Product Review - Pioneer CDJ 1000 MK3

November 27, 2009

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Although the CDJ 2000 is now released, it will be quite some time until the 1000 MK3 model is phased out. This has been an industry standard for a long while. It would be surprising to go to a club and not see a couple of these in the DJ booth.

Feature Overview

There are too many features to discuss here so I’ll stick to the ones I consider worth mentioning.

• MP3 capability – This great since you can carry around a lot more tracks on a CD packed with MP3s. You can group music into folders and subfolders.
• BPM counter – Most of the time the built-in beat counter works accurately. Of course, a DJ should never 100% rely on a BPM counter however it is a useful tool for getting within the correct pitch range.
• Looping – I find this feature very handy. Just think of the situations when you don’t have enough time to mix in the next track. Now you simply create a loop and you have all the time you need. You can even adjust the loop start or end point.
• 3 Cue points – Another cool feature is the ability to store and quickly go back to parts of a track. You can even set loop areas as cue points. Standard cue points are lit in green, loop cue points in yellow.
• Vinyl mode – The jog wheel can be used to scratch, change tempo, reverse spin and pause the track. There is the ability to change the resistance of the jog wheel.
• SD card – You can store loop and cue points for your tracks on the card which you insert at the front of the deck.
• Adjustable pitch – There are 4 settings: 6% (pitch slider changes tempo at increments of 0.02%), 10% (increments of 0.05%), 16% (increments of 0.05%) and wide/100% (increments of 0.5%).

Quality

The fact that it is used in clubs and played for hours on end everyday says it all. I’ve never had a CD jump, heard a rattle or had problems playing any of my self-burnt MP3 CDs. This little baby is robust and hardcore.

Looks

The MK3 model looks a lot like its predecessors if looking at it from a distance. It has a more colorful display and in my opinion just looks damn cool.

Sound

Of course, the quality of the sound your hear is determined by a whole load of factors such as the mixer, cables, monitors. Some say it is a cleaner, crisper sound than a turntable produces. I can’t comment on this myself as I haven’t made the comparison. All I know is that it emulates scratching quite well and like all CD players is limited to 16-bit 44.1khz audio.

Ease of use

Once you get the hang of the functions and how to operate them, using it is a breeze. A month after buying this I was still finding useful functions I didn’t know existed so read the manual fully for details. The placement and the size of the buttons/sliders make this model a user-friendly one indeed.

Value for money

The price of the MK3 has varied over the years but hasn’t really come down much. I bought my pair back in August and they cost me £1100 each then which is still the average price of them nowadays. If you see them considerably cheaper, make sure you check whether VAT has been added on. Bottom line, although expensive, it’s definitely worth the mula for its quality.

Would be nice

More cue points would come in handy or am I just being greedy? Actually the Technics SL-DZ1200 has 4 cue points so I can say what I’d like, I am giving the review after all.

What else, I suppose for those vinyl turntable lovers out there, a spindle would make you feel at home, as would a spinning platter.

Overall verdict

I give this a 5/5 for its high quality, superb range of functions and ease of use. Of course, had I waited a few months I’d have probably opted for the 2000 model but I’m happy with what I’ve got. I shall do a review on the 2000 model at some point in the near future.