2-channel DJ Mixer with Dual USB Audio Interfaces, 16 Performance Pads and Effects Controls for Serato DJ
While there are a ton of different scratch mixers out there, not all are created equal. In this case, if you’re a DJ that wants to take their mixing to the next level and stand out in the booth, the Pioneer DJ DJM S11 may just be the thing you’ve been looking for.
Regarded as one of the gold standards for scratch battle DJ mixers, there aren’t a lot of instruments out there that can compare to Pioneer’s latest product.
It takes virtually all of the setbacks and issues found in the DJM-S9 and completely reworks them and adds brand new features. As a result of listening to the feedback and focusing on creating something really special.
Pioneer DJ has made a scratch battle mixer that is just about perfect.
In this review, we’ll go over many of my first impressions as well as the things that impressed me about the Pioneer DJ DJM S11, and why I think you should get it as an early Christmas or Birthday present yourself.
Is the DJM S11 any good? (in short)
All-in-all, whether you’re someone that’s just started to move into scratch mixers or someone who only scratch mixes, the Pioneer DJ DJM S11 is what you’re going to want to get next. The DJM S11 is the perfect love letter to scratch DJs and seems to have shown that, when it counts, Pioneer understands what its supporters want.
First Impressions of the Pioneer DJ DJM S11
To be honest, I’ve heard (and read on Reddit!) a few people refer to the Pioneer DJ DJM S11 as the “Rolls Royce of Scratch Mixers”, and while I’ve never driven in a Rolls Royce before, I can’t say I disagree with the sentiment. First and foremost, this is a nice-looking professional 2-channel.
It’s incredibly well-built while also sharing a lot of the familiarity of Pioneer’s previous DJM-S9 and DJM-909 while also stepping up the audio quality in a huge way.
One of the biggest things I noticed was the fact that the Pioneer DJ DJM S11 shares a lot in common with most DJ controllers as opposed to the scratch mixer vibes; and, while this may bum some scratch DJs out, I didn’t feel like it was ever a problem or an issue.
Things like the load button or the crossfader feel more responsive and intuitive. Particularly for the crossfader, there were a bunch of different ways you could tweak it in the settings, so pretty much every DJ will find their style.
But I’m burying the lead here. Did I mention this thing’s got a touch FX screen?!
While my first impressions were that it could have been a bit bigger, as I got to play around with it (more on that later) I realized that there were a lot of smart plays made by the developers that made it completely understandable.
A few other minor things that were nice additions were the mixer decals, which were clearer than the S9. There was also a built in USB hub, so hooking up USB cable and direct USB connections to a DJ controllers would be much less of a hassle now.
To set up the Pioneer DJ DJM S11, you’re going to need to most current DJ software. It works ideally with Serato DJ Pro but also has some options with Rekordbox if that’s what you are using.
2-channel DJ Mixer with Dual USB Audio Interfaces, 16 Performance Pads and Effects Controls for Serato DJ
Testing the DJM-S11 Out
When going over and testing out the DJM-S11, we went over it from a scratch DJ perspective as well as a more general house DJ perspective.
This was one of the big considerations I had when first dealing with the DJM S11. After all, it’s one thing to make something that works for scratch DJs or house DJs. It’s something else to make a mixer that both can use.
Here’s what I found:
When it came to using it from a scratch DJ’s perspective, one thing I noticed was the fact that it never felt like a step-down or like it was “dumbed down” when compared to other scratch mixers.
Similarly, when looking at it from a more general house DJ perspective, I was shocked at how easy it was to play with. I’d recently come from using a laptop and controller, so I was in the headspace of a house DJ and was surprised at just how similar things ran.
The larger pads were more on par with controller sizes while everything was laid out pretty well.
Comparing it to the DJM-S9 or Rane’s 70 and 72, there wasn’t a lot of guesswork on “what went where.” Overall, everything just felt natural.
Loading Tracks
The process for loading up tracks was pretty easy. The DJM S11 has a fairly comprehensive browsing tracks control option that allows you to automatically highlight the next track in your playlist once it’s been loaded.
This means you won’t need to sort through your library to hit the different songs in a playlist. Rather, all you’ll need to do is press the load option.
Screen Functionality
While, at first glance, the Pioneer DJ DJM S11’s screen situation may appear super complicated and complex, there was never a time that we ever needed to check out a manual or otherwise felt confused about what we were doing.
And while we weren’t in the fast-paced setting of a club or party scene, I’d legitimately be surprised if anyone actually got stumped or accidentally went someplace they shouldn’t.
One of the reasons why the screen never felt too complex was the fact everything was easily accessible and intuitive.
For example, at the bottom right of every screen, there is a “home” button you can quickly go to that instantly sends you to the main menu, all without messing anything up.
Similarly, there’s always an image at the bottom of the screen that shows what selected paddle effect you’ve got, so you’re always aware of what will be activated when using the filter knob.
It’s crazy cool features like this that make the DJM S11 that much more useful and intuitive when compare to a lot of other mixers on the market today.
