November 5, 2025 • 37 mins
We celebrate the evolution of Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta and explore how the CDJ-3000X is redefining the booth with streaming, caching, and seamless login features. Same trusted design — now smarter, faster, and built for the future of performance.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_03 (00:00):
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast are those of the hostsand guests, and do not
necessarily reflect the officialpolicy or position of SFM.
SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
Welcome to Behind the Rack, your casual AV
industry hangout with hosts HugoSchauet, Franco Caruso, and
myself Vincent Semenum.
We dive into products, trends,and the occasional rant.
All to share, learn, and sparknew ideas across promotable,
life sound, broadcast, andsystem AV.
(00:31):
So grab your headphones, pull upa chair, and join us for some
honest, sometimes nerdy, alwaysfun conversations.
All happening behind the round.
SPEAKER_03 (00:57):
Today we have a very nice piece of gear we want to
focus on.
I'm excited about this one.
I'm also very excited about thisone.
But what do you want to dofirst?
Do you want to talk a little bitabout the company behind that
product?
SPEAKER_04 (01:15):
Absolutely.
Let's talk a little bit aboutsome history because history is
always important when we'retalking about product and
evolution.
Um so what you see in front ofyou here is the Alpha Theta CDJ
3000X.
Okay, so this is the uhevolutionary product to the CDJ
3000 by Pioneer DJ.
(01:37):
And you'll notice I'm being verycareful with the brands and the
words that I'm using, because intoday's day and age, we have
Pioneer DJ and we have AlphaTheta.
And before we start getting intowhat the internet's saying, what
other people think about thebrands and what's going on, I
think it's important that we setthe facts straight.
(01:59):
And hopefully we use thispodcast to look clear up some of
these facts that are popping outof nowhere.
Um, so as everyone knows,Pioneer DJ is probably the most
reputable and recognized, iconicDJ brand in the industry.
And we're lucky to be theexclusive distributor here at
SFM for Canada of Pioneer DJequipment.
(02:21):
Um so Pioneer DJ was born out ofthe Pioneer Corporation.
Okay.
And what happened was uh in1994, the subsidiary company,
Pioneer DJ, came out with thefirst flat top CD player, which
really revolutionized theindustry.
It was known as the uh CDJ 500.
(02:42):
So that was 1994.
Fast forward quite a bit in uh2014 Pioneer DJ separates from
Pioneer Corporation.
SPEAKER_02 (02:55):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_04 (02:55):
Okay, and it becomes its own legal entity, it was
purchased, and Pioneer DJ is nowoperating entirely apart from
Pioneer Corp.
Now where things get a littlebit uh uh confusing is people
use all the brand names in thewrong situations.
So they'll call this the PioneerCDJ 3000X.
(03:16):
Or they'll call the CDJ 3000,which is the unit before this
one, the Pioneer CDJ 3000.
When in fact it's the Pioneer DJCDJ 3000.
Right?
So people are using the namesand they don't understand the
history.
So going back to 2014, like Isaid, Pioneer DJ really operates
as Pioneer DJ Corporation and isnot part of Pioneer Corporation,
(03:37):
which we know with the homeelectronics and all that stuff.
In 2020, the Pioneer DJ uh theparent company was then
rebranded to Alpha ThetaCorporation.
Okay, so the Pioneer DJ brand isstill alive, the products still
live as the Pioneer DJ product,but the parent company name
(04:03):
changed to Alpha ThetaCorporation.
So we're following so far?
SPEAKER_03 (04:08):
Yes.
SPEAKER_04 (04:08):
Alright.
In 2024, the Alpha ThetaCorporation, which I just said
is the parent company of PioneerDJ, then introduces the Alpha
Theta brand.
So just to illustrate this, I'mItalian, I use my hands a lot.
You've got Alpha ThetaCorporation as the parent
company.
You have Pioneer DJ as a brand,and now in 2024, they introduced
(04:32):
Alpha Theta as a brand.
Okay?
So now you have both brandsliving together in peace, and
they're both coming out withproducts.
Very, very important.
Pioneer DJ, Alpha Theta, sameparent company, same
engineering, same manufacturing,same marketing department.
(04:57):
They are the exact same company.
It's just that now we have twodifferent brands.
No, one brand is not moreexclusive than the other, or one
is more consumer than the other.
They're literally two brandsthat are coexisting.
And before some of the commentsexplode and what's gonna happen
with Pioneer DJ and all that, asof right now, both brands are
(05:21):
coexisting.
What's gonna happen in thefuture?
Unfortunately, I'm not themanufacturer.
I don't have those answers justyet, but both brands are living.
And what we have in front of usis the Alpha Theta CDJ 3000X.
And it's a super excitingproduct because there's a ton of
innovation that's gone into thisproduct.
Um, what we're seeing before oureyes right here and right now is
(05:44):
really the evolution oftechnology.
So the biggest change betweenthis and the CDJ 3000 is that
now you have access directly toall your streaming services.
So that's a thing now.
That is a thing.
So we were talking the firstepisode, you were a DJ, I was a
DJ, I learned on vinyl, yeah,then CDs, then I was talking
about my digital library, right?
(06:05):
Yeah.
So we've gone through all thesephases, all these mechanism,
mechanisms of playing our musicor media types, I should say.
And now we're at the point whereyou don't even need the USB
stick anymore.
You can access not only yourfiles that are part of your
cloud storage, so your ownrecord box cloud storage through
(06:26):
Dropbox or Google Drive, but youcan actually access streaming
services such as SoundCloud andBeatport directly from the unit.
SPEAKER_02 (06:34):
That's interesting.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (06:37):
So that's probably the biggest innovation that
we're seeing with this unit.
There's a ton of other features,but this expands so many other
opportunities because now as aDJ, you know, before let's talk,
let's go back to using a USBstick.
There was still uh uh anecessity, or uh as a DJ, you
still had to carve out time tosit in front of your computer,
(06:59):
log in your USB, your recordbox, in this case where we're
using CDJs, uh, and sort yourlibrary, make your playlists, do
that all beforehand.
So there was that preparationthat had to be done at your
workstation before the gig.
Because now we're accessingfiles on the cloud, again,
whether it's your own personalcollection through Google Drive
or Dropbox, or the streamingservices, you can literally
(07:22):
manage your music absolutelyanywhere as long as you have
internet connectivity.
Wow.
So you can be on the record boxapp preparing your tracks, you
could be on uh public transportgoing somewhere, making edits to
your playlist, and then nextthing you know, if the CDJ is
connected to the internet, thosechanges are happening live.
SPEAKER_02 (07:41):
That's crazy.
SPEAKER_03 (07:42):
Even though, or like international DJs now nowadays
you have Wi-Fi on plane so theycan press set for gig on the
plane going to the gig.
SPEAKER_04 (07:51):
And you know, before as a DJ, and as we all know, as
a DJ, you know, you'd follow thecharts, you'd see, okay, what's
the latest track?
What's the best track?
What's your top 10?
And you want to include those inyour set, obviously.
Well, now with the connectivityto the internet, you can have
access to all those chartsthrough those streaming services
at your fingertips.
And I think one of the coolestinnovations that they've done
(08:12):
with this unit to access thestreaming services, we we all
live in the in the digital eranow.
You've got Netflix, AmazonPrime, Crave, whatever it may
be.
Well, the number one complaintis man, what's my password?
Right?
Which password did I use forthis?
Which password did I use forthat?
And the first thing when peoplesaw streaming CDJ3000X was, oh
(08:34):
my God, I'm gonna have to signinto all these services every
single time I go to a DJ booth.
Yep, that that sucks.
That that does suck, and itwould suck if that was the
situation, but it's not.
SPEAKER_03 (08:48):
Exactly.
Do you really have time to spendtime renting password on on a
touch screen?
SPEAKER_04 (08:53):
Yeah.
And now that's not the case.
SPEAKER_03 (08:55):
You know, I I knew you I was leading to something.
SPEAKER_04 (08:57):
I was leading to something.
So what Alpha Theta has done isyou'll notice right in front of
the player where typically the CDJ.
Can I touch it?
Yeah, pick it up, please.
You can actually point it out tothe camera as well.
Where typically the the C DJ orthe CD uh would be inserted into
the unit.
Now there's no CD drive,obviously.
You'll see a little rectangle.
(09:18):
That's actually an NFC reader.
Nice.
So follow me.
You show up to the DJ booth, youwant to sign into your streaming
services and your cloud storage.
Instead of going into everysingle one, you can have three,
four, five, whatever it may be.
