Equipment Review: The Mixer is Close to Me

The Pioneer DJM series is one of the most popular DJ mixers and it has just launched a new addition to the range, the DJM-700. It boasts the same sound quality as the DJM-600 and is more competitively priced than the DJM-800 and DJM-1000 – but does it hold up to scrutiny as well as some wear and tear from a professional DJ? Donal McCarthy aka LRB is one of the residents at the 515 night in Tripod. Spinning progressive, tech and minimal house – “any type of underground house,” he says – Donal has supported the likes of Sasha & Digweed, Booka Shade, Carl Cox and Tiefschwarz to name a few. He also holds down residencies in Galway’s GPO and the Clarence in Sligo.

“I’ve been playing in Tripod and before that when it was called Red Box for the last six years, I’m touring around the country a lot and I’m starting to play abroad and am in Ibiza during the summer. I also have a tour in Australia lined up for early next year,” Donal explains.
So what does he think about the DJM-700?
“There’s a price difference of 200 euros between the 800, which costs E1,250, and the 700, which is E1,050. That’s a more reasonable price for someone who is starting out as a DJ, especially if they have had to buy some CDJs,” he feels. “Someone who is just learning mightn’t be earning that much money and they would welcome saving some money on their mixer, so the 700 would be a better option for them. Generally, people have less money nowadays, so the price difference between the 700 and the 800 is more of an issue now,” he says.
Like the other mixers in the Pioneer range, the DJM-700 boasts four channels. Donal says that while the channel faders and Eqs are “quite basic” on the 700, he feels that they are more responsive and sensitive than on other mixer ranges. “It means that you can mix basslines nice and smoothly,” Donal says, and he adds that the assignable cross fader will also make the model popular with scratch Djs. The 700 series, like all Pioneers, is sturdily built, but portable – it weighs just 6.6 kilos – and will survive a lot of wear and tear. “Even if you dropped it on the ground it would be OK – it’s a very hardy mixer,” he says. Most visiting guests that Donal spins with usually request a DJM-800, which comes with a crush effect – “which is like a raw filter” – and harmonic and sweep effects as well as channel pitch bends. While the new DJM-700 doesn’t offer the same features, it does come with filtering on each channel and Donal feels that it still scores highly thanks to these capabilities.
“It doesn’t have a channel pitch bend like the 800, but the 700’s filtering is better than the 800’s because it doesn’t suddenly kill the bass. The filtering is more gradual and gives you a lot more time,” he says. “A lot of my DJing features filtering and effects: I use a lot of echoes and delays in the build-ups and breakdowns, so from that point of view, what the DJM-700 can do suits me.” At the same time, the new model doesn’t offer as many MIDI capabilities as the DJM-800 and Donal feels that it will remain an attractive mid-range option, but is unlikely to supersede the high-end Pioneer mixers in the club environment. “The only people who don’t like Pioneers are sound engineers,” he says. “For some reason, they prefer Allen & Heaths, but I think Pioneers offer better sound quality.”