Behind the Rack

Ep.2 - Pioneer DJ & AlphaTheta: The Story and the Future of DJing

• Vincent • Season 1 • Episode 2

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We celebrate the evolution of Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta and explore how the CDJ-3000X is redefining the booth with streaming, caching, and seamless login features. Same trusted design — now smarter, faster, and built for the future of performance.

SPEAKER_03:

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SFM.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to Behind the Rack, your casual AV industry hangout with hosts Hugo Schauet, Franco Caruso, and myself Vincent Semenum. We dive into products, trends, and the occasional rant. All to share, learn, and spark new ideas across promotable, life sound, broadcast, and system AV. So grab your headphones, pull up a chair, and join us for some honest, sometimes nerdy, always fun conversations. All happening behind the round.

SPEAKER_03:

Today we have a very nice piece of gear we want to focus on. I'm excited about this one. I'm also very excited about this one. But what do you want to do first? Do you want to talk a little bit about the company behind that product?

SPEAKER_04:

Absolutely. Let's talk a little bit about some history because history is always important when we're talking about product and evolution. Um so what you see in front of you here is the Alpha Theta CDJ 3000X. Okay, so this is the uh evolutionary product to the CDJ 3000 by Pioneer DJ. And you'll notice I'm being very careful with the brands and the words that I'm using, because in today's day and age, we have Pioneer DJ and we have Alpha Theta. And before we start getting into what the internet's saying, what other people think about the brands and what's going on, I think it's important that we set the facts straight. And hopefully we use this podcast to look clear up some of these facts that are popping out of nowhere. Um, so as everyone knows, Pioneer DJ is probably the most reputable and recognized, iconic DJ brand in the industry. And we're lucky to be the exclusive distributor here at SFM for Canada of Pioneer DJ equipment. Um so Pioneer DJ was born out of the Pioneer Corporation. Okay. And what happened was uh in 1994, the subsidiary company, Pioneer DJ, came out with the first flat top CD player, which really revolutionized the industry. It was known as the uh CDJ 500. So that was 1994. Fast forward quite a bit in uh 2014 Pioneer DJ separates from Pioneer Corporation.

SPEAKER_02:

Interesting.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay, and it becomes its own legal entity, it was purchased, and Pioneer DJ is now operating entirely apart from Pioneer Corp. Now where things get a little bit uh uh confusing is people use all the brand names in the wrong situations. So they'll call this the Pioneer CDJ 3000X. Or they'll call the CDJ 3000, which is the unit before this one, the Pioneer CDJ 3000. When in fact it's the Pioneer DJ CDJ 3000. Right? So people are using the names and they don't understand the history. So going back to 2014, like I said, Pioneer DJ really operates as Pioneer DJ Corporation and is not part of Pioneer Corporation, which we know with the home electronics and all that stuff. In 2020, the Pioneer DJ uh the parent company was then rebranded to Alpha Theta Corporation. Okay, so the Pioneer DJ brand is still alive, the products still live as the Pioneer DJ product, but the parent company name changed to Alpha Theta Corporation. So we're following so far?

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_04:

Alright. In 2024, the Alpha Theta Corporation, which I just said is the parent company of Pioneer DJ, then introduces the Alpha Theta brand. So just to illustrate this, I'm Italian, I use my hands a lot. You've got Alpha Theta Corporation as the parent company. You have Pioneer DJ as a brand, and now in 2024, they introduced Alpha Theta as a brand. Okay? So now you have both brands living together in peace, and they're both coming out with products. Very, very important. Pioneer DJ, Alpha Theta, same parent company, same engineering, same manufacturing, same marketing department. They are the exact same company. It's just that now we have two different brands. No, one brand is not more exclusive than the other, or one is more consumer than the other. They're literally two brands that are coexisting. And before some of the comments explode and what's gonna happen with Pioneer DJ and all that, as of right now, both brands are coexisting. What's gonna happen in the future? Unfortunately, I'm not the manufacturer. I don't have those answers just yet, but both brands are living. And what we have in front of us is the Alpha Theta CDJ 3000X. And it's a super exciting product because there's a ton of innovation that's gone into this product. Um, what we're seeing before our eyes right here and right now is really the evolution of technology. So the biggest change between this and the CDJ 3000 is that now you have access directly to all your streaming services. So that's a thing now. That is a thing. So we were talking the first episode, you were a DJ, I was a DJ, I learned on vinyl, yeah, then CDs, then I was talking about my digital library, right? Yeah. So we've gone through all these phases, all these mechanism, mechanisms of playing our music or media types, I should say. And now we're at the point where you don't even need the USB stick anymore. You can access not only your files that are part of your cloud storage, so your own record box cloud storage through Dropbox or Google Drive, but you can actually access streaming services such as SoundCloud and Beatport directly from the unit.

