Hi,

I'm looking at buying either a pair of Pioneer CDJ 1000 MK3s or CDJ 900s. Originally I was only interested in the 1000s however despite being discontinued they are still slightly more expensive than the newer CDJ 900.

I realise that the 900s are USB compatible, however they lack hot cues, tempo reset, and SD card compatibility, however since I am from a vinyl background I am unaware of how important these features are when playing live. I also read somewhere that the 900s are of a weaker build quality than the 1000s. I don't mind the fact that the 1000s don't have slip mode, and are not rekordbox compatible, as I can still download recordbox for free and use it to prepare tracks to play on 900s/2000s in a club if I need to.

Ideally I would prefer players that are most commonly used in club setups - I know these are currently still the 1000s but I am unsure as whether they will be replaced by the 900s or 2000s any time soon, if at all.

To summarise, would I be better off buying 900s or 1000s?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Last edited by Hobson on Oct-12-2010 at 17:23

seems like u have all the knowledge needed to decide this for yourselves

Personally I think both are good choices but Id say stick with some 1000s. Thats just my preference.

Honestly both are gonna do near the same thing, you gotta look at it more of how your plan on DJing. 900s use the USB stick so thats not a bad choice if you want to go the digital route.

I personally love CDs and don't want to give them up anytime soon so 1000s it is for me.

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900's are the best bet IMO.

I'd go for the 900's for rekordbox and they will hold their value better.

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If you can mix on any Pioneer deck you're not going to have a lot of trouble playing out on any others, so I wouldn't worry about getting the exact model you're likely to face in clubs. In fact you're better off aiming for flexibility - the most annoying people in the world are DJs who turn up to a club and complain that the kit isn't what they're used to mixing on at home!

A DJ is always going to perform best when comfortable and the only way to be comfortable on any bit of kit you're faced with is to understand a range of models in a much more general way, so that you can adapt to new kit, rather than getting too attached to one model. The fundamentals are the same on ANYTHING and if you can see how the ways they're implemented vary between makes, models and technologies you'll be able to rock up and use anything without any fuss... the only questions you should have to ask the DJ before you when you enter the booth are "What channels are they on mate?" and "You going to the bar or what?"

Although in case you're interested, I'm yet to see a 900 installed in a club but a few have already switched to 2000s. Obviously 1000s are still all over the place.


If you're going to be using these purely at home, I'd focus on what features you want for that environment - are you likely to want to start playing around with playing off USB? Or might that be particularly convenient at home to avoid having to burn off a load of CDs every time you want to have a mix? If so the 900 might be a better bet... they're not so badly made that they'll fall apart in your bedroom! Unless you've got some piss-head mates who come round a lot...

But if you're planning to gig them and your CD wallet's always stocked with your latest tunes anyway, 1000s might be a better shout. Again, are hot cues an issue for you? How about SD cards? The latter assumes that most clubs you play in will have SD-compatible CD decks - yeah it's likely they'll have 1000s, but they might not so don't rely on it.

Incidentally, I've still NEVER been in a booth with a DJ who's used SD cards for the CDJs. I know some people who've said they tried it when they first got 1000s, but they soon realised they barely used the cue points they'd stored on them. But that's just my experience - dunno if anyone else has used them much themselves?

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Between those two, I'd go 900s at this point.

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I'd say 900's. There's not much of a price difference between the 900's and the 1000's. Even with the 1000's discontinued.

Sorry to post another thread of this type, but since the CDJ 1000 MK3s are out of stock everywehre I am now struggling to decide between the CDJ 850 and CDJ 900.

I can afford the 900s, however I am unconvinced by the advantages they provide over the 850s. The 850 lacks the Pro DJ Link function, however I can use the £400 saved just to buy another USB stick. I doubt I will ever need to use triplet looping and although the screen on the 900 is larger, the waveform and progress bar on the 850 seem clearer. I don't have a digital mixer either so would not use the digital out, and can live without slip mode. I am also skeptical as to whether there is any noticable difference in sound quality that is worth the extra capital.

The only thing that does bother me is the lack of quantised looping. After reading the Skratchworx review http://www.skratchworx.com/reviews/cdj850.php it would appear as though the 850 is not capable of accurate loops - is this something that can be fixed with a firmware update?

Also does the CDJ 900 have any other advantages over the 850s that I have overlooked?

Thanks again for any advice.

Last edited by Hobson on Oct-12-2010 at 17:26

dont forget to make another thread with cdj850 vs 400 and 400 vs 350. or you could just keep it all in the same thread. im considering cdj350 or 400 myself, but for what reasons i dont really know yet as i havent really found out which of them actually supports mp3 on external discs and what not. to be honest the cdj850 is like the only one of the pioneers i dont like or want. it looks so plastic and cheap and bad build.

If it makes you feel any better, none of the previous gen cdjs (even the 1000 mk3) had quantized looping. It's a new thing on these new models. That said, I never miss that feature bc I use a DVS which does perfect loops through the program anyway.

It's a tough call, but between them I don't know if the extra money for the 900's are worth it.

Do you have a DVS?

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Thanks for the advice guys. How do you find the pitch slider indent (centre click) on the 900/850? The indent was something I was hoping wouldn't be present on the new CDJs as having to avoid the indent when mixing on Technics 1210 MK2s was a bit of a nightmare. I know the 1000 MK3s and 2000s on the other hand have tempo reset and therefore no indent at 0% - is there any other difference in the tempo sliders between models?

Last edited by Hobson on Oct-11-2010 at 20:57