The most popular DJ gear at NAMM by far were the new CDJ-2000NXS2 media player and DJM-900NXS2 mixer. The new models are an incremental upgrade (most of the features expand on other solid Pioneer DJ features), but it will soon be the new standard in CDJ-oriented DJ booths around the world. We spent 30 minutes mixing on and testing a NXS2 setup, read on for our first impressions.
- DJ Gear: CDJ-2000NXS2 + DJM-2000NXS2
- Price: $2,199 (each)
- Availability: Mid-to-Late February 2016 (click here to order NXS2 units in the DJTT’s Store)
- Best New Feature: DJM-900NXS2’s EQ-based FX
- Note: this is a first review of the units on display at NAMM 2016 – so we’ve excluded a few things from the review due to the environment. Leave us a comment if you’d like to see a longer review or focus on specific features.
NAMM First Impressions Review: CDJ-2000NXS2
The CDJ-2000 was released in 2009, the CDJ-2000NXS in 2012, and now the CDJ-2000NXS2 in 2016. In terms of updates, this line has seen substantial incremental features on each generation, but the basic workflow remains the same. Here’s our thoughts on the new CDJ:
Browsing + Touch Screen On The CDJ-2000NXS2
The biggest immediately noticeable update on the new CDJ-2000NXS2s comes on the top third of the unit, where there’s a brand new 7” touchscreen and browsing knobs around the design around the track select button. The browse knob/button workflow takes a bit of getting used to if you’re coming from the older CDJs – there are now four buttons that form a ring directly around the knob:
- Back: Still in the top-left position, for navigating backwards in the menu
- Tag Track/Remove: Still top-right, to add tracks to a temporary preparation playlist
- Shortcut: Bottom-right, to quickly return to a certain Browse screen (based on your settings)
- Track Filter/Edit: Bottom-left, activates the new browser menu for filtering sets of tracks by rating, color, BPM, key, etc
The Track Filter menu is the most useful new browsing feature. Instead of sorting playlists by BPM or key and scrolling through loads of tracks, you can quickly choose a playlist or any directory of songs and apply a filter on top of it. I found that this saved me a significant amount of time in the process of finding the next track. Score one for efficiency – but as with most onboard software features, we hope that Pioneer DJ can find a way to bring this feature to other CDJ units.
The touch screen itself great/works well, but isn’t essential to the unit, unlike on the XDJ-1000 where the touch controls for Loop, Beatjump, Sync, etc don’t have hardware buttons to trigger them. A few instances where touch makes a difference:
- Pioneer has removed the strip search touch control, instead you jump around the track by pressing directly on the waveform
- There’s a QWERTY keyboard for searching; for DJs who often find themselves typing in track or artist names, this will speed things up dramatically.
- Quickly navigating the Track Filter menu and choosing the parameters you want to filter by
Finally, there’s a new phase meter display that shows the beat grids. If you’re used to mixing with Serato DJ or other softwares where waveforms are displayed directly next to each other, the new phase meter mode will be a welcome change. It’s a bit more precise than the old one (which is still an option in the settings), and allows you to see how you’re effecting the grid of each track as you change the BPM and nudge the jogwheel.
CDJ-2000NXS2 Playback
A few things really stood out as workflow improvements that would make a big difference in an average mixing session:
- Slip Reverse: this is clearly a James Zabiela-inspired feature, allowing DJs to toggle into both slip and reversed playback at the same time. Very fun and easy to get great results, especially when used on vocals or drum hits
- Quick Loop Button: Instead of four beat loops if you hold down Loop In, there’s now a button that will trigger a four count loop with one press or an eight count loop if held down.
DDJ-SP1’s MIDI Control For CDJ-2000NXS2
A video posted by DJ TechTools (@djtechtools) on
Yes, the DDJ-SP1 can now be connected into a set of connected CDJs and trigger cue points, drop loops, trigger loop rolls, and activate sync mode on the CDJ-2000NXS2. The SP1 can be plugged into any USB port in an entire Pro Linked NXS2 system and controls up to four CDJs.
We pressed Pioneer to share more details on if other CDJs/XDJs would be getting this feature, but they didn’t have an answer for us – only that they had “also gotten a lot of interest in this feature.”
