cdj900 Quantize looping

@peter bainbridge > Things are only Quantized when using tracks analyzed in Rekordbox. The same goes for the CDJ-2000's. The auto beat loops on the CDJ-900 are the same but perfect for 1-touch quick and accurate loops.

Foster 

Yeh foster mate i understand that you need to analyze tracks through rekordbox first before they are quantized. You see i dont own any 900s just looking at buying some. But i really like the quantize looping on the 2000s when just pressing in and out yourself. Just want to know if loops are still quantized looping this way on the 900s or only when you press the auto beat loop.

Cheers pete

Yes. They are quantized if you use In / Out buttons and also if you use the Auto beat Loops.

However, they are quantized once. Which means that, for example, if you hit the 4-beat auto loop button, the resulting loop will be quantized. But while having that loop playing, if you want to cut it down it a 2-beat loop by pressing the corresponding button, you'll have to hit it precisely on beat, otherwise the new 2-beat loop won't be in sync.

To sum up, only the duration of the loop is quantized, but once a quantized loop is playing you'll still have to hit the loop buttons in sync with the music to cut it / extend it.

@peter brainbridge > Yupp, all loops (Including In/Out loops) are Quantized when using Rekordbox analyzed files.

To expand on what j-s said, yes by hitting the "4-beat auto loop" on the CDJ-2000 creates a Quantized 4 beat loop, and when hitting the button again, it cut's it in half every time. When you cut it in half, the loop remains Quantized, but the loop does not re-arrange the "start-point" of the loop. The start point will remain the same every time you split the loop and therefore can create a "skip" in the music if you do not press the button right on beat.

However, on the CDJ-2000, when you hit the "Out" button after creating a loop, you activate the needle search to display multiple auto-beat loops. These loops stay in sync and do reset the "start-point" of the loop. Therefor no "skip" if off beat.

The same goes for the CDJ-900 auto loops on the side. If you create an 8 beat loop, then within the 8 beat loop you create a smaller 4 bar loop, they will also reset the "start-point" of the loop and therefore will not have a "skip" in the music if you're off when pressing the button.

The only "skip" comes from the CDJ-2000's auto 4-beat loop if you press it again to chop the loop in half.

Let me know if that makes sense. lol

Thanks,

Foster 

Hello,

I did a search for this topic on google and came across this thread.  Sorry to jump in so late.

I, too am in the market for a new CDJ.  To give you some background: I've been DJ'ng for about 15 years now and about 3 years ago, purchased my first CD turntables (CDJ-200).  I'm looking to upgrade in order to become more accustomed to CDJ's in clubs, so I was looking at either the new 850's or 900's.

Through this thread as well as others, I've learned that, in order to fully utilize the Quantized Loop feature of the 900's, my music must be run through Rekordbox.  To be honest, I have a very particular way of cataloging my music on CD's, so I don't wish to change my workflow.  With this in mind, I am wondering how much of a difference Auto Beat Looping on the 850 and 900 will be affected by looping music straight from CD (in WAV and AIFF format, if that matters)?  I will use the Beat Loop function mostly to extend my mixes, rather than get crazy with halving the loops.

If the functionality of the Auto Beat Loop function in the 850's and 900's will pretty much be the same if playing CD music, then this will dictate which one I will purchase.  I am looking for something that will give me tight loops automatically, with the music that I currently have -- no Rekordbox.

Thank-you for the help! 

@Todd  > I had the same dilema choosing between the 850 and 900. I ended up with the 900 but to be honest if you've never used Rekordbox you may be suprised It's going to save me alot of time by not have to burn CD's as I can catalogue my music and load it to a USB stick with all the tracks quantized. Admitedly it was a pain to work with at first; user error on my part which was sorted with the help from this forum. I'll still burn CD's but only because I'm OCD about backing up every thing and always use them as a backup when playing out. However, the CD's are'nt quantized. If you use Itunes think of RB as being an evolution of that and the playlist created in it being your virtual CD's. RB still needs some tweaking but it's a great tool not to be oer looked.

@ DJ REDSS > Thanks for your advice.  I actually downloaded Rekordbox tonight (on your recommendation) and also went to the local electronics store to demo the 850 vs. 900.  Rekordbox seems pretty cool, but without any 900's to truly put through the ringer, I'm left guessing at the possibilities.  I didn't have time to pop any quantized tracks onto a USB (I barely even know how to use Rekordbox!), but maybe I'll do that for next time.  The beat-grid system of Rekordbox feels a lot like what I've seen on Traktor and the loops were tight.  

Demo'ing the 850 and 900 tonight: the build-quality (at least the tactile feel) of the 900 was better than the 850.  Of course, the price reflects this and it should be so.  Overall, though, both performed exactly as I expected a Pioneer CDJ system would.  In terms of feature-set, there wasn't a lot there that I can really complain about, especially considering that I'm a pretty basic CDJ user.  I don't need anything fancy (except for tight looping capabilities for long, extended mixes).

So, I'm still at a bit of a crossroads when it comes to deciding 850 vs 900.  I'll poke around Rekordbox a bit more and try to visualize my workflow.  It just feels weird to go from lugging a flight-case of vinyl to gigs, to an album of CD's, to now, just a little USB key... future looks bright -- where are my shades? I'm gettin' too old for this.  :D

Thanks for your help, DJ REDSS.  Glad to hear the thoughts of someone who was once in my dilemma. 

@Todd > A couple of things that sold the 900 to me: 2000s were out of my budget as I was buying a complete new set up with a mixer and RMX1000. Slip mode due to it's possibilty to be incorparted in to my style of mixing. the tilted screen gave a better overall view than the 850, the loop function suited me better on the 900 over both the 850 and 2000.

The things I miss are the hot loops but I think the RMX1000 will allow to move my mixing in different direction. It's strange but I'm getting less bassy and more atmosheprical. Think John Carpenter meets House in a Trance...lol. ExperimentING, I love it.

They are for sure quantized if you use autoloop except yout turn off the function ;)

What's up, DJ REDSS.  Just dropping a line to say that I sprung for the 900's.  Should be arriving in just over a week.  Thanks for all your help and information.  It really helped me decide on the 900's, as just the quick demo at the shop did not give me the behind-the-scenes insight that you gave to me.

Looking forward to making my first mix with the new 900's.

Cheers! 

@Todd hope you like them. Mine were my first Pioneers and TBH beat matching is a breeze. I suggest reading the RekordBox post and using the suggested tools. I'm hoping future updates will stop RB from crashing when it comes across dodgy files. I've got most of my collection loaded, various dance and house genres but my reggae collection causes it to crash. However, it not a major problem as I don't need to quantize them. I haven't tried it yet but I'm hoping I can just bridge them in from Itunes, if not I'll burn the to CD.

Check out my post on my hopefully upcoming Club DJ Marathon record breaking attempt