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My review of the DJM800
Well, my Pioneer DJM800 arrived just yesterday!!! FINALLY!!! As promised in another thread I'm going to write up a little review just to keep around for anyone interested to read in the future.
Initial Impressions:
WOW this thing is big! The box came in weighin 22lbs and for some reason the first thing that came to mind when i opened the box was "this mixer is BIG". It had the new Pioneer product smell which is always a good thing  . This is a big upgrade for me from my Vestax VMC004XL (which has served my so very well to learn on).
Design:
A word on the design- the 800 feels solid as a rock...VERY sturdy, built like a tank...i cant stress enough how sturdy it feels. The faceplate is kind of glossy and reminds me of marble for some reason its just really nice to look at lol. The pots provide a tough grip with their thick rubber exterior which is nice but it doesnt feel as sturdy as the vestax knobs i was used to! This is pretty much my only gripe and its more of an opinion thing...
Setting up:
I had to make some space on my desk in order for it to sit right, and it looks kind of funny sitting between my tiny CCDJ200's. (Pics will be up in the Bedroom DJ thread soon). I specifically went out and bought some SPDIF coax cables about 2 weeks ago for the 800 and im glad i did that! Setup was pretty easy, just plug in the dig. cables, plug in the power cable (which feels very heavy duty) and your all set up. I also ran a line from the MIDI out to the MIDI on my audio interface.
Sound:
Before saying anything else let me just say the sound on this mixer surpassed my expectations 10-fold. I'm not sure if its just from using a completely digital setup but the sound is AMAZING. Very crips, very loud output, and definately pleasing to the ears. Note: I still need to test out the mixer using RCA cables to see the difference in quality between digital and analog connections.
The low end is noticeably designed to create a sharp, punchy kick that definately overshadows any other mixer i've heard or played on. The EQ's though I still need to get used to them, seem to be designed specifically for longer and smoother blending. I kind of miss the kills on my vestax although Im sure i'll get used to it!
Display:
the VCU meters and the displays as well as every light on the console look amazing. The colors stand out and match the console well and don't tire your eyes. The CUE buttons all light dimly until activated where they light brightly. In both cases the cue buttons look great in a dark room or club environment. I have a feeling that in a smokey club the 800 is easy to see what you're doing with.
The interface is very straightforward for the most part and just takes some getting used to if you're used to a different mixer (obviously).
Effects:
I havent played around with these all too much but I'll still let you guys know what I think. The color effects are VERY solid and very well designed. Note: all the effects including the color and beat effects are all DSP driven and although they sound digital in nature they are all VERY clean and very well programmed. The filters are absolutely amazing. I'm a big fan of the "crush" effect already...I haven't had much time to mess around with the Harmonic mixing yet though. I'm not sure I'll be using it too much to be honest but I could be wrong, its only day 2. All the beat effects are sturdy as well, some of them such as Reverb, Send/RTN (which allow you to hook up an external effector or use your computer for effecting), filter, phaser, echo, roll, rev. roll are all very effective and useful. The roll effects are really cool!
The reverse roll sound really sick when your track builds towards a breakdown. I had some fun mashing up Pink Floyd- Money with Chris Micali's 25 using the roll effect as a sampler. As a sampler its very cool and sticks (for the most part) with your BPM...although I wouldnt rely on this as not all tracks have a stable tempo.
Ableton Live:
ok well this one of the big reasons that I bought the 800 as opposed to the nuo4 or something else...basically the entire mixer is mappable for MIDI control!!! I was hoping to have a lot of fun with this but was having trouble with my audio interface. I reinstalled the interface and finally got it going right before going to bed so you'll have to give me more time to mess around. Basically all the controls on the mixer as i have said are mappable and the MIDI clock sync is by far the COOLEST THING ON THIS MIXER! You can now mix between the physical and digital domain 90% more accurately! It's not dead on because you have to push the "start/stop midi clock" button exactly on a downbeat so sometimes it will require small adjustments...I can already tell though that it's something that just requires more practice. JZ and rik parkinson seem to have a dead on grasp of it lol.
Overall:
my overall impressions are that the sky's the limit with the 800. I need much more time to figure it out completely and im somewhat overwhelmed with all the new possibilities I have with it. The 800 will definately change my set a lot. I might update this as I keep learning more tricks and new things about the mixer. Feel free to ask questions and Ill try and answer as best I can...
Cheers!
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Especially being younger than I am. Congrats though... I so want an 800 now that I've gotten used to my 500 and love it.