What Is The CD Drive Even Still Doing Here
We asked about the still-present CD slots on the CDJ-2000NXS2 – considering Rekordbox being the central hub of all Pioneer users, shouldn’t the emphasis be on HID modes and USB media on new players? Apparently the CD drive is still requested as a backup option for professional DJs (even though you can use Rekordbox on your phone, computer, or a SD card as a backup if your USB drive fails). We also noticed that the DJM-Tour1 and CDJ-Tour1 prototypes on display still had CD slots on them.
Audio + Sound Quality: Still TBD
One of the hard parts about testing gear at NAMM is that the entire convention is a massive noise-filled hall, and so no one is allowed to turn up their setup too loud. It’s a bit of a catch 22 – aside from in headphones, it’s nearly impossible to get a good sense of how any gear sounds because of the show’s relentless cacophony.
The new NXS2 units boast FLAC support, 64-bit mixing processor, and improved sound cards, we’ll have to wait until for a proper test on a club system to really get a sense of the improvements. It also could be really cool to do an audio comparison against other top-of-the-line mixers at other high-end mixer companies like Rane and Allen & Heath.
NAMM First Impressions Review: DJM-900NXS2
The four-channel DJM mixer has long been a staple of DJing, with the modern dual FX units (color and beat) features really taking hold with the DJM-800 in 2006, an integrated soundcard arriving in the DJM-900NXS in 2011, and Serato support on the now-discontinued DJM-900SRT in 2013. The 900NXS2 has a number of big improvements:
FX Improvements / Changes
- EQ-isolated FX: These buttons allow DJs to choose what frequencies to apply the selected effect to. This is most useful to remove the low-end frequencies from effects – which sound pretty sloppy or overwhelming when you put any kind of echo/delay/reverb on them.This also meant spending less time using the Color FX in Filter in combination with the Beat FX – but it will take a bit of practice to get rid of that force-of-habit in my DJing workflow.
- Color FX Parameter knob: one of the most useful new controls – this changes the intensity of each Color effect, which makes a big difference as Noise, Filter, and Crush all can become way too overbearing very easily.
- New Beat FX: Ping Pong is the more utilitarian effect of the two – a panning delay that sounds great applied to the high-end of the mix. Helix is a bit more reminiscent of Spiral, and freezes the current moment in sound and pitches it up or down – could have spent a few more hours getting good at it.
- Beat FX Touch Strip: The touch strip has been widened, and now can play an interesting role in Reverb – see above video.
One odd choice: Pioneer rearranged the Beat FX assignment knob.The crossfader and mic assignments are now all the way to the left side of the knob making it harder to quickly switch without looking – especially if you have years of experience with any other Pioneer mixer, where the FX order is 1-4, Mic, CF A, CF B, Master. Even the A/B order of the crossfader assignment is reversed, so the furthest left one is CF B. This makes no sense as CF A is on the left side of the mixer.
Dedicated Send / Return FX Loop
This is another obvious upgrade from Pioneer, because in the past it was only possible to have Send/Return FX if you used the Beat FX unit. Switching into that often would rob DJs of the other powerful effects in that unit.
With the new Send/Return loop, there are two options:
- Send: Out of either the USB port or the 1/4″ jacks
- Return: The effected audio can come back in as insert within the FX chain, or back as an aux input on any of the 4 channels
The USB port right next to the send/return loop is powerful because it can pass audio in and out – we used it with an iPad running the RMX-1000 app that launched late last year, and it was fun, but there’s a bit more potential here that we hope will be taken advantage of.
MagVel Crossfader
Pioneer has taken the turntablism-oriented crossfader that they developed to put into the DJM-S9 mixer (read our review here) and put it into the NXS2 DJM, and it’s a welcome addition. The DJM-900SRT had a nice crossfader in it, but other than that most of the DJMs have had pretty sloppy-feeling crossfaders compared to Rane’s. It would be nice to have added more control over the crossfader curves – even if only digitally in the menu.
DJs who have shied away from the DJM line in the past due to wanting something more suitable for cutting will be pleased, but for DJs mixing with upfaders, it could go unnoticed.
Final Thoughts
Overall the new NXS2 line brings a lot of improvements to the table that most DJs will welcome, but it’s still a bit of a financial stretch, especially with the price having been increased to $2199. But these are the new players (the current CDJs and DJMs are getting discontinued soon) and they will start to trickle into venues and stores at the end of February. Units are now shipping from lovely retailers such as DJ TechTools
Ultimately it does feel like Pioneer has some obligation to their current customers to improve the features on the XDJ-1000/700 and CDJ-2000/2000NXS to include some of the firmware-side features present on these new models. There are too many different versions of the Rekordbox experience, and unifying them on the media players would be well-received.
There were plenty of other sights we got to see at NAMM 2016 – check our full coverage here or see some unique shots on Instagram.
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Just play on the nxs2 for 20 minutes. It’s a beautiful machine. The sound quality versus nxs1 is soooooo noticeable. It’s so smooth. The color effects are astronomically cleaner. The frequency cuts on the beat fx literally triple your options and really give you awesome control that was long over due.
The firmware update couldn’t be any easier. Takes 2 minutes.
The “asshole”clip lights are probably my favorite feature. It doesn’t happen to me but man, seeing them light up cause some fool is massively over gain…. it’s just fun if you can show other djs….hey ya see that blinking red light saying clip. …ya, you don’t want that.
I’ve owned:
Rolland 2000
DJM-500,600,800,900nxs
A&H px5
Rain sixty- four
Hands down….900nxs2…. the best.
I’m an audio engineer at a large venue in LA as well as dj for 19 years.
900-2 …. it’s just fun and CLEAN. The frequency parameters are so clean. I’m lucky…Ive cross compared all the above on big sound.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love it.
Oh ya… 2 levels of effects. Pop ur iPad on and let me tell ya, the possibilities are ENDLESS and that’s rad. It’s almost too much. Down side, I’ve seen people go effects cray and that’s painful.
It’s expensive, but I will tell you, you won’t have buyers remorse if u upgrade.
On sound quality: from the headphone jack the DJM 900nxs2 sounds better than an iPhone 6 but not as good as my $1,000 portable music player.
I compared it with: the Chord Hugo portable DAC ($2,000); the Chord Mojo portable DAC ($600); the Cowon P1 portable music player ($1,000) and my iPhone 6. The DJM 900nxs2 was fed digitally by a CDJ 2000nxs2. I listened to the same lossless tracks with my custom in-ear monitors.
The Hugo and Mojo destroy the DJM 900nxs2. Much more transparency, punchier dynamics, better sense of rhythm and musicality. It is a closer call with the Cowon P1 – but the Cowon sounds more balanced and refined. However the DJM 900nxs2 sounds better than the iPhone: obviously more power, but also more authoritative bass, and slightly more refined treble.
Overall the DJM 900nxs2 is a decent (not great) sounding table, with a clear signal, solid sound and good dynamics – though not audiophile-grade.
Interestingly, when fed with a XDJ 1000mk2 with analog cables (that player does not have a digital output) the DJM 900nxs2 sounded notably thinner. This suggests that Pioneer does use lower-audio components on mid-end products, despite boasting “high-quality sound” on all of its new product releases.
What a shame Pioneer has no real competition as they are ripping us off big time!
??? How do you mean…. I make 10 times the cost of a new Pioneer setup before I need to replace/upgrade. This during 3-5 years, and that’s if I decide to keep the old gear when I buy the new. I f I sell, I get 30-50 % back from the original cost which gets me 15 times in return for my investment. That is if you are out gigging and not just playing home to your friends. In that case there’s a whole world of better and cheaper solutions from Pioneer and other brands. The top models are entirely ment for professional use where build quality and reliability are the most important features. The day I step down to like 2-3 gigs/month, I would not buy the top-of-the-line gear. I’d choose the XDJ-1000Mk2/DJM-450 or the XDJ-R1 for less than half the price and still get most of the features. Still very reliable but less build quality, but that’s ok when they are in my studio most of the time anyway.
I already have the new NXS2 gear and from what I’ve experienced so far, the sound of the mixer is really good, specially at the actual moment of the mix. With the DJM900nxs I used to have that feeling that the tracks never really blended. This is the first Pioneer mixer in which I really enjoy the mix. We sold our NXS before the NXS2 arrived so I didn’t have the chance to compare their sound. Has anybody made this test?
It’s pretty hilarious that people think using this overpriced shit somehow gives you cred because you’re not using a laptop. I have more respect for people with enough fiscal sanity of just using a laptop. Not a lot more respect, but some.
