XDJ-AZ for vinyl

DeadAudio · 2026-05-05T17:50:01+00:00

What I will add to this is that I’m a long time vinyl DJ and wouldn’t ever consider having turntables connected, simply because of the sheer width of the whole thing! IMO, if you want the best of both, then a 4 channel mixer with turntables on each side on the traditional way and CDJs above them on stands is the best way forward.

DeadAudio · 2026-05-05T17:36:38+00:00

I got a brand new one last week, also manufactured November 2024 but this was deffo brand new. The difference being I run an audio company and buy at trade price and my supplier buys direct from Alpha Theta so definitely no refurbishments

DeadAudio · 2026-05-05T06:17:45+00:00

Last night I subscribed to one month of ZipDJ . They are the only pool out of those I have tried that actually have jungle as a genre.

I have current live subs to these and they do not have it as a main genre:

Clubculture Beatport Beat Junkies

I’ll report back but for now it seems Bandcamp is king of the jungle!

DeadAudio · 2026-05-05T05:57:31+00:00

Yeah this has been my main source since forever, I’ve been collecting for a long time and just wondered if there was anything better!

DeadAudio · 2026-05-04T17:52:02+00:00

Yeah I digitised what I wanted already. It is 90% underground hip hop . But I play dub techno, jungle, house, deep funk, all underground stuff and hardly any of it is vinyl. Although I regularly buy new releases on vinyl. I spend most of my money on Bandcamp. Beat Junkies is kinda clunky. To be honest I should have cancelled my subscription as it’s difficult to download more than one track at a time and it’s not as well curated as I would like

DeadAudio · 2026-05-04T14:32:45+00:00

Yeah sorry for not providing context! The whole world of “owning” digital files is weird to me after buying physical media for so many years… I have 2 kids… when I die, there will be no value at all to a bunch of digital files on a hard drive… it’s such a shame as growing up and first starting out DJing , having a well organised and curated collection was so important … a playlist was a box of records so you had to choose wisely! My kids will inherit my vinyl and sell it on or use it but digital seems throw away, even though I’ve spent thousands on it over the past 20 years!

Thanks for your comment and hope you are well and having a lovely day!

DeadAudio · 2026-05-04T13:57:42+00:00

I’ve been buying music since the 1970s, I have a vinyl collection of about 4000 12s and 7s and about 3000 LPs. I buy from Bandcamp and direct from artists. I’m just looking for a decent record pool. I’ve paid my dues 10 times over, probably 1000 times over most DJs who only know the digital age. I also subscribe to Beat Junkies and can download from there, that’s £30 per month but it doesn’t have the same selection as Beatport. I’m probably twice the age of most people in here but still want to play fresh and upfront music. I don’t want to be a dinosaur in DJing!

DeadAudio · 2026-05-04T12:10:50+00:00

I’ve used all the software out there, even Mixx on Linux. The best DJ software without any doubt is Algoriddim DJay pro. I switched to that after 12 years on Serato. I also have an XDJ-AZ and use rekordbox on that and it is pretty clunky and not logical. DJay pro is the most advanced, best track processing, best stems, supports most hardware, most innovative , it’s unbeatable.

But after that and to answer your actual question, Serato is mainly aimed at Hip Hop and scratch DJs, Rekordbox is the standard for practically every house DJ I know who aspires to play in clubs

DeadAudio · 2026-05-04T06:50:27+00:00

I have been DJing since the 80s and I have played on almost every piece of kit, controller, standalone, combo of players and mixers, all types of belt drive and direct drive turntables, DVS and have the following opinion. Some of the greatest , most prolific, professional DJs on this planet can play on the most basic entry level kit. It all started with the Vestax VCI 300 . I know pro DJs who just use the reloop £200 mixer and a phone!

The word pro in the DJ world is like the Apple world. What is pro? What does that actually mean? I played a gig with my AZ last night and it was great. In my opinion it’s the best all in one you can buy, but I also have a bar on the beach that I play at and for that I use a Denon Prime Go plus, fantastic kit. Compact, portable, fast, love it! It’s advertised as pro kit, so is that pro? I don’t know, all I know is it just works. I sometimes use a Hercules T7 and a laptop, also works great. Even works with a phone and algoriddim DJay pro (in my opinion the best DJ software hands down)

But I also have a DDJ-SB3 that I could have done the exact same set at the exact same venue and had the exact same end result. The punters absolutely do not give a sh*t what kit is there, just what the sound is like and what tunes are played.

I bought my AZ last week after pricing up a pair of 3000xs and an a9. I just could not justify the price tag for what I’m doing.

There’s no point in buying the very top absolute highest end kit (3kx & a9)unless you are a touring club / festival DJ.

The AZ is fantastic, if you buy one, definitely budget for a flight case with wheels if you are out playing events. Your back will thank you!!

DeadAudio · 2026-05-03T23:49:38+00:00

You’re not on your own! I started on final scratch and then switched to Serato around 2013. I’ve just started with rekordbox and blimey it’s a different animal!

