- Top Standard Build
- Club Standard
- Great Jogwheels
- Connectivity Options
- Expensive
Many professional DJs go absolutely B-A-N-A-N-A-S for the latest technology. Everyone likes the “New New.” So, you can imagine the excitement with the announcement of the Pioneer DJ CDJ 3000.
It sent shockwaves through the industry.
We got our hands on the master deck, and it’s every bit as excellent as you’d imagine, with loads of new creative features, creative power, and design.
The processing robust unit is a stunning change, there’s no obsolete CD drive anymore, and the “Key Sync” function is a personal favorite that harmonizes the mix.
It’s a behemoth of a CDJ, offering the ultimate DJ sound, with everything that DJs want and expect from Pioneer DJ’s next-gen model.
How Good is the CDJ 3000? (in short)
The Pioneer DJ CDJ-3000 is the club-standard CDJ used across clubland. It is the new flagship in the Pioneer DJ range and is really rather something special. It boasts a much better screen, improved hot cues, beat jump, jog wheels, key shift, key sync, track previewing, and cueing options. This is all powered by an upgraded onboard MPU. Forget calling it a CDJ player, it’s much more like an incredible musical instrument.
VIDEO: CDJ-3000 Demo with Kissy Sell Out
We were joined by a very special friend and guest of DJ Tech Reviews – Kissy Sell Out takes us on a magical tour of the Pioneer DJ CDJ 3000.
Watch this technical wizard take this beast of media player out for a spin.
Don’t forget to let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Things to Consider Before Buying a Pioneer DJ CDJ
Utilizing a front-facing disc slot, CDJs are digital music players that historically used compact discs for playing and mixing.
Many CDJs primarily play audio files from USB devices and SD cards off an SD card, USB flash drive, or DJ software.
Most CDJ models have a compact disc slot for DJs out there still using it. I personally still have a few large cases of CDs I could call upon if I want.
I built up a great CD collection, so why not use it?
Up until the mid-90s, vinyl ruled as king in the mixing booth. Now you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything but CDJs. CDJs try to encompass the best of both worlds, mimicking turntable features.
CDJs have a similar pitch fader for slowing or speeding up the tempo for beatmatching, although many models offer a beat-syncing mode.
Instead of having a large platter, CDJs have smaller jog wheels used for seeking through or nudging the track and scratching.
Scratching doesn’t feel tactile on a CDJ compared to a vinyl player, but some models integrate mechanisms that perfectly lined emulate a turntable’s mechanical feel.
CDJ features span beyond vinyl players in many ways. CDJs typically have eight hot cue buttons, loops, and track selection. High-end models may have performance pads to trigger samples.
Most models have built-in screens to display track details, waveform, performance data, and device settings.
The standard set-up for average DJs includes 2 CDJs connected through a 2-channel mixer, but pro-DJs connect 4 CDJ players into a 4-channel mixer for maximum versatility and mixing capability.
Like anything in life – the more you pay, the more you get. The cheap base models have rudimentary jog wheels, simple link cue buttons, and a small display.
The expensive high-end models include expanded looping & hot cue buttons, adjustable jog wheels modes, and larger touchscreen displays.
The Pioneer CDJ-3000: A Quick Run-Down
The highly anticipated Pioneer DJ CDJ 3000 is set to become the new industry standard DJ player. Pioneer hasn’t released any new models since 2016, while the company sat back carefully watching their competitors’ moves.
Namely, Denon DJ has been releasing some innovative decks in its Prime series, trying to oust Pioneer from the top spot.
The CDJ-3000 is a ferocious rebuttal by Pioneer and solidifies them as the leader in the pack.
Pioneer darn-near overhauled the entire build, comparing it with the Nexus 2. The company finally cut out the optical CD drive, long thought of as a relic of the past by many DJs.
It has got a larger, brighter, more advanced 9-inch LED touchscreen, which tops out any other CDJ touchscreen size on the market.
The only other larger display is on the CDJ-TOUR, which is a fold-out touchscreen.
The CDJ 3000 has the same phenomenal optimum sound quality and resolution as the Nexus 2 with an all-new multi-processing unit (MPU) delivering stable performance and amplifying the deck’s response, mechanics, and analog audio fidelity.