They're all connected to yourrecord box account on your
record box phone.
(09:39):
So as long as you sign into themat least once beforehand and
they're still logged into yourphone, now you just show up to
the DJ booth, you show up to theCDJ, tap your phone to the CDJ
3000X, and automatically allyour streaming services are
logged in and you have instantaccess to all your tracks.
unknown (09:58):
Wow.
SPEAKER_04 (09:59):
So this is, you know, I don't want to downplay
the whole evolution, you know,of the media types, but this is
the next best thing, and this iswhat people are using.
We are streaming nowadays.
Um and again, with internetconnectivity, it just opens up
so many more options.
So that's really the biggest,you know, the biggest difference
(10:19):
between the CDJ 3000 by PioneerDJ and the CDJ3000X by Alpha
Theta.
That's very cool.
SPEAKER_03 (10:28):
Can I ask a few geek questions?
SPEAKER_04 (10:29):
Because uh Yeah, let's do it.
I might not have all theanswers, but I will give you uh
the best answer possible.
SPEAKER_03 (10:35):
Um I mean, if you enter the if you use NFC to log
into one of the CDJ3000X, ifthere's three others or two
others hooked up to the samenetwork, correct?
Are you getting logged into allthree machines?
SPEAKER_04 (10:52):
So as long as they're all linked through pro
DJ Link, you'll have access toall of them.
Pro DJ Link, that's the word Iwas.
Just like if you put in your USBinto one and they're all on the
same network, all your tracksare going to show up on all the
C DJs.
SPEAKER_03 (11:05):
And can you use the same switch, network switch to
for your actually sorry, the proDJ Link uh technology, can you
also have internet on the sameswitch?
So you can use that same wiredconnectivity to stream so top of
syncing.
SPEAKER_04 (11:21):
Yes, I I haven't tried it myself just yet.
This is actually a prototypeunit straight from Japan.
Wow.
Um but I believe so, yes.
You can actually, there's a LANport in the back of the unit.
So by connecting uh yourinternet to that same switch,
you should have access.
Yeah.
Um so it's it's really cool inthe back of the unit, you've got
your RCA, your digital outlocking IC cable.
(11:43):
I can show that.
Yes, you've got your USB COVID.
So you still have you know themost common types of
connections.
Uh USC.
There is USB-C, so if you wantto connect your record box or
Serato Pro.
Um USC.
Yes.
So that's one major differenceas well, is they've changed from
(12:04):
an SD card slot to a USB-C slot.
So again, just modernizing withthe media types.
Uh, what I'm holding in my handhere is the Alpha Theta record
box um one terabyte USB stick.
So you'll notice on both, again,depending on your computer,
depending on your preparationmethod, you have access to a
traditional USB and your USB-Cas well.
(12:27):
Cool.
Yeah.
So we're we're uh I say we're.
I like to think as myself as theuh Canadian arm is Alpha Theta
and Pioneer DJ, but it's reallyimportant that we encompass as
many DJs as possible.
SPEAKER_02 (12:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (12:39):
And we and we continue to evolve together as a
group.
Um, you know, something likechanging the SD card slot.
Some people have strong opinionsabout it.
I personally don't.
I mean, USB C is everywhere now.
Yeah, it's more common than it'scard slot.
SPEAKER_03 (12:53):
And and you don't really see SD cards anymore in
the market.
Everything's transitioning toeverything.
Micro SD at the minimum.
SPEAKER_04 (13:01):
At the minimum, yeah, exactly.
Some other changes, uh, I mean,you've got a 10.1 inch screen.
I mean, it's it's monstrous,it's amazing.
So, because of the bigger screennow, uh you can actually see a
lot more tracks at a singleglance.
Uh, the touch responsiveness isincredible.
You can scroll.
Remember, I was talking before,you had to really prepare your
(13:23):
playlists on your USB.
Before you couldn't edit theplaylists on the CDJ player
itself, now you can actuallyedit the playlist on the actual
player.
SPEAKER_03 (13:32):
3000 uh the predecessor you couldn't.
SPEAKER_04 (13:34):
Correct.
SPEAKER_03 (13:35):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (13:35):
So now you can do that.
Now there's even somethingcalled a global tag list.
So we're talking about mediatypes, right?
So you've got your USB in there,you've tapped your NFC, you've
got your cloud storage, you'vegot your streaming services as
well.
How do you combine all thesethings into a single playlist?
So now as you're playing, you'replaying your set, you can
actually send different tracksfrom your different media types
(13:57):
to a global tag list.
So now the player is gonnaremember exactly where
everything is, and you'rebuilding a single list from the
different sources.
SPEAKER_02 (14:04):
Well, there's no is there a search feature?
SPEAKER_04 (14:07):
There is a search feature.
Okay, and you can even copy andpaste now on this CDJ3000X on
the previous one.
You couldn't.
SPEAKER_03 (14:14):
Nice.
And I guess the I'm pretty surethe answer is yes, but all the
cue points, everything's gonnafollow no exactly the service
you're using or the file you'replaying.
SPEAKER_04 (14:25):
That's correct.
So as long as the the tracks areanalyzed and you know they're
still within your streamingservice or your cloud storage,
everything is uh in memory.
SPEAKER_02 (14:33):
Okay, so ones.
Yeah.
I I think it's a bit of a sillyquestion, but I'm still thinking
analog um streaming service.
Yep.
I'm wondering how I would feelif I'm at uh an event, a special
event, and uh I'm using astreaming service, Wi-Fi goes
(14:55):
down for a bit.
Can you tell me like, do youknow if it if if you're using a
streaming service, does itbuffer like the the track so
that you don't lose out on it orhow does that work?
SPEAKER_04 (15:06):
I think he's trying to like set me up for a trap
here, but I have the answer, andI'm very happy about this
answer.
SPEAKER_02 (15:12):
I'm just curious.
SPEAKER_04 (15:13):
So on the new CDJ3000X uh with its new
processor and memory, everysingle track that is loaded, uh,
including your USB, you can loadyour track, the track could be
playing, and it's cached intothe memory.
Nice.
So you can pull out the USBmid-track and it'll finish the
track, no problem, because it'sstoring it in the cache.
(15:37):
Um, and you know, that comesfrom going back to back with
other DJs.
Unfortunately, the guy takes outhis wrong USB or whatever may
happen.
So now you have that fail safe.
Uh, versus in the past, it wasjust like an automatic loop that
would happen.
Now it's actually cachedcompletely.
SPEAKER_02 (15:53):
So you're not caching the playlist, you're
caching the per track that'sloaded.
Per track, exactly.
Loaded as soon as it's loadedin.
SPEAKER_04 (15:59):
That's right.
Okay, exactly.
Um, you've got some other reallycool features.
Uh, we'll talk about queuing alittle bit.
So now through the headphonesand and pro DJ link, you can
actually cue the track just bytouching the waveform.
So you don't have to load thetrack.
Your next track, you'researching your playlist, just by
hovering your finger over thewaveform, you can listen to the
(16:20):
track.
Wow.
So if you forgot what it soundedlike or you want to see where
the if the beat would uh if thedrop is gonna match your
previous song, whatever maybeyou don't have to load it, you
can just do it straight from theplaylist.
SPEAKER_03 (16:31):
So basically it's gonna use the pro DJ link, not
the audio out.
And you're gonna be able to,let's say, if your mixer is pro
DJ Link compatible, like the newDJM A9 or something like that,
you would basically have twostreams of audio, one's playing
back from that player, yeah, andI can cue another track.
SPEAKER_04 (16:51):
Exactly.
Yeah.
In terms of the technicalities,I'm not sure which method it's
using, but you're capable ofjust touching the waveform and
listening to it in yourheadphones and not having to
load it on the track itself.
Cool.
Another thing is smart queue,um, which I find incredibly
useful.
So you'll notice right below thescreen there's uh eight cue
points.
Yeah, usually the cue points canbe coded different colors,
(17:13):
right?
Yes.
You've got your A, B, C, D, um,yellow, red, green, let's say,
right?
For ABC.
Traditionally, your cue point,you would have to set it by
pressing the main cue button.
Uh, and if you want to jump toanother hot cue, you'd have to
press that button on the screenand then press your cue button
to get that same position.
(17:34):
Now, what's really cool is ifyou enable smart queue in the
settings, the little LED aroundthe main cue button, it'll
remember the last cue button youpressed while playing that
track.
So let's say A representedyellow.
You press A, instead of alwayspressing that physical button
under the screen to get to Qpoint A, it'll automatically map
(17:54):
it to the main cue button.
Nice.
