Review: Pioneer DJ DJM-450 Mixer 

Alex Grant no need for a splitter. Send XLR master out to the PA, RCA master out through a Mackie Big Knob Passive (or similar) to a powered booth monitor. The Big Knob is your booth volume. Master level knob WILL affect both outputs (no way around that), so set it during soundcheck and leave it there.

how do you like the 250mk2...i also bought it and i tend to use the effects in rekordbox a lot but i have no controller...so now doubting whether to return and swap for the 450 but its double the price...i can get a use Z2 traktor for that.

Hey abtrakt, I won't be able to answer that. Before I opened the box, I sold some old gear and returned the 250mk2 for the 450. Should be here tomorrow. I want to be untethered from the laptop unless I'm using turntables, so for effects, I had to do it.

????.... That must have been a long long time ago. In my 32 years as a DJ there's never been a great sounding mixer as low as that. I paid more for my first used Phonic DJ mixer in the 80's, and I had time to look long and hard while saving up for a couple of 1200's and a mixer. B.t.w, the Phonic was far from great sounding, and you could only cue one channel at a time for your head phones. No effects. No channel gain. No sampler. No filter knobs. No booth out. No channel EQ. ...but it did have a 5 band EQ on the master :) . I wish more people had the poor choices I had then, to appreciate the plethora of available gear in all price ranges, all better than what I could afford in the 80's. The club where I learned had a Power Gold series mixer and the cost of that was equivalent of 2 900NXS2 mixers. You could cue more than one channel, but still no channel EQ or any effects of any kind. Just amazing sound and build quality, but not as good as todays range of Pioneer mixers. When I got my DJM-500 in 1995, it was a game changer, and to be true, there was nothing like it on the market. The price was a bit high, around US $1200, but nothing out of the ordinary compared to other mixers with less functionality. It only took me 6 months of eating pasta/noodles to save up for it. The build in effects was amazing to have... but hard to use. The word subtle isn't the word to describe how the effects affected the sound... But still, overall, it had everything and compared to most other choices, a pretty good sound- and build quality. Mine lasted almost 20 years with 13 years as my primary mixer. The only defects when i sold it was a worn out fader and 2 worn out channels. Fixable. Then i got myself a Behringer DDM-4000 for a 1/3 of that price while saving up for a used DJM-800. Still have it and it still works. The usability value is great and it's not worth selling it. It has it flaws in construction, not feature wise. Now I have the DJM-250/800/900-NXS2 and the DDM-4000 to use for different kind of gigs, and they are all good value depending on the purpose. For me it's all about to be prepared to deliver a good set every time I play. On club equipment or on my own gear. + 50 paid gigs a year qualified me to get the DJM-800/CDJ-2000Nexus. 4 years later and +100 gigs/year qualified me to go with the NXS2 as it's not a cost over time. It's an investment. The best about the Pioneer gear besides usability, is the used value once you have it. Buy a used Pioneer Nexus set, and taken care of properly, you can probably get your money back if you sell it a couple of years later. For the last 2 years the used price of a setup like that has been about the same. It can't get any cheaper than that.

Bit late but i use the xd700, with this mixer, works really well

JayBsound It's in the lab now, will be in 4-5 weeks.

Perfect, tell me if you can make rekordbox dvs work. I tried it in a store and the drivers were a complete mess. Thanks for all the great content!

i bought the 250mk2 and rekordbox was the easiest part to use...functionality is simple and good...it did took me a while to calibrate the crossfader...you have to restart the mixer at first once change the settings in rekordbox and calibrate it...that being said...i like it but the crossfader is not great for turntablism...it has a deadspace. I might buy a used Z2 as a controller or invest in an innofader mini pro to put in the 250mk2

I bought a new Z2 two weeks ago for 499€. No regrets, that thing is superb, don't know why I've waited so long. It is great for turntablism and the the traktor integration is just plug&play.

100%

Lol the 23 by farrrrrrrr, this mixer isn't even in the same league as the xone 23

Trey Thomas yes all the mixer effects, beat and color work with any Serato box.