And using an overpriced shitty laptop, or two for the sake of backup (it’s a computer, not DJ gear), would gain more respect and considered as ”enough fiscal sanity”….? I’ve used Pioneers top end players since 1994 and still have fully functional CDJ-500II’s, CDJ-1000Mk3’s, CDJ-2000Nxs’s besides my new Nsx2’s. I play every weekend and in 22 years, I have not had a single error, not once, during my sets. That’s what matters when you actually use them for payed work. Please come back to me when there’s a laptop that equals that… and no, there’s not one made yet. I fix the d—n things in between gigs as it is my second line of work, and I see all the stuff that breaks all the time… Apple laptops included. I actually do have a dvs/serato/SL1/laptop that I could use as a last resort. Works fine, but trusting that 2-3 times every week… not gonna happen.
“overpriced shitty laptop, or two”
Nice invented straw man.
I’m buying a pair Of cdj’s and a djm nxs2. I cant understant why isnt included a Rekordbox Dj licence. 🙁
As the send/return is now independent from the beat fx and you can use them both, i wonder, what is the priority? is it 1st s/r then beat fx then to the main, or the other way arround??
I just want beatjump and coloured waveforms on my nxs thanks, features which are easily put into firmware updates…..
Wow. This new Pioneer $6000 kit can do what Virtual DJ was doing back in 2009.
Exactly. Hanpin, VDJ, etc. Price difference is between one tenth and one twentieth per deck.
I’m fairly certain that the MagVel fader on this is not the same as the S9 since the S9 is the MagVel Pro fader. My assumption is that it’s the same fader on the DDJ-SZ (which is also MagVel (non pro).
First pic Magvel Pro
Second Magvel (non pro)
Maybe I missed it but I didn’t see anything about you asking if the 900nxs2’s dual soundcards had any chance being Traktor Scratch or Serato DVS-ready, or if the CDJs will be compatible with Traktor or Serato over advanced HID.
Advance HID mapping of the NXS2 we got to wait when the NI and Serato is bringing out the Mappings. Pioneer is not the one that suply the mappings. So we got to wait.
Unfortunately that is not how it works with HID. MIDI mappings yes, HID no.
Pioneer and NI/Serato have to work together to make this happen. Pioneer requires the software company to request the feature before anything can happen. NI can’t just make something akin to a MIDI map and put it out there for Traktor users to take advantage of. Once it was worked out between Pioneer and the software co there will first have to be new firmware from Pioneer to update the CDJs, then the functionality would be included in a future build of Traktor/SeratoDJ.
The question right now is (assuming NI/Serato has initiated the request), will Pioneer even entertain the idea now that they are pushing Rekordbox DJ, and if they would will there be a monetary barrier in the way of getting it done.
I don’t think pioneer will block that. They want everbody to use there gear on stage. They now a lot of DJs used Traktor and Serato. So they will still allowed 3th party manufactors on there gear. And it is up to NI or Serato when the will join in Quickly. I now serato is very quick to built a nice mapping voor new CDJs or XDJs. But for NI we had to wait very long when the got a nice mapping for the CDJ900NXS and XDJ1000. I hope that it won’t be so long for the CDJ2000NXS2.
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2000$x3=6000$ (2 CDJ’s 1 Mixer) now we can think about 1 DJM900nxs2 + 2 Traktor Kontrol X1 = 2400$ we can save 3600$ OMG!!!
It’s Pioneer. Good luck with the firmware updates. You are supposed to dump another $2k into another cdj every 3 to 4 years.
Their car stereos (when they was part of the previous company) get zero love once you’ve bought them.
The AppRadio 3 is utter crap and I’d like to smash it up with a hammer on their headquarters car park and all due their lack of support and firmware updates.
Their response to an issue was “to purchase the latest headunit” to get a feature added to make the radio usable.
You buy their products for what they do at the time of purchase and that’s it. Never expect a firmware update to expand on it when they could be quite easily.
The SX had no strip search lock like their other controllers so Serato had to add it.
That why I stay with me Current CDJ2000NXS and DJM2000. I love to see the benefits of the NXS2 series, but the new functions are to little for me to buy a new set. And I don’t have the money for that right away. If I sell my set i can get maybe.€3,5k maybe €4k. I still need another €2k. 8 Hotcue’s is nice but I don’t use hotcue’s that much. Search filter and my tag is also nice, but if you prepare like I prepare my tracks nowadays in Rekordbox I don’t need it. More overwiew in the screen also nice. But I use my laptop for my Pro link on the CDJ’s and DJM. Overview on my laptop screen is better that any CDJ or XDJ. I only play MP3 320KBPS, I now that Flac and Alac are better. But on PA system people don’t here much differnce, and do the care? No. Instand doubles is already on the CDJ2000Nexus. Loop cutter and slipreverse are also there on the CDJ2000Nexus only you need to push more buttons. I want a 3th Deck and that will be or The XDJ1000, CDJ900Nexus or a nice CDJ2000Nexus for a nice price.
I’d like to see them push a firmware update to show phase meter on our 6.1″ screens. Kind of thinking in the same school as you right now; although I only have the DJM850; the update to the deck is incremental. Not worth the trade in and re-investment and with the release of Rekordbox DVS I was thinking I may pick up a pair of used Tech12 MKII and reconditioning them and save a few $$$. I must admit that a 64bit processor is kind of nice to see, if you’ve used the reverse on your 2KNXS much you’ll know what I’m talking about.
I already own 3 piece of Technics SL1210 turntable’s. But about the firmware, I like to see that too, but I don’t think this is gonna happen. Pioneer want us to buy the new ones, that why. But Rekordbox DJ is not finish yet. DVS is coming, I saw a video on DJworks.com. But I wan’t see that they come with a midi mappeble version of Rekordbox DJ. With my DJM2000 I got a screen in the middle that is midi mappible. I use it when I use Traktor Pro. I hope that this is gonna happen also for Rekordbox DJ. When this happen it is no need to buy CDJ2000NXS2. Hope that pioneer is coming with that. Before that happen I am not buying Rekordbox DJ.
I’m a Traktor user as well, although I was lucky enough to win a Rekordbox DJ licence during Worxmas from Mark and the crew.
Congrate. That very nice. Because I like the Gui of Rekordbox DJ.
Not processor: 64bit depth dynamic range, which isn’t significantly different in use from 32bit floating point. All it means is within the DSP you’re not going to clip anything. I’m not sure how you clip a player in the digital domain when you’re not having to worry about levels. It’s probably just the new hardware they went with that can finally handle the measly FLAC processing that just so happens to have these specs and they’re trying to milk it for everything they can to justify the price tags.
You have no idea how Allen and Heath sucks in updates department. How about 3 years without ANY update sounds to you? I bet Pioneer is way better.
Has Pioneer a record of keeping its older gear up to date ?
No. Never going to happen. Completely different internal hardware.
midi support… ah, at least ! the ddj sp1 support is great news !
I hope this will be added to NXS1, because it will be quite long for venues and promoters to update to NXS2. NXS1 was quite recent and all the places I played last 2/3 years updated to NXS1. they won’t necessarilly update to NXS2 soon since it’s quite a big budget.
can’t wait for other midi controllers support too !
NXS1 wasn’t quite recent. It came out in 2012. The CDJ 2000 came out in 2009. So 3-4 years between units is quite normal I’d say, and it won’t take most major clubs long to upgrade. If it’s on a DJ’s rider, the club gets it. Period.
on small events or in small clubs it’s not rare to see old CDJ2000s and DJM800s despite having most DJs playing asking for NXS in their riders.
Yes, I lot of small avenue’s still use the old CDJ2000s and some time you still find the DJM800.
Definitely curious to see how the DJM stacks up against this new mixer Richie and Allen&Heath are cooking up.
Also super curious to see if the send return USB is usable with something like a TR-8 or MX-1. It’d be a much easier way to incorporate more live stuff into a traditional setup.
I was wondering : are the RMX 1000 and RMX 500 still relevant, if you have a DJM 900NXS2 ? I love their ergonomics, but feel like the mixer now offer almost the same FX possibilities…
I think the main difference would be the drum samples on the RMX stuff, whereas the DJM has none.
There are more option you can do on RMX1000 or RMX 500 that are totaly different on the DJM900nxs2 trust me.
Thanks for the feedback gentlemen. Love those little unit but feared they were overkilled with the already FX overkilled NXS2
It’s depent how you use the FX. I agree with you you can overkill effects. Thats why you got to use effects wisely and practise on it before you use it in public. I love effects but I dont overkill it.
They are nice… I enjoy my RMX 500. It’s a piece of hardware that you can take with you, use on an unfamiliar mixer and still sound like yourself with the effect chains that you are used to using. Beisdes, it can also be used as a USB powered audio interface.
Basically Pioneer MUST update their current line of XDJ and CDJ with some of the firmware related new features otherwise they will start loosing their biggest advantage what is the homogeneous experience across their products.
