CDJ 800's: Still Worth A Buy?
CDJ 800's: Still Worth A Buy? Posted on: 10.12.2013 by Reid Barreiro In the next year im hoping to upgrade my current CD players. (I dont use actual CD's, serato user here)I currently Use Numark Axis 9, and considering they were never "top of the line", and ive been using them for well over 7 years, i guess you can say theyve been worth it. Anyways, Like i said i want to upgrade, i absolutely love the feel of vinyl, and the large platter, but i am young, and although I dont doubt that technics would hold up for years, but i would feel a little bit nervous using them as a mobile DJ. Therefor as the prequel to my thread asking which CD decks i may want to get, (see alot of those already though), i was wondering if CDJ 800's are still worth the buy. Personally i like them because i currently dont use serato in absolute mode, meaning most of the looping and cueing i do with the keyboard or a controller, and they dont have too many buttons on them so i wouldnt be paying for extra features i dont use. I imagine the build quality on them is excellent, but can they take a beating? Will buying a pair used make me upset? And how is the platter feel/sctracthing? The numarks honestly have awesome scratching on them, i wouldnt want to downgrade | |
| Antone Kazim 12.12.2013 |
Originally Posted by makar1
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| Reid Barreiro 10.12.2013 | In the next year im hoping to upgrade my current CD players. (I dont use actual CD's, serato user here) I currently Use Numark Axis 9, and considering they were never "top of the line", and ive been using them for well over 7 years, i guess you can say theyve been worth it. Anyways, Like i said i want to upgrade, i absolutely love the feel of vinyl, and the large platter, but i am young, and although I dont doubt that technics would hold up for years, but i would feel a little bit nervous using them as a mobile DJ. Therefor as the prequel to my thread asking which CD decks i may want to get, (see alot of those already though), i was wondering if CDJ 800's are still worth the buy. Personally i like them because i currently dont use serato in absolute mode, meaning most of the looping and cueing i do with the keyboard or a controller, and they dont have too many buttons on them so i wouldnt be paying for extra features i dont use. I imagine the build quality on them is excellent, but can they take a beating? Will buying a pair used make me upset? And how is the platter feel/sctracthing? The numarks honestly have awesome scratching on them, i wouldnt want to downgrade |
| Hellen Mindrup 15.12.2013 | You'll get 800's for cheap and can still do basically anything you want with them. |
| Reid Barreiro 14.12.2013 | Wow, thanks for all the replies guys. I recently picked up a numark mixtrack pro (just so i can take to small gigs etc) and realized i do like not having to touch the laptop; even though i still find myself going to it alot out of habit. So i guess i would consider buying CDJ 800's, but now im starting to look more into other things: ie, large platter controllers. I prefer motorized platters, and non of the CDJ's have that, so i was looking at the V7 by numark. I would have to buy used. FRom past experience i love numark, great product at a good price (unlike gemini). And the V7 has a rotating platter, so scratch feel would be more reminiscent of actual turntables. They only have support for serato ITCH atm, but they should be able to control serato dj soon. New question im asking i guess is should i pick a pair of these up? they would be used so again id be worried about if they can handle a beating (not that im all that hard on my gear ). As much as i love numark tho, at the same time i kinda wanna break away from buying their products cuz i kind of feel like a numark fanboy, and i know that they arent making club standard gear etc... so should i just look to buy some 800s? |
| Alaine Hanuman 13.12.2013 | if u dont care about using cds and u want something mobile and perfect stable for serato try the pioneer ddj sx.. i thing its top right now. u can also use it with traktor. it has it has hardware mixer and i've heard the best... just in case. |
| Teresia Janusch 13.12.2013 | I've had my CDj800s since around 2005…they're still going strong. I use them for timecode with TSP these days |
| Ninfa Mazariegos 12.12.2013 | I use my turntables for mobile rigs sometimes. My biggest gripes are the space they take up, and the time it takes to hook everything up for DVS use. The positives are that they are great for scratching and people really like watching me play on them. Plus, I like hitting up garage sales and getting loads of vinyl for cheap. I never thought I would use them, but even did an all vinyl polka set for four hours for a German beer festival. Technics are rock solid and I have never had any issues with them even with drunk patrons slapping the tone arm trying to scratch on them when my back is turned. When I don't have the space or feel like lugging them around I use my pl-1 controller, so I get the best of both worlds. |
| Hellen Mindrup 12.12.2013 | I use my 800's with timecode and cd... They're legit and you can find them for rather cheap if you look around. If you ever want to use cd's you already have the perfect players to do so and it will get you used to playing on club standard gear . Mine have beeb beaten on before I got em, and they are still top notch. |
| Antone Kazim 12.12.2013 |
Originally Posted by makar1
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| Alphonso Deitchman 12.12.2013 | Denon and Reloop players do not support HID so only act as MIDI controllers. Neither the SC3900 or SC2900 has "native" support for software; instead they use hybrid timecode and MIDI to interact with DVS software (so you still need a full DVS setup). |
| Antone Kazim 12.12.2013 | I would say that if you are going to use any CDJ for timecode then the 800s are probably the best shout, provided you can get them cheap. Obviously the problem with timecode on CDJs is that you lose the features of the CDJ (beyond the basic play/cue etc), meaning you end up with a solution that is more expensive than all but the most high-end controllers whilst not having have the features of even the most entry basic entry level ones. Sure, if you want it to be dual purpose- i.e to also play CDs in stand-alone form then that's fair enough, but to use purely as a software controller it doesn't make too much sense. The 800s however, don't have too much else in the way of extra features anyway- and the fact they can be picked up so cheap these days means there is an argument for using them in this way (in fact a local resident around here does just that and swears by them). But as mentioned, unless you can get them super cheap you would be better off going for one of the newer models as they can control software directly via a usb-cable meaning you still get to use the full features of the CDJ (looping/hot-cues etc). I believe the 400/350/850 and above all support this, along with the sc2900 from denon and probably a couple of other brands too (the Reloop Rmp3s spring to mind for an even cheaper full-sized solution). Please feel free to correct me if I've missed anything! Edit: Just realised you are using Serato so I believe it's the sc3900 that has native support for that, the 2900 supports Traktor. My bad. |
| Gaynell Rydberg 12.12.2013 | Why don't you get 1200s if you want to scratch? They're durable as hell and replacement parts are everywhere. They'll be heavy, but if you get the proper cases they'll be in good shape. |
| Reid Barreiro 11.12.2013 | So if buying CD players for timecodes is a waste what would u suggest? Im a little lost as to why its a waste |
| Alphonso Deitchman 11.12.2013 | They are only worth it if you play music through CDs. Buying CD players for timecode is a waste. |
| Isa Erik 11.12.2013 | Unless you get them VERY cheap, buying a cdj JUST to use them with timecode is like going to a hooker for a hug. I would look for secondhand CDJ850, that way you at least get HID with SSL (and can get rid of using keyboard), USB and mp3 support |
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