And the LED, which traditionallywas always uh color, yeah,
orange, now it'll actually goyellow to say, hey, I'm using Q
point A right now.
Nice.
So that enables a lot morethings in terms of your workflow
process because you're notalways hovering over the jog
wheel over other buttons.
Auto automatically now you'recomfortable, you're using hot QA
(18:17):
from your standard Q buttonposition.
So there's a lot of really coolthings they're doing.
They're doing gate queue aswell, um, which enables you to
use the hot cues almost like asampler.
So you're able to play the trackjust by pressing the button.
So you can almost do like amelodic sequence just by
pressing your hot cues now.
SPEAKER_03 (18:36):
I've seen some YouTube video on that.
Uh how do you call it thatfeature again?
The cue?
Uh gate queue.
Gate queuing.
Yeah.
And I think that's the kind offeature.
And you know, we're not apodcast where where we are going
to hook up an equipment to haveour listener looking at the
features, but even with twoYouTube videos, I didn't really
(18:57):
get what was this feature.
So I think you really got totouch it and try it.
SPEAKER_04 (19:02):
You gotta, yeah, yeah, especially the those three
main cue features need to be uhexperimented with, and you
really have to get your hands-onexperience to understand the
true potential of it.
SPEAKER_03 (19:12):
So, can I take one home tonight?
Or actually, you don't whatwould you do with one?
I I wouldn't need two.
Oh, you need to now you'reasking for a lot.
SPEAKER_04 (19:18):
I I know a guy, though.
I know a guy we can maybe figuresomething out.
SPEAKER_03 (19:22):
Um, why would you leave with all the things?
SPEAKER_04 (19:24):
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
A couple of other differences.
Um, so they've re-engineeredcompletely the playing cue
buttons.
So historically, and again, ifsome of my facts are a little
off, I apologize.
But uh, I believe they weretested up to a million or two
million times each.
Okay.
These new cue buttons weretested an additional 500 times
(19:47):
presses.
You mean just 500 or 500,000?
500,000 times more than theoriginal standard processing
was.
Yeah, sorry, 500,000 times more.
So they've been completelyre-engineered.
Uh, the actual contact area,like to the physical button, has
been improved.
Um, so durability is justunbelievable.
(20:09):
The top plate now is allaluminum, um, so it helps with
you know heat dissipation, uh,heat from the sun, yeah, stuff
like that.
Do they still make white ones oras of right now?
There's only the the black CDJ3000 X.
Um, the other thing, too, wasthe jog wheel.
So uh the jog wheel you knowcomes obviously from the vinyl
(20:32):
turntable, and you can adjustthe feeling on the CDJs
depending on which model.
SPEAKER_02 (20:37):
Uh very interesting.
SPEAKER_04 (20:39):
Traditionally, uh, you had a certain range.
Some people wanted it a littletighter, some people wanted a
little looser.
So what happened was on the CDJ3000X, let's say your spectrum
was like this, they've actuallywind it even more.
So it goes a lot tighter thanthe CDJ 3000, uh, and a lot
looser than the CDJ 3000 aswell.
(20:59):
So, again, depending on yourstyle, your turntable is a
whatever you're looking for, nowyou've got that range of uh of
jog wheel feel on the CDJ 3000X,which is uh which is really
important.
USB uh HID mode supported, so itautomatically unlocks Serato DJ
Pro, uh record box as well.
(21:20):
So there's no more scratch cardsand serial numbers and all that.
As soon as you plug it into thehardware um to your computer,
basically the software willunlock with all those uh
beneficial features as well.
SPEAKER_03 (21:32):
Um any compatibility with uh tractor as an HID uh uh
controller?
SPEAKER_04 (21:39):
As of right now, I haven't tested it.
I don't remember what thedocumentation states, to be
honest with you, but the twomain ones are Serato, DJ Pro,
and Record Box, and those areobviously fully supported at the
moment.
SPEAKER_03 (21:50):
But that what's cool about that is all the features
you were mentioning before, likestreaming from services, um
being able to play tracks fromfrom uh your your cloud
services, those were availablethrough Record Box if you were
using the CDJ as a controllerfor record box.
Correct.
Now basically you don't need, Imean you don't even need your
(22:11):
computer anymore.
That's it.
There's gonna be a laptopsomewhere in the DJ boot,
anyways.
Yeah, but you can use those asstandalone players, literally,
and stream from just like yourcomputer.
SPEAKER_04 (22:23):
And just to be clear, it's not just through the
LAN port, there's Wi-Fi built inas well.
SPEAKER_03 (22:27):
Yes.
SPEAKER_04 (22:28):
So there's two methods of obviously connecting
to the internet, which willallow you to use all these
options as well.
SPEAKER_03 (22:34):
Between us guys, I mean, I think you you should not
use Wi-Fi professionally.
SPEAKER_04 (22:38):
Yeah, in a club, let's please use you know
hardwired, hardwired.
Yeah, you know, I think we allknow in the rack, hardwire is
the best, right?
So let's uh let's stick tohardwired, please.
But I've I've been stresstesting it uh using Wi-Fi,
haven't had any issueswhatsoever.
I'll be honest, like I'm an oldschool DJ, you know, like I
(22:59):
said, it started off with vinyland CDs, and I I couldn't
believe it.
Like I was this is the firsttime in a really long time where
I was playing with something andI was like, wow, this is
different.
This is new.
Like back in my days, like wewere saying in the first
episode, you know, it's like Ican't believe we're at the point
now where we're streaming, andit's so exciting to be part of
this change and this thisevolution from the CDJ 3000 to
(23:22):
the CDJ 3000 X.
And uh really proud with whatthe company's done.
And uh, I'm super excited to tostart seeing it out in the field
and on writers and uh and stufflike that and at major
festivals.
And uh I I think it'll be Ithink it'll be extremely
successful, 100%.
SPEAKER_03 (23:40):
I'm all excited about the the the the player and
uh I'm definitely gonna ask youfor to try them, yes, for sure.
SPEAKER_04 (23:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
That's not a problem.
The more people that get excitedabout it, the better it is, and
that's what makes our jobs socool.
Yeah, is that we get to come towork and play with these units.
SPEAKER_03 (23:57):
Like we were saying in the first episode.
I mean, the the the joy of beingable to play with the new gear
is always always a pleasure.
SPEAKER_04 (24:04):
Always, absolutely.
So that's that's the story aboutAlpha Theta and and Pioneer DJ.
And um I guess you know, we'llsee we'll see what happens in
terms of future products andwhere uh where both brands
coexist.
But as of right now, it's it'san exciting journey, and I'm so
excited, like I said, to see howthis technology is going to be
(24:26):
adopted and used out in thefield.
SPEAKER_02 (24:28):
So you're telling me it's not an end, it's not the
end of an era.
No, it's not the end of an era.
I like it's it's so funny.
Everyone's saying that.
SPEAKER_04 (24:35):
Yeah, and and to be honest with you, you know, even
as the brand manager for PioneerDJ, all I know is the is the
present time.
Of course.
And right now, both brands arecoexisting, and that's what we
need to focus on.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (24:47):
So and again, I mean, this is the evolution from
a pioneer DJ product, andfrankly, it it looks very
similar.
I mean, it's it's basically theevolution from a pioneer DJ
product.
So yeah.
Frankly, I don't really mindabout the name.
Me personally, I'm not DJinganymore, but I've been DJing on
(25:08):
Pioneer Equipment for a while.
Pioneer DJ.
See, he just did it there.
SPEAKER_04 (25:12):
Now we gotta go from Pioneer to Pioneer DJ.
Sorry.
Now Pioneer DJ to Alpha Thetafor certain SKUs.
Yeah, you know, so yeah, it'sgonna take some time, just like
every other brand change andbrand adoption.
Yeah, uh, it's gonna take sometime, it's gonna take some uh
some acceptance.
Um, but at the end of the day,the most important message is
it's the same company, samequality bond, same quality, same
(25:38):
engineering, uh, same RD, samemarketing, same values, and
that's the important message.
Yeah, similar colors, exactly.
Um, so yeah, end of an era.
I I don't know.
I'm not the manufacturer, but asof right now, there's both
brands, and we're we'refortunate to have both brands
(25:58):
and both SKUs because um we'rewe're truly seeing a lot of
change in the industry, and weget to be a part of it.
SPEAKER_02 (26:05):
Absolutely cool, especially the streaming thing.
That I think that's the one thatuh on the on the film side and
all, and even on the music sidefor a long time.