With a revamped design to bump up creativity, the CDJ-3000 now has a total of eight hot cue buttons that span left to right under the display, 8-beat auto-looping, and, dedicated beat jump buttons.
That’s a lot of mixing capability that we’re sure will test your boundaries.
Pioneer DJ touts they’ve added the “smoothest-ever jog wheel.
While I can’t make that kind of guarantee, I’ll say its touch response is almost instantaneous, and the wheel feels plush on the fingers.
Its connectivity stands on an unparalleled footing, with 6-player sync, iPhone mixing, and enhanced lighting support integration.
We think it’s safe to say that the Pioneer CDJ-3000 is “the whole nine yards.”
Pros:
Cons:
Pioneer CDJ 3000: Features & Benefits
Without a complete breakdown of the DJ controller’s features, DJs wouldn’t know how it might benefit them. Let’s take a closer look at what the CDJ-3000 has to offer.
- Top Standard Build
- Club Standard
- Great Jogwheels
- Connectivity Options
- Expensive
The New Design
The significant shift in design in this Pioneer model is the MPU. Effectively placing a computer in the CDJ, the CDJ 3000 can now run the system tasks and functions at a very rapid speed.
The CDJ 3000 has phenomenal sound fidelity with a 96kHz/32-bit floating audio processing that supports all playable audio formats.
DJs no longer have to worry whether their music compression formats will play on their decks with the CDJ 3000.
Pioneer boasts that they’ve “revolutionized the way the CDJ is driven” with a multi-core processor, but, to be fair, Denon did this previously in the Prime-5000 deck.
The deck has a gorgeous high quality aluminum top plate that looks premium – like you’re operating the Rolls-Royce of CDJs.
The buttons are newly designed too and have an extra dexterous feel to them.
They’ve redesigned the layout and controls in a way that seems like you are playing an instrument. It’s fun AF to mix with the Pioneer CDJ-3000.
CDJ 3000 Control Additions
Rather than having 4 hot-cue buttons on the deck’s side like the Nexus 2, the CDJ-3000 has a beefier set of 8-hot cue buttons that now run horizontally along with the display. The new hot cue rendition makes the mixing feel way more intuitive.
Using the hot cues in tandem with the dedicated Beat Lump buttons lets DJs remix tracks with utter creative flexibility.
Press a hot cue and juggle the beat around periodically with the beat jump buttons, and you’ll get jazzed at the musical effect.
I’ve never had such a great time DJing than messing around with the CDJ-3000 Key Sync feature. Press it to change the track’s key to match the master track sounds.
I’ll rapidly engage and disengage key to the beat’s rhythm, which gives the mix some interesting sonic character. You can manually change the key up or down on display for even more crazy funky mixing styles.
The looping section is mostly the same Pioneer design but now has two advanced auto-beat loop buttons, either a 4 or 8-beat loop.
Updated Display
The Pioneer DJ CDJ 3000 has a vastly improved maximum screen visibility brightness, and an immaculate display combined with some powerful advanced new features. The 9-inch high-resolution touch screen is bigger and easier to navigate.
The screen displays a Stacked Waveform of the master and cued tracks. You can keep an eye out for mixing points and check to see if the beat matching perfectly lines up.
With RGB 3Band waveform, you can see separate frequency band of a song and compare how they’ll pair in the mix.
If you’re not sure the entire song will mesh well into the mix, use Touch Preview tracks to audition any part of a song by touching the waveform.
Innovated Jog Wheel
They revamped the jog wheel with a single flat design on the CDJ 3000; no more separate components. This unified integration gives the jog wheel additional responsiveness and smooth performance.
The track artwork displayed in the center of the jog wheel adds the final ascetic touch.
Connectivity
The Pioneer DJ CDJ 3000’s connectivity more features are what really blows us away. 1 USB port can operate up to 6 players! With a total of 6 CDJ 3000s connected, you’ll feel as though you’re operating the control panel of the starship Enterprise.
With an additional USB adapter, DJs can connect their iPhone to mix from the Rekordbox IOS app.
Whether you have a computer or mobile device, the CDJ-3000 can utilize it.