SPEAKER_02:

That's interesting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

So that's probably the biggest innovation that we're seeing with this unit. There's a ton of other features, but this expands so many other opportunities because now as a DJ, you know, before let's talk, let's go back to using a USB stick. There was still uh uh a necessity, or uh as a DJ, you still had to carve out time to sit in front of your computer, log in your USB, your record box, in this case where we're using CDJs, uh, and sort your library, make your playlists, do that all beforehand. So there was that preparation that had to be done at your workstation before the gig. Because now we're accessing files on the cloud, again, whether it's your own personal collection through Google Drive or Dropbox, or the streaming services, you can literally manage your music absolutely anywhere as long as you have internet connectivity. Wow. So you can be on the record box app preparing your tracks, you could be on uh public transport going somewhere, making edits to your playlist, and then next thing you know, if the CDJ is connected to the internet, those changes are happening live.

SPEAKER_02:

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_03:

Even though, or like international DJs now nowadays you have Wi-Fi on plane so they can press set for gig on the plane going to the gig.

SPEAKER_04:

And you know, before as a DJ, and as we all know, as a DJ, you know, you'd follow the charts, you'd see, okay, what's the latest track? What's the best track? What's your top 10? And you want to include those in your set, obviously. Well, now with the connectivity to the internet, you can have access to all those charts through those streaming services at your fingertips. And I think one of the coolest innovations that they've done with this unit to access the streaming services, we we all live in the in the digital era now. You've got Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crave, whatever it may be. Well, the number one complaint is man, what's my password? Right? Which password did I use for this? Which password did I use for that? And the first thing when people saw streaming CDJ3000X was, oh my God, I'm gonna have to sign into all these services every single time I go to a DJ booth. Yep, that that sucks. That that does suck, and it would suck if that was the situation, but it's not.

SPEAKER_03:

Exactly. Do you really have time to spend time renting password on on a touch screen?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. And now that's not the case.

SPEAKER_03:

You know, I I knew you I was leading to something.

SPEAKER_04:

I was leading to something. So what Alpha Theta has done is you'll notice right in front of the player where typically the C DJ. Can I touch it? Yeah, pick it up, please. You can actually point it out to the camera as well. Where typically the the C DJ or the CD uh would be inserted into the unit. Now there's no CD drive, obviously. You'll see a little rectangle. That's actually an NFC reader. Nice. So follow me. You show up to the DJ booth, you want to sign into your streaming services and your cloud storage. Instead of going into every single one, you can have three, four, five, whatever it may be. They're all connected to your record box account on your record box phone. So as long as you sign into them at least once beforehand and they're still logged into your phone, now you just show up to the DJ booth, you show up to the CDJ, tap your phone to the CDJ 3000X, and automatically all your streaming services are logged in and you have instant access to all your tracks.

unknown:

Wow.

SPEAKER_04:

So this is, you know, I don't want to downplay the whole evolution, you know, of the media types, but this is the next best thing, and this is what people are using. We are streaming nowadays. Um and again, with internet connectivity, it just opens up so many more options. So that's really the biggest, you know, the biggest difference between the CDJ 3000 by Pioneer DJ and the CDJ3000X by Alpha Theta. That's very cool.

SPEAKER_03:

Can I ask a few geek questions?

SPEAKER_04:

Because uh Yeah, let's do it. I might not have all the answers, but I will give you uh the best answer possible.

SPEAKER_03:

Um I mean, if you enter the if you use NFC to log into one of the CDJ3000X, if there's three others or two others hooked up to the same network, correct? Are you getting logged into all three machines?

