When it comes to DJ controllers, the most popular units have consistently been Pioneer DJ models for the last few years. But what about last year? Did things change, or has Pioneer DJ’s dominance fallen out of favor? The sales numbers are in, and we’ve got the latest data and information to share on the top-selling DJ controllers for 2018.
2018’s Top Selling DJ Controllers
We’ve done this style of article for three years in a row now – and at the beginning, we always put these familiar caveats.
As an online DJ gear store, DJTT has access to our own sales data – but that doesn’t take into account the biases that our store and customers might have. We don’t carry everything, but instead stock gear that we really trust. As a result, the DJTT store isn’t a good way to tell the overall trends in the industry at large. For this series, instead of using our own sales numbers, we use data from industry reports.
- Out of respect for the data source, MI Salestrak – no specific sales numbers are listed here. The relative positions are what matter. we’re keeping the data confidential by only listing these controller’s relative positions – no specific sales information is shared here.
- We’ve also included all-in-one standalone units (XDJ-RX2) in this line up.
- Media players (CDJs, etc) are not included on this list. They’re harder (Do you count two units as one “setup” being sold? What about four?) to judge next to these single unit solutions.
- It’s based on number of units sold in the US only.
10. XDJ-RX2
- Manufacturer: Pioneer DJ
- Price: $1,699 (in DJTT store)
- Release Date: September 2017
- Last Year’s Position: #8 (-2 this year)
- Software: N/A
In at number ten is a controversial unit: it isn’t really a DJ controller at all, but rather the all-in-one DJ standalone unit that Pioneer DJ makes. These units have become incredibly popular in the last year, and because of that, we felt it was worth including in this list to represent a continued movement to standalone gear. But the XDJ-RX2 does face some incoming steep competition from Denon DJ with their new Prime 4.
9. DJ-202
- Manufacturer: Roland
- Price: $299 (in DJTT store)
- Release Date: August 2017
- Software: Serato DJ Lite
Congratulations, Roland – you’ve cracked the list that Pioneer DJ and Numark have dominated for years in a row. This entry-level controller offers an amazing alternative to the DDJ-SB series – read our thoughts on how it stands up in this review from DJTT contributor Markkus Rovito.
8. DDJ-400
- Manufacturer: Pioneer DJ
- Price: $249 (in DJTT store)
- Release Date: June 2018
- Software: Rekordbox DJ
Pioneer DJ has made DJ controllers designed for Serato DJ software for years that have held dominance over the market – but in June 2018 they announced this budget controller designed explicitly for Rekordbox DJ. This is pretty impressive that the controller was only available for half of the year but still managed to chart at #8 on this list. Read more about the DDJ-400 in this comparison review that matched the DDJ-400 against the DDJ-SB3 and DJ-202.
7. DDJ-1000
- Manufacturer: Pioneer DJ
- Price: $1,119 (in DJTT store)
- Release Date: January 2018
- Software: Rekordbox DJ
Unlike this year, Pioneer DJ actually announced a new product at NAMM 2018 – and the DDJ-1000 was a shimmering new piece of hardware, exclusive to Rekordbox DJ, that was the natural new direction for the DDJ line. Serato DJ users were immediately disappointed to learn that they wouldn’t see the features on this new line – but as with the DDJ-400, that’s kind of the market play that Pioneer DJ was going for. Read our review here.
6. DJ2GO2
- Manufacturer: Numark
- Price: $79 (on Amazon)
- Release Date: August 2017
- Software: Serato DJ Lite
This pint-sized DJ controller was an honorable mention in last year’s list, because it was released in November 2017 and still managed to sell tons of units that year. Predictably, 2018 was even bigger for it. Considering the portability and price and lack of any real competition at that level, we expect it to stay strong this year. That said, Pioneer DJ must see this unit and be tempted to create their own hyper-budget controller for Rekordbox DJ…
5. DDJ-SX3
- Manufacturer: Pioneer DJ
- Price: $1,099 (in the DJTT store)
- Release Date: May 2018
- Software: Serato DJ
- Last Year’s Position (as the SX2): #3 (-2 this year)
Pioneer DJ has continued to update their DDJ-SX, coming out with a new version last year that wasn’t without a few initial hardware faults. Even so, the unit managed to come in right in the middle of the top 10 list. I suspect this might drop a fair amount next year as Pioneer DJ focuses more on their Rekordbox-exclusive hardware…
4. MixTrack Pro 3
- Manufacturer: Numark
- Price: $199 (on Amazon)
- Release Date: May 2015
- Software: Serato DJ
- Last Year’s Position: #5 (+1 this year)
How the heck is this DJ controller continuing to chart so high? It’s nearly 4 years old, and had a successor product (the Mixtrack Platinum) that appears nowhere on the list this year. This is the oldest DJ controller on this list. Congratulations to Numark – speaking of which, will we ever hear of any new products from them?
3. Party Mix
- Manufacturer: Numark
- Price: $99 (on Amazon)
- Release Date: Spring 2016
- Software: Virtual DJ LE
- Last Year’s Position: #4 (+1 this year)
This $99 dollar controller came out three years ago, and it still manages to be one of the most popular units sold in the United States. It’s a flashy toy-like DJ controller with a built-in light show. It turns heads of people who aren’t serious DJs, and that probably is what helps it hold strong on this list.
2. DDJ-SR2
- Manufacturer: Pioneer DJ
- Price: $699 (in DJTT store)
- Release Date: September 2017
- Software: Serato DJ
- Last Year’s Position: #2 (no change)
Coming in at #2 again is the DDJ-SR2, which holds a fascinating position as the two-channel controller that DJs choose if they want something with a bit more power than the budget DDJ-SB3. As with other DDJ-S controllers, I suspect we’ll continue to see this unit fade in popularity – especially with the Roland DJ-505 angling for the same customers.
#1. DDJ-SB3
- Manufacturer: Pioneer DJ
- Price: $249 (in DJTT store)
- Release Date: March 2018
- Software: Serato DJ Lite
- Last Year’s Position (as DDJ-SB2): #1 (no change)
The same budget controller line continues to rock the number one spot, but Pioneer DJ successfully transitioned from the aging SB2 model to the SB3 will still holding the top slot. With the SB3 came a number of new features, including somewhat controversial Pad Scratch functionality championed by a partnership with DJ Jazzy Jeff.
Discontinued Models
Worth noting as well – a few discontinued models still managed to sell enough units that they would have charted on this list. Since both of them have more recent versions on the list, we excluded them from the “top 10”, but still wanted to mention them here for full transparency:
- DDJ-SX2: Would have placed at #4 after Numark Party Mix.
- DDJ-SB2: Would have placed at #9, after DDJ-1000.
Still Not Much Is Changing
Last year we noted at the end of the article that this list appears to be somewhat frozen – with Pioneer DJ units locking out the top positions. While encouraging to see Roland enter the list this year (as we hoped!), it still feels like very little is changing. Pioneer DJ does seem to be making serious inroads with their Rekordbox-exclusive controllers, and we suspect that will lead to a significant change in software usage. But even if those units become the dominant controllers, this list won’t look that different – Pioneer DJ will continue to run things.
Numark could easily slip off of this list entirely in 2019 unless they make some serious announcements soon, and Native Instruments could see their Kontrol S4/S2 MK3 units take hold with some work.
