With the release of some mind-blowing technology, the last few years have been a great time to be a ‘battle DJ’. RANE released the Twelve controllers, which abolished the need for a problem-riddled tonearm, and backed it up with three feature-packed battle mixers, the Seventy-Two, Seventy, and Seventy A-Trak edition. Pioneer DJ answered back with the DJM-S7, the flagship DJM-S11, and now, the all-new DDJ-REV7.

When it comes to the battle market, it hasn’t just been a two-horse race. With Phase dropping their DVS remotes (then working out the bugs) and Numark getting in on the action with their budget Scratch mixer (even taking the Scratch’s layout over to their Mixtrack range), it was only a matter of time before we saw a controller aimed at the battle/scratch DJ. Eventually, that came in the form of the motorised RANE ONE. Now, a year on, we have Pioneer DJ’s very own motorised-plattered DDJ-REV7.

This isn’t a comparison review, but it’s hard not to mention both the REV7 and RANE ONE when it comes to some features. It’s also worth noting that the DDJ-REV7 offers loads of features, so in this review I’ll only cover what I feel are the stand outs.

The Pioneer DJ DDJ-REV7 is designed specifically for Serato DJ Pro, which may irritate some DJs, especially if, like me, you’re primarily a Rekordbox DJ. The DJM-S11 and S7 have dual compatibility with both Serato and Rekordbox, so it makes me question why the REV7 doesn’t. Having said that, the DJM-S9 mixer was primarily Serato, but a later firmware update enabled you to use it with Rekordbox, so let’s hope this comes sooner rather than later for the REV7.

To tell you the truth, the main reason the lack of Rekordbox support upset me is that the DDJ-REV7 is one of the best DJ controllers I have ever played on.

The REV7 is built around the design of the flagship PLX-1000 turntables, but the platters are 7” rather than 12”. The ‘vinyl’ on top of the platters is in fact a UV-printed acrylic top panel. I had my doubts when I first saw this, but it’s perfect. The acrylic gives just the right amount of grip for scratching, and even though it doesn’t feel as legit as a piece of vinyl, it’s almost like Pioneer DJ have created their own take on what vinyl should feel like. (I know that sounds ridiculous, but you’ll know what I mean when you actually play on one.)

The REV7 has even got the dots around the outside of the platter. “What’s the point in them dots when there’s no target light?” I hear you vinyl enthusiasts cry! Well, this DDJ-REV7 is all about emulating the feel, and triggering the muscle memory, of using a pair of turntables and battle mixer.
Even though there is no target light to shine on these dots to read the pitch control, when you touch or nudge the side of the platter to slow or speed up the tune, the feel of those little dots will be familiar to that of their turntable.

Speaking of nudging the platter on the side, this is the only hands-on way to manipulate your tune, as there is no spindle due to the LCD screen in the middle of the platters. However, there are Pitch Bend buttons for a more digital method of getting your tune in time. Also, pressing Shift + Pitch Bend will zoom in on waveform in this display.

True to a proper turntable, 33- and 45-speed are available for the platters. Real vinyl heads could argue you should be using this on 45, as the platter is the same size as a 45 record, but I’ve got used to it on 33-speed.

Double tapping 33 brings up a clock hand, in case you don’t want to use one of the stickers provided on the vinyl. If you do use these stickers, you can take advantage of the 12 o’clock or 2 o'clock markers around the jog wheel, the 2 o’clock being a nod to where the needle would be on a turntable. This is helpful when it comes to beat juggling or scratching; if you cue up properly, you know that when this sticker hits the marker, it’s the start of the beat or the scratch sound.

Pioneer DJ also provides four slip sheets that go inside the platter and act as slip mats. Along with the two torque settings in the built-in utility menu that appears on the LCD platter display, you can use the slip sheets to customise the feel of the platter.

Speaking of the LCD platter display, it’s a valid sacrifice for a spindle. There are four different options when it comes to the jog display and the first (my favourite) is the three waveforms. The main waveform in the centre scrolls through the song you’re playing, the waveform on the outside is the track in its entirety, and the waveform on the inside is the waveform of the track on the other channel. This is very helpful as a visual aid for beat matching, if that’s how you mix, but also to keep an eye on how much of the song you have left. Most importantly, it ensures you look at your laptop screen less and your hardware more.

Holding Shift and pressing the 33/45 buttons scrolls through the other displays, all of which we’ve seen on a few Pioneer DJ controllers already:

Serato view: pretty much mirrors what you see in the Serato software jog wheels. We saw this on the DDJ-1000SRT.
Album artwork: if the track you’re playing has some. We saw this on the DDJ-1000 onwards.

Display your own logo: this is easy to do via the REV7 utility settings on your laptop. If you haven’t added your own, this jog display defaults to the Pioneer DJ logo.

Each jog’s display is independent, so I could have the waveforms on one side and my logo on the other, for example. As I mentioned, you can also access the utility menu in the LCD display, though for nitty-gritty tweaks it’s best done on the laptop.

A standout feature on DDJ-REV7 is the placement of the tempo faders, as they’re located at the top of the controller, similar to having a turntable in ‘battle mode’. The DDJ-REV range is the first ever controller range to introduce the battle style layout to the open market.

