Added: 4 years ago
From: groovindj
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  • ipod and storage drives aren't the same thing, with the ipod the cdj will automaticly make a database and the files (not all of them) can be played with the cdj. when you connect a hard drive or usb you first need to make a database on rekordbox

  • @arnorav no, the CDJ will NOT "make a database". The CDJ-400 doesn't use a database system at all. Also Rekordbox has nothing to do with the CDJ-400. Rekordbox did not exist at the time, and the CDJ-400 has not been updated since 2008.

  • i've tried to plug my ipod in and it just kept on flashing n never took me onto the folders?? i have only got about 800 songs.

  • why doesnt this work with the i-pod touch tho??

  • @DJJONESY2008, because the Touch isn't a mass storage class device.

  • does it work with an iphone?

  • @dozrox, I don't have an iPhone, but I doubt it would work because they're basically the same thing.

  • @groovindj what about if you have 2 ipods and 2 cdjs. could you mix songs

  • @dozrox, yeah the iPods just act as external hard drives. There are better (and cheaper) ways of mixing MP3s but it would work.

  • @groovindj Yes it works, i had been djing with usb, cd, ipods, mp3 and i try with iphone and it works perfectly but the problem is that it takes up to 2 mins to load the whole songs, instead of 20.

  • ive got about 500 tracks and it still takes about 20 seconds.

  • can i work with 2 cdj's 400 with one ipod ?

  • No.

  • I just bought a new ipod nano and when i conect it to my cdj 400 nothing comes up in the folders.....any ideas?!? thanks

  • I don't have a Nano. You should ask on the Pioneer forum if the new Nanos are compatible.

  • i have the same problem. have you figured it out?

  • Figured what out? As I said before, I don't have a Nano!

  • thanks for this vid... i was thinking of selling my denons to get these.... but i think i'll keep em now!... Pioneer is sooo overated

  • Pioneer is kind of a joke. They jack up their prices because they are already amazingly popular and KNOW people will pay for it. For example, the BRAND NEW CDJ-2000 is $1,699 at Sam Ash, and the 5? year old CDJ-1000 MK3 is $1,499. And then we see Denon with the AWESOME S-3700, which can be found for $999.

  • reloop rmp-3 almost the same as cdj-400 but have much better price. i'm not an expert but i think rmp-3 it's not much worse than cdj-400

  • This would be SO much nicer than dealing with hundereds of cds. I'm so excited to get my new cdj XD

  • You need to look on the internet. I cannot hold your hand!

  • how do you burn the cd's to appear the name of the song oon the cdj?

  • It's called CD Text. Your burning software & your CD player will need to support it.

  • go to burn options/preferences and select to have track text displayed.

  • why wont it work with ipod touch

  • Because the Touch doesn't have 'disk mode'. Same with the iPhone. Apple changed the way they're accessed over USB.

  • how much did you pay for them?

  • They were originally £450 but they've gone up a lot since.

    They're over £600 now, which is just ridiculous.

    The Denon equivalent (DN-S1200) has not gone up anywhere near as much.

  • You can scroll through a long list of tracks (on an ipod) by holding the track search button and using the jog wheel. Goes a lot quicker

  • Yo GroovinDJ, Does the CDJ-400 support m3u playlists?

  • I don't know. To be honest I don't use the CDJ-400s for MP3s any more, but just as CD players, which is really all they're good for.

  • I hear ya, thanks for the quick reply.

  • 2 questions: 1) can you use the CDJ-400 effects with MP3 files (vinyl mode, wah effect, etc)? 2) Have you tried something you like better for mp3s, or you just prefer CD quality? THANKS!

  • The effects work with anything that's playing on the device itself. Some people mistakenly think that they will work when you use the CDJ-400 as a MIDI controller, but of course they can't.

    I use the Denon HS5500 decks for MP3s now, and the CDJ-400s for CD (which I rarely use).

  • Thanks so much for the info, it was very helpful!