I think the music came up firstbefore uh with Apple was a
street uh was music streamingcame I think they came came
around pretty much at the sametime, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (26:25):
Yeah, Netflix and uh Apple Music Spotify.
SPEAKER_02 (26:28):
Spotify I think even before Spotify, I think Napster.
Yeah, but Napster was not apirate thing.
No, no, but you were paying youwere able to pay originally to
service.
Exactly.
So there were certain there weremusical there's music services
like that.
So I I I think film uh I thinkon the on the the the film side
it started after, but seeingbecause of the bandwidth.
(26:50):
I mean yeah, I think it was atone point you didn't have the
bandwidth to stream an HD movieat home, right?
Yeah, even the compressionsweren't there, and Netflix was
one of the first to kind of comeup with the uh H265, H26.
Also the variable based on youryour your your your network
speed, but uh having it in a DJuh platform is very interesting.
It's I I'm still a little bitintrigued and uh still
(27:14):
surprised.
Uh again, I'm it's new school,but yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_04 (27:19):
And it's new and it's so new, and I I think
that's what um I admire the mostabout Alpha Theta and Pioneer DJ
is they are oftentimes the firstmover to adopt a certain
technology or a certain trend.
And um they're always makingadjustments and they're
listening to the voice of thecustomer.
Yeah, and that's one thing umthat I will keep repeating.
(27:42):
The voice of the customer is soimportant.
All these little subtle changesfrom what I was told is not just
somebody, you know, in an officedeciding, hey, we're gonna
change this, we're gonna removethis text, we're gonna, you
know, replace the SD card.
They're listening to clients.
SPEAKER_02 (27:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (27:58):
Uh, and I can actually, you know, give you a
couple examples.
The hot cue buttons underneaththe screen and the smart cue.
Well, that's because James Hypewas not happy with the CDJ 3000.
Everybody knows it's not asecret.
They listened to him, they cameout with a feature that would
allow him to perform his setsthe way he wants them to
perform.
Um, a couple years ago, at uh Ibelieve it was Coachella, there
(28:20):
was a DJ who showed up on stageand the track was playing twice
as fast.
Oh no, yeah, so it was it was adisaster.
She didn't know how to uh how tofix it.
Basically, what happened wasthey just threw the MP3s or or
the file formats on the USB,they didn't analyze it properly,
and on the CDJ, you couldn'tchange the BPM, you couldn't
(28:43):
double it.
So the BPMs were either doubledor they were halved, so it
wasn't playing at the rightspeed.
So because of that, now on theCDJ 3000X, you can actually
adjust the BPM speed on the ofthat specific track on the
actual unit.
So it's all these littleinstances, all these little
(29:04):
nuances that let's be honest,the the most common DJ wouldn't
think of.
That's why these changes arebeing made.
It's to just perfect the productas much as possible and always
have that evolutionary uhmindset to the product.
SPEAKER_03 (29:19):
And bear in mind that's that's a professional DJ
equipment.
You don't you don't see themoften in bedroom DJ?
Not often, no.
But you see them everywhere.
I haven't come across any club,any IN restaurants that have a
DJ booth.
I mean, this is always PioneerDJ or Alpha Teta.
(29:40):
I mean, this is the goldstandard.
It is nothing else.
Yeah.
So of course, when you have proDJs, superstars coming up, and
there's an issue, obviously thecompany is gonna listen about
these problems and will try tofix it.
SPEAKER_02 (29:59):
Yep, exactly.
And don't get me wrong, I I itif memory serves me correctly,
it's been a while that DJs maybenot on the world stage, but in
terms of events and stuffsmaller events they're already
somewhat streaming from phones,right?
SPEAKER_04 (30:16):
I mean, Yeah, so depending on the player and
depending on the year, therethere were certain capabilities.
SPEAKER_02 (30:22):
Not from inside that, but through an external
device, right?
SPEAKER_04 (30:25):
Correct.
So there was some and I don'tremember which players were
compatible or not, so uh but youcould or you used to have tracks
on your phone connect via a USBcable to the player and use this
as like your media type.
Um so there was already sometalk of how do we incorporate
the phone into the workflow.
(30:47):
Because it was a demand.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (30:49):
Because it's easy, right?
Yeah, especially when you'replaying at a wedding, somebody's
like, hey, uh, I wanna can youplay this song?
And you're like, Yeah, I don'thave it.
Well, that's not really anexcuse anymore, right?
I mean that's accessible througha variety of different avenues.
SPEAKER_04 (31:01):
And uh I guess uh this is one way to uh Yeah, and
and and I'll I'll be honest, ithappened to me not with the CDJ
3000X, but I was using acomputer um and I'm I'm a user
of Bport.
SPEAKER_03 (31:14):
Yep.
SPEAKER_04 (31:14):
And I was personally DJing a cocktail gig, super
high-end cocktail gig.
And uh originally it wassupposed to be two to three
hours.
Uh and so I had my cocktailplaylist going.
And I mean, let's be honest, theaverage DJ is not DJing for
five, six hours of cocktails,even if in an event DJ you do an
hour, an hour and a half, andyou can move on to your main
event.
Um, and at least I'm not thattype of DJ that has that type of
(31:38):
cocktail music ready, right?
Like six, seven hours ofcocktail music curated and ready
to go.
And so while I was playing, youknow, I was starting to quickly
realize okay, my usual cocktailplaylists here.
I'm gonna need more tracks.
What am I what am I gonna do?
Um and the event was changing,it was it was a lot longer,
people were having a great time.
I started getting into the AfroHouse uh genre of music, and um
(32:03):
and I I I needed more tracks.
I'll be honest, I needed moretracks.
Afro house is relatively new.
I'm I'm more of a mainstreamevent DJ.
Um so I had my Afro House stuff,I had my cocktail stuff, but I
just needed more of it.
SPEAKER_03 (32:16):
I was not expecting the gig to go on for six or
seven hours, and because I wassubscribed to your your cachet
or your your paycheck came cameaway.
SPEAKER_04 (32:26):
It did, it did, luckily.
Um sorry, I yeah, very importantpart by the way of the story.
Yeah, um so luckily because I'mI I was subscribed to Beatport
and I was using my computer, umI went on to the Afro House
genre.
I had all my top charts, I hadcurated curated playlists, I
(32:47):
had, you know, my top call it 50Afro House that I personally
downloaded, um was differentthan the most recent chart from
let's say that week.
So I was getting new tracks onthe fly, like it really helps
having access to these streamingservices versus just the local
media.
So, you know, that's one exampleof how streaming could be
(33:08):
beneficial.
Yeah, it's amazing.
And um I'll be honest, beforethat experience, I I never had a
use for it.
But now I'm like, okay, I'malways gonna have subscription
now because, like you said,whether it's a request, whether
it's uh an event change, anhourly change, whatever it may
be, being prepared means beingprepared on every forefront,
(33:30):
every aspect of being prepared.
You know, having differentsubscription types, different
medias, different backups.
And backups is a whole otherpodcast uh subject and
redundancy and production andall that.
We'll talk about that when wetalk about you know pro and live
uh setups and productions, butyeah, we're gonna have to start
being accept accepting of allthese different mediums.
(33:52):
That's incredible.
So that's the CDJ 3000X by AlphaTheta.
SPEAKER_03 (33:58):
Very exciting uh present not the presentation,
that was a very excitingpodcast, and its product's
amazing.
I can't wait to try it.
SPEAKER_02 (34:06):
Yeah, uh I'm glad you clarified some of the stuff.
I know there's been a little bitof misconceptions going around.
But uh yeah, that was uh thatwas really, really cool.
I'm really excited for this.
SPEAKER_04 (34:16):
Yeah, I think uh I think it'll do really well, and
uh I think a lot of people aregonna adopt it.
And again, it's you know, it'sit's all about the movement,
it's all about accepting newmediums, changes.
And uh I'm excited for thefuture.
My I mean this is a small changerealistically from when I
started DJ, you know, 15 yearsago to now.
(34:36):
It's like wow, it's incredible.
So we'll see what what thefuture has in store.
SPEAKER_02 (34:41):
Nice.
Well, thanks for hanging outwith us on Behind the Rack.
We hope you pick something upnew, add a laugh, or at least
nodded along with one of ourrants.
If you enjoyed today's episode,hit follow, share with a
colleague or a fellow AV, andhelp us spread the word.
Don't forget to like andsubscribe.
(35:02):
Very important.
Exactly.
If you guys have any um anycomments or suggestions for any
episodes, please feel free tocomment down below.
We'll be back with more uhstories, insights, and even
conversations uh for the worldof pro audio live broadcast
system AV.
