CDJ

CDJs have jog wheels and pitch faders that allow manipulation of the digital music similar to a vinyl record on a DJ turntable.

In 1993 Denon DJ was the first to implement a 2-piece rackmounted dual-deck variable-pitch CD player with a jog wheel and instant cue button for DJs.

It quickly became the industry standard and was widely adopted in most clubs and mobile DJs throughout the 90s up until 2004 when Pioneer made an impact with the CDJ-1000.

[1][2] The Pioneer CDJ-400, CDJ-800, CDJ-850K, CDJ-1000, CDJ-900, CDJ-2000 and the latest model CDJ-3000 have a vinyl emulation mode that allows the operator to manipulate music on a CD as if it were on a turntable.

Pioneer integrated its software rekordbox with the CDJs to prepare music with cue points, accurate BPM, and search/playlist functions.

All models of the CDJ-500 had top-opening CD loading, which is opposite to all the later ranges of CDJs (starting with CDJ-100S in 1999) which have since had front slot-loading of discs.

The CMX-5000, released in March 2000, was Pioneer's first attempt to enter the 19" rack mountable dual CD player-market (though, with an optional installation bracket, it had previously been possible to install two CDJ-500S players side by side into an industry standard rack) that had previously been dominated by Denon.

[2] The player implemented a large touch-sensitive platter with a digital display in the middle that could relay information about the position in the music.

Although this platter was not driven (meaning that it does not rotate by itself) like a turntable, the display in the center showed positioning information for accurate cueing.

The CDJ-1000 (and its reincarnations) became a popular tool for dance clubs and DJs, and is currently the most widely used DJ-style CD deck in nightclubs.

It included the master tempo-function introduced on the earlier CDJ-500 & CDJ-500S models, whereby the music changed speed while maintaining pitch.

These were both expensive to produce and had inherent short lifespan; as after a few plays the disc would wear-out and thus be completely unplayable.

[7] The general design purpose of the CDJ-800 was to offer DJs the facilities they have in the club on CDJ-1000s at home for a lower price.

Dan Morrell, ("DJ Smurf") wrote of liking the CDJ-800 due its excellent sound and low price.

A special Pioneer-branded writer was required, and transfers had to be encrypted through custom Pioneer software because of music label concerns over copyright infringement.

Released in 2003,[16] in the wake of the CDJ-1000, the player was - and still is - often mistakenly advertised as a 19" inch rack mountable equivalent of dual CDJ-1000s[17] even though the intended target audiences for the products, as well as their comparative pricing, were entirely in different leagues.

Mainly due to the product's comparative pricing (for the price of two CDJ-1000s, a DJ could get almost three CMX-3000 units with two players each) the CMX-3000s found their way to the setups of many mobile DJ's as well as into the booths of many world's best nightclubs[18] as a backup player in case the industry standard CDJ-1000s fail for some reason during a night.

An updated version of the CDJ-1000, the CDJ-1000 MK2 was released in July 2003 with additional features like an improved jog wheel and faster response time than in the original model.

The DVJ-X1 was a DVD quasi-turntable that allowed VJ's to scratch and mix video like a vinyl record.

Released in 2004 and designed for professional use in clubs, it featured real-time digital video scratching, looping and instant hot cueing.

The mechanical resistance of the jog wheel was adjustable to suit different styles of handling by the DJ.

Unlike the DVJ-X1, the DVJ-1000 was approximately the same dimensions as Pioneer's audio-only CD turntables (CDJ-1000), and could be fitted into existing enclosures with relative ease, allowing for an easy upgrade path for club owners and sound engineers.

For the travelling DJ, the unit was multi-system, outputting both PAL and NTSC video signals for near-global compatibility.

As part of its marketing strategy, Pioneer had equipped several noted DJs with the new unit, including Sander Kleinenberg.

HID playback allowed the CDJ-900 as a controller for the computer program Serato, but at a much higher resolution than MIDI, and have access to all the features of the CDJ-900.

[22] Released in July 2010 was released as a consumer friendly CDJ, features included a playlist button, manual and automatic loops options, a vinyl mode for scratching, tempo adjuster, and a Master Tempo button that changed the pitch of the song when disengaged.

New features included a high resolution screen which displays detailed wave form information as well as Beat-Sync which allows DJ's to automatically beat-match tracks from 2, 3 or 4 players via ProDJLink.