CD Scratch Deck Review

DJ-Man Scratches the Surface on CD Decks

With the advent of CD scratching, DJ technology has entered the digital age.

CD decks now currently available stack up well to the vinyl decks, like the Technics SL1200, which used to be the only game in town.

The demise of vinyl is not likely any time soon, but CD's offer some serious advantages:

• A CD doesn't wear out as rapidly as a record
• A CD does not require expensive needle cartridges, just simple maintenance with a cleaning cloth and solution
• A CD will have reduced skipping - even after scratching
• A CD offers a wider choice of sounds and frequency ranges
• A CD with many tracks is actually cheaper than a record with only a few.
• A CD can be duplicated (though I don't advise any copyright infringement)
• A CD is highly portable
• A CD offers digital interfaces for advanced features like review, forward, skipping, etc.

Mixing and matching vinyl with digital has become even easier now that Gemini DJ has introduced the revolutionary iKEY analog to digital recorder that will change the way you record audio forever. Designed to record directly to any external USB storage device, (including the Gemini iPod iTrax the iKEY can record from any audio device and write it directly to MP3 or WAV format in real time! With endless professional and consumer applications, the iKEY portable USB recorder proves itself as an innovative product and the most convenient tool on the market to record any audio output to digital media format.

Even more important for the digital DJ, the benefits of digital technology extend beyond the CD's themselves to the new CD decks.

Here are just a few reasons why scratchable CD decks are becoming increasingly more popular:

• Cueing: OK, it's not the hardest thing in the world to start a record off at the right point, but with digital CD decks, it's an instantaneous press of the button.  And with cues predefined, you can jump to any number of points on the CD (even within a track.)  To learn more see my previous article on Beat Mixing.
  
• Loops: You have the ability to define loops on many of these CD decks. There's often a smart loop option that enables you to automatically cut down the bars in a beat loop.


• Hot Starts: You can predefine
  several points within a track and do an instant remix or one-handed juggle just by hitting the hot start buttons on CD decks.
  
• Key Lock/Master Tempo: Different name, same function. You can speed up or slow down playback but keep the key the same on a CD deck. This is a great tool for learning juggling.
  
• Sampler: Some CD decks include rudimentary samplers, normally these can be looped as well.

Almost all CD decks offer these features - the "nice-to-haves" for the battlers out there - but there are other features which are usually brand specific.

Here are my top picks for CD decks:

Gemini's iCFX CD deck delivers more beats for your buck.    For DJ's who require an inexpensive solution, the Gemini iCFX is the deck of choice. The Gemini iCFX professional CD deck was built with the latest looks and features to enhance your DJ experience. The iCFX comes equipped with an anti-shock RAM buffer memory, digital output, time select and pitch bend. This CD deck is Audio CD, CD-R and CD-RW compatible.

The Stanton CD decks are nice looking units, especially with their blue LED lights, but even their top end deck, the C.304 leaves much to be desired. Some of the features are well done, but nothing is unique or outstanding. The best aspect of the Stanton C.304 is the sampler sequence which allows you to alter the time/ratio/beat sync of the FX. The pitch slider is very sensitive and the scratch pad gets the job done, but it was difficult to return to the start mark. Overall the Stanton CD decks are good value for the price; for the same amount of money, however, I would suggest the Denon DNS5000.

Denon's feature rich CD deck, the DNS5000, is a cut above its competitors.  My favorite feature is the rotating platter which enables you to play two songs from the same CD!  In addition, you also get the Hot Disc function, a feature which allows you to keep playing a song for 35 seconds after you eject the disk from the deck - a handy tool when you're cueing a new CD. Overall the DNS5000 comes at a great price and offers enough features to satisfy any competitive DJ. If you want to get a less expensive version of this Denon DN-S5000 CD deck, try the DNS3000 model , or the DNS1000 both scratchable and packed with features as well.

By the way, these Denon CD decks - via the wonder of the internet can be updated via software, a  nice feature for the professional DJ on the go.

Numark breaks through with the HDX combination deck Numark is a brand that's been around since the dawn of DJ time. Unfortunately, Numark's digital equipment didn't make me spin - that is, until the arrival of the HDX digital CD turntable. The Numark HDX is the world’s first and only tabletop combination HD, CD, and MP3 deck. With a torque motorized 12” platter, the HDX can even accommodate a real vinyl record for that true vinyl feel.

Styled after Numark’s CDX deck, the new HDX is one of the most advanced DJ media decks available, with an onboard hard drive, USB 2.0 ports and an 8x CD reader. The HDX includes a removable 80 GB hard drive supporting MP3, WMA, and WAV media formats. The unit's enhanced search capabilities facilitate easy file location by artist, album, genre, track and BPM. With high-speed USB 2.0 connectivity, you now have full access to the hard drive for both Mac and PC.

