The RX range from Pioneer has been one of the most popular lines of controllers on the market, and the Pioneer RX3 provides a perfect transition point to their pro-level gear. Though there are many things that the Pioneer RX3 does right, with very few things that it does wrong, it fulfills its title as an all-in-one system. Overall, for home DJing, the Pioneer RX3 is too expensive, but for club DJing, it does what it needs to. Plus, considering its upgrades and additional features, it seems to be starting to take over the club-standard setting.
Price - Value for Money - The RX range from Pioneer has been one of the most popular lines of controllers on the market, and the RX3 provides a perfect transition point to their pro-level gear. Though there are many things that the RX3 does right, with very few things that it does wrong, it fulfills its title as an all-in-one system. Overall, for home DJing, the RX3 is too expensive, but for club DJing, it does what it needs to. Plus, considering its upgrades and additional features, it seems to be starting to take over the club-standard setting.
Improvement - The upgrades of the RX3 from its predecessors include its updated 10.1" screen and UX that are worth the money, Flac, WAV, and AIFF capability, snappier performance, extra FX functions, better library function, new favorite playlist feature, gate cue, 6 color FX, 14 beat FX, a new sandblasted aluminum finish, faster processor, new audio design, new deck customization, and you can choose between playing Rekordbox-analyzed tracks from USB drives or by connecting a laptop.
Comparison vs RX3 - The RX3 only feels like an RX2 with a bigger screen and colored waves. It's a worthy replacement for the RX2, and you will not want to go back once you play with the screen and try its features.
General - In general, the RX3 now features a 10.1" touchscreen, a new CDJ 3000 style interface, new jog wheels with built-in displays, new performance pads with gate cue and release effects, and the updated mixer section with more beat effects and 2 new sound color effects. Overall, it's a 2-channel all-in-one device that works standalone with USB sticks or drives compatible with both Serato DJ Pro and Rekordbox software. It has a great screen and many new features as well.
Build - Build-wise, the knobs, pads, faders, and buttons are high quality. However, the jog wheels are small, while the screen is oversized. Also, the construction is solid plastic with numerous metal parts. Compared to RX2, they have a similar width and height but different depths.
Button - Tempo Select - The Tempo select button gives flexibility in adjusting the increments, which is great for handling a mix between large BPM jumps.
Connectivity - The connectivity options include 2 Line (RCA), 2 Phono (RCA), 2 Mic (XLR, ¼ inch TRS jack), 1 3.5 mm stereo mini jack (unbalanced input), 1 AUX (RCA), 1 Master (XLR), 1 Master (RCA), 1 Booth (1/4 inch TRS jack), Kensington lock, Earth pole, and 2 USB sockets. Specifically, the USB ports are mainly used for playing music via USB sticks. However, there's no ethernet port, so you'll have to connect it to a laptop to run Rekordbox DJ for online streaming, which defeats the purpose of being standalone.
Design - Appearance-wise it is a mean-looking bit of kit. It imitates the look of pro-level gear, bringing instant professionalism. On the other hand, the brushed metal decks contrast perfectly with the jet black mixer, with a different texture finish on each mixer section. Plus, the dials and buttons all feel sturdy.
Dimensions - It's 728.1mm wide, 118.4mm tall, 469.5mm deep, and 9.3kg (20.5 lbs) in weight. Size-wise, it's close to its predecessors, and its light weight makes it easy to transport.
Layout - Everything's placed exactly where you would expect it to be; the looping controls and memory cue controls are at the top, and there's a slip, quantizer, and a jog adjust for making the jog wheel tighter and looser. There's also a track search, pitch faders, master tempo, and 4x2 pads placed on the bottom under the jog wheel, which isn't similar to the pro gears but has been the usual position for this type of unit.
3 Band Waveform - It has a 3 Band Waveform feature that shows the differing volumes of the various frequencies with specific colors. It also lets you preview and browse the tracks by clicking the waveform itself. The only downside is that you'll need to have Rekordbox fully set up to properly analyze the frequencies and have this feature work, while the good news is that you're likely able to get ahold of the full Rekordbox software when you buy the RX3.
Beat FX Bank - The Beat FX Bank allows you to select 4 favorite Beat FX and have them show on the touchscreen, and on the other side of the mixer, there's an increased amount of beat FX, a total of 14 beat FX options.
Beat Loop - The Beat Loop options offer an addition of thirds like 3, 6, and 9, while the Beat Loop 2 gives access to more obtuse options like 3 beat loops.