  • groovindj- first of all, wanted to let you know that I bought the HS5500 and think it's great, it's my first DJ equipment and I am very pleased. Since you were so helpful, I want to pick your brain again: I am looking for a way to lug it around, along with a pioneer DJM-400 mixer. Any suggestions?

  • I use Road Ready flight cases. You can get a case designed for a CDJ800/1000 and the HS5500 will fit.

  • ive got 400s i just use memory sticks saves alot on cds and doesnt take ages to load!

  • i bought cdj 400's last friday my ipod touch wont load on it

  • the new ipods are locked so they only work with pcs or mac

    apple wants to be gay and lock there stuff

    i suggest buying a used ipod

  • try to upload the firmwer. i don't know if it works, but you don't know if you don't try ;)

  • Hi there :)

    I will play on a club where they got a couple of these recently. I suppose they have the latest firmware version, which is said to load way faster the mp3 coming from an external HDD.

    Do you have the latest firmware installed? Does it work well with 500gb+ HDD? I will plug a 640GB one...

    Thanks!

  • I would not dare to use one with a drive as big as that.

    It will take forever to scan all the tracks, before you will be able to play anything, and then you will have to scroll through thousands of tracks one by one to find anything.

  • i agree, youd have to be retarded to want to scroll through all those tracks on a tiny screen

  • can't you just search songs with the ipod?

    Thanks!

  • No - when you connect an iPod to a master device, the iPod becomes a slave and you cannot use the screen or controls.

  • thanks a lot :)!

  • hey sehr gut und veil spaß

    der tone macht die musik

  • Regarding the larger hard disks and the "No Data" message, I'm sure that the hard drives you used were formatted with NTFS (the default format for store-bought hard drives). The CDJ400 can't recognize this type of filesystem. Can you try partitioning (formatting) the disk with the FAT32 filesystem and let us know what happens? Thanks!

  • I honestly can't recall (the video is over 1yr old) but even if I had made that error, the message should read "wrong format" or "not FAT32" rather than "no data" which I knew to be false.

  • That would be a good idea if it were possible for the CDJ to know the difference between there being no data, and the filesystem not being recognized. To the software, that's all the same thing. The software detects that something is plugged in to the USB port, but unless it sees data (which it can't), it will report that there is none.

  • also, could you try formatting it to FAT32 just to see if I'm right? I was thinking about getting this thing, and I think that my suggestion will solve the problem. Otherwise I might be turned away from buying it. If it's too much of a pain for you to try it, or you have something really important on it that you can't fit anywhere else, then I understand. thanks!

  • a whered

    u get tat

    pioneer sticker?

  • tat stika

    cum wid

    da playa

    wen u by it

  • o kool

    thnx

  • lol present to my self, good video, vary well done!

    keep it up

  • Theres a "computer" plug on the back, with some DJ-software on the computer - you can search your tracks with the keyboard!

    -I guess the USB connection on top is most for connecting things in a hurry.

    -btw. my firmware on CDJ400 is 1.30, and my cdj doesnt "go back to root dir", when i switch between CD and USB-mode on CDJ.

  • Hi Mike. If you connect the CDJ-400 to a computer and use DJ software then it's the software that's doing the work. The 400 on its own is flawed when it comes to MP3 usage. Denon do it much better, as their units use a database file. I will check my firmware and upgrade if needed - thanks.

  • My CDJ-400 works ..sometimes.. with my 500 gb Western Digital-usb harddrive - i guess its only sometimes due to the huge load of computergames, video and stuff, besides the approx 1400 mp3's on that drive.

    You know you have to convert your harddrive into FAT16 or 32 to work with CDJ's rigth? if your HD is in some sort of different format (fx. the Win NT formatting), it wont work with CDJ.

  • I have used the 400's for quite awhile now. I must say that I love them, but I use them exclusively with DJS, and cd's. With these methods, the 400's are amazing. I don't use ipods (screw apple). I did try to connect an external hdd once, but like in your case, it did not work well.