And until then, keep thecuriosity alive, and we'll catch
(35:24):
you on the next time behind therack.
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast are those of the hostsand guests, and do not
necessarily reflect the officialpolicy or position of SFM.
SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
Welcome to Behind the Rack, your casual AV
industry hangout with hosts HugoSchauet, Franco Caruso, and
myself Vincent Semenum.
We dive into products, trends,and the occasional rant.
All to share, learn, and sparknew ideas across promotable,
life sound, broadcast, andsystem AV.
(00:31):
So grab your headphones, pull upa chair, and join us for some
honest, sometimes nerdy, alwaysfun conversations.
All happening behind the round.
SPEAKER_03 (00:57):
Today we have a very nice piece of gear we want to
focus on.
I'm excited about this one.
I'm also very excited about thisone.
But what do you want to dofirst?
Do you want to talk a little bitabout the company behind that
product?
SPEAKER_04 (01:15):
Absolutely.
Let's talk a little bit aboutsome history because history is
always important when we'retalking about product and
evolution.
Um so what you see in front ofyou here is the Alpha Theta CDJ
3000X.
Okay, so this is the uhevolutionary product to the CDJ
3000 by Pioneer DJ.
(01:37):
And you'll notice I'm being verycareful with the brands and the
words that I'm using, because intoday's day and age, we have
Pioneer DJ and we have AlphaTheta.
And before we start getting intowhat the internet's saying, what
other people think about thebrands and what's going on, I
think it's important that we setthe facts straight.
(01:59):
And hopefully we use thispodcast to look clear up some of
these facts that are popping outof nowhere.
Um, so as everyone knows,Pioneer DJ is probably the most
reputable and recognized, iconicDJ brand in the industry.
And we're lucky to be theexclusive distributor here at
SFM for Canada of Pioneer DJequipment.
(02:21):
Um so Pioneer DJ was born out ofthe Pioneer Corporation.
Okay.
And what happened was uh in1994, the subsidiary company,
Pioneer DJ, came out with thefirst flat top CD player, which
really revolutionized theindustry.
It was known as the uh CDJ 500.
(02:42):
So that was 1994.
Fast forward quite a bit in uh2014 Pioneer DJ separates from
Pioneer Corporation.
SPEAKER_02 (02:55):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_04 (02:55):
Okay, and it becomes its own legal entity, it was
purchased, and Pioneer DJ is nowoperating entirely apart from
Pioneer Corp.
Now where things get a littlebit uh uh confusing is people
use all the brand names in thewrong situations.
So they'll call this the PioneerCDJ 3000X.
(03:16):
Or they'll call the CDJ 3000,which is the unit before this
one, the Pioneer CDJ 3000.
When in fact it's the Pioneer DJCDJ 3000.
Right?
So people are using the namesand they don't understand the
history.
So going back to 2014, like Isaid, Pioneer DJ really operates
as Pioneer DJ Corporation and isnot part of Pioneer Corporation,
(03:37):
which we know with the homeelectronics and all that stuff.
In 2020, the Pioneer DJ uh theparent company was then
rebranded to Alpha ThetaCorporation.
Okay, so the Pioneer DJ brand isstill alive, the products still
live as the Pioneer DJ product,but the parent company name
(04:03):
changed to Alpha ThetaCorporation.
So we're following so far?
SPEAKER_03 (04:08):
Yes.
SPEAKER_04 (04:08):
Alright.
In 2024, the Alpha ThetaCorporation, which I just said
is the parent company of PioneerDJ, then introduces the Alpha
Theta brand.
So just to illustrate this, I'mItalian, I use my hands a lot.
You've got Alpha ThetaCorporation as the parent
company.
You have Pioneer DJ as a brand,and now in 2024, they introduced
(04:32):
Alpha Theta as a brand.
Okay?
So now you have both brandsliving together in peace, and
they're both coming out withproducts.
Very, very important.
Pioneer DJ, Alpha Theta, sameparent company, same
engineering, same manufacturing,same marketing department.
(04:57):
They are the exact same company.
It's just that now we have twodifferent brands.
No, one brand is not moreexclusive than the other, or one
is more consumer than the other.
They're literally two brandsthat are coexisting.
And before some of the commentsexplode and what's gonna happen
with Pioneer DJ and all that, asof right now, both brands are
(05:21):
coexisting.
What's gonna happen in thefuture?
Unfortunately, I'm not themanufacturer.
I don't have those answers justyet, but both brands are living.
And what we have in front of usis the Alpha Theta CDJ 3000X.
And it's a super excitingproduct because there's a ton of
innovation that's gone into thisproduct.
Um, what we're seeing before oureyes right here and right now is
(05:44):
really the evolution oftechnology.
So the biggest change betweenthis and the CDJ 3000 is that
now you have access directly toall your streaming services.
So that's a thing now.
That is a thing.
So we were talking the firstepisode, you were a DJ, I was a
DJ, I learned on vinyl, yeah,then CDs, then I was talking
about my digital library, right?
(06:05):
Yeah.
So we've gone through all thesephases, all these mechanism,
mechanisms of playing our musicor media types, I should say.
And now we're at the point whereyou don't even need the USB
stick anymore.
You can access not only yourfiles that are part of your
cloud storage, so your ownrecord box cloud storage through
(06:26):
Dropbox or Google Drive, but youcan actually access streaming
services such as SoundCloud andBeatport directly from the unit.
SPEAKER_02 (06:34):
That's interesting.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (06:37):
So that's probably the biggest innovation that
we're seeing with this unit.
There's a ton of other features,but this expands so many other
opportunities because now as aDJ, you know, before let's talk,
let's go back to using a USBstick.
There was still uh uh anecessity, or uh as a DJ, you
still had to carve out time tosit in front of your computer,
(06:59):
log in your USB, your recordbox, in this case where we're
using CDJs, uh, and sort yourlibrary, make your playlists, do
that all beforehand.
So there was that preparationthat had to be done at your
workstation before the gig.
Because now we're accessingfiles on the cloud, again,
whether it's your own personalcollection through Google Drive
or Dropbox, or the streamingservices, you can literally
(07:22):
manage your music absolutelyanywhere as long as you have
internet connectivity.
Wow.
So you can be on the record boxapp preparing your tracks, you
could be on uh public transportgoing somewhere, making edits to
your playlist, and then nextthing you know, if the CDJ is
connected to the internet, thosechanges are happening live.
SPEAKER_02 (07:41):
That's crazy.
SPEAKER_03 (07:42):
Even though, or like international DJs now nowadays
you have Wi-Fi on plane so theycan press set for gig on the
plane going to the gig.
SPEAKER_04 (07:51):
And you know, before as a DJ, and as we all know, as
a DJ, you know, you'd follow thecharts, you'd see, okay, what's
the latest track?
What's the best track?
What's your top 10?
And you want to include those inyour set, obviously.
Well, now with the connectivityto the internet, you can have
access to all those chartsthrough those streaming services
at your fingertips.
And I think one of the coolestinnovations that they've done
(08:12):
with this unit to access thestreaming services, we we all
live in the in the digital eranow.
You've got Netflix, AmazonPrime, Crave, whatever it may
be.
Well, the number one complaintis man, what's my password?
Right?
Which password did I use forthis?
Which password did I use forthat?
And the first thing when peoplesaw streaming CDJ3000X was, oh
(08:34):
my God, I'm gonna have to signinto all these services every
single time I go to a DJ booth.
Yep, that that sucks.
That that does suck, and itwould suck if that was the
situation, but it's not.
SPEAKER_03 (08:48):
Exactly.
Do you really have time to spendtime renting password on on a
touch screen?
SPEAKER_04 (08:53):
Yeah.
And now that's not the case.
SPEAKER_03 (08:55):
You know, I I knew you I was leading to something.
SPEAKER_04 (08:57):
I was leading to something.
So what Alpha Theta has done isyou'll notice right in front of
the player where typically the CDJ.
Can I touch it?
Yeah, pick it up, please.
You can actually point it out tothe camera as well.
Where typically the the C DJ orthe CD uh would be inserted into
the unit.
Now there's no CD drive,obviously.
You'll see a little rectangle.
(09:18):
That's actually an NFC reader.
Nice.
So follow me.
You show up to the DJ booth, youwant to sign into your streaming
services and your cloud storage.
Instead of going into everysingle one, you can have three,
four, five, whatever it may be.
They're all connected to yourrecord box account on your
record box phone.