SPEAKER_04:

So as long as they're all linked through pro DJ Link, you'll have access to all of them. Pro DJ Link, that's the word I was. Just like if you put in your USB into one and they're all on the same network, all your tracks are going to show up on all the C DJs.

SPEAKER_03:

And can you use the same switch, network switch to for your actually sorry, the pro DJ Link uh technology, can you also have internet on the same switch? So you can use that same wired connectivity to stream so top of syncing.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes, I I haven't tried it myself just yet. This is actually a prototype unit straight from Japan. Wow. Um but I believe so, yes. You can actually, there's a LAN port in the back of the unit. So by connecting uh your internet to that same switch, you should have access. Yeah. Um so it's it's really cool in the back of the unit, you've got your RCA, your digital out locking IC cable. I can show that. Yes, you've got your USB COVID. So you still have you know the most common types of connections. Uh USC. There is USB-C, so if you want to connect your record box or Serato Pro. Um USC. Yes. So that's one major difference as well, is they've changed from an SD card slot to a USB-C slot. So again, just modernizing with the media types. Uh, what I'm holding in my hand here is the Alpha Theta record box um one terabyte USB stick. So you'll notice on both, again, depending on your computer, depending on your preparation method, you have access to a traditional USB and your USB-C as well. Cool. Yeah. So we're we're uh I say we're. I like to think as myself as the uh Canadian arm is Alpha Theta and Pioneer DJ, but it's really important that we encompass as many DJs as possible.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

And we and we continue to evolve together as a group. Um, you know, something like changing the SD card slot. Some people have strong opinions about it. I personally don't. I mean, USB C is everywhere now. Yeah, it's more common than it's card slot.

SPEAKER_03:

And and you don't really see SD cards anymore in the market. Everything's transitioning to everything. Micro SD at the minimum.

SPEAKER_04:

At the minimum, yeah, exactly. Some other changes, uh, I mean, you've got a 10.1 inch screen. I mean, it's it's monstrous, it's amazing. So, because of the bigger screen now, uh you can actually see a lot more tracks at a single glance. Uh, the touch responsiveness is incredible. You can scroll. Remember, I was talking before, you had to really prepare your playlists on your USB. Before you couldn't edit the playlists on the CDJ player itself, now you can actually edit the playlist on the actual player.

SPEAKER_03:

3000 uh the predecessor you couldn't.

SPEAKER_04:

Correct.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay.

SPEAKER_04:

So now you can do that. Now there's even something called a global tag list. So we're talking about media types, right? So you've got your USB in there, you've tapped your NFC, you've got your cloud storage, you've got your streaming services as well. How do you combine all these things into a single playlist? So now as you're playing, you're playing your set, you can actually send different tracks from your different media types to a global tag list. So now the player is gonna remember exactly where everything is, and you're building a single list from the different sources.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, there's no is there a search feature?

SPEAKER_04:

There is a search feature. Okay, and you can even copy and paste now on this CDJ3000X on the previous one. You couldn't.

SPEAKER_03:

Nice. And I guess the I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, but all the cue points, everything's gonna follow no exactly the service you're using or the file you're playing.

SPEAKER_04:

That's correct. So as long as the the tracks are analyzed and you know they're still within your streaming service or your cloud storage, everything is uh in memory.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, so ones. Yeah. I I think it's a bit of a silly question, but I'm still thinking analog um streaming service. Yep. I'm wondering how I would feel if I'm at uh an event, a special event, and uh I'm using a streaming service, Wi-Fi goes down for a bit. Can you tell me like, do you know if it if if you're using a streaming service, does it buffer like the the track so that you don't lose out on it or how does that work?

SPEAKER_04:

I think he's trying to like set me up for a trap here, but I have the answer, and I'm very happy about this answer.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm just curious.

SPEAKER_04:

So on the new CDJ3000X uh with its new processor and memory, every single track that is loaded, uh, including your USB, you can load your track, the track could be playing, and it's cached into the memory. Nice. So you can pull out the USB mid-track and it'll finish the track, no problem, because it's storing it in the cache. Um, and you know, that comes from going back to back with other DJs. Unfortunately, the guy takes out his wrong USB or whatever may happen. So now you have that fail safe. Uh, versus in the past, it was just like an automatic loop that would happen. Now it's actually cached completely.