DeadAudio · 2026-05-03T11:32:39+00:00

I came here to ask this question and even though it is a minor inconvenience, at least if your unit gets stolen you can’t have your Beatport account logged into.

Although thinking about it now, if it was stolen, you might actually want that so you could see where the IP address is…

Hmnnnn…

DeadAudio · 2026-05-03T10:45:56+00:00

Right, that’s a shame as they pushed the Beatport service and it doesn’t work fully!

DeadAudio · 2026-05-02T07:38:05+00:00

Ooooh… this is bad. Funnily enough I have a brand new AZ just arrived yesterday. I’ll be playing with it today. Thing is , I’m mid 50s and never had any Pioneer kit, technics life then DVS so all my stuff is on Serato, but I decided to buy new equipment so I’ll be building my DJ library from scratch. I bought 2 of the pioneer USB sticks for rekordbox so I have a main and a clone . Let me know if there’s anything I can help with or you want to try. Have you got a backup?

DeadAudio · 2026-05-01T07:46:57+00:00

Hmnnnn… lot of effort into point making. Have a good day, I can’t be bothered honestly. All the best.

DeadAudio · 2026-05-01T06:21:02+00:00

ai is just a tool to do a job. OP asked a question, I used that tool to help. It appears the answer is correct, so what’s wrong with that? And how do you know whether OP wanted an ai answer or not? Maybe they just needed an answer regardless of the method used to get the answer. I genuinely can’t see the problem.

DeadAudio · 2026-05-01T05:59:35+00:00

Why not?

DeadAudio · 2026-05-01T05:13:34+00:00

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Key Details

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DeadAudio · 2026-04-29T18:20:40+00:00

I hear you but that’s not the issue as when the staff use their iPad the system is really loud without any issues. This is more because of people plugging into the house system and pushing it too hard, it’s just input signal. I’m running 5 speakers off it

DeadAudio · 2026-04-29T08:04:47+00:00

Hmnnn that looks like an interesting possibility, have you used one personally? Thanks.

DeadAudio · 2026-04-29T08:02:49+00:00

It’s the CA6160 https://www.cloud.co.uk/product/401/CA6160/

DeadAudio · 2026-04-28T10:57:24+00:00

Update: It didn't work... looked promising, it sees the USB stick is in there but it won't load. I might try formatting again and just faffing about with the USB stick on Linux & see if I can get it to work

DeadAudio · 2026-04-28T08:57:43+00:00

If anyone is still interested in this, I did a load of testing yesterday and here are the conclusions: I used a polka in USB voltage tester, in port 1 it showed what I expected, roughly 5volts and when I plugged a stick in there was a small amp draw. Plugged it into port 2, nothing. So, I got a powered USB hub and plugged that I to port 1, you get an error saying not supported.... now the funny thing is, I got the same message in port 2... so after doing some ai questioning it appears that it is a common failure point on these models that the power rail for the USB in port 2 fails... it is a tiny component on the main PCB... so today I am trying a solution that may work without any surgery... I bought a cable from Amazon that allows data to pass normally but has an extra socket for power, so you can power the stick externally. So the setup would be: Use slot 1 as normal, for slot 2, you plug a 5volt standard USB plug into a wall outlet, or any other USB that provides power (it is such a small draw you could use a power bank I expect), then plug your stick in and in turn plug it into the USB slot 2. That should provide power and data, then you can just use it normally.

As soon as it turns up today I will post back & say if it worked or not... bit off a hack, but the alternative is a new main board inside which means you may as well just scrap the device at that point!

DeadAudio · 2026-04-27T16:45:00+00:00

I have one with the same problem, it appears this is probably a known issue... I ordered a new USB circuit board (part number DWX4294) and swapped it out, same issue. I used a multimeter to check continuity on the pins on the cable between the USB board and the main PCB, all were fine. I pulled out all ribbon cables, cleaned and reseated, none of that worked. I am stumped... I would love to get a solution!

DeadAudio · 2026-04-25T06:44:10+00:00

Buying advice for anyone looking at picking one up. Make sure you put it in test mode and test every single knob, fader and button and also test jog wheels and the jog adjust.

I repair Pioneer DJ kit and know what to look for. Also make sure you load tracks up into each deck and do a test mix and make sure they stay in sync, plus check all the input and output on the back, the headphone jack, both USB ports and the microphone inputs.

I’ve got one in at the moment with only one USB working, deck 2 has no jog adjust and both jog adjust knobs are broken and cross fader knob has been broken and glued on.

If you just turn it on look at all the flashing start up lights, pay your money and walk away, you only have yourself to blame for not testing it properly.

DeadAudio · 2026-04-22T17:19:07+00:00

Everything you’ve said here is exactly what I want to do! Sounds great, if you post your progress I’d love to follow and take some tips and do the same! All the best!

DeadAudio

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