    Anyway, I think the CDJ's are better than you make them out to be, but good review nonetheless.

  • go buy some turntables and vinyls-u guys are all weak doin this mockery of deejayin!!!!!!!!

  • I've already got turntables and vinyl - as can be seen in my other videos. I was using turntables before you were born!

  • haha nice one...people don't realise, times are changing!!! Technology is advancing...u techophobes jus have to deal with it

  • will this work with the new ipod nano? good vid!!

  • The iPod needs to be "Mass Storage Class" to be recognised by the CDJ-400, and the newer iPods are not MSC.

  • does the pioneer cdj 800 have a usb port?

  • No, as it's a very old unit - the same applies to the CDJ-1000.

    Look at Denon players for USB support, as they're more advanced than Pioneer in that respect.

  • Unless, of course, you are connecting the CDJ to a PC, at which point the CDJ's are super fast to load.

  • Just Update Your Firmware. And If still doesnt work, Dont bother, Use Flash drives or regular ipods.

  • Groovindj, do you still do videos? I haven't seen any for months...

    Max

  • I'm still around. I don't get loads of free kit to review though, so only make videos when I can.

  • the ipod needs to be formated on the PC version.

    Mac version of ipod wont work

    is it PC version ?

  • What exactly are you asking?

    I know the iPod needs to be PC formatted - I've already stated that.

  • I mean, you said on the video title that iPod Touch won't load...

    Even if its PC formatted ?

  • There is no such thing as a PC formatted iPod Touch. Apple changed the way the Touch is accessed.

  • thats why its called a CDJ for fuck sake... lol, not having a go at you but seriously man!

  • No, it's called a CDJ because that's the name for the entire Pioneer range.

    This particular model is SUPPOSED to be usable with USB flash drives, iPods and external hard drives.

    That's how Pioneer promoted it.

    It really only does half a job.

  • U mean it wont work on a full 160 gb ipod?

  • Depends on your definition of "work".

    Because it has to scan through the entire drive before you can see or load any tracks, if you connect a full 160Gb iPod, you will be waiting a very long time before you can play anything from it.

  • Irealy want to know what you think about my comment ,3 users down

    think its because of usb version 1.0 ...

    thanx.

  • Well USB 1.0 is slower, so it would be a partial cause, but the main problem is that the Pioneers don't use a pre-compiled MP3 database, so they have to scan the entire drive each time you connect it. The Denons use a database, and the Numark D2 Director that I have, uses a database too - and that's USB 1.0

  • i have an ipod but use it with an apple computer. Does this mean my ipod won't work with this?

  • As far as I am aware, the CDJ-400 will still only work with FAT16 and FAT32 formatted drives, so if yours is formatted to the Mac standard, the CDJ won't read it.

  • thats correct. pioneer is supposedly going to make it mac compatible soon though

  • They've been saying that for almost a year now!

  • well im not buying one of them

  • No one mentioned the real reason of why it is taking too long to load large usb sticks or large Hd,as I see it its due to the technology of usb 1.0 version,and to my understanding it is not an upgradable issue couse this is a hardware problem and not software,thanx Groovin,thought of replacing my good ol' 100s to the 400s but for now Ill wait.

    they woyld have to solve those issues however on the next cdj

    btw anyone can point out the main difference between features of the 1000mkh3 and the 400

  • Where did you get the Pro Dj insert in the jog wheel?

  • As I said in an earlier comment, they are supplied with the players.

  • S3500 without a doubt (in my opinion). As for the mixer, it's really down to your needs and preferences. The Behringer is certainly good value but the build and audio quality may not be as good as the Pioneer. It may still be good enough for you, but I don't know where or how you'll be using it.

