There’s nothing I can add to this, so I’m just going to quote Juno’s Blog on this one:
“Unless you’ve been living under a turntable shaped rock this past year, you’ll know that a working knowledge of CD decks is nigh on essential for the club going DJ in 2011. The vast majority of clubs and musically inclined pubs across the world have a pair of CD decks as well as, or instead of, turntables. Pioneer has established itself as the industry standard CD deck – initially with the ubiquitous CDJ-1000 and more recently with the 2000 version – and as such they feature prominently in this list. However we’ve road tested each and every one of the competitors, and whittled them down to a shortlist of the 10 best across a range of prices.”
Below you’ll find a list with 10 of the best CD Decks available on the market today, with a short description.
01) Pinoneer CDJ 2000 - The mothership. The all singing, all dancing top of the range model from Pioneer. Key features include the illuminated tension adjustable jog wheel, the needle search function (which allows you to select any part of the tracks waveform in a matter of seconds, eliminating the need for time consuming search manoeuvres) and a 6.1 inch full colour screen.
02) Pioneer CDJ 850 – This is Pioneer’s mid-price range model. It’s probably best to label this the Technics 1200 of its range, due to the fact that it’s extremely stable, will seldom let you down, has only the bare essential features and boasts a fantastic classic silver design. The negative points are that it has no quantised looping, the jog wheel tension cannot be adjusted, and there’s no LINK function (as with the other next generation CDJs).
03) Pioneer CDJ 350 – If you buy one you’ll get a reliable, smaller, stripped–back version of Pioneer’s new top of the range models. If you’re used to Pioneer’s other CDJs you’ll have no problem adapting to to the 350 with its cute and compact appearance marking it as a desirable product for bedroom DJs. You can loop and hot cue with it, it’ll read your memory stick and has a BPM lock. It’s fully integrated with Pioneer’s RekordBox music management software and has the added bonus of being able to communicate via MIDI.
04) Denon DN-S3700 – The is the most fun to operate out of our 10 test units and should be treated as more of a musical instrument than a professional CD player. It’s solid with brushed aluminium bevelled corners and its key USP is the 9” spinning turntable platter powered by 12 pole direct drive motor which has an even higher torque than the Technics 1200 deck!
05) Reloop RMP 3 – This is by far the most stylish entry to our ten best series. The rubberised heavy duty plastic case oozes class and durability from the first touch and you can see that methodical German engineering has been in effect through the intuitive and symmetrical placing of the controls. RMP 3 also happens to be the most uncomplicated unit that we’ve had on the block this month. It will read from your memory stick or other external USB storage device, toggling seamlessly between the two with the punch of a button.
06) Gemini CDJ -600 – Coming in with one of the most attractive price tags, Gemini’s CDJ -600 is still a contender in a race that is largely populated with units that boast feature lists down to the ground. At 279.4 x 298.45 x 114.3 mm it’s not the most streamlined of creatures – although it feels sturdy enough – and a quick glance at the box reassures us that it has an anti-shock mechanism fitted which uses the RAM buffer memory.
07) KAM KCD 400 – This is the best bang for your buck if you’re on a budget. We wouldn’t advise you to go for one if you’re after club installation, as the tray loading system won’t survive the punishment it will doubtlessly undergo in a working environment. For domestic use though, you can’t go wrong. The design is current, the blue backlit screen looks seriously cool and the jog wheel feels sturdy.
08 ) Numark NDX 800 – Another feature packed budget to mid–price range edition to our ten best series. It fits into the same category performance-wise as the Stanton and Reloop units at a greatly reduced cost. It will read your memory stick, yet reliably switching source isn’t just the quick toggle of a switch – it involves a look at the screen and the twist of a rotary.
09) Stanton C 324 – Stanton’s approach of giving us professionally spec’d products at an affordable price is very noble in these economic times. The C324 will undoubtedly lodge a thorn in Pioneer’s side for this very reason, with many people opting for one of these bad boys rather than reaching for one of the lower spec’d CDJs.
10) Vestax CDX 05 – Vestax’s entry to our ten best will undoubtedly have its fans due to their strong branding and impressive contribution to the advancement of DJ technology. Out of the box it does look a little dated in design, with the pitch control feeling loose and the jog wheel not being the smoothest of rides. Importantly, the road test proves that it actually handles very well – the jog wheel is responsive in scratch, cue or effects modulation modes and if you’re still not sold, for the price of a night out you can pick yourself up a Tascam TTM1 to retrofit onto your Vestax PDX vinyl turntable which will seamlessly control your CDX 05.
There you have it. Top 10, best of the best cd players available on the market today. I’ve tried to keep the description short so I won’t make a 4 page post, but if you want to see the full specs, and much more, head over to this page.
By the way, if you DJ, what CD Players are you using? And what mixer? Personally, I really like the CDJ-1000 MK II and DJM 600 Combo. They’re very good, and not that expensive
