That comes down to the metal build, the bright, high quality screen, the pro knobs (all bolted to the underlying metal plate), the pro inputs and outputs. It feel like “bigger” gear, shrunk, not a plastic copy of pro gear that you just know won’t stand abuse. Being released after the CDJ-3000, it inherits many features from that player… such as its enhanced Browse section and 3-band waveforms. The jog wheels feel buttery smooth, and the faders feel solid. So, what’s the point of going standalone? There are a few reasons you might be considering going this route. The main reason is that there’s no laptop required… duh!

It has 4 assignable inputs (for connecting media players or turntables), and a suite of effects from Denon's X1850 PRIME mixer. It can play music straight from one of its four USB inputs, or from an SD card. It even includes a 2.5” SATA drive bay… allowing you to carry your music on an internal hard drive. Uncompressed music is supported (such as FLAC, ALAC, or WAV files)… and you can use any one of these sources to record your DJ sets. The 6” jog wheels are slightly smaller than its Pioneer counterparts, though still of good quality. And, its adjustable 10” HD display is just as big and beautiful as the RX3’s, while also supporting multi-touch gestures. Analogue Output: Master, Balanced +18dBu (maximum) +4dBu (unity) Master, Unbalanced +15dBu (maximum) 0dBu (unity) Booth +18dBu (maximum) +4dBu (unity) Headphone Output < 40mW So following on from our first review of the unit (when we had literally had a day or two to get our heads around it), here are some long-term user thoughts about this intriguing little portable DJ system. Using your mobile data or either a venue’s WiFi or wired internet connection, you can stream music from TIDAL with its catalogue of over 60+ million songs, just using PRIME GO and with no laptop needed. Never be caught out again for that elusive song request, having literally the world’s music, exclusive playlists and curated content at your fingertips! More exciting streaming partners will be available soon.Pro Layout –The XDJ RX3 inherits the Pioneer layout from their other pro-level gear. If you are an experienced Pioneer gear user you’ll feel right at home with this controller. Everything is where you expect it to be. New DJs will also be able to transition to Pioneer pro-level gear with ease. Denon DJ has announced a new Engine DJ software update with version 2.4. The latest update brings some new key features and improvements to the Operating System (OS) and Desktop. The output from the Go (master RCA and XLR out) were measured with a PicoScope 5000-series digital oscilloscope set to 16-bit resolution. Although this is hardly a high-performance audio analyzer it is more than adequate for this job.

Outside of a single AUX input, there are no connections for external devices. This is meant to be an “in the box” device, so you won’t find RCA ports for turntables or CDJs. You can use it with your laptop as a controller, but only with Rekordbox in performance mode… there’s no Serato this time. It uses Gemini’s proprietary software and library (which I know little about), so I can’t go around recommending it. But it’s worth knowing about, because it does offer a lot for the price. XDJ-1000 and XDJ-700 The XDJ-RR is probably the closest thing you’ll find to “a value” in regards to Pioneer gear. Of course, at half the price of the RX3, this does come along with some compromise. All things being equal, if given no other info, this would be my general recommendation for a Pioneer standalone unit.available sample banks let you load your own or the pre-loaded samples to the performance pads and assign the output to any of the channels or the master output. Where the sampler is assigned to the master output, you can control the volume level on screen. Quantize moves the DJ’s button presses to the closest beat division, allowing them to stay perfectly in time. The feature is widely used and affects the performance pads, loops and loop rolls. There are cases when DJ’s will want Quantize off, usually when finger drumming. The Engine 3.1 update offers DJs freedom like they’ve never had before, from interactive touch FX to creating your own unique Smartlist.

In EQ mode, when the EQ knobs are turned down the selected frequency band will be reduced in volume by up to 26db. This allows some sound to leak through still when fully turned down.It’s a shame the screen is flat. I tried and tried, but it didn’t get any easier. I found myself leaning over the unit too much just to read the screen. In short: It can be hard to see. This little laptop stand folds up to nothing, and works great with the Denon DJ Prime GO (you can see it in use in the video linked to above). If you already have a preference, this part is easy. If you’re already maintaining a library in either Rekordbox or Engine, and you’re happy in that ecosystem, you know where to aim.

For example, there are only a couple of onboard FX, in comparison to getting the full gamut of NXS2 goodies. The jog wheels aren’t quite as nice, the screen is high-quality, but it’s not touch-enabled… so that means no keyboard search. Stuff like that.The Denon DJ Prime Go is an intriguing and fun new DJ addition to the company’s pro-focused Prime DJ gear range, which was launched today alongside the Prime 2. It’s a standalone, portable two-channel DJ system with a built-in computer, screen, battery, and WiFi music streaming. Mobile DJ Friendly –Considering the number of features included, the unit is still lightweight. Mobile DJs will appreciate the size of the unit as well. While large, it’s still very portable. Introducing Engine DJ 3.1, the ultimate DJ software update with additional features that enhance creativity. Featuring brand new Touch FX - use the touchscreen to control and interact with FX in a whole new way. Create tensions, build-ups and transitions by swiping your finger in any direction with effects Filter Echo, Filter Reverb, Filter Roll, LFO Echo, Filter Dub Echo, Filter Gate, Noise Gate, Flanger, LFO Filter and Filte. Not to mention, there are now over 25 new and enhanced dynamic FX options for Denon DJ hardware, such as Echo Out, Swell Verb, Hold Echo, Recycler, Stutter Out, Riser, Pitch Down, and more! All these effects can also be applied on a focused frequency range also. This is a new category of product, and I’m not sure where it will settle at this stage. Certainly many DJs will look at it and think “I want one!”– there is nothing else like it out there at all.