Best DJ Controller for Beginners

The DDJ-400 is Pioneer’s latest controller aimed at the beginner market and as such is the one controller here designed to be used with Rekordbox as its primary DJ software. Rekordbox is the new kid on the block compared to the likes of Serato and Traktor which have been around an eternity. This could be a sticking block for people who already know one of those two pieces of software inside out, but if you are starting out on your DJ journey you are likely not going to be bothered and Rekordbox is growing at maturing quickly and already linked up with several DJ streaming services such as Beatport Link.

The controller itself is as good as anything Pioneer DJ has produced at this price point. There has been an active effort to replicate the look and feel of CDJs that you will find in your progress to gigs in clubs and bars, right down to the different materials used on the faceplate.

The vast majority of button positions are replicated and to all intents and purposes, the main difference is that it is just a smaller unit. This comes with a slightly better set of faders for tempo adjustment than most of the others on this page, again getting you closer to that real feel. Of course, if you learn the positions in and out and then head to your first club gig and they are set up with Serato you still might have a bit of a wobble. Having said that mappings exist online to set this up with Serato too if you are comfortable with that.

The DDJ-400 comes minus the performance scratch and fades of the SB3 below but the layout elevates it here as it is more club standard. By and large though, you could choose either and would be very happy with what you set up.

I really like the SB3. It got a little unfair criticism on release by DJ snobs for its, let’s say unusual,  addition of in-built scratch patterns designed by the world-famous DJ Jazzy Jeff. And while it’s true you probably aren’t going bust out fake scratches in routine, you also aren’t likely to be using this on tour in Ibiza so for a bit of fun and inspiration I’m not against it.

Build quality is pretty much spot-on as you would expect from Pioneer Dj, and while the unit is pretty much all plastic, it never feels cheap. The jog wheels are as good as I have used on a beginner controller giving great control over the finest of tweaks. The same can’t be said for the faders which are very short throw – the bane of the beginner DJ controller so if you want to match with minus the use of the Sync button, things are a bit fiddlier than they are on a full-size Pioneer mixer.

Alongside the scratch, patterns are a variety of auto fade-outs and the like which can be used to remove a track from your mix at the top of one of the hot-cue buttons (as long as you have pressed the appropriate selector button above them. There are a variety of sounds you can get here from automated highpass or low-pass fade-outs to chopping down the length of a loop from 16 bars down to half a bar for that EDM build-up effect. You can do all this by hand obviously, and could argue you are better off learning to do it yourself in the first place, but again, this is a controller to learn on and it allows you to do that very well.

In terms of software, the SB3 comes bundled with Serato DJ Lite – the controller can be remapped for other software but at its core, it’s Team Serato. This doesn’t get you all the benefits of what you can do on the machine, you will need to upgrade to Serato DJ Pro for an extra expense if you want to get into more advanced filters and looping and the like, but there is a monthly plan for that (like there is for everything these days) if you find you have outgrown the free software that comes with it.

By the way, the model you see here with the gold finish is a limited edition with a little extra stand-out bling.

Our first look at a controller is the first that doesn’t come from industry DJ leaders Pioneer but arrives from instrument giant Roland. First things first, Pioneer has the advantage of being the main find in any club you might end up playing in. You are unlikely to turn up and find any Roland DJ equipment, well anywhere, but if you have slightly more eclectic ideas and are interested with the ancient are of music production as well, then Roland has gone all out to provide a feature that you won’t find on any other DJ controller in the shape of a built-drum machine packed full of its iconic 808 and 909 sounds.

Sounds great, and it truly is, but I first saw this on the more expensive 505 and 707 iterations of Roland’s DJ line, and on the bigger models it is much more accessible, and therefore usable than it is on the 202 unfortunately where it is buried under a series of Shift clicks on buttons and simply not as intuitive, especially if you have programmed drum machines before.

This is a shame as it is a great feature that won’t get used anywhere near as much as it should be, but corners were always going to be cut due to price and size restraints here. You can still use it and use it well but the chance you will risk using it live in a party situation are reduced by the complexity added by the menus and the need for a photographic memory of the manual.

The DJ uses Serato so again the upgrade path to Serato DJ Pro is there if you outgrow the more limited features of DJ Lite. You also get a three-month subscription to digital DJ pool BPM Supreme which should get you on your way if you are lacking in music to play when you first start out you can sign up and download a nice starter to your library. Nice touch from Roland.

Other than that, worth mentioning are the jog wheels which are up there with the standard set by Pioneer so another plus point. If you aren’t bothered about the slightly non-standard club layout and have even a passing interest in creating your own beats alongside your regular set then the DJ-202 becomes a really interesting proposition. It’s just that you might be worth saving up a bit longer to get the 505 instead where the controls are separated out and are much easier to use.

Oh, one other thing of note is that the 202 has a MIDI port as well-meaning you can plug in an actual hardware synth and sync it all up via Serato and that could be very cool indeed if that’s your particular bag of tricks.

When I initially made the transition from my trusty Technics 1210s to digital DJing it was an early version of the Kontrol s2 that I picked as my weapon of choice, and fun fact, I only recently sold it on to a good home. We are on Mk 3 of the hardware now and it’s fair to say it’s come a long way with better buttons and jog wheels than I ever had at my disposal back in the day.

So with that in mind, I learned all my digital DJing skills with Traktor rather than Serato like I use now, and I still myself missing certain features of Traktor, even though it perhaps isn’t as flamboyant as Serato or even Rekordbox. The lack of partnership with DJ streaming services such as Beatport Link is constantly bemoaned by users and it seems strange that Native Instruments DJ team has chosen to leave this area alone.

The Kontrol S2 is a great controller though, but maybe any of the three above are better options unless you can find it cheap. Development and ideas seem to be a little be fresher and while you can still have a great party with the S2, yu may always be feeling you may have compromised a little bit too much in the end.