  • Hey! very good vid! many of the features of this hot babe, are clearly now 4 me, but im still convenced to use my PionnerMK3 =)

  • Hey guys, Im looking at buy a set up next week and im stuck between Pioneer CDJ400 and the Denon DNS3500. Also between mixers,The Pioneer DJM400 or Behringer DDM4000. Any comments would be helpful!

  • Does the CDJ400 recognize playlists on the iPod?

  • No, I don't think it does.

  • groovindj gr8 tutorials, i've treated myself to the cdj400a great kit loving it just having problems connected my ipod nano. I get a E8304 id on the display. Frustrating though I will persevere, just a shame really any feedback would be appreciated..thxs

  • goroove dj u got any idea why my ipod touch 8gb touch wont connect to my cdj-400???? you got any things i could do 2 get it working

  • I'm not sure if the Touch models work with the CDJ-400. I'll try with mine and see what happens.

  • No it won't work, i quote from pioneer "iPod Touch and iPhones don't work on MSC (mass storage class) connections - they use a different technique, I believe it's ISC (image storage class). As such, they don't have the same storage and data transfer method as the rest of the iPod lineup.

    I've asked the engineers about this due to the popularity of the iPhone (not only in the US anymore but globally) and their answer was they were trying to but couldn't promise that it would ever be supported"

  • Thanks man!! i have seen so many videos promoting this player, (but none by REAL people) so glad you pointed out the faults, i have got caught so many times buying these items without research... u have saved me £xx amount - ill stick to my 1210's!! love live the new flesh!

  • Check out the new Denon DN-S1200 which is much better designed for MP3 usage.

  • what is wrong with these decks?cause i was thinking of buying a pair soon?

  • For playing CDs they're great. For MP3s though, there are better solutions out there.

  • Thanks for the honest review man. Much appreciated.

  • In my opinion i think the new denon s1200 would be suited for a task like this because it supports 50,000 wma/,mp3 files and u can search throught using a keybord

  • Yeah, it's certainly more designed for the task than the CDJ-400. It's a shame really that Pioneer didn't think it through.

  • I was wonderig if your hard drivers were formated in FAT32 or FAT16 file system?

  • FAT32, as they're drives that I use with other kit that requires FAT32 formatted drives.

  • I see, then i dont know what the problem could be... maybe too much files on hard drive? Because cdj400 is only capable to handle about 20000 files or so...

    Btw, could tell me about CDJ400 jog wheel, how does it feel when you use it? Is it like CDJ200's or its like CDJ800's? btw im not talking about size, because i know that cdj400's is smaller than 800's :)

  • I can't answer that as I've not used all three units.

  • Same as 800 and 1000 versions. Ecactly the same. Just smaller. But i prefer this small one. USB and IPOS...WALLOP..Get in there

  • well, i preffer larger jog wheel, but for a price like this... let it be cdj400 :)

  • very informative...will be getting one of these or wait 3 weeks for the dns1200, thx again.

  • I think the Denon deals better with MP3s, if that's going to be your main use.

  • I see what your saying about not having the ability to load a 500gb hard drive.. however who is going to need a 500gb worth of music for any one Gig? However quite a nice video. cheers

  • It may not contain 500gb of MP3s, but this is a common size of drive now, and people do like to store their entire collection. Also, mobile DJs get asked for all sorts of tracks so having everything in reserve is very useful.

  • nice response.. that was me being very critical for no apparent reason.. im a mobile dj.. i just stick to the cd's ... might have to look into this though

  • Don't use ipods!!! Thats half your problem I reckon.

  • I couldnt fit this all in one post... Im interested if you figured that out though, because I havent had that happen, and I really tried to go through and confuse the player, and it still worked fine. I have not tried my Ipod yet though, so maybe it would act different. With the thumb drives though it works great, and really fast. I have it setup for Autocue and it takes just as long as the Cds so Im happy with it. Great peice of kit!

  • I recently upgraded the firmware to v1.12 so I'll check to see if it made a difference. I was on v1.03 previously (hold down reloop/exit button for 10s to show f/w version).

