Pioneer DJ DDJ-800 2-Deck Rekordbox DJ Controller

Coming from using the same 2x Pioneer CDJ 800 MK2's purchased in 2008 and a mint Pioneer DJM 450 (2017), I must say... This unit blows my DJM 450 AND those old (But still beloved) CDJ 800 MK2's OUT OF THE WATER!!!The overall build is real solid. Heavy and feels professional, sturdy and the furthest from cheap. A mix of thick, high quality plastic and brushed aluminum on the jog wheel platters and completely encompassing each jog wheel section.The mixer sounds, feels and performs better than the DJM 450! The 450 is already an incredible, high performance $699 mixer as is! The DDJ 800's mixer is FAR SUPERIOR in my opinion of DJing for 15 years. Many more FX, Faders and even the CF feels so much better, without the Magvel! You can adjust SO MUCH in Rekordbox's menus. You can even change the color FX preset buttons! Rekordbox lets you deeply customize this thing!The jog wheels aren't mechanical, but honestly feel BETTER to me than the CDJ 800 MK2's and up do, IMHO. The jog adjust knob is really nice and lets you choose between a lighter, more floaty jog.. or a firm, very professional quality/feeling one.. The play/cue buttons feel better than on a new pair of CDJ's, no joke! The tops of the jogs are very high quality brushed aluminum that feel almost like glass, like silk.. Going from mechanical to reactive wheels took little time to get used to.. The 800's jogs are tight and on point! I am very surprised on how tight and firm the jogs are at 12 O'clock or even on the lightest setting. Very nice all around!The performance pads are insanely and deeply customizeable. I can't even begin to get into how deep they get. Between the hot cue/FX/beat jump and everything.. it'll take quite awhile to customize this unit to your exact liking.. But it was worth it when I finally got it just right.Rekordbox isn't too bad at all. A simple program that lets me access thousands of tracks acquired over the years at the simple turn/click of a dial.Overall, being an old school DJ learning on vinyl, mastering on CDJ's and now with this incredible piece of equipment, I couldn't be happier. It takes a veteran DJ awhile to go from discs to a program, but I'm on my PC all day anyway. I have been using Mixxx for many years now as a tool to test tracks at different bpm's and test before burning to CD, so if you have any familiarity to any of the other DJ software out there, then I'd say you'd be like me and pick it up moderately easy.I HIGHLY recommend this and I was lucky to get one at $775 (Before Tax) before the promotion from Pioneer was over on 12/31. (If you're wondering why you're seeing them at $899 now.) I would STILL get one even at $899!!!You seriously cannot beat the performance and quality for the price. This thing is AMAZING! It feels so solid and I couldn't be happier with how much more my mixing capabilities and parameters have increased!Also, I'm retired from paying gigs, but this thing rocked a house party it's 2nd night out of the box and is perfect for home use too! Unless you HAVE to have mechanical jogs, 4 channels and barely anything else of significance, then I would give you my 100% recommendation to just buy the DDJ 800 first, ask/think about things after..

I'm quite a bit older than the typical new DJ, but this controller is logical and the Pioneer Rekordbox software is very well thought out and powerful. I am not a complete beginner, as I played around with Serato and a Twitch controller a few years back. I suspect the ease with which a new user would become familiar with mixing will depend upon their experience with music and hearing it mixed by professionals. I listen to most genres of music, but expect to be mixing mostly Psytrance, Progressive Psytrance, Minimal Techno, Techno and Deep House tracks. There are some great YouTube videos on mixing in general, though few yet related to this specific controller as it is still quite new. I got mine setup very quickly, imported some favorites from my collection into Rekordbox and was executing smooth beat-synched, in-key mixes within a half-hour or so. There is a lot of depth to the controller, so I have lots of additional growth ahead of me to work on more advanced transitions etc. I got this to learn with, so depth of features is an asset, not an impediment to me, and I am not intimated by buttons or manuals (YMMV). I looked closely at the DDJ-1000, which was quite a bit more expensive, and didn't feel the extra features were worth the money for my needs. (Though I do like the larger jogs) I was very tempted by the new Denon controllers as they offer much better value for money over Pioneer, however I really wanted to learn rekordbox, and have a reasonable approximation of club-type CDJ layouts, so this was the best choice for me. The unit is nice and sturdy, with a nice finish, so it doesn't look "plasticky" even though that is the primary material. I was fortunate to be able to get some hands-on time with this, as well as just about every other current controller at the NAMM show in Anaheim (2020) so I knew what I was getting before clicking "Buy Now". I'm having tons of fun with it, and if you have the budget, I think it has a lot more depth than the DDJ 400 so there is room to grow as my skills improve.

I bought this deck because I wanted something less grandiose and less expensive than the DDJ-1000. I wanted a deck that had deck displays, but wasn't over a thousand. I love the layout of this deck, I love that it's a little lighter, and as a beginner, I don't miss the other two channels which would be on the DDJ-1000; and maybe I'll upgrade later. I love that this is a rekordbox deck, and comes with a full license. The jog-wheels are responsive and easy to use, the hot pads are nice and large, and the tempo adjust is broad and easy to work in fine grained increments. Should you just get the DDJ-1000 - maybe, maybe not. I've been having a blast! I also have another smaller deck, and I can definitely tell the difference.**Update** I have now had the chance to work on a DDJ-1000 and I actually think I prefer the 800. Whilst the jog wheels on the 1000 are more like the CDJ, I think they are smoother on the 800. More than that, the 1000 is missing a critical button which is present on the 800, which is the loop length adjust. When you set a loop on the 800, the button to double or half is above the jog wheel, but there isn't any space on a DDJ-1000 because the jog wheels are "full size". We're now also seeing accessories drop for the DDJ-800 like flight cases etc., so that's a nice addition to come along now.