With the recent release of the radical Pioneer DJ Opus Quad four-channel standalone DJ system, Pioneer DJ has addressed a gaping hole in its product range, for a modern, CPU-driven four-channel standalone all-in-one unit, designed to compete directly with equipment like the Denon DJ Prime 4.
Moreover, it’s clear that the Opus Quad – with its Atari-meets-Batman looks, trendy orange/dark grey colour scheme, and wooden-effect side panels – is designed to appeal to a different type of DJ than pretty much all of the existing Pioneer DJ range.
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This would suggest that it marks the start of a new line of equipment, with a mobile/boutique venue/hobbyist DJ vibe. This is certainly the feeling we’re getting from the company itself, who were at pains to point out to us that they don’t see the Opus Quad as a replacement for the XDJ-XZ.
So the question is, will they replace the XDJ-XZ as well, with an XDJ-XZ2? Will they add to their range a product that brings the new tech inside the Opus Quad to a more traditional-looking and obvious update for their current flagship DJ all-in-one? It’s certainly a question a lot of DJs have been asking since the launch of the Opus Quad.
For many, the XDJ-XZ was almost perfect
Many DJs – both club and mobile – see the XDJ-XZ as an almost perfect pro DJ all-in-one system. All the connectivity of Pioneer DJ’s pro separates, all the inputs and outputs you’d want, a look, feel and size that means it feels almost identical to using CDJ-3000s and a DJM-900NXS2 / DJM-A9 mixer in use.
(Curiously, the only obvious design angle that deviates from CDJs is the addition of the controller-style pads under the jogs on the XDJ-XZ. Yet it turns out that XDJ-XZ users really love those, with the moving of the hot cues to above the jogwheel appearing to be one of the big bugbears expressed by DJs for the new Opus Quad – even though that’s where they are on the CDJ-3000.)
However, the tech inside the XDJ-XZ – certainly when it comes to running it with a USB drive as a standalone – is ancient. Only two of its four channels can be used in standalone mode, and it lacks almost all of the headline features of the Opus Quad, or any of the Engine DJ-powered gear from brands like Denon DJ such as the Prime 4, and even standalone gear from budget-friendly Numark. The XDJ-XZ can’t hang on as a flagship “club-style” all-in-one much longer, surely.
This is why many DJs were surprised when Pioneer DJ launched the Opus Quad instead of an XDJ-XZ2. As I say, the company has pointed out that it doesn’t see the Opus Quad as a replacement for the XDJ-XZ. So can we expect an XDJ-XZ2?
Why we may have to wait for an XDJ-XZ2
Here’s why we may have to wait – and even if it does happen, it may not be an all-singing, all-dancing replacement:
Presumably Pioneer DJ makes a lot of money selling 100% pro, modular, full-sized separates for clubs and other pro installations – in other words, its CDJ-3000 and DJM-900NXS2 (or now, of course, the replacement for that, the DJM-A9).
While the XDJ-XZ looks like “pro” gear and in many ways plays like it, we already know its limitations. No club owner would install an XDJ-XZ and expect touring DJs to use it – it’s too limited in all kinds of ways. For clubs where touring DJs get booked, it usually has to be CDJs and probably a DJM mixer too.
Were Pioneer DJ to update the XDJ-XZ2 with the new tech it now has, it would effectively create a full-sized, fully featured DJ system that would do all of what a pair of CDJ-3000s and a DJM-A9 mixer can do, but – even if it did cost three grand or so – it would sell at a fraction of what those separates would cost. It would also probably be acceptable to DJs who normally demand separates to DJ on, in a way that the XDJ-XZ isn’t.
In this case, venue owners would of course be very likely to go for the XDJ-XZ2 over separates. Not the A-grade venues, of course, but certainly enough B and C-grade venues to start eating away at sales of Pioneer DJ’s CDJs and DJMs.
The Opus Quad was a deliberate tactic
By launching the Opus Quad, which is very deliberately both appealing to a different market segment to clubs, and gunning more directly for the territory Engine DJ (and particularly the Denon DJ Prime 4) has exploited over recent years – Pioneer DJ has perhaps cleverly both taken on a competitor, and largely protected its own ultra high-end equipment sales. The company can probably withstand the howls of DJs looking for an XDJ-XZ2 in light of this bigger picture.
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So back to our question: Will the company release an XDJ-XZ2? Currently, I’m not so sure! (And no, we don’t have any inside info one way or the other.)
Yet here’s the thing: Even if it does release an XDJ-XZ2, I’d expect it to have enough features “held back” for it not to make the CDJ/DJM combo look overpriced and pointless, at least for a significant proportion of the venues who currently feel they have no choice but to buy the modular gear. It would, frankly, be bad business sense for Pioneer DJ to do anything other than this.
Time will tell, of course – and meanwhile, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Phil Morse