(09:39):
So as long as you sign into themat least once beforehand and
they're still logged into yourphone, now you just show up to
the DJ booth, you show up to theCDJ, tap your phone to the CDJ
3000X, and automatically allyour streaming services are
logged in and you have instantaccess to all your tracks.
unknown (09:58):
Wow.
SPEAKER_04 (09:59):
So this is, you know, I don't want to downplay
the whole evolution, you know,of the media types, but this is
the next best thing, and this iswhat people are using.
We are streaming nowadays.
Um and again, with internetconnectivity, it just opens up
so many more options.
So that's really the biggest,you know, the biggest difference
(10:19):
between the CDJ 3000 by PioneerDJ and the CDJ3000X by Alpha
Theta.
That's very cool.
SPEAKER_03 (10:28):
Can I ask a few geek questions?
SPEAKER_04 (10:29):
Because uh Yeah, let's do it.
I might not have all theanswers, but I will give you uh
the best answer possible.
SPEAKER_03 (10:35):
Um I mean, if you enter the if you use NFC to log
into one of the CDJ3000X, ifthere's three others or two
others hooked up to the samenetwork, correct?
Are you getting logged into allthree machines?
SPEAKER_04 (10:52):
So as long as they're all linked through pro
DJ Link, you'll have access toall of them.
Pro DJ Link, that's the word Iwas.
Just like if you put in your USBinto one and they're all on the
same network, all your tracksare going to show up on all the
C DJs.
SPEAKER_03 (11:05):
And can you use the same switch, network switch to
for your actually sorry, the proDJ Link uh technology, can you
also have internet on the sameswitch?
So you can use that same wiredconnectivity to stream so top of
syncing.
SPEAKER_04 (11:21):
Yes, I I haven't tried it myself just yet.
This is actually a prototypeunit straight from Japan.
Wow.
Um but I believe so, yes.
You can actually, there's a LANport in the back of the unit.
So by connecting uh yourinternet to that same switch,
you should have access.
Yeah.
Um so it's it's really cool inthe back of the unit, you've got
your RCA, your digital outlocking IC cable.
(11:43):
I can show that.
Yes, you've got your USB COVID.
So you still have you know themost common types of
connections.
Uh USC.
There is USB-C, so if you wantto connect your record box or
Serato Pro.
Um USC.
Yes.
So that's one major differenceas well, is they've changed from
(12:04):
an SD card slot to a USB-C slot.
So again, just modernizing withthe media types.
Uh, what I'm holding in my handhere is the Alpha Theta record
box um one terabyte USB stick.
So you'll notice on both, again,depending on your computer,
depending on your preparationmethod, you have access to a
traditional USB and your USB-Cas well.
(12:27):
Cool.
Yeah.
So we're we're uh I say we're.
I like to think as myself as theuh Canadian arm is Alpha Theta
and Pioneer DJ, but it's reallyimportant that we encompass as
many DJs as possible.
SPEAKER_02 (12:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (12:39):
And we and we continue to evolve together as a
group.
Um, you know, something likechanging the SD card slot.
Some people have strong opinionsabout it.
I personally don't.
I mean, USB C is everywhere now.
Yeah, it's more common than it'scard slot.
SPEAKER_03 (12:53):
And and you don't really see SD cards anymore in
the market.
Everything's transitioning toeverything.
Micro SD at the minimum.
SPEAKER_04 (13:01):
At the minimum, yeah, exactly.
Some other changes, uh, I mean,you've got a 10.1 inch screen.
I mean, it's it's monstrous,it's amazing.
So, because of the bigger screennow, uh you can actually see a
lot more tracks at a singleglance.
Uh, the touch responsiveness isincredible.
You can scroll.
Remember, I was talking before,you had to really prepare your
(13:23):
playlists on your USB.
Before you couldn't edit theplaylists on the CDJ player
itself, now you can actuallyedit the playlist on the actual
player.
SPEAKER_03 (13:32):
3000 uh the predecessor you couldn't.
SPEAKER_04 (13:34):
Correct.
SPEAKER_03 (13:35):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (13:35):
So now you can do that.
Now there's even somethingcalled a global tag list.
So we're talking about mediatypes, right?
So you've got your USB in there,you've tapped your NFC, you've
got your cloud storage, you'vegot your streaming services as
well.
How do you combine all thesethings into a single playlist?
So now as you're playing, you'replaying your set, you can
actually send different tracksfrom your different media types
(13:57):
to a global tag list.
So now the player is gonnaremember exactly where
everything is, and you'rebuilding a single list from the
different sources.
SPEAKER_02 (14:04):
Well, there's no is there a search feature?
SPEAKER_04 (14:07):
There is a search feature.
Okay, and you can even copy andpaste now on this CDJ3000X on
the previous one.
You couldn't.
SPEAKER_03 (14:14):
Nice.
And I guess the I'm pretty surethe answer is yes, but all the
cue points, everything's gonnafollow no exactly the service
you're using or the file you'replaying.
SPEAKER_04 (14:25):
That's correct.
So as long as the the tracks areanalyzed and you know they're
still within your streamingservice or your cloud storage,
everything is uh in memory.
SPEAKER_02 (14:33):
Okay, so ones.
Yeah.
I I think it's a bit of a sillyquestion, but I'm still thinking
analog um streaming service.
Yep.
I'm wondering how I would feelif I'm at uh an event, a special
event, and uh I'm using astreaming service, Wi-Fi goes
(14:55):
down for a bit.
Can you tell me like, do youknow if it if if you're using a
streaming service, does itbuffer like the the track so
that you don't lose out on it orhow does that work?
SPEAKER_04 (15:06):
I think he's trying to like set me up for a trap
here, but I have the answer, andI'm very happy about this
answer.
SPEAKER_02 (15:12):
I'm just curious.
SPEAKER_04 (15:13):
So on the new CDJ3000X uh with its new
processor and memory, everysingle track that is loaded, uh,
including your USB, you can loadyour track, the track could be
playing, and it's cached intothe memory.
Nice.
So you can pull out the USBmid-track and it'll finish the
track, no problem, because it'sstoring it in the cache.
(15:37):
Um, and you know, that comesfrom going back to back with
other DJs.
Unfortunately, the guy takes outhis wrong USB or whatever may
happen.
So now you have that fail safe.
Uh, versus in the past, it wasjust like an automatic loop that
would happen.
Now it's actually cachedcompletely.
SPEAKER_02 (15:53):
So you're not caching the playlist, you're
caching the per track that'sloaded.
Per track, exactly.
Loaded as soon as it's loadedin.
SPEAKER_04 (15:59):
That's right.
Okay, exactly.
Um, you've got some other reallycool features.
Uh, we'll talk about queuing alittle bit.
So now through the headphonesand and pro DJ link, you can
actually cue the track just bytouching the waveform.
So you don't have to load thetrack.
Your next track, you'researching your playlist, just by
hovering your finger over thewaveform, you can listen to the
(16:20):
track.
Wow.
So if you forgot what it soundedlike or you want to see where
the if the beat would uh if thedrop is gonna match your
previous song, whatever maybeyou don't have to load it, you
can just do it straight from theplaylist.
SPEAKER_03 (16:31):
So basically it's gonna use the pro DJ link, not
the audio out.
And you're gonna be able to,let's say, if your mixer is pro
DJ Link compatible, like the newDJM A9 or something like that,
you would basically have twostreams of audio, one's playing
back from that player, yeah, andI can cue another track.
SPEAKER_04 (16:51):
Exactly.
Yeah.
In terms of the technicalities,I'm not sure which method it's
using, but you're capable ofjust touching the waveform and
listening to it in yourheadphones and not having to
load it on the track itself.
Cool.
Another thing is smart queue,um, which I find incredibly
useful.
So you'll notice right below thescreen there's uh eight cue
points.
Yeah, usually the cue points canbe coded different colors,
(17:13):
right?
Yes.
You've got your A, B, C, D, um,yellow, red, green, let's say,
right?
For ABC.
Traditionally, your cue point,you would have to set it by
pressing the main cue button.
Uh, and if you want to jump toanother hot cue, you'd have to
press that button on the screenand then press your cue button
to get that same position.
(17:34):
Now, what's really cool is ifyou enable smart queue in the
settings, the little LED aroundthe main cue button, it'll
remember the last cue button youpressed while playing that
track.
So let's say A representedyellow.
You press A, instead of alwayspressing that physical button
under the screen to get to Qpoint A, it'll automatically map
(17:54):
it to the main cue button.
Nice.
And the LED, which traditionallywas always uh color, yeah,
orange, now it'll actually goyellow to say, hey, I'm using Q
point A right now.