  • Cool, I didnt know you could check. I just looked Im on v1.03, did you get the update on pioneers site? Notice any difference?

  • Hey Groovindj, I just wanted to say I picked up a pair a couple weeks ago. I also purchased two 4gb thumb drives to use. They work great, my main thing I wanted to let you know is when I go from the flash drive to the Cd, it remembers where I left off on the cd, and if I go back to the flash drive it goes back to where I left off on the flash drive. From what I understand it wasnt doing that for you... I dont know what or why it isnt working for yours???

  • Mate when are you ever going to use 500gigs of music in one set?

  • The drive itself is 500gb but the music on it is only taking up a fraction of that.

    My point was that loading more than maybe 50 songs at once into the CDJ-400 is really slow, and they cannot be browsed easily.

    DJs in clubs don't need hundreds of songs, but these players are more likely to be bought by mobile DJs, who do need access to their entire library. For that, they're not a good solution.

  • Yo Groovindj:

    Thanks a bunch for the demo! I was gonna buy these players but after you demo'ed the ipod/

    external hdd feature, I'm going with the Denon HS5500. Thanks. I'm sure if you use the unit with CD's or Mp3 CDs it works well.

  • The Denon HS5500 has its share of problems too! Check out the Denon DJ forum.

    I think Pioneer may be working on a fix for the CDJ-400 problems.

  • witch is better the new cdj 400 or the dn s3500??

  • I can't answer that as I've never tried a Denon S3500. Mostly it's personal preference with these things anyway. Different people will give you different answers. Best way is to go to a store and try both.

  • It is the best way to try things. Go to the shop and have them hook them up for you and give them a wirl. The Denons are nice, These are nice, you have to feel them out, personally Ive owned denon Dns 3000s, which I loved, but I prefer the feel of the cdj400s.

  • This is a very good demo on this feature. I think this would be great with 2 4gb thumb drives to work in with cds. If your going to have a storage device with that many songs I dont think you will need to switch back and forth, you would just use the storage device. But either way this shows a good point on some of the limits...

  • I think Pioneer are going to be addressing some of the issue in a firmware upgrade soon. There have been several complaints about the MP3 capabilities on the Pioneer forum.

  • That would be cool if they make them faster at loading and if they have it memorize folder position. I think as is though they do a pretty good job. Ill know for sure when I pick mine up next week ;)

  • Wouldnt say he was complaining just giving a more balanced view on the unit. If you watch the official pioneer one wiv that ginger bloke he goes on about how it will play all hard drives etc. Good to see some bad points to it as it goes cos i was cursing the fact i just paid £1600 for my 1000mk3's less than 3 months ago

  • thx i wanted to find out if i could put my zune on a cdj now i will go buy one thx one...thx for the usb help m8.

  • no it wont he already said that drummerking, but it will still rememeber the track on the cd after you have switched back from usb.

  • If you have USB memory and play a track, and switch to cd and then back again, it will go back to the track you played on the USB

  • I Heard Dj Moist Saying They Have Them At Dr.Disc In Hamilton for $899

  • will it ever hit USA?

  • The Pioneer USA press release originally stated January 2008 and price of $750, so should be right now or very soon.

  • It actually does play harddrives according to the data of the player.

    It doesnt play NTFS formatted disks, It DOES play FAT32 however ;)

    So it is possible, but it isnt too usefull is reckon.

  • Hey there mr groovinDJ, I got my CDJ400 through yesterday and am pretty impressed. Only problem is I can't use ff/rw on tracks on my ipod. It takes about 15secs to ff one minute of the track cos it keeps stopping. I get the same problem on some tracks placed in folders on a USB stick. I was wondering if experienced anything similar?

  • Yes, I found that winding through MP3s quickly does that. I think the unit can't keep up. I guess it's not buffering the song internally.

  • Hey mate, you can search through tracks more quickly by holding track search and moving the jog in the necessary direction, this will be quicker than using the rotary pot / button.

