Manufacturer: Pioneer
Cost: $2199.00

In the quest to guard their placement of four-channel mixers in club-land worldwide, Pioneer has released a new digital mixer, complete with new Sound Colour FX and MIDI function to solidify the market in which their DJM-600 has kept a strong foothold in.

Transforming a workhorse
Pioneer’s DJM-800 is the introduction of its 96kHz/24bit mixer to allow for the cleanest sound in any situation. Running through a pro A/D converter, it’s then passed through its 32bit DSP for mixing to minimise deterioration of audio quality. Also introduced is the Sound Colour FX bank which can be used on all four channels.

First of the Sound Colour effects is ‘Harmonic’. Using this alters the pitch of the sound in steps of semi-tones, allowing for the DJ or remixer to introduce harmonic mixing when it may not have been possible before. Second effect, ‘Sweep’, is a notch filter with the ability to cut out highs and lows to keep mids, or the reverse. Third in line is ‘Crush’, which is a bit-crushing effect on the high and low passes, reducing the resolution of the audio to create sound. Last of the Sound Color FX bank is ‘Filter’, as its name suggests bring in Allen & Heath-style LPF and HPF.

It still works great
With a similar layout to the stalwart in the DJM-600, the 800 can be picked up comfortably by DJs worldwide, who could then start utilising the new features of the machine to create a more individual mix for themselves and aural difference for the audience.

Still carried over from the 600 is the Beat Effects, assignable to any of the channels. Delay, Echo, Reverse Delay, Pan, Transform, Filter, Flanger, Phaser, Reverb, Chorus, Roll, Reverse Roll and introducing Robot. Self-explanatory it’s a Robot-style effect which is similar to Zip on an FX unit. Send/Return allows connection to an external FX unit. Auto BPM counter remains part of the package for the aforementioned Beat Effects.

Three-band EQ on the channels can manage -26dB to +6dB, with the trim allowing for a full kill to +9dB. Why the three-band EQ don’t have full kills… who knows, but still, -26dB is still more than usable. What would have also been nice would have been three-band EQ on the master channel. Not of big concern, but maybe something that could have been added, as was done on their higher-end installation mixer, the DJM-1000.

There are two mic inputs on the front, they only have two-band EQ on them (Hi and Low) with a ±6dB on each and trims are full kill to 0dB. For comparison, the DJM-600 had one mic input on the front with three-band EQ and -10dB to +12dB trims which is full kill to 0dB. Obviously may not be of too much use for the DJ, but maybe of use to those who like to use microphones a whole lot more…

Headphone input is still positioned bottom-left, with Mono-Split and Stereo options, Cue and Master pot and levels of full kill to 0dB. What I would have liked to have seen is three-band EQ on the headphone cueing.

Connections
No longer recessed as with the 600, the DJM-800 connections now sit flat with the rear panel. This may cause issues for those who want to keep their mixer stored in a commercial road case designed for the 800 – even though they share the same footprint.

Back onto the inputs – your standard four channels worth of phono inputs + Line/CD in. Obviously being digital, they have four coaxial digital ‘ins’ which are selectable between them and the Line Ins.

1/4” L/R, Send & Return inputs are there for connection to an external FX unit.

A single coaxial digital out (selectable 48k or 96k) starts off the outputs. Master 1 out is XLR. With Master 2 and Rec Out both being RCA. Booth Monitor out is 1/4” TRS. But wait… there’s more… MIDI out…

MIDI Function!
Yes, this DJM-800 can send out MIDI signal, with 61 assignable controls… coming from nearly all the knobs and switches on the face of the mixer. With these MIDI signals, this mixer can become a terrific medium to work with the likes of Ableton Live.

All in all, this mixer is well rounded and packs in nice features for the DJ. However, it’s got strong competition from Ecler’s Nuo5, A&H’s XOne:92, and Korg’s soon to come Zero4. Pioneer’s DJM-800 definitely is a mixer which has the ability to keep them firmly planted in DJ setups worldwide…