Pioneer DDJ-RZ DJ Controller £1,529

Pioneer DJ step up their digital DJ game with a flagship controller for their new DJ software. Si Truss gets spinning…

Pioneer’s rekordbox librarian software has long been a staple tool for many DJs, allowing them to analyse, tag and organise digital music files before transferring them to CD or USB, ready to be played on Pioneer equipment complete with pre-prepared metadata and beat grids. The company have produced their fair share of controllers too, although – until late last year – these have always relied on third-party applications. That changed with the release of rekordbox DJ, an expanded version of the library application which added player, mixing and performance tools to directly rival the likes of Traktor and Serato. Released alongside a range of software specific controllers, the move changed rekordbox into a fully integrated digital DJing platform, which aims to bridge the gap between the laptop and the CDJ.

As the flagship model of the launch range, the DDJ-RZ is billed as a fully-spec’d controller combining two CDJ-style track controllers, a four-channel mixer, 16 performance pads and a built-in Osc Sampler, which allows users to trigger four preset samples. It’s big and it’s expensive for a DJ controller, but it packs a number of features that put it firmly in ‘pro’ territory.