  • Thanks for the tip!

  • The decks look awesome with those "Pioneer Pro DJ" logos!! Do they come with the decks?!

  • Yes, and two other sets as well.

  • Great video. It was good that you were critical of it. It's good to know the disadvantages of these things before you buy.

  • how much did u buy it for ?

  • It's on sale at the same price everywhere!

  • I got one brand new for £355 on ebay today. Pretty chuffed. But yeah they are £449 standard everywhere else.

  • referring to harddisk-issues: there's a limit of 20.000 tracks. the 20sec rule applies also if you load a 4Gb usb-stick, so.. it doesn't "really" matter how many tracks there are on the connected media.

  • I found that it does take longer when there are more tracks on the device. I tried a larger iPod and it took around two minutes to initialise.

  • Nice one groovin', thanks for putting this little vid together. I guess the bigger drives will be supported with future firmware.

  • They could increase the 20,000 track limit but it would still take a while to scan the drive, and finding a track would still be tedious. There is a low limit on the amount of cue points too.

  • Nice one dud! agree it does take time , but i would of thought best either  just use the cd or the i pod. I will be taking some flash drives to gigs . j

  • I think if you're well prepared then it's bearable, but certainly not for a large drive with your entire collection on.

  • Agree!, a good idea for me is, get a set/ playlist togeather for the night ,just a few 100 songs to choose from.

  • so basically dnt bother spendin the extra fu hundred and get the cdj200's??

    merry xmas

  • The onboard effects are useful if you don't have them on your mixer, and the vinyl mode is very good. I've never used a CDJ-200 but I can say that the CDJ-400 is certainly better than the Vestax CDX05.

  • the cdj 200's have the same effects apart from a frm dodgy ones tht r on the 400's! and i gues viynl mode would b nice to have bt ur not exactly gunna buy cdj 400's if your a turntablists!CDJ 400 r impressive though and its incredible how far the technolgy has cme and how cheap and accesible it is becoming!

    tnx groovindj

  • Yo man, why so negativ? You aint getting any or what? Now i really don't know which one i'n gonna buy!!

  • If you're buying for playing CDs, go ahead and buy the CDJ-400. It's just not the best choice if you're going to use MP3s.

  • hi GroovinDJ, the hard drives that you used with this unit that didnt work. Do you use them with Windows XP? because if you do, the chances are that they are formatted in what is known as NTFS (NT Filing System) when the CDJ-400 only accepts FAT32 drives, so to make the drives work you will need to re-format them in FAT32. Losing all the data on them. This may also cause problems with MAC users too on HFS.

    Just my 2p worth to help you on your way with this problem

    john

  • No, the drives are formatted FAT32 as I use them with other equipment that requires FAT32. Apparently the CDJ-400 has an upper file limit of 20,000 which is probably why neither worked. Odd that they failed in different ways though.

  • Man your negative lol you can only play 2 songs at the one time, if you were in the house you could have say 50 songs on the i pod more than enough in my opinion its not exactly a super computer its a CD player LOL!

  • Yes it is a CD player with MP3 tacked on. Having the ability to play from a flash drive is still very useful though.

  • so the solution for this would be to build a hard drive internal or memory or flash card. Then you would not have to wait so long for songs.

  • There's a new Denon machine due very soon (HS5500) which has a large jog wheel and takes an internal drive. No CD though.

  • That's going to be able to control the 4500 CD trays though, right?

  • No, I don't think so. Photos of the unit have not shown a socket for CD controller.

    See denondj dot com slash dnhs5500.

  • seems just a gimmick. when you want to go digital, serato or similar will be better.

    merry christmas to you too ;)

  • Nice video very helpful I'm gona get a cdj not sure if i should go for this of the 800 I like the hot que on the 800. thanks again and have a great christmas

  • That machine is firmware upgradable, isn't it? Perhaps they will sort some of thoes HD issues