It has been said that the feature layout of the HDX deck is not particularly user friendly, and that the features have a steep learning curve. This makes the HDX a superior choice for professional and aspiring DJ musicians, but not for the beginner.

The Technics SLDZ1200 direct drive digital turntable has arrived. It turns out, however,  to be just another entry in an already crowded field.

Technics was (and is) the industry standard for vinyl. The SL1200 is the classic that has dominated the industry for the past 30 years. Technics obviously has a lot vested in extending its dominance in the new medium and took its time before launching its digital CD deck.

It's fair to say that the SLDZ1200 has received "mixed" reviews. Technics has tried to emulate the feel of the SL1200 as much as possible. It uses the same motor to drive it and they've gone for a soft platter feel as well.  As for how it sounds, well fast cuts sound just fine. On closer inspection of slow speed movements though, I noticed digital artifacts that were almost as bad as some first generation scratchable CD decks, almost reminding me of how Final Scratch 1.0 sounded.

Having established its flaws when scratching, what about all the mix DJ’s who've wanted a digital SL1200? Does it fare any better? Well, the answer is “kind of”.  The effects section is an interesting beast. Many reviewers state that the effects cannot be edited. This is simply not the case. They can be edited and sound quite good, though to edit them you need to turn the CD deck over from vinyl to CDJ mode.  Doing this makes the platter function only as an effect jog (pitch bending is not available, unlike other decks with “CDJ” modes). It is also best to plan pre-song if you will use the effects or not, because once you are inside a track, if you switch to effects, the song will suddenly stop! How they made this oversight is beyond me, as it makes DJ’s choose effects over scratching.  It seems expensive considering a much better optimized & revised MK2 is inevitably on its way.

My personal favorite on the high end (read pricey) CD decks is the Pioneer.

Pioneer's CDJ-1000MK3 CD deck breaks new ground for  the Digital DJ. If ever there were a product to send shockwaves through the turntable community, this would be the one. The Pioneer CDJ1000MK3 is installed in more clubs than all other professional CD decks.

That's why it's no surprise that DJs like Carl Cox, Paul Van Dyk and that genius Erick Morillo immediately took to Pioneer CD decks.  What was a surprise was when scratch champion DJ Craze & Babu showered praise and Q Bert declared the Pioneer CD deck to be the greatest innovation in DJ'ing since the original Technics vinyl SL1200.

The CDJ1000MK3 builds on the revolutionary changes that the CDJ1000 and CDJ1000MK2 brought to the digital DJ and adds full MP3 use. Check out killer functions like extended tempo range (±100%), cue markers, digital outs, hot cues and more.  These make the CDJ1000MK3 a serious CD deck for the cutting-edge DJ.

With full MP3 support including VBR files, intelligent features, such as the direct folder search button, allow DJs to quickly access files within folders on the disc for intuitive, fast cueing. A total wide tempo range (+70% to –100%) also gives greater control than many competitor models.

Along with multimedia cards, SD cards are now also compatible with the CDJ-1000MK3 so that Hot cues, Hot Loop points and WAVE display data can be easily stored and loaded.

Innovative features of these CD decks include "delay-free scratching" when cueing a song or jumping to a "hot cue." The memory build is instant so you can start scratching immediately. A Cue Marker in the deck is set automatically within the center display to visually represent the cue point relative to the jog dial's location ( much like vinyl DJs use tape or pen to mark their sample start points.)

The super "Wide" Pitch Control lets DJs use the ±100 percent pitch control range to create new sound effects from opposite ends of the sound spectrum and also to BPM match completely different tracks. This is in addition to the standard ±6, ±10 and ±16 percent pitch ranges. The full-feature Digital Out function ensures that all of the CDJ1000MK3's digital features are carried over to any connected digital environment, even scratching and master tempo.

And an Extra Bright Display on the deck allows the DJ to see the CD track info more clearly and makes key features brighter. The Hot Cue (sampler) memorizes up to three cue points per CD. These points can then be recalled by hitting the A, B or C buttons on the deck.  The CDJ-1000MK3 has a simple design, which is well laid out and functional. The display of the Pioneer CD deck is… well, pioneering.

Basically what we have here is a CD deck that, in comparison with some of its competitors, is an elegant, stripped down piece of DJ equipment which works professionally. It does exactly what you need it to do and it does it well. Why pay more for a CD decks with frills that you will likely never use.

As you can see, there are a lot of factors which come into play when choosing the scratch CD deck for your next battle. 

IMHO, the full turntable emulation of the Pioneer CDJ1000 MK3 CD deck is the benchmark by which all other scratch CD decks are (or should be) judged.