15 July 2011

Pioneer DJM-T1 review

As the DJ-scene moves more and more into the digital age and controllers take a larger part of a DJ setup, the question is where does the mixer fit in and how does it evolve to still be an essential part of the setup? Enter the next step in Mixers: Built-in soundcard and buttons for application control. I believe that this type of mixers will be more and more seen in clubs all over the world in the years to come, but is this mixer the one?


My opinion:
I haven’t had hands on experience, but judging from what Pioneer normally deliver on their mixers this is a best buy item if you are using Traktor with time code and need the perfect center piece.
In the review they get hung up on the fact that they think the unit VERY pricy, but it’s actually about as expensive then the CDJ-800. Ok, so you lose two channels and mixer the effects, but you gain the built-in soundcard and Traktor tuned layout.

The thing I don’t like about the layout of mixer is actually that there are only two channels and yes, if you compare it to other two channel mixers, it’s a bit on the pricy side, but not all that much.
The thing that stuns me is the fact that Pioneer makes a fully integrated unit ONLY for Traktor and choose to send control signals via MIDI! WHAT? Why wouldn’t they develop a HID driver like the Kontrol S4 has?

To sum it all up
This is the ultimate unit for DJ’s using time code and Traktor DUO. If you’re looking for a unit for the Traktor PRO you should check out Rane Sixty-Eight.

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