Countdown Timer - The countdown timer is great for timing sets without constantly checking the clock or your phone, which also helps Maintain your focus.
Crossfaders - The crossfaders are robust, smooth, and reliable, though they're not Magvel faders. Additionally, the crossfader curve selection is conveniently accessible.
Features - The features of the RX3 include the Touch Preview, 3 Band Waveform, Beat FX Bank, and the Phrase Display, which ultimately culminates in a DJ system that does it all.
Functions - The notable functions include the Gate Cue, a triplet-friendly variant on Beat Loop, and the brand-new Release FX, which gives options for stopping a track to quick-mix into something else like Echo Out, backspins, and vinyl stops.
Hardware Unlock - The hardware unlock grants full access to Rekordbox. This software continues to improve and is the go-to platform for professionals playing at bars, clubs, and festivals with Pioneer gears.
Hot Cue - Access is provided for the standard hot cue assignments, while the second mode opens up via the gate cue, and it allows finger drumming using the preset cues, which is great for creative mixing. Basically, instead of just playing the song from the hot cue, it will only play the track while you have the pad held down, and as soon as you let go, it'll jump back to the beginning.
Jog Wheels - It has 5.5 Inch jog wheels that are touch capacitive with an onboard display, low latency, a jog adjust, and a slip/vinyl/reverse function. Build-wise, they are the same size as their predecessors, are not mechanical, and need to be pressed down. Performance-wise, they are smooth.
Mixer - The mixer section has a new layout with a dark black contrast against a brushed aluminum feature, and it provides access to 2 channels with a 3-band EQ and trims; it offers a VU meter that's more refined and clearer, 14 Beat FX and 6 Sound Color FX options, a booth monitor volume, a cue/master and level controls for the headphones, a crossfader curve, and access to AUX controls directly on the mixer section.
Performance Pad - The illuminated performance pads have a status strip on the touchscreen, which shows what a pad will do. Build-wise, they're more tactile and higher, which feels better than the RX2s. There's a total of 8 modes with a hot cue, gate cue, beat jumps, beat loops, slip loop, and release effects. The first pad mode can go from a quarter beat up to 32 beats, and when pressed again, it will end up with triplets and odd signatures, which allows you to make auto loops with a free beat loop or a triplet. It's handy for transitioning between house music and drama base things with a division perfectly on beat with the quantize turned on.
Phrase Display - The phrase display shows track structure sections via the actual sound waveforms. By viewing this, an artist or DJ can more accurately focus on marking specific sections, like the chorus, intro, or bridge of a track.
Repeat Mode - The repeat mode is used when a DJ has to leave the booth; thus, the unit will play the set-up looping repeat, which is good during events to keep the party going while the DJ is unavailable.
Screen - The screen is bigger with a 1280x800 resolution and increased frame rate, which allows quick navigation and more accurate mixing. Specifically, it features a color jog display that shows the important track information or personal artwork on the LCD screen in the center of each jog wheel, an integrated X-Pad that allows DJs to quickly add in different sound effects from their library with only a finger swipe, a Pad Status Display that allows DJs to go into advanced mode while viewing their Performance Pad, which lets them see and know what to expect ahead of hitting a pad, and the Playlist Bank feature, that gives access to the 4 selected favorite playlists at a single touch. Display-wise, the screen is divided into sections; at the top is the waveform, and at the bottom is the remaining or elapsed time. However, the screen doesn't offer a pinch of swipe feature.
Shortcut - The shortcuts menu gives easy access to up fader curves, deck time/elapsed, autocue, deck lock, waveform colors, mono split for headphones, and playlists.
Slip Loop - The slip loop is a traditional roll available via the 3rd mode button along with the release FX, while the first pad mode has the regular 4x4 time signatures lit up in blue, but there are also triplets and odd time signatures lit up in white.
Performance - Crossfader - The crossfader feels great and is light, smooth, and slightly damped at each end, while the up faders have the authentic Pioneer feel with the right amount of resistance.
Performance - Jog Wheels - The jog wheels have a new onboard display that doesn't show waveform and BPM, unlike with the DDJ 1000, but it does show the album artwork and other information. Performance-wise, it has low latency and is very responsive with a customizable resistance.
HOME DJ STUDIO - Patryk Biernacki
04/04/2022
Performance - Jog WheelsLow LatencyCustomizable Resistance
Performance - Screen - The screen uses a resistive touchscreen technology that requires the pressure from your finger on the screen to register where you're touching. It allows you to scroll through the tracks, but the experience is not similar to an iDevice.
Specifications - The RX3 is a standalone DJ system launched on November 2021; Mains power it, and its dimensions are 73 x 47 x 12cm with a weight of 9.3kg.
Rekordbox - The Rekordbox reads the database through a reverse-engineered conversion layer, takes the baseline key, BPM, and hot cues and puts it into their database, takes your playlists and puts them into a flat structure, goes through its analysis on the player so the grid might match up or not depending on how the player would analyze the track. If anyone comes through and has Rekordbox sticks that were analyzed on a mac and used HFS+, it won't work. The Rekordbox conversion gives a worse experience than native software for creating a database.
Denon Prime 2 - The Denon Prime 2 is one of the most obvious alternatives to the RX3. It’s a robust 2-channel controller with a touchscreen, priced affordably, is WiFi capable, although the Engine Prime software is not the best.
Numark Mixstream Pro - Mixstream Pro is a good option considering the higgh price of RX3. It has a 7-inch HD screen that is responsive and great to use, a paddle FX control for quick and simple FX executions, and built-in speakers which are poor and a bit gimmicky.
Pioneer XDJ XZ - The XDJ XZ is a good option for sticking with the Pioneer ecosystem. It’s a 4-channel mixer with a comprehensive FX section, large mechanical jog wheels with an onboard display, but has a small and dated screen compared to the RX3.
RX3 vs Denon Prime 4 - The price of RX3 keeps increasing and is at $2,000, which makes other users consider other units, including the 4-channel Denon Prime 4, which is $200 cheaper by MSRP. Although the RX3 is a great unit because of its looks and screen, the Prime 4 is a better option in terms of price and features, as it can also use Rekordbox software.
RX3 vs Denon - The RX3 has an improved sound quality, added 900NX2 effects, new pad functions, custom jog tension, support FLAC, and has a 10-inch screen while Denon has a great sound quality though seem average beside Pioneer. Also, the latters FX section is uncomfortable as compared to a Pioneer device, and making it work in a Pioneer world is too hard though it can read Pioneer USB's, but every track will need to be analyzed on player and the Rekordbox library import is a one time thing. However, at some point Denon has much more features than Pioneer and is way cheaper. Overall, the Denon are still a big leap from the techs. Additionally, while Denon released 2.0 and 2.1 with major improvements and new features, for free, the Pioneer RX3 still lacks basics like an SD-slot, dedicated beatjump buttons, key-shift, 0.01% pitch, power and ram buffer, and Streaming, DMX or Onboard-Analysis.
RX3 vs RX2 - The RX3 is far above the RX2 in terms of features and capabilities, and it’s the closest you can get to a CDJ-3000 meaning it’s a great option to get used to if you plan to use a CDJ-3000 in a club.
RX3 vs XDJ 700 - The RX3 has deck sections that fit a club standard layout, but the challenge when changing to a club gear is the absence of stacked waveforms. Therefore, for the same price as small jogs, the XDJ 700s is a better option with a club-standard set-up.
RX3 vs XZ - The XZ is easier to use however it‘s huge and takes up a lot of space. On the other hand, the upgrades on the RX3 are all great additions including a larger screen, better FX, and the LCD screen on the jog wheels). Overall, RX3 is more practical than XZ in terms of mobility and utilization.
Value - It's a good upgrade option if you only have the original RX. Considering the functionality and application ability for making good sets, it's a good price, as it will pay for itself in the long run. Also, it's still cheaper than a CDJ 3000.
Flaw - Jog Wheels - The jog wheels are small and, for the most part, not as comfortable using larger platters. Plus, they're not mechanical jog wheels.
Lacks - The RX3 lacks an encoder for managing loops, which is present in Denon and Native instruments, no key sync, which allows key matching for a more harmonic transition, no Pro-Link/Ethernet, and no key shift.
Lacking - It doesn't quite fulfill the standards for a standalone unit as it doesn't have wifi; also, the screen looks outdated and lacks connectivity options.
Limitation - This deck cannot analyze songs from a USB stick yet, so the Rekordbox must analyze the tracks first, and it doesn't have a streaming capability.
Popularity - The Pioneer XDJ-RX3 has become an instant favorite as an all-in-solution, and the early reviews highlighted the expansive feature set and its solid update from its predecessor.
Comments