Elton Guerreiro, thanks. I thought so since they’re all hardware. Good looking out.

charles djoldie wrigley yes it can, I know for sure

Ha ha I knew this would happen. They did the same thing with DJM-900NXS2 before it got the TSP and SDJ certification ;)

pretty sure they all use different timecodes or at least have variations, Pioneer could never prevent eventual bugs etc from all the different interfaces and associated programs

theres no dedicated booth knob to turn it down it would play just as loud as the main speakers. only way round it would be to control the booth level via booth speakers dedicated volume control. bit of a fuck around but not end of the world

@@spiderpig123 Thanks for the reply :-)

I think Pioneer DJ has a very clear and calculated price strategy and they know exactly what the competition has to offer. On the mixers, they have plenty of that competition to consider. If you don't think it has the value for you, you're not the target for Pioneer DJ. They know you will at least try and buy satisfaction elsewhere, and it's OK. DJ's preferring Rane & A&H usually don't go Pioneer ever because of very different feature sets, nothing to do with the price. They are on the same level and in some cases even more expensive, but have what some people value. I think that's great. On the cheaper side of things, Mixars have done some pretty nice mixers, and so has Reloop, with the RMX-90 DVS. I don't know how they compare to the Pioneers, but they have people saying nice things about them. That's always a good start :) . Of course Pioneer as a brand will charge you a little extra for just that. It's how it should be, because then you know they can't afford to put bad stuff out. I think that's worth a lot, especially if you're making money on your gear, and it would be costly if it quit on you at the wrong moment. For me that's more important than any new feature.

Did you like the Slide FX on xp1? I can't understand why pioneer does not allow us the use all the effects on the slider and why the f**k they only give us the option to change the parameter on effects, i'd like to change the level/depth on these sliders... =/

Justin Grathwohl No separate control of the level for the two.

MojaxxVDJ Ahhh, didn't think of that. Definitely is handy in a lot of situations. Guess I take it for granted in my setup.

But if you want you can add a volume nob to the second master out and you will be good, something like this: www.amazon.co.uk/Amplifier-Audio-Gain-Level-Control/dp/B01C8CANKE/

MojaxxVDJ, most booth speakers have a volume control on the speakers themselves.

If you value your hearing you will lower the volume of your booth speakers between songs (if you can). Without a booth volume knob, you're not gonna reach every time behind the two speakers for this. Even if they are right next to you ;)

Kula Muhimba rx is way better

XDJ RX is for robots. DJM 450 is for Djs.

Pro trick : you can watch movies on kaldrostream. Been using it for watching lots of of movies lately.

@Terry Bishop Definitely, I've been watching on KaldroStream for since december myself :)

@Terry Bishop Yup, been using kaldroStream for years myself :D

@Terry Bishop Definitely, I've been using kaldrostream for since december myself :)

@Terry Bishop Definitely, I've been using Kaldrostream for years myself =)

Rasp Haunt No, as far as I can tell it's pretty much the same as the 900 NXS2. Same technology in them all though.

The S9 has the "Magvel Pro Fader". This one just has the "Magvel Fader". It's the same that is used in the 900 nxs2 and 250-mk2

...word,thanks bro'

....ahhh word,okay ,thanks man'...respect'

From the little tehnical specs that are available, they are the same. The difference is that Magvel Pro on S9 has some user adjustable controls.

Actually no, no need to pay the Pioneer tax. A second-hand Denon DN-X600 will offer everything this has (+ booth output) for a fraction of the price. And I've seen them go for as little as $250 in mint condition on eBay...