SPEAKER_02:

So you're not caching the playlist, you're caching the per track that's loaded. Per track, exactly. Loaded as soon as it's loaded in.

SPEAKER_04:

That's right. Okay, exactly. Um, you've got some other really cool features. Uh, we'll talk about queuing a little bit. So now through the headphones and and pro DJ link, you can actually cue the track just by touching the waveform. So you don't have to load the track. Your next track, you're searching your playlist, just by hovering your finger over the waveform, you can listen to the track. Wow. So if you forgot what it sounded like or you want to see where the if the beat would uh if the drop is gonna match your previous song, whatever maybe you don't have to load it, you can just do it straight from the playlist.

SPEAKER_03:

So basically it's gonna use the pro DJ link, not the audio out. And you're gonna be able to, let's say, if your mixer is pro DJ Link compatible, like the new DJM A9 or something like that, you would basically have two streams of audio, one's playing back from that player, yeah, and I can cue another track.

SPEAKER_04:

Exactly. Yeah. In terms of the technicalities, I'm not sure which method it's using, but you're capable of just touching the waveform and listening to it in your headphones and not having to load it on the track itself. Cool. Another thing is smart queue, um, which I find incredibly useful. So you'll notice right below the screen there's uh eight cue points. Yeah, usually the cue points can be coded different colors, right? Yes. You've got your A, B, C, D, um, yellow, red, green, let's say, right? For ABC. Traditionally, your cue point, you would have to set it by pressing the main cue button. Uh, and if you want to jump to another hot cue, you'd have to press that button on the screen and then press your cue button to get that same position. Now, what's really cool is if you enable smart queue in the settings, the little LED around the main cue button, it'll remember the last cue button you pressed while playing that track. So let's say A represented yellow. You press A, instead of always pressing that physical button under the screen to get to Q point A, it'll automatically map it to the main cue button. Nice. And the LED, which traditionally was always uh color, yeah, orange, now it'll actually go yellow to say, hey, I'm using Q point A right now. Nice. So that enables a lot more things in terms of your workflow process because you're not always hovering over the jog wheel over other buttons. Auto automatically now you're comfortable, you're using hot QA from your standard Q button position. So there's a lot of really cool things they're doing. They're doing gate queue as well, um, which enables you to use the hot cues almost like a sampler. So you're able to play the track just by pressing the button. So you can almost do like a melodic sequence just by pressing your hot cues now.

SPEAKER_03:

I've seen some YouTube video on that. Uh how do you call it that feature again? The cue? Uh gate queue. Gate queuing. Yeah. And I think that's the kind of feature. And you know, we're not a podcast where where we are going to hook up an equipment to have our listener looking at the features, but even with two YouTube videos, I didn't really get what was this feature. So I think you really got to touch it and try it.

SPEAKER_04:

You gotta, yeah, yeah, especially the those three main cue features need to be uh experimented with, and you really have to get your hands-on experience to understand the true potential of it.

SPEAKER_03:

So, can I take one home tonight? Or actually, you don't what would you do with one? I I wouldn't need two. Oh, you need to now you're asking for a lot.

SPEAKER_04:

I I know a guy, though. I know a guy we can maybe figure something out.

SPEAKER_03:

Um, why would you leave with all the things?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. A couple of other differences. Um, so they've re-engineered completely the playing cue buttons. So historically, and again, if some of my facts are a little off, I apologize. But uh, I believe they were tested up to a million or two million times each. Okay. These new cue buttons were tested an additional 500 times presses. You mean just 500 or 500,000? 500,000 times more than the original standard processing was. Yeah, sorry, 500,000 times more. So they've been completely re-engineered. Uh, the actual contact area, like to the physical button, has been improved. Um, so durability is just unbelievable. The top plate now is all aluminum, um, so it helps with you know heat dissipation, uh, heat from the sun, yeah, stuff like that. Do they still make white ones or as of right now? There's only the the black CDJ 3000 X. Um, the other thing, too, was the jog wheel. So uh the jog wheel you know comes obviously from the vinyl turntable, and you can adjust the feeling on the CDJs depending on which model.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh very interesting.

