a substantial notch so that you can find it by feel while twisting the knob in the darkest of clubs. The rubber knobs are a big improvement over previous Pioneer mixers giving you much more control in adjusting the EQ’s.
Sound Color FXHarmonic Tuner:
- I was a bit leery of the Harmonic tuning effect at first until I tried it. This feature automatically detects the exact key of the song and corrects it to the closest true key. When used properly, you are able to adjust the key of the song by half steps which theoretically should allow you to mix harmonically. You still have to know what keys go together musically to attain a harmonic mix. I found that you couldn’t change the key by more than three (½ key) steps before the drop in audio quality was noticeable if you are connected to an analog turntable. If you are using DJ CD players with a digital connection you are able to go about five half steps before the drop in audio quality is noticed. But, you shouldn’t need to take it any further than that seeing as all this feature is doing is helping to bring you to the closest true key which it does accomplish. I found it to work extremely well with acapella’s.
Sweep Color FX -
- The sweep effect is like having an adjustable crossover at your fingertips. Turning the knob clockwise produces a band-pass filter effect while turning it counter-clockwise produces a notch filter effect.
Filter Color FX –
- The filter effect sounds identical to the acclaimed Allen & Heath filter. Turning the knob clockwise produces a high-pass filter effect while turning the knob counter-clockwise produces a low-pass filter effect.
Crush Color FX –
- The crush produces a bit crusher/distortion type of effect degrading the sound quality by various degrees. This is a great sounding effect and really gives you sort of a retro sound. Turning the knob clockwise emphasizes high-range sounds while turning the knob counter-clockwise emphasizes low-range sounds.
Beat Effects
- The Pioneer DJM series of mixers are famous for their onboard beat effects. The DJM-800 incorporates all the previous effects found in the DJM-500 and DJM-600 but now introduce several new effects: Reverse Delay, Phaser, Robot, Chorus, Roll and Reverse Roll. All of these effects are automatically synched to the BPM or you can do it manually with a “Tap” button just in case the mixers BPM meter can’t get a good read on the track. You also have two “Beat” buttons which are a great addition. When the right “Beat” button is pushed it doubles the beat count and when the left “Beat” button is pushed it halves the beat count. This makes for the ability to produce effects on the fly, on beat, extremely fast. You still have the “Time” and “Level/Depth” knobs which allow for more of a manual manipulation of the effects.
MIDI Control
- The DJM-800 comes equipped with 61 assignable Midi controls. It can be used to control anything from Ableton Live software to video mixers, as long as they are midi capable. Being a novice in both Midi as well as the Ableton Live software, I was worried about getting the connection setup correctly. But with a simple Midi cable and a few hints from a friend, I was able to assign several controls very easily. I don’t think the DJM-800 would be ideal as the main controller for a midi production studio but I do see the potential in live midi performances. You can find several templates online that allow you to use (2) channels to control Ableton Live and (2) channels to control CDJ’s or turntables which really shows its versatility. The DJM-800 seems to pack all the functionality that Sasha’s infamous custom designed Maven Midi contoller is capable of and still gives you full DJ mixing functionality.
Below is a MIDI template showing all 61 of the assignable midi controls in red. (Courtesy of “Pulse” from www.pioneerprodjforums.com)
Overall Impressions
- The feel of the mixer is amazing. It’s actually quite heavy for its size which gives it a sturdier feel. The EQ knobs are made with rubber, giving you very precise control with no slippage. The sound color knobs have a metal finish making for a nice visual contrast. The channel faders are tight with no wiggle and have a “heavier” slide to them than most other mixers which eliminate accidental bumps.
The Channel/Cross fader curve adjustments are a dream come true. It allows you to adjust the contour of the channel and/or cross-fader to match that of your mixing style. The cross fader flies freely and allows for the ability to scratch, but at the same time is quite smooth which results in a consistent fade. On top of all the effects of previous pioneer mixers, the DJM-800 adds Reverse Delay, Phaser, Robot, Chorus, Roll and Reverse Roll effects. The sound color effects give you even more control than ever before over a “highpass/lowpass filter”, “notch filter” and “bit crusher” effect. The Mic “Talk Over” feature automatically lowers the track volume when it detects sound through the mic, ideal for wedding DJ’s or MC’s. The mic signal cut keeps any sound from the mic from going out through the booth monitors which eliminates feedback.
The layout is basically the same as the industry standard DJM-500 and DJM-600 which literally eliminates the learning curve. The layout is also designed extremely well. By changing the master volume control to a knob and moving it further to the top of the mixer it reduces the chance of accidental volume spikes or decreases by bumping it. The display is very clear and easy to read as are all the lit buttons. Lastly and probably the least important, this is an extremely good looking mixer as pictures do not do it justice. The finish of the mixer is charcoal black with a metal flake finish giving it a “custom paint” sort of look.
Conclusion
- Pioneer’s director of product planning, Karl Detken stated “We continue to see growth in the DJ market and the need for creating professional products as well as innovative products.” With their extensive research in audio technology, Pioneer has been the industry standard in DJ gear for quite sometime and the DJM-800 promises to keep them in that position well into the future.
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