Like I said, there's a lot of choices... I have a Behringer DDM-4000, which is a great mixer for the money. Mine is still running perfect since 2009. Very good value. I also have the DJM-250, DJM-800 and DJM-900NXS2 and on those I make money. Every week. After spending more or less every weekend in the booth for 32 years, I have never seen a DN-X600, or any Denon mixer for that matter, anywhere. I wonder why? In this case, you get the full RB-DJ licence including DVS, and you're in the Pio echo system which you need to be if aiming for the clubs. If you can use the DJM-450, you can use all the 4-ch DJM's as well, apart from the 2000/2000Nexus, which is quite different... As i am old school, I think all you really need to DJ, is two channels, fader up/fader down, and a little EQing to get the job done. But, I m also a tech nerd so... When on the job i need what's required tog make money, and the Pioneer's is money every week.

I'm sorry but that attitude that you have to own a Pioneer mixer to be able to use one in the club is laughable. As you said, EQ, faders, cueing and some FX. It's all the same. Players are a different thing, mind you. But mixer....please...that just Pioneer fanboism.

You said that. Not me. I probably put more in to the value of ''how to use'' than you. To use anything as advanced as the latest pro club mixers, whether it is a NXS2, A&H DB4 or the new Denon x1800. To a newcomer getting in a pro DJ Booth for the first times, is sometimes pretty scary, even if you know the gear. To perform, and make an impression, when you're just getting your foot in the scene, requires you to handle all the gear you choose to use as you've never used any other. There's still clubs I visit that has obscure mixers, bolted firmly, and and using anything else is a nono. I stick to the classic EQing and fader up/fader down that I know works almost the same on most mixers. I'll never touch the effects on mixers like that. If I'd have a chance to spend a day or two using them, or had one at home, at least I could use a few effects, if they're any good. Watch what Mojaxx had say about his first encounter with the A&H DB4. As usual there's nothing on your profile that shows your skills jumping from one top-of-the-line mixer to another using them flawless in all and every way, so I can't say if you're just guessing or just had to shout out your own hopes because you own the DN-X600 yourself. If you're in Sweden, I invite you to my studio and we can live stream you playing a set with a mixer of my choice. I have the Nexus and NXS2 CDJ's but you can bring any other gear you want, as the players were more important to you. Impress me and everyone else with flawless and enjoyable set and I'll rest my case.

I played on X600 (owned it for a while), X1600, X1700 and play on the entire DJM lineup 2-3 times a week. I repeat: there is no need to own a Pioneer mixer just for the sake of "making an impression" first time you play live, that's BS. If you don't touch the fx on mixers you don't know you'll never learn. Yes, DB4 is beast regarding FX and workflow but you said it yourself, nothing stopping you to sticking to EQ, faders and cueing until you get the hang of things. Nobody is flawless. It is sad you feel that pressure.

Hi Klim, Thanks for your feedback. I was planning to buy this mixer as I have only turntables/analog vinyls and wanted to enter DVS world. Now I'm skeptical....

@@rateoneturn Hi! What I can say about 450 after about 1.5 months of use: Phono inputs still suck. I wonder why Mojaxx said that sound is superb. I am "vinyl only" and it dissapoints. Other ppl after listening of my mix on 450 say that sound is ok, but... If you have good ears, you will notice and it will disturb you. On the other hand the same as you I entered DVS world with 450 and I can say that it is really cool experience. Now I can play tracks that were not released on vinyl or which were but has 30+EUR price on Discogs for used records. And I dont need to buy external sound card and software licenses, as 450 comes with DVS license for Rekordbox (which is fine for me, as I never used Serato and do just long-blend transitions without any sample/pads stuff - maximally close to real vinyl). Sound quality for Line/USB is perfect. So after 1.5months I noticed that I started to love this device even with phono problems. Phono sound is not really garbage, it is just not as good as on DJM-600 for example. But combination of all stuff you get with this unit is covering negative parts. If you have any questions you can safely reach me.

Hi @@Blaulicht1120 ! I'm sure DVS is fantastic and convenient (unlimited library.... that's crazy!!) However, I'll go for another mixer if you say that the sound is not that good with straight vinyls. Thanks a lot for your feedback, I appreciate!

stop complain and talk to Serato

theabstrakt84 of course, phone number of mr serato??