Browse Screen
The Browse screen page can be found right at the home screen menu. This screen gives you access to a large portion of your selected tracks. From there, you can sort through them via the title, artist, key, or BPM.
A cool feature that instantly brings up the browse page is by turning the browse knob.
This will automatically bring you there without having to go through the whole process of getting to the home screen first and then to the browse page.
FX Settings Screen
Right next to the Browse icon, is the FX setting screen page. Here, you can jump into changing up and completely reconfiguring the different effects available in the DJM-S11.
These settings can also be saved and instantly gone back to later if you’re working on different configurations.
Each time you save an effect setting as a bank, it creates a snapshot of exactly what settings hold what effects.
If you plan to switch banks, simply hold the “Shift” button while pressing either the left or right buttons under the screen.
Touch Midi & Touch Effects
The Touch Midi and Touch Effects screens both give you much more access and control than the DJM-S9.
Touch Midi
The Touch custom Midi mapped offers you control over the software directly from the mixer screen. There, you’re able to select between different pages, with each having its layout.
These pages allow you to control various areas like the key sync, silent cue, key lock, key shift, internal mode switching, recordings, and a lot more.
While we didn’t find ourselves using this feature a ton, one thing that was definitely of interest was the key sync and key shift controls.
These will likely be a great tool for scratch DJs as well as just a useful way to match up certain keys.
Touch Effects
The Touch Effects window gives a whole new level of control over the sets of effect types on the mixer. It brings up an X and Y pad feature that, when used, you can alter and control the various effects throughout the DJM S11.
It comes preset with the echo/filter as well as roll/pitch effects, but can be set up for pretty much any effect you want.
Any effect on the filter knob applies for vertical control while any effect that is currently being selected will be along the horizontal axis.
Decks 3 & 4
A super exciting feature that sets this apart from pretty much all the other mixers is that you can control all four decks.
Each has its own easily toggled page and comes with four separate screens, each with its play and mute buttons.
- Screen 1 (Simple): Has the waveform, loop length, and first hot cue buttons to choose from.
- Screen 2 (Mashup): Offers the Dual Deck control and Deck Movebuttons alongside the pitch bend and on/off keylock option.
- Screen 3 (Hot Cues): Has eight trigger hot cues that can be completely customized.
- Screen 4 (Mixer): Gives control over the trim and channel fader functions.
The DJM-S11 is wholly unique from many other mixers in that it gives you the ability to DJ across all four decks rather than just the first two.
Waveform Display Screen
As expected for a mixer, the screen has the option of displaying your waveforms. Both screens show them vertically and come with both a keylock and a sync button.
The left and right areas of the screen show the full-length waveform – as well as the respective cue points – for each track. The center displays what track is currently playing.
At the top of the display screen is the tempo and deck loop length for the track.
This was one of the few areas that the S9 did a little better overall, as, while in Serato, you could configure the waveforms to change color based on their frequencies when using EQs. It’s a small feature, but a nifty one that the DJM S11 just doesn’t have.
2-channel DJ Mixer with Dual USB Audio Interfaces, 16 Performance Pads and Effects Controls for Serato DJ
Serato vs. Rekordbox
One thing to note is that, when loading waveforms onto the screen, we noted that the Serato software options loaded much faster than the Rekordbox ones. While the load difference wasn’t major (only about a second or two) that’s only because we weren’t actively performing when trying to load up a track.
If you’re just working out at home, this isn’t going to be much of an issue. If you are planning to perform, however, ideally just stick with Serato if you can.
Utility Screen
The DJM S11’s utility screen works a bit differently from the other screens on the device. To get to the utility screen, you’ll have to press the cog icon at the top of the main menu screen.
As the utility screen is meant only for specific interactions with the settings options, it offers up a variety of different options and settings that go over the mixer’s performances.
This includes things like the default length for a loop or the crossfader lag time.
It also gives control over things like your display and mic, as well as your secondary pad modes, just to name a few.
Pads & Pad Modes
One thing that is immediately apparent when comparing the DJM-S11 to the previous DJM-S9 is their respective pad sizes.
The Pioneer DJ DJM S11 is bigger than the S9 and feels more like a controller’s pads, both in overall size and feel. They are very responsive to the touch while not being so responsive that you’ll accidentally switch on an effect just by brushing your hand across one.
The S11’s pads have four different modes they can be in while in Serato and two while in Rekordbox.
As mentioned earlier, the DJM S11 has pad selector buttons, acting like a big step up from the S9. What’s more, you can also now change the pad modes simultaneously in the settings rather than them being globally locked.
The parameter button is located just above the pads and can be used for scrolling up and down the banks in any of the modes that have more than eight settings.
The Performance Pad Modes
Specifically going over the different pad modes on the DJM S11, there are several different options based on what setup you’re looking for.
- Default Mode for Serato gives Hot Cue, Saved Loop, Roll, and Sampler. Meanwhile, Rekordbox’s default mode includes Beat Jump, Hot Cue, Pad FX, and Sampler.