SPEAKER_04:

Traditionally, uh, you had a certain range. Some people wanted it a little tighter, some people wanted a little looser. So what happened was on the CDJ 3000X, let's say your spectrum was like this, they've actually wind it even more. So it goes a lot tighter than the CDJ 3000, uh, and a lot looser than the CDJ 3000 as well. So, again, depending on your style, your turntable is a whatever you're looking for, now you've got that range of uh of jog wheel feel on the CDJ 3000X, which is uh which is really important. USB uh HID mode supported, so it automatically unlocks Serato DJ Pro, uh record box as well. So there's no more scratch cards and serial numbers and all that. As soon as you plug it into the hardware um to your computer, basically the software will unlock with all those uh beneficial features as well.

SPEAKER_03:

Um any compatibility with uh tractor as an HID uh uh controller?

SPEAKER_04:

As of right now, I haven't tested it. I don't remember what the documentation states, to be honest with you, but the two main ones are Serato, DJ Pro, and Record Box, and those are obviously fully supported at the moment.

SPEAKER_03:

But that what's cool about that is all the features you were mentioning before, like streaming from services, um being able to play tracks from from uh your your cloud services, those were available through Record Box if you were using the CDJ as a controller for record box. Correct. Now basically you don't need, I mean you don't even need your computer anymore. That's it. There's gonna be a laptop somewhere in the DJ boot, anyways. Yeah, but you can use those as standalone players, literally, and stream from just like your computer.

SPEAKER_04:

And just to be clear, it's not just through the LAN port, there's Wi-Fi built in as well.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_04:

So there's two methods of obviously connecting to the internet, which will allow you to use all these options as well.

SPEAKER_03:

Between us guys, I mean, I think you you should not use Wi-Fi professionally.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, in a club, let's please use you know hardwired, hardwired. Yeah, you know, I think we all know in the rack, hardwire is the best, right? So let's uh let's stick to hardwired, please. But I've I've been stress testing it uh using Wi-Fi, haven't had any issues whatsoever. I'll be honest, like I'm an old school DJ, you know, like I said, it started off with vinyl and CDs, and I I couldn't believe it. Like I was this is the first time in a really long time where I was playing with something and I was like, wow, this is different. This is new. Like back in my days, like we were saying in the first episode, you know, it's like I can't believe we're at the point now where we're streaming, and it's so exciting to be part of this change and this this evolution from the CDJ 3000 to the CDJ 3000 X. And uh really proud with what the company's done. And uh, I'm super excited to to start seeing it out in the field and on writers and uh and stuff like that and at major festivals. And uh I I think it'll be I think it'll be extremely successful, 100%.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm all excited about the the the the player and uh I'm definitely gonna ask you for to try them, yes, for sure.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, absolutely. That's not a problem. The more people that get excited about it, the better it is, and that's what makes our jobs so cool. Yeah, is that we get to come to work and play with these units.

SPEAKER_03:

Like we were saying in the first episode. I mean, the the the joy of being able to play with the new gear is always always a pleasure.

SPEAKER_04:

Always, absolutely. So that's that's the story about Alpha Theta and and Pioneer DJ. And um I guess you know, we'll see we'll see what happens in terms of future products and where uh where both brands coexist. But as of right now, it's it's an exciting journey, and I'm so excited, like I said, to see how this technology is going to be adopted and used out in the field.

SPEAKER_02:

So you're telling me it's not an end, it's not the end of an era. No, it's not the end of an era. I like it's it's so funny. Everyone's saying that.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, and and to be honest with you, you know, even as the brand manager for Pioneer DJ, all I know is the is the present time. Of course. And right now, both brands are coexisting, and that's what we need to focus on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So and again, I mean, this is the evolution from a pioneer DJ product, and frankly, it it looks very similar. I mean, it's it's basically the evolution from a pioneer DJ product. So yeah. Frankly, I don't really mind about the name. Me personally, I'm not DJing anymore, but I've been DJing on Pioneer Equipment for a while. Pioneer DJ. See, he just did it there.

