Is The Pioneer DDJ-400 Still A Great Controller In 2021?

what's up guys happy new year to you welcome to 2021 we are kicking off the brand new year with a video all about this guy here the pioneer dj ddj 400 controller is it still a worthwhile purchase in 2021 let's get into it [Music] so in terms of an introduction a brief introduction to the ddj 400 this was released back onto the market in june of 2018 so it has been around for a couple of years and here in the united kingdom it currently retails at a price of 249 pounds which in my opinion is good value it's extremely accessible for a lot of pockets and for any beginner dj that's looking to dip their toe in the water with regards to djing maybe you don't know if djing is for you and you just want to have a muck around with a few tunes this is quite a good price point as it won't break the bank i would always recommend starting off with something a little bit cheaper and then if you really want to take djing seriously then invest your money a little bit later on in terms of what you get for your 249 pounds well you get a two channel controller and a two channel mixer the mixer follows the same footprint as can be seen in pioneer's more expensive models the djm series if you're looking into separate mixers and the decks again pretty much have that standard pioneer layout so if you do eventually upgrade later down the line you're going to feel right at home on more advanced units which is really good to see now in terms of applications because of the limited amount of outputs that you have on this unit with regards to master there's no ability to connect a booth monitor here the microphone input is extremely limited this is why it remains a beginner dj's unit suitable for a bedroom dj if you're playing at house parties perhaps you you know you just want to play some tunes with your mates round that is where this unit kind of sits in the marketplace in my opinion the only time i would recommend using this in a more professional application is in a kind of a backup scenario where everything else has failed and you need something to use as a last resort and that is how i use this unit in terms of build quality it is entirely made out of plastic you can see i'm picking it up with one a hand here it comes in at like two kilos it's extremely lightweight and it does feel quite flimsy like the the pitch faders here feel a little bit flimsy that being said this has been thrown in and out of my car constantly because i have it in there as a backup device and it hasn't actually let me down so don't let the the kind of plastic feel for you because i've always found it to be quite robust and in terms of power you don't actually need a separate power point for it you just plug this straight into the laptop and you can use it which is fantastic so is this unit still a worthwhile purchase in 2021 and the answer is yes in my opinion and for two key reasons first and foremost the access to record box dj now last year um pioneer ruffled a lot of feathers by releasing their subscription plans and the changes to record box dj in the format of record box six and to be honest the timing was pretty insensitive because no dj's had any work at the time of the release however this device is a record box enabled or record box unlocked device which means that for the price that you pay for this unit you get access to record boxes performance features which is fantastic value you know all you need to do is plug in and play out of the box there is the one-off price and you get access to a lot of record boxes features that being said if you want access to the the cloud-based system that rekordbox has or the vocal analysis that is a premium service you will still have to subscribe for it but that being said there is nothing to stop you doing a full dj set on record box using this device out of the box and you will not have to pay a penny more which is absolutely fantastic and i think it's kind of future the device a little bit as an example when pioneer released rekordbox six um the pioneer cdj 2000 nexus 2 the flagship player was not a hardware unlocked device and it still remains a hard you know not a hardware unlocked device because of the introduction of the cdj 3000 so this unit is going to be around i think for a little while longer before we see any major updates or anything like that and that leads me on to my second conclusion as to why i think this is still a worthwhile purchase in 2021 and that is the industry standard layout as you can see on the decks here pioneers range has always followed this kind of layout it kind of looks like a cdj if you went from here and jumped onto another controller you'd feel right at home straight away you'd obviously need to have a little bit of a practice but you could pretty much pick up the basics almost straight away if you have used this unit and with the release of the new flagship device the cdj 3000 that's always going to be a little bit of a worry because if they make any fundamental changes to the flagship device you're going to think you know further down the line you're going to start to see these changes on other units that is not the case with the cdj 3000 they are still largely following this same layout that they have done for a number of years which again makes me think that this device is a little bit more future proof which is good to see and the final reason why i still think this is an extremely worthwhile purchase in 2021 is just the flexibility in terms of of course record box but also as well using this with an ipad app like algorithm so algorithm basically is an application that you could use if you don't want to use record box if you don't want to buy your own music but you have something like spotify playlists that you think do you know what i want to play around with mixing music from a streaming service now pioneer did um you know address that that kind of space in the market with the introduction of the real entry-level controller called the ddj-200 however this device if you spend a little bit more money will give you the option of both record box and using algorithm if by all means you want to um just play around with your ipad and if you spotify playlist then you can probably get away with the pioneer ddj 200 but if you go with the 400 that gives you a greater deal of flexibility at looking at professional software but also as well it opens the doors of creativity on another level and also if you want to take djing a little bit more seriously down the line this will enable you to do that because you're going to feel right at home with those more professional controllers and higher end pieces of equipment further down the line so just to conclude then is the pioneer ddj 400 a worthwhile purchase in 2021 i'm sure you've probably guessed it already from me it's an absolute resounding yes that is my personal opinion um please leave me a comment below if you think otherwise my only final recommendation when buying a unit like this is buy it new okay for me i think 249 pounds of investment into this and essentially free software as well is extremely good value for money but the buttons the sliders etc they're not built quite as robustly as what is found on more expensive units so for the sake of saving yourself 50 pounds 60 pounds on a second hand unit pay a little bit more and get that reassurance hope you've enjoyed the video give it a thumbs up if you have enjoyed it uh leave me a comment on your thoughts below and i will see you in the next video

Channel: Karl Thomas

Views: 13,477

Keywords: DJing, How to DJ, Starting as a DJ, Beginner DJ, Advice to DJ's, DJ Advice, DJ Tutorial, DJ Networking, crossfader, pioneerdj, karl Thomas, DJ vlog, karlthomasdj, ddj 400, pioneer dj, dj controller, ddj 400 review, ddj 400 in 2020, ddj400 in 2021, beginner dj controller, best beginner dj controller, best dj controller, ddj-400 review, beginner dj tutorial, ddj 400 unboxing, best dj controller 2020, best dj controller 2021

Id: vuZmvMnSz-4

Length: 8min 55sec (535 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 03 2021