- Secondary Mode is available for Serato and Rekordbox. When holding down the “Shift” button, Serato mode gives you Slicer Loop, Scratch Bank, Pitch Play, and Saved Flips. Putting it in Rekordbox will give you Pad FX 2, Keyshift, Keyboard, and Beatloop.
- Third Mode only is available while in Serato and is accessed by tapping the button twice. Here, this mode offers CueLoop, Gate Cue, Transport, and Auto Loop.
- Fourth Mode is also only available while in Serato and is blank. Rather than have its own pre-set configuration, you can design your setup functions across the eight pads.
Scratch Bank
One function that deserves its special shoutout is the Serato Scratch Bank feature. It works very similarly to a sampler function. While using the Serato DJ software, clicking on the Scratch Bank will give out several different boxes (totaling around 32; one for each pad).
From there, you can load whatever scratch samples you want into the slot. This can range from a sound quality effect to an entire track.
What makes this feature so great is the fact that you can then decide when the pad is triggered during a track. That means you can essentially have four full tracks of scratches set and loaded across the Scratch Bank, each set with eight different cue points to your sounds.
Effectively, you’d be able to have 32 loaded scratch sounds available while being free to move from one sound quality to the next immediately, allowing you to cue juggle or scratch a particular sound and just giving you a ton of different and creative options.
Pressing the “Shift” button, along with any pad, instantly returns to whatever track was initially being played, giving you a lot more ways to turn up an event when compared to a DJ that doesn’t have this feature.
Mixer Effects
Finally, the Pioneer DJ DJM S11 comes with a ton of interesting new mixed effects.
The standardized hardware Beat FX options are left out of the mixer. If you used the S9, you’ll feel familiar with the paddle pads found at the center of the mixer, hosting the backspin, reverb, phaser, echo, flanger, and vinyl brake.
You can go into the settings and change the effects for any of the buttons, however, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you were very partial to having them in your specific order. Each button has its default effect printed on it, so if you forget what you’ve put where you’re going to be in for a crazy session.
To the right of the mixer, there are six buttons.
The buttons are broken into banks 1 and 2, both having three designated buttons to use. These bank buttons control your different DJ software effects and can be assigned an effect based on what you want.
This means you can use one side to handle the hardware effects and the other for the DJ software effects.
Fader & Smooth Echo Effects
One of the new mixer effects we liked was some different fader effects. They were Fader Sine, Saw, and Square.
Similar to noise effects, fader effects all worked by creating their sound completely separate from the music or audio coming into a channel.
What made them even more impressive than noise effects was the fact that they could identify a track’s key and let you “play” various notes along with the key. This allows you to play over the track while it is running.
This can result in some very creative mixes and plays when added to your already extensive list of different effects, making some cool sounds.
In addition, there was also the Smooth Echo effect. This also really freaking cool and was kind of an unknown essential once you knew what you were doing.
While you can use the mixer just fine without it, once you do know about it, you really can’t go back.
The Smooth Echo effect works by automating the S9’s echoing function through a single button. Rather than before, where a DJ would have to make sure the echoing feature was enabled and then be sure to move up the effects paddle and then cut the fader, now it’s just hitting a single button.
Now, you can scratch and work the faders before hitting the smooth echo button just before you finish playing.
And if you thought that was cool enough, it also can be configured, through the effects setting screen, to trigger from any effect – from the channel fader to the silent or hot cue, to the crossfader, or even the Load button!
Pioneer DJ DJM S11: The Verdict
Alright, so we’ve done enough gushing over the Pioneer DJ DJM-S11. Now the question needs to be answered- and that’s, “Is it really worth it?”
Well, it all depends on the DJ and what they are going for.
As a scratch battle mixer, it really can’t be overstated that this is meant for scratch DJs as its first and target demographic.
If that’s the case, then the follow-up question needs to be asked, which is whether non-scratch DJs will have any use with it.
After all, if you are a scratch DJ, odds are you already have this on your wishlist or were already considering getting this to begin with.
So, if this is an obvious buy for scratch DJs, what about those that aren’t scratch DJs?
Looking over everything that the Pioneer DJ DJM-S11 does right versus where it slightly misses the mark, I can confidently say that, unless you are an absolute beginner DJ (haven’t even invested in good speakers yet) then you categorically DO need to consider getting this mixer at some point in the near future.
Pioneer has done an incredible job, both in giving scratch DJs a device that can take their performance to the next level, as well as simplifying the experience so that even moderately trained DJs can use it as a way to supplement their style.
By bringing in several innovative ideas (such as the Dual Deck or the Deck Move features), while also improving on virtually every noted setback found in the DJM-S9, the Pioneer DJ DJM S11 could very possibly be the first and last mixer most DJs will need in a long, long time.
Pioneer is often seen as a company that doesn’t like to innovate or come up with much that radically changes one product from the next. And while that’s true to an extent, they’ve certainly seemed to have struck an ideal balance here.
2-channel DJ Mixer with Dual USB Audio Interfaces, 16 Performance Pads and Effects Controls for Serato DJ
