They go by the name of Pioneer CDJ-400.
I got them in on Monday and hooked them up to the MacBook via USB for native control of Serato Scratch Live and they are great little CD players. Not only do they control Serato natively through USB, but since I don’t have to run an audio cable to the Scratch Live box the turntables remain intact as they have always been. What does that mean for me? It means a total of four controllers for Scratch Live, full manipulation of Scratch Live from the pair of CDJ-400 CD players, and retaining the passthrough option to play vinyl. The drawback to running the CDJ-400 through USB only is that you can’t play any CDs from the CDJ itself without unplugging something from the DJM-909 to make room for the CD connection, but Scratch Live reads CDs from the laptop. No need to worry there.
The goal of the CDJ-400s are to give me a smaller “pick up and go” setup that doesn’t involve a lot of setup and tear down time or involve hauling bulky full-size turntables around to a party. The CDJ-400 is a great little piece of kit that delivers great control, functionality, and quality on a small scale. It’s perfect for anyone that is running out of space or that wants equipment well-suited for mobility. I’ll probably follow up with a video showing the native Serato control and how Scratch Live 1.9.1 added the ability to assign the previously unused effects buttons to functions in Scratch Live.
