According to Pioneer, the DDJ-FLX6 ensures you can “flex” your creative muscles with a host of new features and an easy-to-use interface. Usability/ Ease of Use Still, the brand surprised most music enthusiasts when it released the new DDJ FLX6, a Rekordbox, and Serato DJ Pro dual-compatible DJ controller with a host of tools for creative mixing. The machine weighs around 3.8kg and comes with a 24-bit sound card, as well as a set of two full-sized jog wheels to explore. Features include: Pioneer’s jog wheels on the DDJ FLX6 are responsive and lightweight, so they’re a decent choice for making natural and bending feel as natural as possible. If your computer doesn’t work, or something crashes, your music will stop too. For voice-over and other elements, the DDJ FLX6 has its own microphone input, but this routes directly to the outputs, so you won’t be able to apply effects.

This is a software-only DJ controller, so you can’t plug in extra equipment, even if you bought your CDJ or turntable directly from Pioneer themselves. Plug and play capability is available via the in-built soundcard and DJ Performance functions with either rekordbox or Serato DJ Pro. All you need to do is connect using a USB cable to a connected laptop that is running either of the music software applications, and you are ready to get DJing. The USB power function means that you might find that you don’t get as much volume as you could get elsewhere, but this isn’t too much of a problem for most hobbyists. The DDJ FLX6 is all about versatility, hence the decision to ensure it works with both Serato DJ Pro or Lite and Rekordbox.The DDJ FLX6 bypasses things like advanced connectivity options and a metal-reinforced chassis to bring you a different set of bonuses, including full-sized jog wheels and four channels. Despite a couple of grumbles, the DDJ-FLX6 is still impressive in its own way. There are a few advanced functions that you won’t get anywhere else. Pioneer also boasts a new aesthetic for this DJ controller, but we’re not sure how much of a benefit that is at first glance. So as well as having a new graphite colour scheme, the DDJ-FLX6-GT adds compatibility with Virtual DJ and Traktor Pro, making it the first Traktor-compatible controller to be announced by a third party for many years.

Ignore some of the brand-new features like Merge FX and the Jog Cutter, and the DDJ FLX6 gives you a pretty standard DJ controller experience, similar to things like the Denon MC7000. Overall, the Pioneer DJ DDJ-FLX6 is a decent consumer-focused controller intended for the mid-level market. This device focuses primarily on performance features rather than build, with four channels, and a host of new features – though some are more appealing than others. You’d hope the Traktor team would not be happy for hardware to be announced as compatible with its software unless it is perfect – but that said, Pioneer DJ says that the in-jog displays don’t work with Traktor, which isn’t a good start. The dual Serato DJ Pro or Lite and Rekordbox compatibility is quite a positive surprise for a lot of mid-level DJs in search of versatility.

DDJ-FLX6

The FX select simply cycles through the effects you’ve chosen for the two engines, with up to 6 options available. Since this is first-and-foremost a software DJ controller, you won’t have to get used to any other inputs for your DJ gear. However, it feels as though we should at least have an Aux input here. Some DJs will probably find it easier to use the jog cutter feature than to learn how to scratch in the first place. It seems pointless to focus your attention on learning this new functionality when you could just practice scratching – and use your skills on other devices too. Beat FX While all of this might seem simple enough at first, it’s actually a lot more complicated than you might expect.

The DDJ FLX6 also offers an FX strip on the right similar to other products from Pioneer’s DJM portfolio. There’s a button to support toggling between each of the different effects in Rekordbox and Serato DJ pro banks, which you can choose and access whenever you like. There’s also a button to toggle between different channel assignments too. Jog Cutter is a feature that you can access to “scratch” without actually scratching. You turn on the Jog Cutter button at the top right of your DJ controller, then touch your jog wheel to jump your music to the chosen cue point. A The Merge FX experience is relatively easy to get used to. All you need to do is choose a pre-set and press the knob to start building your music. This full-sized DJ controller is almost as large as the Pioneer DJ DDJ-1000, but it feels closer to the DDJ-200 in build quality. This is essentially a device built for beginners and people who don’t want to spend a small fortune on their craft.All of these solutions are stored on the front of the DDJ FLX6 unit, with no split cue available, unfortunately. However, while existing mid-range options from Pioneer focus heavily on durability and build quality – this one is all about performance features. For Traktor users, the DDJ-FLX6-GT brings a controller with full-sized pro jogwheels into the Traktor ecosystem for the first time ever, and so we think it will have unique appeal for some Traktor DJs who aren’t impressed with the much smaller jogwheels on the current official Traktor controllers. 2. Serato DJ Pro is, more than ever, a bargain addition We haven’t had time to properly get used to this unit here at the school yet, but once we have we’ll be happy to answer questions about it – ask in the comments! But for now, here are three first thoughts: 1. Big jogs are a winner