As if that wasn’t enough, DJs can sync their digital audio & visuals with the CDJ-3000’s Pro DJ Link feature. You’ll have to integrate the RB-DMX1 to control lighting, which is sold separately.
Due to the Gigabit Ethernet connection for Pro DJ Link, you can actually share and play audio files from USB and SD card devices on up to 6 CDJ-3000 units.
- Top Standard Build
- Club Standard
- Great Jogwheels
- Connectivity Options
- Expensive
Pioneer CDJ 3000 Alternatives
If the CDJ-3000 perks your interest but doesn’t exactly have what you want in a CDJ, check out these other similar options with a little bit of a different spin.
Pioneer CDJ-2000NXS2
The latest release of Pioneer’s CDJ 3000 doesn’t mean that the Nexus 2 is obsolete. It’s quite the opposite. It’s going to be some time until the CDJ 2000 Nexus 2 fully phases out.
It’s still a breathtaking CDJ.
The Nexus 2 has incredible sound fidelity compared to the CDJ-3000. The 96 kHz/24-bit soundcard produces the clearest, crispest sound quality. The 32-bit A/D converter produces magnificent outputs analog audio.
The Nexus 2 also supports Lossless digital music files, like FLAC/ALAC, that have high-resolution audio quality.
The LCD screen is finely constructed with optimized search parameters and added controls. I’ve used the Track Filter Mode in all my mixes to search out the right track quickly that matches with the master.
The Nexus 2 has 4 Hot Cue buttons with two different banks, essentially giving DJs a total of 8 hot cue buttons just like the CDJ-3000.
Denon DJ Prime SC5000
The CDJ-3000 and the Denon Prime SC5000 stand on equal footing on design, optimum outstanding sound quality, sound fidelity, and stable performance features. If a little light on cash, the Prime 5000 makes more sense. It’s about half the price of the CDJ-3000.
The Prime 5000 has performance pads like the ones found on most DJ controllers. Using them to trigger FX, hot cues, and loops adds immense creativity to mixing.
The Denon Prime SC5000 packs all the creative performance features you’d ever need for mixing, and at a very reasonable price.
The Prime is a ‘next-gen’ model with 8 performance pads with 4 pad modes – Hot Cue, Loop, Roll, Slicer. It’s the only hybrid DJ controller/CDJ model out there. The SC5000 has a lot more than just incredible features.
The SC5000’s build, although maybe not its ascetics, surpasses the CDJ-3000 in some ways. The Prime also has a built-in CPU that rapidly analyzes your entire library. It has 3 USB slots, with RCA, Ethernet, and Digital output connectivity.
The Prime has a sharper resolution screen operating at a 50fps refresh rate.
Pioneer DJ CDJ-TOUR1
If you want even more display than the Pioneer DJ CDJ 3000 offers, then check out the CDJ-TOUR1. It’s got a 7-inch built-in screen AND a fold-out 13-inch full-color LCD touch screen.
The additional screen is perfect for DJs who need better onboard file management that mix without a computer.
As the name suggests, the deck has a build for DJs taking it out on the road. So, it’s designed with rugged components and durable isolator feet.
This CDJ should hold up well for DJs hitting venue after venue in many cities and continents.
The CDJ-TOUR1 has commendable connectivity. You can link up to 4 decks at once and utilize an SD card slot or USB port to play from storage devices.
One thing it has better than the CDJ-3000 is mobile device integration. The CDJ-TOUR1 integrates Wi-Fi digital audio streaming from smartphones, tablets, and computers using the proprietary Rekordbox apps and software.
CDJ 3000: The Verdict
We’re head over heels in love with the CDJ-3000. It’s the perfect predecessor of the Nexus 2 with an updated design, ultimate DJ sound, augmented performance features, & improved processing.
It’s a joyride to mix on the 3000 with a new layout that makes the deck feel more like a musical instrument. As always with top-tier Pioneer gear, the CDJ-3000 is not cheap. If you are like us, the price of Pioneer’s equipment doesn’t dissuade a DJ one bit.
The CDJ-3000 is worth every pretty penny spent to get your hands on it.
- Top Standard Build
- Club Standard
- Great Jogwheels
- Connectivity Options
- Expensive