Nice.
So that enables a lot morethings in terms of your workflow
process because you're notalways hovering over the jog
wheel over other buttons.
Auto automatically now you'recomfortable, you're using hot QA
(18:17):
from your standard Q buttonposition.
So there's a lot of really coolthings they're doing.
They're doing gate queue aswell, um, which enables you to
use the hot cues almost like asampler.
So you're able to play the trackjust by pressing the button.
So you can almost do like amelodic sequence just by
pressing your hot cues now.
SPEAKER_03 (18:36):
I've seen some YouTube video on that.
Uh how do you call it thatfeature again?
The cue?
Uh gate queue.
Gate queuing.
Yeah.
And I think that's the kind offeature.
And you know, we're not apodcast where where we are going
to hook up an equipment to haveour listener looking at the
features, but even with twoYouTube videos, I didn't really
(18:57):
get what was this feature.
So I think you really got totouch it and try it.
SPEAKER_04 (19:02):
You gotta, yeah, yeah, especially the those three
main cue features need to be uhexperimented with, and you
really have to get your hands-onexperience to understand the
true potential of it.
SPEAKER_03 (19:12):
So, can I take one home tonight?
Or actually, you don't whatwould you do with one?
I I wouldn't need two.
Oh, you need to now you'reasking for a lot.
SPEAKER_04 (19:18):
I I know a guy, though.
I know a guy we can maybe figuresomething out.
SPEAKER_03 (19:22):
Um, why would you leave with all the things?
SPEAKER_04 (19:24):
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
A couple of other differences.
Um, so they've re-engineeredcompletely the playing cue
buttons.
So historically, and again, ifsome of my facts are a little
off, I apologize.
But uh, I believe they weretested up to a million or two
million times each.
Okay.
These new cue buttons weretested an additional 500 times
(19:47):
presses.
You mean just 500 or 500,000?
500,000 times more than theoriginal standard processing
was.
Yeah, sorry, 500,000 times more.
So they've been completelyre-engineered.
Uh, the actual contact area,like to the physical button, has
been improved.
Um, so durability is justunbelievable.
(20:09):
The top plate now is allaluminum, um, so it helps with
you know heat dissipation, uh,heat from the sun, yeah, stuff
like that.
Do they still make white ones oras of right now?
There's only the the black CDJ3000 X.
Um, the other thing, too, wasthe jog wheel.
So uh the jog wheel you knowcomes obviously from the vinyl
(20:32):
turntable, and you can adjustthe feeling on the CDJs
depending on which model.
SPEAKER_02 (20:37):
Uh very interesting.
SPEAKER_04 (20:39):
Traditionally, uh, you had a certain range.
Some people wanted it a littletighter, some people wanted a
little looser.
So what happened was on the CDJ3000X, let's say your spectrum
was like this, they've actuallywind it even more.
So it goes a lot tighter thanthe CDJ 3000, uh, and a lot
looser than the CDJ 3000 aswell.
(20:59):
So, again, depending on yourstyle, your turntable is a
whatever you're looking for, nowyou've got that range of uh of
jog wheel feel on the CDJ 3000X,which is uh which is really
important.
USB uh HID mode supported, so itautomatically unlocks Serato DJ
Pro, uh record box as well.
(21:20):
So there's no more scratch cardsand serial numbers and all that.
As soon as you plug it into thehardware um to your computer,
basically the software willunlock with all those uh
beneficial features as well.
SPEAKER_03 (21:32):
Um any compatibility with uh tractor as an HID uh uh
controller?
SPEAKER_04 (21:39):
As of right now, I haven't tested it.
I don't remember what thedocumentation states, to be
honest with you, but the twomain ones are Serato, DJ Pro,
and Record Box, and those areobviously fully supported at the
moment.
SPEAKER_03 (21:50):
But that what's cool about that is all the features
you were mentioning before, likestreaming from services, um
being able to play tracks fromfrom uh your your cloud
services, those were availablethrough Record Box if you were
using the CDJ as a controllerfor record box.
Correct.
Now basically you don't need, Imean you don't even need your
(22:11):
computer anymore.
That's it.
There's gonna be a laptopsomewhere in the DJ boot,
anyways.
Yeah, but you can use those asstandalone players, literally,
and stream from just like yourcomputer.
SPEAKER_04 (22:23):
And just to be clear, it's not just through the
LAN port, there's Wi-Fi built inas well.
SPEAKER_03 (22:27):
Yes.
SPEAKER_04 (22:28):
So there's two methods of obviously connecting
to the internet, which willallow you to use all these
options as well.
SPEAKER_03 (22:34):
Between us guys, I mean, I think you you should not
use Wi-Fi professionally.
SPEAKER_04 (22:38):
Yeah, in a club, let's please use you know
hardwired, hardwired.
Yeah, you know, I think we allknow in the rack, hardwire is
the best, right?
So let's uh let's stick tohardwired, please.
But I've I've been stresstesting it uh using Wi-Fi,
haven't had any issueswhatsoever.
I'll be honest, like I'm an oldschool DJ, you know, like I
(22:59):
said, it started off with vinyland CDs, and I I couldn't
believe it.
Like I was this is the firsttime in a really long time where
I was playing with something andI was like, wow, this is
different.
This is new.
Like back in my days, like wewere saying in the first
episode, you know, it's like Ican't believe we're at the point
now where we're streaming, andit's so exciting to be part of
this change and this thisevolution from the CDJ 3000 to
(23:22):
the CDJ 3000 X.
And uh really proud with whatthe company's done.
And uh, I'm super excited to tostart seeing it out in the field
and on writers and uh and stufflike that and at major
festivals.
And uh I I think it'll be Ithink it'll be extremely
successful, 100%.
SPEAKER_03 (23:40):
I'm all excited about the the the the player and
uh I'm definitely gonna ask youfor to try them, yes, for sure.
SPEAKER_04 (23:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
That's not a problem.
The more people that get excitedabout it, the better it is, and
that's what makes our jobs socool.
Yeah, is that we get to come towork and play with these units.
SPEAKER_03 (23:57):
Like we were saying in the first episode.
I mean, the the the joy of beingable to play with the new gear
is always always a pleasure.
SPEAKER_04 (24:04):
Always, absolutely.
So that's that's the story aboutAlpha Theta and and Pioneer DJ.
And um I guess you know, we'llsee we'll see what happens in
terms of future products andwhere uh where both brands
coexist.
But as of right now, it's it'san exciting journey, and I'm so
excited, like I said, to see howthis technology is going to be
(24:26):
adopted and used out in thefield.
SPEAKER_02 (24:28):
So you're telling me it's not an end, it's not the
end of an era.
No, it's not the end of an era.
I like it's it's so funny.
Everyone's saying that.
SPEAKER_04 (24:35):
Yeah, and and to be honest with you, you know, even
as the brand manager for PioneerDJ, all I know is the is the
present time.
Of course.
And right now, both brands arecoexisting, and that's what we
need to focus on.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (24:47):
So and again, I mean, this is the evolution from
a pioneer DJ product, andfrankly, it it looks very
similar.
I mean, it's it's basically theevolution from a pioneer DJ
product.
So yeah.
Frankly, I don't really mindabout the name.
Me personally, I'm not DJinganymore, but I've been DJing on
(25:08):
Pioneer Equipment for a while.
Pioneer DJ.
See, he just did it there.
SPEAKER_04 (25:12):
Now we gotta go from Pioneer to Pioneer DJ.
Sorry.
Now Pioneer DJ to Alpha Thetafor certain SKUs.
Yeah, you know, so yeah, it'sgonna take some time, just like
every other brand change andbrand adoption.
Yeah, uh, it's gonna take sometime, it's gonna take some uh
some acceptance.
Um, but at the end of the day,the most important message is
it's the same company, samequality bond, same quality, same
(25:38):
engineering, uh, same RD, samemarketing, same values, and
that's the important message.
Yeah, similar colors, exactly.
Um, so yeah, end of an era.
I I don't know.
I'm not the manufacturer, but asof right now, there's both
brands, and we're we'refortunate to have both brands
(25:58):
and both SKUs because um we'rewe're truly seeing a lot of
change in the industry, and weget to be a part of it.
SPEAKER_02 (26:05):
Absolutely cool, especially the streaming thing.
That I think that's the one thatuh on the on the film side and
all, and even on the music sidefor a long time.
I think the music came up firstbefore uh with Apple was a
street uh was music streamingcame I think they came came
around pretty much at the sametime, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (26:25):
Yeah, Netflix and uh Apple Music Spotify.
