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Tips for CDJ-800 Use

Hi guys,

I'm entering a DJ comp (playing a hip hop set), and the cd decks in the setup are 2xcdj800s.

In preparation for the comp, I've borrowed a CDJ800 till friday. I've been using it for the last couple of days and the jog wheel has been giving me the absolute shits! I'm guessing this is because of using the denons/numark for so long.

What I'm after is any tips for using the jog wheel on the CDJ800 .. when slowing down a track do you guys rotate the platter in a steady motion? or in short fast jabs? I've tried both, but I find it too inconsistent.. like when I moved it slowly around, it didn't react enough even though I moved the platter a fair distance.

I was thinking "well I'll get used to it eventually" but I remembered back to when I had a CDJ100, and I never felt like I had 'mastered' the jog wheel and had complete control over the track compared to on the denons/numark.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

im not a CDJ user but have u tried riding the pitch like you would on a turntable?

There is a knob on the CDJ in the right corner on the top of it called "Vinyl Speed Adjust".
If you turn it left, the wheel reacts faster, if you turn it right the wheel reacts slower. Try to adjust it till the feeling is like on your CDJ 100.

Maybe that could help^^

Hmm, I have CDJ-1000's... does the vinyl speed adjust actually affect the PITCH BEND portion of the wheel? I thought it only affected the jog wheel when the touch sensitive platter was being used?

The jog wheel does respond to both speed and distance. It takes a bit of time to get it, and I still overcorrect on occasion.

As for riding the pitch... good luck! I do it all the time on my 1200's, but on the CDJ's I have no luck. First, the pitch slider is easy to whip around, so you can throw it too far. Second, the CDJ reacts INSTANTLY to pitch changes, unlike a TT where there is a nice little delay. So if you go just a tad too far, you'll be in a wreck a lot faster.

Yeah I think 'vinyl release' on the CDJ800 has got to do with the speed you release the track at when you scratch it in

One other thing that can be helpful... Try turning off master tempo, and then while listening to a track live make pitch bend adjustments with the jog wheel. It'll give you a sense for how much movement causes and equivalent pitch bend. With master tempo enabled it's harder to discern how much you've adjusted.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryan0751 One other thing that can be helpful... Try turning off master tempo, and then while listening to a track live make pitch bend adjustments with the jog wheel. It'll give you a sense for how much movement causes and equivalent pitch bend. With master tempo enabled it's harder to discern how much you've adjusted.

That's a good point Ryan which I've already given a shot - it helps, but I get the feeling that the sensitivity of the jog wheel changes each time i touch it?

Like do you find it's inconsistent, as in if I push it forward so many inches i'll get a decent change, and then another time i'll do the same movement and the track will barely speed up.

I own 2 CDJ800s and don't have any problems with them at all. I bought them fairly recently (in the last 9 months or so) as a supplement to my 1210s. Having originally learnt to mix on vinyl, I find the 800s a breeze.

I think the key is to be gentle with the jogwheel and not go overboard. If a track is starting to drift, I tend to rotate the jogwheel slowly, and carefully to bring it back into time. Providing you don't have any significant melodic parts playing in the track at the time, you should be able to get away with this without any problems at all.

If you compare the feel of the jogwheel on the 800s to those on the 1000s, the 800s feel much lighter and plastic-like. The jogwheel on the 1000s feels metallic and heavier, and more akin to a proper turntable. If I hadn't mastered 800s before ever playing on 1000s, I imagine I'd find the 800s quite difficult, it has to be said.

Riding the pitch control is also a little more difficult than on the 1000s because you've only got 0.05 increments to work with on the 800s (rather than 0.02 on the 1000s). As this is less precise, you have to concentrate on your mixes a little more and sometimes alternate back and forward between +/- 0.05 during a transition. I know others who've said they don't have this problem at all, however.

Hope this helps!

If you really wanna show off, get a 4-beat loop going on one deck, hit the Reverse mode, then Mix in the next track.

Thanks for the replies.

I've found it easier now by switching out of vinyl mode (so i cant scratch) and using the scratch platter to adjust the track, rather than using the little holed platter on the outside

Really? Remember that switching off vinyl mode doesn't change the way pitch bend works at all, it only disables the touch sensative top.

quote:

Originally posted by bent Thanks for the replies. I've found it easier now by switching out of vinyl mode (so i cant scratch) and using the scratch platter to adjust the track, rather than using the little holed platter on the outside

Turn it upside down and you have a larger area for scratching with

quote:

Originally posted by Ryan0751 Really? Remember that switching off vinyl mode doesn't change the way pitch bend works at all, it only disables the touch sensative top.

Yeah technically it doesn't change the pitch bend, but by using the top of the scratch platter its physically different from dragging my finger around the outside of the platter using the holes. The different action effectively seems more responsive, to me anyway.

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