There’s been lots of debate about the placement of this pitch fader. Let me just say, if you’re reading this thinking it’s a weird place to put it, this DDJ-REV7 probably isn’t for you. You could argue that you don’t need a controller in battle mode, as it doesn’t have a tonearm, which is the main point of battle mode – to avoid the tonearm when scratching and juggling. But I have to emphasise, the lay out of the REV7 is all about muscle memory for those who are used to a battle turntable and battle mixer. Hence the pitch fader placement and Pioneer DJ’s decision not to place the performance pads beneath the jog wheels, like you see on pretty much every other DJ controller, including the REV7’s main competitor, the RANE ONE.
Just below the pitch faders you have the usual suspects: browser knob, tempo range, key shift, auto loop and sync, as well as Slip Mode and a dedicated button for Censor.

Censor is a slip reverse, which could get you out of a sticky situation if you haven’t planned your 10th birthday party music folder correctly! But I particularly like the way holding Shift and pressing Censor makes the whole jog go backwards, as this reverses the tune you’re playing.

I’ve heard some concern about accidentally hitting these buttons when you’re touching the pitch fader, but I really do doubt it. When I’m moving the pitch fader, my hand goes up and over to the back, and it feels unnatural to be anywhere near these buttons, so I found no problems there.
A brand-new feature from Pioneer DJ is Instant Scratch mode, which offers four banks of samples built into the controller. You get some scratch sounds and a couple of drum beats. I have mixed opinions on this feature, for a few reasons.

Hitting the Instant Scratch button puts the REV7 controller into standalone mode, so Serato goes into ‘thru’ mode, so whatever song you have loaded in Serato stops playing. This is dangerous if you hit the Instant Scratch button by mistake, as it will cut off all the music. The four banks of built-in samples are fine, but you can’t edit them, add your own samples, or add any hot cues, meanwhile the pitch faders are locked to +/- 8.

This feature just doesn’t feel necessary when you have the Scratch Bank available, and it seems a bit gimmicky, which you wouldn’t expect on a controller at this price point. On the plus side, because the Instant Scratch mode is standalone and the samples are built into the hardware, you don’t need your laptop if you want to have a quick scratch, and of course all the built-in Beat FX work on these samples too.

The Instant Scratch buttons also double up as the performance pads’ Hot Cue and Scratch Bank, with the secondary options being Saved Loop and the Sampler. These are independent to the performance pads, which is a nice touch.

The Performance Pads on the REV7 are the same pad modes as both the DJM-S7 and S11, but you can’t do Combi Mode, which was a feature brought in on the DJM-S11 and the DJM-S7, where you can have two pad modes at once, spread over the two rows. This is a bit of a shame, but the fact that the Instant Scratch buttons are independent to these performance pads kind of makes up for it, as you can have one pad mode on them, and a different one on the actual pads.

There is a lot going on when it comes to FX, so I’ll try to summarise. The DDJ-REV7 has 22 built-in Beat FX, including three new ones: Duck Down, Fill Out and Helix Out. These FX aren’t software based, they are built into the controller, meaning you can use them without a laptop (like when playing on the Instant Scratch mode) or through external hardware plugged into the controller. The REV7’s mixer is completely standalone and is DVS-ready with Serato DJ.

There are six FX buttons, three on each side, and the default FX are Echo, Spin, Flanger, Reverb, Brake and the new Duck Down (which is so much fun, and a banging way to transition). You can hold the FX button down and use the browser knob to change FX on the controller itself.

If these 22 FX aren’t enough for you, you can access the Serato software FX by pressing Shift + Spin FX, then get back to the Beat FX by pressing Shift + Echo.
The FX are triggered by paddles, as with pretty much every other battle mixer, and it’s nice to see a 1/3 beat parameter that’s been added. There are also secondary options to tweak the FX by holding shift and pressing the parameter buttons.

Speaking of tweaking, you can do so even further in the advanced utility settings on the laptop, which you can save to two banks that are easily loaded from the controller. Great for personalising the FX you use and subbing out the ones you don’t! Within these settings, you can also customise the colour FX assigned to the Filter knob, which can be found up with the 3-band EQ. The REV7 has the same layout as the DJM-S9/S7 rather than the S11.

Two other features that are very welcome are the Smooth Echo (as seen on the DJM-S11) and the Silent Cue function, which is sought after by many battle DJs, particularly when using a turntable.

The REV7 has a Magvel Fader Pro on the crossfader, but not on the channel faders. It’s not the end of the world, as the channel faders are solid enough, and can control the curve and reverse of all three faders on the front of the controller, as seen on the higher-end battle mixers. I’m a big fan of these faders. My only gripe is that the fader isn’t directly removable, making it difficult to access, whether lubing up the fader or swapping it with another (things most battle DJs like to do).

The REV7 has all the inputs and outputs you would expect, including XLR master, RCA master and 1/4” booth, as well as two line-inputs for CDJs and phono, with grounding signal for turntables. There’s also an RCA aux in and two USB B inputs that are great for going back to back or for quick switchovers. You’ll also find two mic inputs (one XLR, one 1/4 Jack) with 2-band EQ, talk over, and echo.

To conclude, the DDJ-REV7 stands in a league of its own. It’s the perfect hybrid of a DJ controller and a turntable setup, whose layout caters not only for battle or scratch DJs but for any open-format DJ used to playing on turntables. The REV7 could also be an option for DJs who are accustomed to their Pioneer DJ controller but want to transition to mixing on vinyl.

The controller is portable, making it ideal for taking to venues that don’t have a pair of turntables (if you don’t wish to use CDJs). Also, the standalone mixer with built-in FX is pretty much the same as the DJM-S7, which would make me consider buying the REV7 instead of the S7, as you’re getting a pair of moving platters thrown in as well.

To be honest, even an in-depth written review like this can’t do the Pioneer DJ DDJ-REV7 justice. Go and have a spin on one yourself!