Pioneer CDJ-850 Professional CD/Multi-Format Player
With the same jog wheel as high-end Pioneer CDJs, a Wave display to show peaks and dips in the music, and USB drive support, the CDJ-850 is a serious value.
Overall User Ratings (based on 9 ratings)
Submitted March 4, 2014 by Justin J in Bellflower, CA
"CDJ-850"
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
I Got 2 cdj850's matched with a djm 750. I got these so i could finally steer away from laptops and controllers.So far I have been pleasantly pleased with these. Beat matching is nice, there is no drift with these cdj's. The looping on the unit is pretty much useless though, which is a big downfall for me.. and i wish i had just gone with 900s because of this. Though if you could not afford 900's these are definitely still worth the money. Rekordbox is a really awesome program... setting all the necessary cue's is easy.. and speed mix is still fairly easy on this because of this feature.I find myself wanting all the features of the 900's.. so i definitely see myself selling these in the near future so i could get some 900nxs.
Musical Background:
DJ for 5 years
Musical Style:
House, Drum and Bass, Trance, Break Beats
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Submitted February 28, 2011 by a customer from hotmail.com
"For the money and getting the best of both worlds I choose the 850s. The money I saved on not getting the 900s will go towards a"
I think the CDJs will still be around for a while. Youre getting the best of both worlds.
28.02.11 prices in Australia:
CDJ 850s>$979 (x2@ $1958) ---$952 more for:
CDJ-900s>$1455 (x2@ $2910) ---$1490 more for:
CDJs-2000s>$2200 (x2@ $4400)
Sound
No surprises here, 128Kbps mp3s will sound caca compared to 320Kbps.. people will argue that there is no difference, I beg to differ. 850s (HID and a 24 bit audio interface) / 900s are said to have a better enhanced 24bit audio interface.
Features
Power cord, Manual, Stereo Phono cable, Control Cable, Forced Eject Pin, and a copy of rekordbox software (1.4.1 updated) / only for managing!
...no link feature
...and another -1 each for none of these:
No Slip mode* that fully maintains groove accuracy
The new Slip button lets DJs perform such tricks as looping, reversing or scratching of music without ever losing the flow or even a beat. The music continues to play, muted, as DJs perform, for example, a looped segment and so always returns – bang on beat – when the looping is complete.
No Quick Return* scratch enables the slickest tricks
By turning on the Quick Return scratch feature, DJs can make the CDJ-900 jump back to a set cue point as soon as they touch the Jog to perform a scratch. This makes it easy to perform beat juggling tricks without having to find the beat perfectly every time.
No Advanced Auto Beat Loop* for improved performance
When a 1, 2, 4 or 8 Auto Beat Loop button is pressed the Auto Beat Loop function automatically finds the beat segments from that point in time, making it simple to play a precisely timed loop. To expand the creative looping options available to DJs, the CDJ-900 is capable of 10 different variations of loop right down to 1/16th of a beat.
I honestly find the loop function useless on this model. Doubt it will be fixed in an firmware update. And no link feature that allows you to play from a single source. With the 850s be prepared to use rekord box and a few USB sticks, as the the waveforms will show up instantly. The waveforms reading from CDs are slow.. even more so than older CDJ models (search youtube for examples of this) fix in a future firmware update?
Ease of Use
Straight forward, Industry standard?. (hope im not sounding like a fan boy) Every club/gig Ive ever played @ had pio's so to be honest i didn't even consider any other brand.
Quality
The entire unit, cue/play buttons feel solid enough. Knobs and sliders are fine.
Value
Get your CDJs in Black, Link feature, Loop quantisation and then some for 952$ more.. or you could save your money for a laptop/coffin case/headphones and a few USB sticks.. I really like the S4 and some of new digital controllers look promising, but i feel i made the right choice going the 850s.
Manufacturer Support
Neutral as Ive never had to contact them for anything.
The Wow Factor
I actually prefer the black, though @ almost $1000 less the silver looks fine.
Musical Background:
Recording Engineer, Production, DJ
Musical Style:
Electronic
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