SPEAKER_04:

Now we gotta go from Pioneer to Pioneer DJ. Sorry. Now Pioneer DJ to Alpha Theta for certain SKUs. Yeah, you know, so yeah, it's gonna take some time, just like every other brand change and brand adoption. Yeah, uh, it's gonna take some time, it's gonna take some uh some acceptance. Um, but at the end of the day, the most important message is it's the same company, same quality bond, same quality, same engineering, uh, same RD, same marketing, same values, and that's the important message. Yeah, similar colors, exactly. Um, so yeah, end of an era. I I don't know. I'm not the manufacturer, but as of right now, there's both brands, and we're we're fortunate to have both brands and both SKUs because um we're we're truly seeing a lot of change in the industry, and we get to be a part of it.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely cool, especially the streaming thing. That I think that's the one that uh on the on the film side and all, and even on the music side for a long time. I think the music came up first before uh with Apple was a street uh was music streaming came I think they came came around pretty much at the same time, yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, Netflix and uh Apple Music Spotify.

SPEAKER_02:

Spotify I think even before Spotify, I think Napster. Yeah, but Napster was not a pirate thing. No, no, but you were paying you were able to pay originally to service. Exactly. So there were certain there were musical there's music services like that. So I I I think film uh I think on the on the the the film side it started after, but seeing because of the bandwidth. I mean yeah, I think it was at one point you didn't have the bandwidth to stream an HD movie at home, right? Yeah, even the compressions weren't there, and Netflix was one of the first to kind of come up with the uh H265, H26. Also the variable based on your your your your your network speed, but uh having it in a DJ uh platform is very interesting. It's I I'm still a little bit intrigued and uh still surprised. Uh again, I'm it's new school, but yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_04:

And it's new and it's so new, and I I think that's what um I admire the most about Alpha Theta and Pioneer DJ is they are oftentimes the first mover to adopt a certain technology or a certain trend. And um they're always making adjustments and they're listening to the voice of the customer. Yeah, and that's one thing um that I will keep repeating. The voice of the customer is so important. All these little subtle changes from what I was told is not just somebody, you know, in an office deciding, hey, we're gonna change this, we're gonna remove this text, we're gonna, you know, replace the SD card. They're listening to clients.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Uh, and I can actually, you know, give you a couple examples. The hot cue buttons underneath the screen and the smart cue. Well, that's because James Hype was not happy with the CDJ 3000. Everybody knows it's not a secret. They listened to him, they came out with a feature that would allow him to perform his sets the way he wants them to perform. Um, a couple years ago, at uh I believe it was Coachella, there was a DJ who showed up on stage and the track was playing twice as fast. Oh no, yeah, so it was it was a disaster. She didn't know how to uh how to fix it. Basically, what happened was they just threw the MP3s or or the file formats on the USB, they didn't analyze it properly, and on the CDJ, you couldn't change the BPM, you couldn't double it. So the BPMs were either doubled or they were halved, so it wasn't playing at the right speed. So because of that, now on the CDJ 3000X, you can actually adjust the BPM speed on the of that specific track on the actual unit. So it's all these little instances, all these little nuances that let's be honest, the the most common DJ wouldn't think of. That's why these changes are being made. It's to just perfect the product as much as possible and always have that evolutionary uh mindset to the product.

SPEAKER_03:

And bear in mind that's that's a professional DJ equipment. You don't you don't see them often in bedroom DJ? Not often, no. But you see them everywhere. I haven't come across any club, any IN restaurants that have a DJ booth. I mean, this is always Pioneer DJ or Alpha Teta. I mean, this is the gold standard. It is nothing else. Yeah. So of course, when you have pro DJs, superstars coming up, and there's an issue, obviously the company is gonna listen about these problems and will try to fix it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, exactly. And don't get me wrong, I I it if memory serves me correctly, it's been a while that DJs maybe not on the world stage, but in terms of events and stuff smaller events they're already somewhat streaming from phones, right?

SPEAKER_04:

I mean, Yeah, so depending on the player and depending on the year, there there were certain capabilities.

SPEAKER_02:

Not from inside that, but through an external device, right?

