The Pioneer DDJ-S1. For a while now Pioneer the world renowned supplier of DJ gear has been lagging behind other major players with their digital DJ controllers. Now Pioneer has finally upped their game by announcing not one but two digital controllers.
The DDJ – S1 for Serato’s Itch, and the DDJ – T1 for Native Instruments’ Traktor. In short the DDJ series is designed to provide advanced pioneer features for laptop DJs. As the DDJ-S1 is on my desk today it’s the controller of choice for this review.
The Features:
As far as I can see with five hot keys and many of the pro features it shapes up as quite the competent controller. One of the most exciting features is how they have kept the massively popular slip mode from the CDJ900. The DDJ-S1 is plug and play, runs on USB power and has connection for two microphones with talk over, two outputs and big and small headphone jacks at the front.
The DDJ-S1 gives you hands on control over every feature so you don’t have to touch the computer. It has quick access to features like instant double, direct access to crates, files, and the prepare list. It’s also the only controller that integrates with your computer seamlessly using the laptop dock. The illuminated jog wheel is great for scratching, with it delivering the light and fast response that we DJs have come to expect from Serato. You can also adjust the beat grid directly on the unit. Finally; in my experience if you get over excited the S1 is built to take some abuse.
The Conclusion
Some of the best DJ’s I know, can rock a party no matter what digital controller they use. That’s because they are great DJs. If you give a pro race car driver a VW beetle and the average Joe a pro race car, one of them will crash and the other will see the chequered flag. Can you guess which one wins? The great DJ with the “toy” unit and not the newbie with DDJ-S1. That being said its got brilliant uses in the mobile DJ scene and looks awesome. Now hurry up and go out there and spend, spend, spend, It’s a new Pioneer product, It must be great right???
This review brought to you by DJs Auckland | MIX IT DJ