I recently had a major house fire in which I lost all my equipment (but not my records thank god). Anyway, I've made all my insurance claims and because I've done a lot of bargain shopping, I'm gonna be getting a lot more money back than I paid for my stuff. The techs, mixer and speakers are all busted, but I know that replacing those will be easy. What I'm hung up on at the moment is choosing between getting pioneer dual cd players or cdjs. For the first time, money is no object here but I'm going to college in a year and want something thats portable and can fit in a coffin. I don't think there are any coffins out there that hold a denon x1500, two techs and cdj1000s so I think i might need to get the duals. on the other hand, I really like the CDJs and was hoping someone with experience with these things could give me some advice.

regards,
Max

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If space is an issue, why not rip all your vinyl in wave and spin exclusively from CDJ-1000 Mk2? Records take up too much space and I would be hesitant to bring my vinyl to a college dorm (thievery, college craziness, fires, beer spilling over it, people stepping on it). Or if you want, you can get a two tier keyboard stand and setup your stuff on two tiers as well.

I've worked with both CMX-3000 and the CDJs. The CMX-3000 is more than enough for my needs since I don't scratch. (Although I want to learn.) Another feature that CDJ has over the CMX-3000 is .02 pitch increments as opposed to .05. Most CD players have .1 so it's a huge bonus to have such a fine pitch calibration. The removal memory is a really nice feature if you're gigging on someone else's CDJs. Other than that, the two units are about the same.

I dont have too much experience with duals, but I dont think it can really match the feel of CDJ1000s. A lot of duals have buttons you push to pitch bend, whereas the 1000s have a jog wheel that makes pitch bending much more accurate and responsive. That, along with the pitch accuracy of the 1000s (as accurate as 0.02%), make the 1000s a choice you wont regret. There are a lot of other nifty features on the 1000s, but they are too numerous to explain.

Of course there will be people here who will strongly urge you to get the denons, but you are probably better off going into a store like Guitar Center and trying them all out for yourself.

This decision should be based on what you like, but there's a reason why most clubs use the CDJ's as opposed to any other cd turntable.

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Hehe Scott, you beat me to it!

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I'm not wild about going completely digital, I'm sure I can find a safe spot for my vinyl somewhere in my dorm...but thanks for the responses I'm leaning towards the cmx3000. Can anyone reccomend a coffin to fit 2 techs, a denon x1500 and the cmx3000? If I get a coffin I can fold it up and lock it which I think is pretty important in a dorm

Max

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"A studio environment is there to be exploited. I don't really hold with these 'all live on 2 decks mixes'. If you want that, go to the gig." - Ben Watt

quote:

Originally posted by YellowG555 A lot of duals have buttons you push to pitch bend, whereas the 1000s have a jog wheel that makes pitch bending much more accurate and responsive.

That in my mind is the major flaw with the cdjs. Its a pain in the ass having to use that stupid wheel for a minor correction that would require the lightest touch on one of the bend buttons (and with the master tempo/key correction you barely hear it)

I use the Pioneer CMX3000 several times a week- it is very impressive indeed.
It pisses on the CDj 1000s (which are also there but i choose not to use much) from a great height.
If you are lazy there is a sync button which auto matches the tracks. there is also a waveform display like the cdjs. Loads of features i havent explored yet too- i dont often have the need for +100% pitch and other such gimmicks!
One awesome feature is the emergency loop button. Does exactly what it says on the tin, and works well in the event of a train wreck

The only problems with it:
It is very sensitive to CDRs and some promo Cds, some it does not like at all. VERY sensitive to dirt/fingerprints etc, even minor ones.
The track search buttons: I learnt on old skool denons where you flick the wheel quickly to skip forward in increments of 1 minute at a time if you choose. Very quick to skip through a long track to a desired point.
The pioneer doesnt offer this- you have to hold the scan button and it cycles through it, which although reasonably fast, isnt up to the few seconds it takes on a denon twin.

Very competent deck- still not as good as a denon 2600f, but far far better than a cdj1000/800.

if you hold the ffwd buttom and spin the jog wheel you can move through the track a lot faster and the 3000, but a 1 min/press buttom thing would be nice. Unless you scratch more than just the odd messing about or really really like the pressure pad to slow tracks from the 1000, the cmx does pretty much the same stuff.

I own a CDJ1000 now, but my first cd player was a cmx-3000. Honestly, if space is the main issue, go with the CMX. Unless you're into scratching, the CMX is pretty much feature for feature, identical to the CDJ...except you get two of them. They're extremely easy to use, have all the functions you could really want and use and none of the gimicks. Then again, the CDJ is a cooler machine to play around with. The CDJ is more fun, but if functionality is what you're looking for, the CMX makes much more sense. BTW, you're right about there being no coffins to hold your mixer, decks and cdjs, but there aren't any coffins that hold the mixer you have, a 19 inch rack mount dual cd player and two techs either. if your mixer was 19", it would be a different story.

Not to mention holding all that equipment in a coffin would make it very heavy and a pain to move around if you have to. 1200s weigh in around 40 pounds I think, so moving around 2 and a mixer in a coffin is a bitch as it is already.

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quote:

Originally posted by zizack I own a CDJ1000 now, but my first cd player was a cmx-3000. Honestly, if space is the main issue, go with the CMX. Unless you're into scratching, the CMX is pretty much feature for feature, identical to the CDJ...except you get two of them. They're extremely easy to use, have all the functions you could really want and use and none of the gimicks. Then again, the CDJ is a cooler machine to play around with. The CDJ is more fun, but if functionality is what you're looking for, the CMX makes much more sense. BTW, you're right about there being no coffins to hold your mixer, decks and cdjs, but there aren't any coffins that hold the mixer you have, a 19 inch rack mount dual cd player and two techs either. if your mixer was 19", it would be a different story.

Yeah thats true, but the X1500 has a 19" optional rackmount. I'm just wondering if the space it takes up vertically would use up the space allotted for dual cd players? Thanks for all the great advice too.

Regards,
Max

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-> mixes & more @ maxwelldub.net : .
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"A studio environment is there to be exploited. I don't really hold with these 'all live on 2 decks mixes'. If you want that, go to the gig." - Ben Watt

quote:

Originally posted by Max Thomson Yeah thats true, but the X1500 has a 19" optional rackmount. I'm just wondering if the space it takes up vertically would use up the space allotted for dual cd players? Thanks for all the great advice too. Regards, Max

yeah, vertically you wouldn't have any room left over for the cmx...

The X1500 with rackmount takes up 8 rack units, and the CMX controller takes up 3 meaning I need a coffin with 11 slanted rack units and at least 2 left over for the cd drives. So thats an 11Ux2U rack in a coffin that also holds 2 Technics and is lockable. I've come close to finding one but none have fallen short of 11U. Any ideas?

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-> mixes & more @ maxwelldub.net : .
-> professional analog mastering @ deliverance-mastering.com : .

"A studio environment is there to be exploited. I don't really hold with these 'all live on 2 decks mixes'. If you want that, go to the gig." - Ben Watt