Ahead of this weekend’s BPM Show, Pioneer DJ has launched two new controllers: The DDJ-RZ and DDJ-RX, the first hardware to deliver native control of the company’s newly launched Rekordbox DJ performance software. The devices have a full four-channel mixer, and the DDJ-RZ in addition has a customisable OSC sampler, dual USB sound cards for seamless DJ switchover (much like the DDJ-SZ beforehand for Serato DJ), and Pioneer’s latest magnetic crossfader.
There are some nifty performance features here that will be familiar to those using laptop DJ software, including a Sequencer that lets you record and playback pad routines (Serato Flip, anyone?) as well as a Sampler that lets you play both one shot samples and loops over your tune (Traktor’s Remix Decks ring a bell?)
Is absolute DJ booth dominance by Pioneer within reach?
With these controllers and the upcoming Rekordbox 4.0 software, Pioneer’s got a massive pitch to be the biggest company in the DJ booth – its CDJ and DJM series are already club and festival standards the world over, and now with hardware that works exclusively with its own software as it seems, Pioneer DJ has a full product ecosystem of both performance DJ software and hardware (Apple comes to mind…)
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Having all developments in-house is a crucial step for Pioneer’s end game: It’s a chance for the company to round up its entire product experience in an all-encompassing manner for DJs, and obviously this is great news for its bottom line.
Think of how Apple draws in and keeps its customers close, turning them into rabid fans of the brand. Pioneer already has a loyal following, and we believe that it’ll grow even larger because of these new developments.
We’ll be at the BPM Show this weekend, and trust that we’ll send you our impressions of both controllers if they’ll be on display. For now, check out the promo video and gallery below.
Promo video
• The Pioneer DDJ-RZ will retail for €2,099 and the Pioneer DDJ-RX at €1,049. Both will be bundled with the Rekordbox DJ Plus pack. Find out more about the Pioneer DDJ-RZ and the Pioneer DDJ-RX.
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What do you think about these new DJ controllers? If you’re an owner of the original DDJ-SX or DDJ-SZ, will you be getting either of these as an upgrade? Let us know your thoughts below.
Phil Morse
