PIONEER DDJ-FLX6

Product Information

There’s also the added issue of the tiny pitch faders, which really don’t seem large enough for the rest of a DJ controller. Pitch bending and scratching feel natural on the DDJ-FLX6-W thanks to the large jog wheels, which are the same size as those on the flagship CDJ-3000 multi player. Each one features an On Jog Display too, so you can keep an eye on the playhead position. It feels a bit like a controller of mismatches. It is too big and expensive a controller to get away with consumer build quality. The jogs are brilliant, but the crossfader lets them down. The controls don’t really control very well what the software can do, especially with Serato, where for me it is a dealbreaker. The dual Serato DJ Pro or Lite and Rekordbox compatibility is quite a positive surprise for a lot of mid-level DJs in search of versatility.

Prefer for me to show you this? If you’re considering the new DDJ-FLX6-GT, this video details everything you need to know to make the right decision.Some DJs will probably find it easier to use the jog cutter feature than to learn how to scratch in the first place. It seems pointless to focus your attention on learning this new functionality when you could just practice scratching – and use your skills on other devices too. Beat FX The Pioneer DJ DDJ-FLX6 is a dual software platform, four channel DJ controller designed to simplify genre hopping transitions for DJs who are ready to upgrade from the DDJ-200, DDJ-400 or DDJ-SB3. But the very best jogs are only really important if you are a scratch DJ, and with seemingly much of the budget for the DDJ-FLX6 having gone on the jogs, that other essential part for scratch DJing – the crossfader – is very average on this unit. Sure it works, but the pair of them are a huge mismatch. The jogwheels are excellent – a great feel to them, full sized. So why is the crossfader so ordinary? It has also been announced as working with Virtual DJ– This is good news, but then, it always did work with Virtual DJ in its previous DDJ-FLX6 incarnation. Maybe this is just exactly the same mapping made official and announced by Pioneer DJ, or maybe there are improvements (we’ll no doubt find out soon enough)

Take away the Merge FX and the Jog Cutter and this is a completely standard software controller – think Reloop Mixon 4, Denon DJ MC7000, Numark NS6II (although generally those are higher specced, better units than this one). It has four software channels, three-band EQ, Color FX knobs (they’re filter only when using Serato), eight performance pads, looping controls. The jogwheels are full-sized and excellent, with the classic Pioneer pro feel. They are capacitive, not mechanical, but that’s OK – they’re great to use, and have a useful jog position marker in the middle too. Depending how you view this kind of DJing, this is going to be potentially great fun to you, or anathema – an exciting way of adding to your sets, or an “echo-out on steroids” for people without the ability to properly programme music or figure out how to transition between their music. And maybe that is the idea. In this time where hobbies rule and social media is how people express themselves, maybe that is the aim here – a fun home device that’ll help bored hobby DJs to play passable DJ sets, and do some of the “clever” sounding stuff they see their heroes doing on the big stages. That said – if you’re looking to livestream with the FLX-6, you could connect it to an external interface like an iRig Stream or a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and route that out to your device of choice. Though it’s not direct, it’s doable.That said, the FLX-6 is a Rekordbox unit first and foremost, as its Serato DJ integration isn’t nearly as tight – there’s no MIDI mapping and less customization over features like Merge FX. I did, however, find the unit to be more responsive with Serato DJ, but that may just be due to the fact that Serato DJ has traditionally optimized as a lighter program designed for turntablists. I/O connectivity BONUS: Existing DDJ-FLX6 users can get all the new functionality too– I thought it was worth adding an eighth “bonus” point for those who own the original DDJ-FLX6, just to make it crystal clear: Aside from the paint job, the hardware hasn’t changed at all, which is great news for existing users, as they can get all the functionality with a simple firmware upgrade Budget has been spent on the “standard” Pioneer DJ looping controls (which to my mind has never been as good as the “single encoder” loop control that has become standard elsewhere), and the memory cue buttons, both functions that are presumably there because Pioneer DJ wants continuity across its range for aspirational DJs – yet this controller is clearly not for aspirational DJs. It is for hobby DJs who have outgrown the DDJ-200 and DDJ-400 – yet in “pro” tech spec, it doesn’t step any closer to the DDJ-800 or DDJ-1000. All of these solutions are stored on the front of the DDJ FLX6 unit, with no split cue available, unfortunately.