With the well-known Pioneer Jog Dial at its centre, the DVJ-X1 looks just like the company's CDJ-1000MK2 CD player, but with the added capacity to playback DVDs as well as CDs. Because it imitates the form and functionality of the CDJ-1000MK2, the DVJ-X1 will be familiar to digital DJs who have used this unit and will allow them to use Pioneer's new unit to manipulate DVD visuals in exactly the same way as they would with music: real-time digital video scratches, loops and instant cues are all possible with the DVJ-X1, while the video and audio streams always stay in sync, even when they're being reversed and pitched.
To add a further dimension to the concept, Pioneer envisages a near-future scenario where two DVJ-X1s are linked together via a fully integrated audio and visual mixer. This set-up will allow the digital sound and vision from the two separate sources to be mixed and scratched on the fly - in the same way as DJs create audio mixes in their live sets today.
The DVJ-X1 offers even greater flexibility in performance by including on-board memory capacity as well as a SD Card slot - just like the CDJ-1000MK2. On the DVJ-X1, this allows for AV loops and cue points to be stored, either on-board or on a removable MMC (up to 500 loop or cue points on the card that's bundled with the DVJ-X1). During playback, the saved cue and loop points can be searched, selected and previewed using an external monitor that's connected via the preview output. Pioneer's new unit also has an emergency loop feature, making it even user-friendlier. At the press of a button, this automatically loops four beats seamlessly, in line with the BPM, to allow a DVJ extra time to mix from one track to another.
(Lee Baldock)