SPEAKER_02 (26:28):
Spotify I think even before Spotify, I think Napster.
Yeah, but Napster was not apirate thing.
No, no, but you were paying youwere able to pay originally to
service.
Exactly.
So there were certain there weremusical there's music services
like that.
So I I I think film uh I thinkon the on the the the film side
it started after, but seeingbecause of the bandwidth.
(26:50):
I mean yeah, I think it was atone point you didn't have the
bandwidth to stream an HD movieat home, right?
Yeah, even the compressionsweren't there, and Netflix was
one of the first to kind of comeup with the uh H265, H26.
Also the variable based on youryour your your your network
speed, but uh having it in a DJuh platform is very interesting.
It's I I'm still a little bitintrigued and uh still
(27:14):
surprised.
Uh again, I'm it's new school,but yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_04 (27:19):
And it's new and it's so new, and I I think
that's what um I admire the mostabout Alpha Theta and Pioneer DJ
is they are oftentimes the firstmover to adopt a certain
technology or a certain trend.
And um they're always makingadjustments and they're
listening to the voice of thecustomer.
Yeah, and that's one thing umthat I will keep repeating.
(27:42):
The voice of the customer is soimportant.
All these little subtle changesfrom what I was told is not just
somebody, you know, in an officedeciding, hey, we're gonna
change this, we're gonna removethis text, we're gonna, you
know, replace the SD card.
They're listening to clients.
SPEAKER_02 (27:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (27:58):
Uh, and I can actually, you know, give you a
couple examples.
The hot cue buttons underneaththe screen and the smart cue.
Well, that's because James Hypewas not happy with the CDJ 3000.
Everybody knows it's not asecret.
They listened to him, they cameout with a feature that would
allow him to perform his setsthe way he wants them to
perform.
Um, a couple years ago, at uh Ibelieve it was Coachella, there
(28:20):
was a DJ who showed up on stageand the track was playing twice
as fast.
Oh no, yeah, so it was it was adisaster.
She didn't know how to uh how tofix it.
Basically, what happened wasthey just threw the MP3s or or
the file formats on the USB,they didn't analyze it properly,
and on the CDJ, you couldn'tchange the BPM, you couldn't
(28:43):
double it.
So the BPMs were either doubledor they were halved, so it
wasn't playing at the rightspeed.
So because of that, now on theCDJ 3000X, you can actually
adjust the BPM speed on the ofthat specific track on the
actual unit.
So it's all these littleinstances, all these little
(29:04):
nuances that let's be honest,the the most common DJ wouldn't
think of.
That's why these changes arebeing made.
It's to just perfect the productas much as possible and always
have that evolutionary uhmindset to the product.
SPEAKER_03 (29:19):
And bear in mind that's that's a professional DJ
equipment.
You don't you don't see themoften in bedroom DJ?
Not often, no.
But you see them everywhere.
I haven't come across any club,any IN restaurants that have a
DJ booth.
I mean, this is always PioneerDJ or Alpha Teta.
(29:40):
I mean, this is the goldstandard.
It is nothing else.
Yeah.
So of course, when you have proDJs, superstars coming up, and
there's an issue, obviously thecompany is gonna listen about
these problems and will try tofix it.
SPEAKER_02 (29:59):
Yep, exactly.
And don't get me wrong, I I itif memory serves me correctly,
it's been a while that DJs maybenot on the world stage, but in
terms of events and stuffsmaller events they're already
somewhat streaming from phones,right?
SPEAKER_04 (30:16):
I mean, Yeah, so depending on the player and
depending on the year, therethere were certain capabilities.
SPEAKER_02 (30:22):
Not from inside that, but through an external
device, right?
SPEAKER_04 (30:25):
Correct.
So there was some and I don'tremember which players were
compatible or not, so uh but youcould or you used to have tracks
on your phone connect via a USBcable to the player and use this
as like your media type.
Um so there was already sometalk of how do we incorporate
the phone into the workflow.
(30:47):
Because it was a demand.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (30:49):
Because it's easy, right?
Yeah, especially when you'replaying at a wedding, somebody's
like, hey, uh, I wanna can youplay this song?
And you're like, Yeah, I don'thave it.
Well, that's not really anexcuse anymore, right?
I mean that's accessible througha variety of different avenues.
SPEAKER_04 (31:01):
And uh I guess uh this is one way to uh Yeah, and
and and I'll I'll be honest, ithappened to me not with the CDJ
3000X, but I was using acomputer um and I'm I'm a user
of Bport.
SPEAKER_03 (31:14):
Yep.
SPEAKER_04 (31:14):
And I was personally DJing a cocktail gig, super
high-end cocktail gig.
And uh originally it wassupposed to be two to three
hours.
Uh and so I had my cocktailplaylist going.
And I mean, let's be honest, theaverage DJ is not DJing for
five, six hours of cocktails,even if in an event DJ you do an
hour, an hour and a half, andyou can move on to your main
event.
Um, and at least I'm not thattype of DJ that has that type of
(31:38):
cocktail music ready, right?
Like six, seven hours ofcocktail music curated and ready
to go.
And so while I was playing, youknow, I was starting to quickly
realize okay, my usual cocktailplaylists here.
I'm gonna need more tracks.
What am I what am I gonna do?
Um and the event was changing,it was it was a lot longer,
people were having a great time.
I started getting into the AfroHouse uh genre of music, and um
(32:03):
and I I I needed more tracks.
I'll be honest, I needed moretracks.
Afro house is relatively new.
I'm I'm more of a mainstreamevent DJ.
Um so I had my Afro House stuff,I had my cocktail stuff, but I
just needed more of it.
SPEAKER_03 (32:16):
I was not expecting the gig to go on for six or
seven hours, and because I wassubscribed to your your cachet
or your your paycheck came cameaway.
SPEAKER_04 (32:26):
It did, it did, luckily.
Um sorry, I yeah, very importantpart by the way of the story.
Yeah, um so luckily because I'mI I was subscribed to Beatport
and I was using my computer, umI went on to the Afro House
genre.
I had all my top charts, I hadcurated curated playlists, I
(32:47):
had, you know, my top call it 50Afro House that I personally
downloaded, um was differentthan the most recent chart from
let's say that week.
So I was getting new tracks onthe fly, like it really helps
having access to these streamingservices versus just the local
media.
So, you know, that's one exampleof how streaming could be
(33:08):
beneficial.
Yeah, it's amazing.
And um I'll be honest, beforethat experience, I I never had a
use for it.
But now I'm like, okay, I'malways gonna have subscription
now because, like you said,whether it's a request, whether
it's uh an event change, anhourly change, whatever it may
be, being prepared means beingprepared on every forefront,
(33:30):
every aspect of being prepared.
You know, having differentsubscription types, different
medias, different backups.
And backups is a whole otherpodcast uh subject and
redundancy and production andall that.
We'll talk about that when wetalk about you know pro and live
uh setups and productions, butyeah, we're gonna have to start
being accept accepting of allthese different mediums.
(33:52):
That's incredible.
So that's the CDJ 3000X by AlphaTheta.
SPEAKER_03 (33:58):
Very exciting uh present not the presentation,
that was a very excitingpodcast, and its product's
amazing.
I can't wait to try it.
SPEAKER_02 (34:06):
Yeah, uh I'm glad you clarified some of the stuff.
I know there's been a little bitof misconceptions going around.
But uh yeah, that was uh thatwas really, really cool.
I'm really excited for this.
SPEAKER_04 (34:16):
Yeah, I think uh I think it'll do really well, and
uh I think a lot of people aregonna adopt it.
And again, it's you know, it'sit's all about the movement,
it's all about accepting newmediums, changes.
And uh I'm excited for thefuture.
My I mean this is a small changerealistically from when I
started DJ, you know, 15 yearsago to now.
(34:36):
It's like wow, it's incredible.
So we'll see what what thefuture has in store.
SPEAKER_02 (34:41):
Nice.
Well, thanks for hanging outwith us on Behind the Rack.
We hope you pick something upnew, add a laugh, or at least
nodded along with one of ourrants.
If you enjoyed today's episode,hit follow, share with a
colleague or a fellow AV, andhelp us spread the word.
Don't forget to like andsubscribe.
(35:02):
Very important.
Exactly.
If you guys have any um anycomments or suggestions for any
episodes, please feel free tocomment down below.
We'll be back with more uhstories, insights, and even
conversations uh for the worldof pro audio live broadcast
system AV.
And until then, keep thecuriosity alive, and we'll catch
(35:24):
you on the next time behind therack.
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