They were the first who made their products in way that no matter what product you had, the rest of the line was so intuitive that you had no issues playing from a pioneer device you haven’t touched before.
With introducing NXS2, there is a gap….
Can’t imagine that in a dark club with mixed versions, I am looking at the device types, trying to figure out if this can be connected using one usb or if I need one for each and if I can use filter search on the device on my left side or only on the one on my right side..
Sounds crazy….
Yep, it’s muscle memory, and I really, really hope that Pioneer makes a firmware update. Doubt there is much of a technical hurdle on the older units, but only Pioneer would know that for sure..
They need to make clubs and gear junkies buy the new firmware – sorry the new NXS2 hardware 😉 – before introducing the changes to the current models anyway…
I believe there are some real HW limitations what means there will be most likely no FLAC support on the original NXS as it uses the older cpu. On the other hand, I don’t believe there is some significant difference between the XDJ and NXS2 (for lowering the costs, it makes sense to use the same internals in as many models as possible). Also there is no excuse for not implementing colored cues, colored waves, the new phase meter, tag filter etc. just to keep the devices to act the same across the whole line.
The only question is how many of the new features they will wrap to the “HW limitation” bullshit because lets admit it – the NXS2 is more about the software changes than about some real hw revolution or evolution or whatever they call it…
If its a question of money, I am ok with paying for the new firmware but I am absolutely not ok with replacing my few months old units which are on the market for 1 year just because the Pioneer decided I should get the NXS2… 🙂
From what I’ve seen, most Wolfson DACs have the ability to play FLAC. There are a bunch of Android phones with them onboard. Rekordbox DJ plays FLAC on a CDJs hardware. Windows is yet to see 64bit application support, while Core Audio natively runs in a 64bit environment. A lot of times it just comes down to OEMs not producing much needed code.
DACs are stupid… literally. You just feed them PCM data (in this case) and they decode it. They’re not programmable. The FLAC support is occurring further back in the chain. And again, the 64bit cited is just the bit depth of the internal processing.
Please reread what you are commenting on… In this regard I’m am speaking of 64bit ASIO application support for Windows.
And my point is the 64bit referenced in the article has zero to do with 64bit applications. None. Why even bring it up? Also, if you want to even go there, the statement “Windows is yet to see 64bit application support” isn’t even remotely correct. There are 64bit versions of Windows (most versions now being sold/installed) and 64bit versions of applications that run in Windows. And other than people complaining inexplicably about Pioneer ASIO drivers not being 64bit compatible (the only 64bit DVS is one version of Traktor hardly anyone uses and no one is using Pioneer CDJ2000s to run Ableton 64), I don’t see the point you’re trying make. Are you making some vague comparison between manufacturers not supporting consumer needs or creating products at the bleeding edge of what OS and apps can do?
I am a Traktor user. I own a DJM that is Traktor certified, but have to use the application in 32bit mode. This is relevant to me as my laptop has 16Gb of RAM and an i7. As it is Windows uses roughly 1.5Gb of system memory to run the OS and due to 32bit mode only utilizes up to 2Gb for the application. I’m pretty sure I’d see an increase in performance if I had access to the other 8Gb of RAM and able to throw out more than 1 thread.
You are not limited to one thread. In 64bit windows you are often not even limited to 2gb of memory per 32bit app. it can be as much as double. Even if it was just 2gb it is doubtful traktor would use it without a whole bunch of long 24bit stems or videos.
I also use Maschine, K9U and Live… 64bit. I’m guessing that the one version of Traktor that you are mentioning is TP2 or TSP native install that just happens to be 64bit? At this point, if we are having this conversation… I don’t have to tell you about the limitations of a 32bit application on 64bit architecture, but what most people fail to compensate for is the amount of volatile RAM populated when you are forced to thunk. Having access to even 4Gb (out of the possible 16Gb), you can still run into problems.
I digress at this point considering that due to proper driver support this issue would be nonexistent.
If all you were using were 16bit files or short 24bit ones, you could still probably get away with just 4gb of ram on a system and rarely ever use the paging memory on the HD. You’re never going to get anywhere close to using 16gb. The biggest hardware limitation to worry about with lots of audio apps running is actually the CPU, and in Windows (prior to v10 with its new audio stack) making sure you have a modern graphics chip set (i series chips have decent on board finally) so the DPC latency doesn’t increase from the on screen information.
The biggest you personally might have is the 32bit apps communicating with the 64bit apps and sending audio back and forth, not running out of memory or threads. They each can utilize thousands of threads and their own memory register blocks up to individual limits. Obviously you have more than enough hardware. So when Pioneer asks customers why they insist on 64bit asio drivers, make that argument, not the memory and thread one or pointing out you’ve got an engineering/video/graphics-capable laptop you want to fully exploit; they’re going to roll their eyes at it.
You are certainly right that for the premium people are paying for their gear, their customers should not have to worry about it.
To be honest, I’m thinking back to some reading that I did when I was doing my virtualization practical. In practice, I’m wondering how much priority gets put upon the interrupt within ASIO to clear the buffer when you have a layer of unnecessary sub routines to handle 32 to 64 bit conversion when all that is needed is 64 bit ASIO.
https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2011/10/13/wow64-memory-mapping-of-32bit-apps-running-on-a-64bit-windows/
It’s not really about how much system resources you have, it’s more to do with how efficiently it is being used.
Bingo. Having way more ram than you need can even be a detriment. Don’t go worrying about that, though. I don’t think audio software is on the bleeding-edge of needing every bit of speed you can squeeze out of any system. Aside from the annoyances of getting these apps to work together, I assume with your laptop you already don’t have any clicks, glitches, or distortion problems ever, even running Vista or Windows 7 on an i7, right? Windows 10 doesn’t even completely fix the audio stack. It’s improved but not at the priority or features as in OSX, not to mention v10 driver support is still lacking.
XDJ used basically the same old crap chips inside as the original NXS. NXS2 has moved to a completely different set of internals.
I’m hoping for an XDJ ‘1500’ Which would amount to The Nexus 2 CDJ but scrap the disk drive. I guess that could be competing against themselves though… so maybe that won’t happen.
It’s schizophrenic. KKR has apparently looked at the criticism against Pioneer DJ and forced them to up their game, but this should have happened years ago. While a Japanese company, they were sitting on their laurels and all the while people have moved over to cheap controllers and laptops.
They use completely different internal hardware. We got in a big argument with the Pioneer people over this nonsense on their forums years back. The Nexus was using the same type of chips as the original CDJ2000 and can’t do a lot of this stuff that the NXS2 now can. My opinion of the first NXS and the XDJ is they dropped the ball in sticking with the old, outdated hardware and prevented the line from having the longevity it could have. Eventually, they were going to have to up their game, and then what? The chickens are now coming home to roost. I don’t know how you justify to people to buy the new line, or how you convince DJs to expect that clubs and promotion companies have them when they get a booking.
The one feature they should add to the XDJ-1000 is FLAC/ALAC support IMO. I’m not holding my breath though.. The current line-up means that if I want to play FLAC/ALAC on a Pio player, I need to buy a CD drive as well..?! LOL!
Yes – you need to throw away what you already have and buy the most expensive model with all the features you will most likely never use, if you want flac… 😀
Especially given the fact that they call the XDJ-1000 a “multi-player”……what an insult!!
Multi player means the can play a lot of File (Wave, MP3, AIFF and WMA) types and the player can be used as a midicontolller. And the XDJ1000 can do that. So it is a multi player.
Sure, but all the other CDJs are capable of reading the same codecs……so are they “multi-players” as well? See my point? No, the XDJ must read FLAC/ALAC to be considered a true multi-player.
Flac and Alac is a better sound quality for sure. But do people here the diference on a PA system? My answere is NO.
You are probably right about that. But shouldn’t you as a (professional) dj always strive to play the best possible audio quality? My answer is YES.
The difference in min opinium is to little. If you have high end equipment you may here the differance.
FLAC and ALAC do not sound better than WAV or AIFF. But, yes, on a properly set up system in a properly treated room, it’s easy to tell a difference between lossless and MP3s on properly mastered material that isn’t compressed to shit in the dynamics.
Impossible. The big sham was that the original Nexus and the XDJ were still using woefully outdated hardware their engineers’ expertise appeared to be latched to. Pure laziness combined with an equally lazing consumer base willing to buy whatever crap they were spoon fed. Numark had stuff a decade ago that they were releasing with more processing power, could do FLAC with ease, and had open source firmware.
That’s the big issue: how can anyone possibly put the NXSv2 on riders and expect that if they bring a thumb drive with flacs now that they’ll definitely be able to play them?