SPEAKER_04:

Correct. So there was some and I don't remember which players were compatible or not, so uh but you could or you used to have tracks on your phone connect via a USB cable to the player and use this as like your media type. Um so there was already some talk of how do we incorporate the phone into the workflow. Because it was a demand. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02:

Because it's easy, right? Yeah, especially when you're playing at a wedding, somebody's like, hey, uh, I wanna can you play this song? And you're like, Yeah, I don't have it. Well, that's not really an excuse anymore, right? I mean that's accessible through a variety of different avenues.

SPEAKER_04:

And uh I guess uh this is one way to uh Yeah, and and and I'll I'll be honest, it happened to me not with the CDJ 3000X, but I was using a computer um and I'm I'm a user of Bport.

SPEAKER_03:

Yep.

SPEAKER_04:

And I was personally DJing a cocktail gig, super high-end cocktail gig. And uh originally it was supposed to be two to three hours. Uh and so I had my cocktail playlist going. And I mean, let's be honest, the average DJ is not DJing for five, six hours of cocktails, even if in an event DJ you do an hour, an hour and a half, and you can move on to your main event. Um, and at least I'm not that type of DJ that has that type of cocktail music ready, right? Like six, seven hours of cocktail music curated and ready to go. And so while I was playing, you know, I was starting to quickly realize okay, my usual cocktail playlists here. I'm gonna need more tracks. What am I what am I gonna do? Um and the event was changing, it was it was a lot longer, people were having a great time. I started getting into the Afro House uh genre of music, and um and I I I needed more tracks. I'll be honest, I needed more tracks. Afro house is relatively new. I'm I'm more of a mainstream event DJ. Um so I had my Afro House stuff, I had my cocktail stuff, but I just needed more of it.

SPEAKER_03:

I was not expecting the gig to go on for six or seven hours, and because I was subscribed to your your cachet or your your paycheck came came away.

SPEAKER_04:

It did, it did, luckily. Um sorry, I yeah, very important part by the way of the story. Yeah, um so luckily because I'm I I was subscribed to Beatport and I was using my computer, um I went on to the Afro House genre. I had all my top charts, I had curated curated playlists, I had, you know, my top call it 50 Afro House that I personally downloaded, um was different than the most recent chart from let's say that week. So I was getting new tracks on the fly, like it really helps having access to these streaming services versus just the local media. So, you know, that's one example of how streaming could be beneficial. Yeah, it's amazing. And um I'll be honest, before that experience, I I never had a use for it. But now I'm like, okay, I'm always gonna have subscription now because, like you said, whether it's a request, whether it's uh an event change, an hourly change, whatever it may be, being prepared means being prepared on every forefront, every aspect of being prepared. You know, having different subscription types, different medias, different backups. And backups is a whole other podcast uh subject and redundancy and production and all that. We'll talk about that when we talk about you know pro and live uh setups and productions, but yeah, we're gonna have to start being accept accepting of all these different mediums. That's incredible. So that's the CDJ 3000X by Alpha Theta.

SPEAKER_03:

Very exciting uh present not the presentation, that was a very exciting podcast, and its product's amazing. I can't wait to try it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, uh I'm glad you clarified some of the stuff. I know there's been a little bit of misconceptions going around. But uh yeah, that was uh that was really, really cool. I'm really excited for this.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, I think uh I think it'll do really well, and uh I think a lot of people are gonna adopt it. And again, it's you know, it's it's all about the movement, it's all about accepting new mediums, changes. And uh I'm excited for the future. My I mean this is a small change realistically from when I started DJ, you know, 15 years ago to now. It's like wow, it's incredible. So we'll see what what the future has in store.

SPEAKER_02:

Nice. Well, thanks for hanging out with us on Behind the Rack. We hope you pick something up new, add a laugh, or at least nodded along with one of our rants. If you enjoyed today's episode, hit follow, share with a colleague or a fellow AV, and help us spread the word. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Very important. Exactly. If you guys have any um any comments or suggestions for any episodes, please feel free to comment down below. We'll be back with more uh stories, insights, and even conversations uh for the world of pro audio live broadcast system AV. And until then, keep the curiosity alive, and we'll catch you on the next time behind the rack.

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Franco Caruso

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Hugo Chevrette

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Vincent Simoneau

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