The Lowdown
The MDJ1000 brings a familiar layout to the budget end of the media player market. It’s a relatively inexpensive USB/CD media player that also doubles up as a Midi controller for supported DJ software. The LCD display isn’t as smooth or hi-res as what’s currently out there from club standard gear, but you get what you pay for.
First Impressions / Setting up
The MDJ-1000 is a standalone media player for CDs and USB and can function as a Midi controller for your DJ software. On board the MDJ-1000 are four hot cues, eight auto loops, Slip and Scratch modes, a low/high-pass filter knob, and a tension knob for the jogwheel to get just the right touch for each user.
The MDJ-1000 features a 4.3″ coloured screen display showing waveform, track information, BPM, and pitch. In browse mode, the display will show song data including cover art. The new Link mode lets you connect up to 4 players via Ethernet or LAN, and allows you to share a music library from one USB stick as well as sync deck tempos.
In Use
Right off the bat, the MDJ-1000 is a fourth of the price of club standard Pioneer DJ media players, hence, there is an obvious difference in build quality. The MDJ-1000 is plasticky in looks and feel. Users comment that the buttons and knobs do not feel premium and have a toy-like quality, but overall there are no loose parts and every knob and button works just all right.
On the downside, users have encountered issues when reading mp4 and m4a files. There were also instances when the ethernet connection would drop between two units, and there was latency when switching between music sources (CD, USB, Midi). BPM and Sync inaccuracies are also an occasional issue. After the recent 6.5 software update, users say that many of the bugs on the MDJ-1000 have been resolved together with Gemini adding a few more features.
On the upside, the MDJ-1000 is great value for its price and has a good number of the standard function a CDJ should have. Users report that they have no problem switching between the MDJ-1000 and a Pioneer installation in the club since they are comparable in function and feature, so it could make for a decent “beginner’s media player” for cash-strapped newbies.
Conclusion
The MDJ-1000 is a budget media player that can take you surprisingly far despite its shortcomings, all the more with Gemini’s continuous updates that respond to user feedback.
