The Evolution of DJ Gear

DJ equipment is constantly changing and advancing, and since you can’t DJ without the equipment, the gear involved plays a big role in how DJ’s perform and produce. In this blog, we take a wide overview of the history of DJ gear as we know it and how various technological leaps have accelerated its evolution. Here, we’re going to focus on the main game-changers: the technology that caused the biggest shift within the DJ-verse. Where did it all start? Back in 1971, with the introduction of the audio mixer.

The Dawn of the Mixer

The mixer started life at a radio station and, in its time, was entirely new technology that made it possible for DJs to actually talk over music and even fade songs in and out. From there, it was only a matter of time before the mixer found its way into the club scene. The very first dedicated DJ mixer was introduced in New York by Alex Rosner in 1971, which is why it was dubbed the ‘Rosie’, not just because of Rosner but because of the red finish of the unit. The mixer was actually custom designed for Francis Grasso who was the DJ in residence at The Haven Club, NY at the time.

The Rosie did three essential things: play back two audio sources at the same time; allow the user to listen in, or monitor music via headphones before playback; and it could be connected up to a stereo sound system. Later, the functionality of a DJ mixer would expand to include an equaliser – one on each channel; then came special ports so it could be hooked up to an effects processor and, finally, the crossfader was added – all of the ingredients that still go into the modern DJ mixer.

The Turntable

Another pretty significant moment in DJ history was the invention of the turntable. For a long time, the turntable was designed for nothing more than playing vinyl records, but all of this changed the moment that the Technics SL1200 MK2 was introduced. This innovative deck-in-the-making featured a direct-drive system, which supported an extremely fast start-up speed, accurate pitch-control, and the ability to manipulate the playback speed.

The arrival of the first DJ mixer plus a more controllable turntable gave DJs far more to do than just put on a record and hit play. Without the direct-drive system, scratching would never have been born – by simply planting a finger on the record and moving it back and forth, an entirely new sound was discovered. This new gear plus a mass of creativity led to new techniques, where DJs could set up two decks or audio sources and create an overlap or transition between two tracks, to the point where you could barely even hear that a new track had been mixed in. This was all new and it sparked a revolution.

The Technics SL1200 MK2 became the standard for club DJs. Since 1972, over three million of them have been sold worldwide and the model is still considered one of the most reliable and durable turntables of all time. A lot of the SL1200s produced in the seventies are actually still being used today and it wasn’t even until 2010 that Panasonic, the current owner of Technics, ceased production.

The CDJ

The Pioneer CDJ-500 was the first DJ CD player to feature a Master Tempo control and a Jog Dial… which would later evolve into the Jog Wheel. The Master Tempo is a detail you still find on all Pioneer DJ CD players, from the CDJ series to the CMX series, and since the innovative Jog Wheel gave users the best control over the player, the design was immediately adopted by other tech companies and has remained a DJ standard ever since. The introduction of the CDJ-500 can definitely be seen as a turning point in the history of DJ gear.

A few different models and variants followed the CDJ-500, including the CDJ-500II and the CDJ-500S, but it wasn’t until Pioneer dropped the CDJ-1000 in 2001 that the CD player became a realistic alternative to the turntable. In less than a year, the CDJ-1000 could be found in the DJ booth of pretty much every club all over the world. Then came the MK2 and then the MK3 which featured mp3 compatibility and, at the end of 2009, the CDJ-2000 happened and ushered in the next paradigm shift within the DJ-realm. With the CDJ-2000, you could play tracks back from a USB stick, set cue points, loop and quantize – all for the first time. Combine it with this new software called Rekordbox and you could suddenly prepare full sets at home.

In September, 2012 the CDJ-2000 Nexus made its first appearance, along with some subtle yet effective updates compared to its predecessor, all of which supported a more intuitive workflow, improved Traktor integration and WiFi support. Then along came the Pioneer XDJ-1000: a CDJ that didn’t even have a CD drive and came fitted with a touchscreen. Surprisingly, the XDJ-1000 wasn’t actually a follow-up to the CDJ-2000 Nexus, but to the more budget-friendly CDJ-850, indicating that Pioneer wanted to test the waters before releasing the model that would succeed the Nexus. Trying to predict the future is, of course, a case of guesswork, but over the years, Pioneer DJ has been renowned for its diligence in both listening to and applying user feedback. The expectation was a further expansion of their Rekordbox platform and integration with wireless technology, and the first step on that path didn’t disappoint, namely the XDJ-RX: the first all-in-one Rekordbox player.

Digital Vinyl Systems, DJ Controllers & The Future

Final Scratch first saw the light of day in 2002. This unique DJ tool was developed by the Dutch company N2IT and was a complete system that allowed users to manipulate digital audio files on a computer with a turntable, giving DJs the same feel and response as old-school vinyl. Largely due to a mass of teething problems with the first version, it took years to really get the software off the ground. Now, we know of three main players in the digital vinyl system (DVS) game: Serato, Traktor and the more budget-friendly Virtual DJ. Based on the new DVS technology, the race began to develop a digital DJ controller: a MIDI controller or USB-to-analogue controller that’s able to control the DJ software installed on a PC, laptop or tablet. Within recent years, DJ controllers have become enormously popular, sparking the crossover from the more conventional turntable and CDJ setups of old to these more high-performance, all-in-one units.

The boundaries between DJ and producer have also blurred over the years. DJ software is now so advanced that it hands DJs near-enough unlimited creative control over their work. Tracks can now be edited and remixed in real-time – the options are limitless. But where do we go from here? First came the CDJ, then DVS and now we have the DJ controller, all of which, in one way or another, have changed the DJ-ing landscape forever. The hunger for new features and functions still has yet to fade, but it seems like the ingenuity within DJ technology has stalled. There’s also the danger that, in the search for even more control options and functions, we might lose sight of the essence of DJ-ing. Let us know your thoughts on the subject in the comments below and make sure to include any good tips or ideas for future blog editions.