DJM850 Black Mixer w/ MIDI and FX DJM-850-K

The Pioneer DJM-850 is a 4 channel performance mixer aimed people using DJ software and at the small club and premium home market. Taking features from the DJM900 Nexus and DJM 2000 it is destined to be a quality successor to the popular DJM 800 Pioneer mixer.

The DJM-850 is Traktor Certified meaning you can use it mix in Traktor Scratch without the need for the NI interface. Just plug and play via the USB connection on the top of the mixer and mix away with your timecodes (CD or Vinyl that come with the DJ software). The connection gives you 4 stereo inputs and outputs via USB which can be assigned at the top of each channel. Although it is Traktor Certified, the DJM850 can also be used with MixVibes, Virtual DJ and Deckadance (any DJ software there isn`t locked in with an interface).

The hub of the audio on the DJM-850 is the on board 24bit/96 kHz USB soundcard which gives plenty of connection options and the 32 bit DAC converters and 32 bit DSP make for a loud and clear output.

One of the main selling points of the DJM-850 is the FX. There are 3 main types available which are Sound Colour, Beat Colour and Beat Effect.

Sound Colour consists of Filter, Noise, Gate and Crush and these can be linked to the input of each channel. Beat Colour FX is where you can adjust Sound Colour FX and Beat Effects at the same time enabling you to come up with some mad sounds to complement your mix. Beat Effects are found on the right of the mixer and the layout will look familiar to anyone who has used a Pioneer DJ mixer before. Even if you haven`t then Pioneer have attempted to make the use of the DJM850 as intuitive as possible. Delay, Echo, Up Echo, Spiral, Reverb, Trans, Filter, Flanger, Phaser, Robot, Slip Roll, Roll, and Reverse Roll are to hand as well as a send/return loop for external effects units such as the Pioneer RMX1000.

The 13 main beat effects can be combined giving you a massive arsenal to play with and they are all post fader so even when you reduce the volume on the channel the tail from the FX will still play. The popular Slip Roll gives you some great live resampling effects and the spiral can be used for feedback style delays which are awesome for breakdowns in your tracks.

EQs on the main channels are 3 band from -26dB to +6dB but these can be switched to Isolator mode turning them into kill switches giving you some versatility in the mix. The DJM850 is also fully MIDI assignable via the knobs and buttons.

3 different sloped curves are available for both crossfader and channel faders for those looking for sharp cuts as well as smooth blends and the knobs themself are P-LOCK so less likely to come off during a mix. There are 2 mic inputs both with their own 2 band EQ and Talk Over ducking feature and these can be routed to take advantage of the on board FX. 4 fader starts are available for use with external players.

One final feature is that after a period of inactivity, the DJM-850 will slip into Standby Mode to conserve power, however, will all these features and FX to hand, we can`t see that happening too often.

Pioneer DJM-850 Main Specifications: