DJM-V10: Pioneer DJ’s new 6-channel mixer looks like it was designed by a techno DJ

[Cupe]

A new DJM-V10 mixer from Pioneer DJ has 6 channels, master isolators, four band EQ, per-channel compression knobs and sends for each channel. You could be forgiven for thinking that we’re listing features on an Allen & Heath DJ mixer.

The new unit is expected to be present today at NAMM 2020 in Anaheim, so we’ll be taking a first look at it soon. Keep reading for all the details on Pioneer DJ’s new mixer and we’ll take a closer look at the feature set and layout.

 

• Gear: DJM-V10
• Manufacturer: Pioneer DJ
• Price: $3,199
• Availability: If you’re interested, we have preorders in the DJTT store here.
• Release Date: Early February, 2020

Let’s start with the obvious: this mixer almost feels like someone at Pioneer DJ looked at Richie Hawtin’s Model 1 mixer design and said “we can do that!” There’s no advanced sculpting EQ, but a lot of the other features of the mixer feel incredibly inspired by Xone mixers.

the DJM-V10, click to zoom

Here’s what you need to know about the features on the DJM-V10:

It supports 6 channels of audio

This is the first DJ mixer from Pioneer to have six channel since the rack mount 19-inch DJM-1000. Interestingly, that mixer also had a master isolator like this one.

Just because you can play six channels doesn’t mean that you’ll start to see DJ booths with six CDJs or even four CDJs and two DJS-1000 sampler/sequencers. Pioneer DJ Pro Link limits the number of connected devices to 4, which means that the extra two channels are best used for devices that don’t rely on being linked.

One other design note that Pioneer DJ points out in their release: the channels on the top of the unit line up with the input jacks on the rear of the unit. This means less fiddling around behind the mixer figuring out where to plug in each input.

There are 4-band EQs

Four band EQs, single-pole filters, master isolators – wow.

Four-band EQs are historically so very Allen & Heath, and as such the DJM-V10 is challenging that notion. “The frequencies, curves, and boost and cut amounts on each band have all been specially designed to give you total flexibility. Completely isolate the high and/or low and tweak the two mid ranges – which have their own custom curves – to fine-tune your mix.”

Every channel has a filter, they’re not dual-pole

The classic Pioneer DJ dual-pole filter series is gone on this mixer, replaced by a filter style that’s similar to the DJM-2000NXS. Each channel has a dedicated filter knob, and the filters have been beefed up. Here’s how Pioneer DJ explains it:

“Drastically change the sound of a track or make tiny adjustments using the newly developed filter with resonance control. Switch on high or low pass by pressing either button, then turn the knob from all the way to the left (no filter applied) to the furthest position on the right (maximum filter applied). Because the high and low pass are separated, the entire range of the knob is dedicated to the option you choose, giving you twice the resolution to play with compared to the filter on the DJM-900NXS2.”

The mixer has a Master Isolator

Big, chunky knobs for isolators are incredibly fun to control the master output with. “[the 3-band isolator] features new boost/cut curves and adjustments to the crossover frequencies and other parameters.”

Per-Channel Compressors!

Compression is a powerful tool if used in the studio, but it’s rarely used in the DJ booth. In reality, many DJM mixers have compression on them, hidden inside the Color FX, but that means sacrificing filter control.

On the DJM-V10, there’s a compressor knob on every single channel. This can be especially useful if you’re playing older/unmastered songs that might pale in comparison to new music.

“Turn the compressor knob on the relevant channel and the mixer will “beef up” the audio in real time. The quieter the track, the more pressure is added, boosting the sound of “weaker” tracks and having a minimal effect on mastered music.”

Send/Return Built-In + External FX

A dedicated send/return FX unit that was added to the DJM-900NXS2 was welcome, but the send/return section on the DJM-V10 goes quite a bit further. There are four built-in send/return FX: Short Delay, Long Delay, Dub Echo, and Reverb – and then you can connect other units to the TRS jacks for more options.

For those built-in FX, there’s a whole slew of parameter controls:

• Size/Feedback: changes the room size when using a reverb, and the feedback amount when using delays and echoes.
• Time: adjusts the decay time of the reverb and the delay time for delays and echoes.
• Tone: changes the hue of the effected sound, making it deep and heavy or light and crisp.
• Master Mix Level: acts as the overall volume of the effected sound when Master Mix is turned on

Finally, route the resulting audio from the Send/Return FX unit to either the master or out to one of the channels on the mixer. Sending it to a channel means you can then apply more EQ and filters to the wet mix.

Two DJs can cue independently

Here’s another feature that’s straight off of the Model 1 mixer: two sets of headphone cue outputs. If you’re playing B2B, you can listen to one channel, and your partner can be listening to anything else – no more passing your headphones back and forth here.

Worth noting, the Headphones A ports are on the top of the mixer, while the Headphones B ports are on the face of it. A bit of a strange choice as usually there’s no ports on the front face of Pioneer DJ mixers.

Fix your monitors with Booth EQ

Does your booth sound like crap? Is there no way to adjust the monitors to make them sound better? No problem with the DJM-V10, because it has two knobs for HI/LOW EQing of the booth output.

A New Beat Effect, Shimmer

All the Beat FX are familiar on the DJM-V10 except for a new one, Shimmer, which is shown in all the promo photos. It seems to create overtone – we’ll update this once we’ve actually heard it or seen a video of it in use.

Sound Quality

“Studio-quality 64-bit mixing and dithering processing, 32-bit high-quality A/D and D/A converters, a low-jitter clock circuit, and many other components all work to produce a full low-end, vibrant mids, and precise highs.”

The DJM-900NXS2 was huge step up in sound quality versus the original NXS, but Pioneer DJ seems to have tripled down on this mixer. They’ve written a lot about the changes here, and while obviously some of it requires higher end components, we are hoping that they use some of what they’ve developed here in other future products too.

What The DJM-V10 Works With

There’s built in support for a few different devices, apps, and services at launch.

• Rekordbox, Traktor Pro 3, Serato DJ Pro (after launch)
• RMX-1000 iPad app (can be used with the Multi I/O USB port)
• DJM-REC app on iOS to upload or stream sets
• Pro DJ Link ShowKontrol can send info to lighting desks:

“This enables DJs, technical producers, LJs, and VJs to use all the important information from the DJM-V10, such as actual fader and knob positions, to effectively align sound and visuals and create shows that blow audiences away. On top of this, some of the DJM-V10 settings can be remotely configured via ShowKontrol software.”