golem
02-24-2012, 04:23 PM
I am a bit surprised how little discussion there has been about this issue.
I realised a few months ago (by first trying and then googling) that all Pioneer new CDJ models (CDJ-2000, CDJ-900, CDJ-850 and CDJ-350) do not support NTFS or exFAT, the only practical file formats for Windows user. Of course if you are a Mac user there is no problem as all of them support HFS+ file format which does not have an upper limit (or it is unlikely for you to reach it in the near future). The other format that the CDJs support is FAT32. In windows you cannot create larger partitions than 32GB. Or actually you can do it with a 3rd party tool (e.g. HP format or something) that you have to download separately, but I realized by trying that Windows (at least Windows 7) does not handle larger FAT32 partitions than 32GB correctly. I tried to copy something the large FAT32 partition I created but Win7 didn't allow me to do it because it claims that the partition is full (although it is empty or almost empty). I did some googling and found out that Win7 has problems with FAT32 that are larger than 32GB which is the reason that the OS does not allow you to create them (but offers the option of NTFS or exFAT).
If you are a Mac user it really doesn't matter because Macs format (HFS+) works with the CDJs. But in a club setting it is a totally different story and it is there where most of the CDJ-2000s will be sold. A club owner would want the majority of the artists to be able to use available equipment to full potential. I am a promoter, in a few years there has been about 100-200 different artists visiting our events, many of them with laptops (both DJ and live sets) and most of them are Windows PCs, maybe 20-33% of the laptops are Macs. So in my view Pioneer doesn't seem to care about very large portion of DJs out there. I read from Pioneer forum that the reason for dropping NTFS/exFAT support is that "Microsoft is a money hungry company" (asking too big license fees from the technologies).
How come there can then be NTFS support in Numark NDX-400? It costs 233eur (CDJ-2000 costs 1766eur), and actually seems to be very capable device for its price. Of course quality of components is not as good as in Pioneer but I would say that it might work in a bar/lounge, maybe even a smaller 2nd stage. I tried it for a few hours with a pretty short duration crossfades and that is my opinion.
http://www.thomann.de/fi/numark_ndx_400.htm
A lot of people ask me opinions about DJ equipment and for a club owner I really cannot recommend to invest to a player that does not support adequately all used platforms. I read a rumor that new CDJs are on their way, does anybody happen to know if they are going to correct this issue?
I must say I am really happy to see that Traktor S4 has been now very long time (maybe over a year already) in the most sold products in Thomann. Pioneer seems to be just too slow bringing new technologies, doing it wrong (at least this time) and milking every euro from customers (or is it just me, but I have the feeling that in last 10 years the prices of Pioneer DJ products has gone up in a much faster rate than the general inflation rate). I mean, think about DJM-900nexus. Pioneer MUST have known when doing DJM-900 that to do really a useful audio interface based mixer you have to have two audio interfaces and two USB slots there so that when one DJ plays, another DJ can connect his laptop to the mixer and prepare his set so that there will be no setup pause between the sets. But do you know why they didn't do that?
Because soon they will do it, for sure, and gain even more money as DJM-900 buyers have to also upgrade. For a monopoly (Pioneer is not the only one, Microsoft is another sad example) for purely maximizing profits you have to bring new features to the products as slowly as possible. I am sure that the DJ world would innovate much faster if there was more serious players.
I realised a few months ago (by first trying and then googling) that all Pioneer new CDJ models (CDJ-2000, CDJ-900, CDJ-850 and CDJ-350) do not support NTFS or exFAT, the only practical file formats for Windows user. Of course if you are a Mac user there is no problem as all of them support HFS+ file format which does not have an upper limit (or it is unlikely for you to reach it in the near future). The other format that the CDJs support is FAT32. In windows you cannot create larger partitions than 32GB. Or actually you can do it with a 3rd party tool (e.g. HP format or something) that you have to download separately, but I realized by trying that Windows (at least Windows 7) does not handle larger FAT32 partitions than 32GB correctly. I tried to copy something the large FAT32 partition I created but Win7 didn't allow me to do it because it claims that the partition is full (although it is empty or almost empty). I did some googling and found out that Win7 has problems with FAT32 that are larger than 32GB which is the reason that the OS does not allow you to create them (but offers the option of NTFS or exFAT).
If you are a Mac user it really doesn't matter because Macs format (HFS+) works with the CDJs. But in a club setting it is a totally different story and it is there where most of the CDJ-2000s will be sold. A club owner would want the majority of the artists to be able to use available equipment to full potential. I am a promoter, in a few years there has been about 100-200 different artists visiting our events, many of them with laptops (both DJ and live sets) and most of them are Windows PCs, maybe 20-33% of the laptops are Macs. So in my view Pioneer doesn't seem to care about very large portion of DJs out there. I read from Pioneer forum that the reason for dropping NTFS/exFAT support is that "Microsoft is a money hungry company" (asking too big license fees from the technologies).
How come there can then be NTFS support in Numark NDX-400? It costs 233eur (CDJ-2000 costs 1766eur), and actually seems to be very capable device for its price. Of course quality of components is not as good as in Pioneer but I would say that it might work in a bar/lounge, maybe even a smaller 2nd stage. I tried it for a few hours with a pretty short duration crossfades and that is my opinion.
http://www.thomann.de/fi/numark_ndx_400.htm
A lot of people ask me opinions about DJ equipment and for a club owner I really cannot recommend to invest to a player that does not support adequately all used platforms. I read a rumor that new CDJs are on their way, does anybody happen to know if they are going to correct this issue?
I must say I am really happy to see that Traktor S4 has been now very long time (maybe over a year already) in the most sold products in Thomann. Pioneer seems to be just too slow bringing new technologies, doing it wrong (at least this time) and milking every euro from customers (or is it just me, but I have the feeling that in last 10 years the prices of Pioneer DJ products has gone up in a much faster rate than the general inflation rate). I mean, think about DJM-900nexus. Pioneer MUST have known when doing DJM-900 that to do really a useful audio interface based mixer you have to have two audio interfaces and two USB slots there so that when one DJ plays, another DJ can connect his laptop to the mixer and prepare his set so that there will be no setup pause between the sets. But do you know why they didn't do that?
Because soon they will do it, for sure, and gain even more money as DJM-900 buyers have to also upgrade. For a monopoly (Pioneer is not the only one, Microsoft is another sad example) for purely maximizing profits you have to bring new features to the products as slowly as possible. I am sure that the DJ world would innovate much faster if there was more serious players.