Pioneer DDJ ERGO

Since the complete domination of the DJ deck market with the industry standard CDJ-1000 mk3. Its fair to say if you visit any club in the world you are likely to catch a glimpse of the back of a Pioneer CDJ deck from the DJ Booth. Pioneer CDJs are the most popular and reliable tool to mix with whether you are using CDs or DJ software which is all due to the robust and simplified design. As ironic as the question sounds has Pioneer jumped on the midi controller bandwagon with DDJ-ERGO-v? If so where would this gadget fit into the life of DJ who gigs on a regular basis?

Once you look past the blue and red flashing lights on the jog wheel you start to recognize many of the features from the CDJ range. Including play / cue buttons, looping facilities, hot cues, key lock and vinyl mode. The same goes for the built in mixer as it offers the standard Hi, Mid and Low frequency manipulation knobs, channel faders, a cross fader, and built in filters and effects. This is great as you don’t have to relearn where all the functions are. Although when it comes to actually gigging with the DDJ-ERGO you will have to plug the output of the built in sound card into a standalone mixer and 9 times out of 10 it will probably be a Pioneer one.

With the catchy tag line ‘play out anywhere’ it looks as though Pioneer have aimed the DDJ-ERGO-v at the bedroom DJ. Which is a great, as it is the vital beginning of any DJs career. This is evident as this considerably low priced midi controller is now in stores 2 months before christmas and comes bundled with a copy of Virtual DJ LE software. Which offers a wide range of samples and stuttering effects allowing you to re-edit the tracks in your set on the fly. The device also has software compatibility with Traktor and Serato DJ Intro which have a stronger reputation with professional laptop DJs and both are free to download.

Only on a rare occasion will you witness any established DJs setting up one of these devices in a club to do a DJ set. If you know how to use the Pioneer CDJs and DJM which will be already set up in the booth then stick to them. If you starting out as DJ and need some equipment to practice on this device is the most cost effective solution at £429.
Don’t worry if that price breaks the bank, if you give the video another look the DJ sitting on the floor at 1:12 is obviously busking. So if you don’t get many gigs take your laptop and your DDJ-ERGO down to Leicester Square and double drop to phat Dubstep wobblers I am sure people will put money in your cup.

Post courtesy of Urban Nerds