PIONEER DDJ-FLX6

Product Information

In Rekordbox, it at least has some potential – you can alter the volume (pressing shift and turning the Merge FX knob does that), and there is a panel built into the software where you can choose your samples and effect combos to come up with your own choices. There are eight Merge FX pattern presets to choose from (four if you use Serato DJ Pro) and you can use your own samples. If you’re DJing with rekordbox, you’ll find everything is customizable. Choose from 41 types of effects within the four categories that make up one Merge FX (Build FX, Build Sample, Release FX, and Drop Sample) and combine them to create more than 9,000 different patterns. You can save eight of your own patterns and use the FX Select button on the unit to call them up whenever you want to perform a unique mix. You do get a few simplicities built-in, such as a set of beat buttons, a level/depth knob, your standard on/off button, channel select, and FX select. Now, it may just be that people will come up with cool and clever things to do with the DDJ-FLX6 – but anyone getting serious about their DJing will soon miss more obvious things, like proper control of the software effects, external inputs, and a bit more durability. Why not a DDJ-600? 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:

It’s not a perfect Traktor mapping, or the easiest to get working– It isn’t plug and play with Traktor (you’ll need to install a TSI file to get it to work), and once it is up and working, some of the advanced features of the controller, such as the Merge FX and the in-jog displays, won’t work (plus, we suspect the jogwheel Midi will be laggy, as it always has ben in the past with third party Traktor controllers) It feels a bit like a controller of mismatches. It is too big and expensive a controller to get away with consumer build quality. The jogs are brilliant, but the crossfader lets them down. The controls don’t really control very well what the software can do, especially with Serato, where for me it is a dealbreaker. As for the professional market, I believe a Mk2 version is needed with balanced outputs before the FLX can be viable for them. Nonetheless, the FLX6 has found a seemingly untouched niche in the DJ market, and will likely sell very well to lower-budget hobbyist DJs. I do hope someone proves me wrong and we see some great uses of this, but while this was maybe a fun feature when triggered via the pads (the infamous “Jazzy Jeff” scratch mode on the Pioneer DJ DDJ-SB3), I just don’t get this at all, and feel it is best rapidly forgotten. Beat FX I’m intrigued as to why Pioneer DJ didn’t made a “DDJ-600” controller, a well-considered step up from the DDJ-400, but below the professional brace of the DDJ-800 and DDJ-1000 – something we could recommend to our Rekordbox users who are still hobbyists but want four channels, and who one day want to play in pro DJ booths.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. 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.

The FX select simply cycles through the effects you’ve chosen for the two engines, with up to 6 options available.It doesn’t have the mobile-friendly features of the new DDJ-FLX4– While we suspect that when the Rekordbox for iOS & Android DJ app is launched in early 2023, there will be a way to get it working with the FLX6, but it won’t be as easy as with the DDJ-FLX4 that’s just been announced. That’s because the FLX-4 has USB-C connectivity and a USB-C charging port, neither of which are on the DDJ-FLX6-GT, sadly 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. To me, it’s a “confuse the hell out of your audience so you can play anything you want next” feature. Fun and innovative, but ultimately, you wouldn’t want to use it often.

The Jog Wheel’s dimensions might be full-sized, but they’re not made of metal. These 7-inch capacitive jog wheels are tactile and weighted, despite being largely made of plastic. Pioneer DJ has just launched an update to its DDJ-FLX6 mid-range DJ controller, which now works offically with Virtual DJ and, interestingly, Traktor, as well as Rekordbox and Serato DJ Pro as before. 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. That said, the FLX-6 is a Rekordbox unit first and foremost, as its Serato DJ integration isn’t nearly as tight – there’s no MIDI mapping and less customization over features like Merge FX. I did, however, find the unit to be more responsive with Serato DJ, but that may just be due to the fact that Serato DJ has traditionally optimized as a lighter program designed for turntablists. I/O connectivityMost controllers do follow an exhausting trend of only using an exclusive single-software support option. It’s nice to see more than one option on one device. But the very best jogs are only really important if you are a scratch DJ, and with seemingly much of the budget for the DDJ-FLX6 having gone on the jogs, that other essential part for scratch DJing – the crossfader – is very average on this unit. Sure it works, but the pair of them are a huge mismatch. The jogwheels are excellent – a great feel to them, full sized. So why is the crossfader so ordinary? Still, you get the usual on/off button, the Level/Depth knob, the Beat buttons, Channel Select (a single button that cycles), and FX Select – the latter simply cycling through the six effects you have selected across the two effects engines. As a Rekordbox controller, the Pioneer DJ DDJ-FLX6 fills a gap for a reasonably priced, four-channel model. And on the surface, it looks nice – great jogs, decent size, lots of lights. It is going to look good on livestreams and it is going to look good on social media videos. It can instantly sound impressive too, as some of the noises you can make with the Merge FX do indeed sound epic.