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REVIEWED
REVIEWED: Pioneer DJ OPUS-QUAD
Just like busses, right? Nothing is
released for months, then suddenly four Pioneer DJ releases in quick succession! Of course, we know the main reason for this is due to a combination of Covid-related issues and shortages of technical parts. But on the plus side, Pioneer DJ have been busy developing tonnes of exciting new stuff during this time.
We’re not just talking updates to kit we already have, but extraordinary new products that push things forward. Most recently, the company made two truly ground-breaking releases: the DDJ FLX10 (also reviewed in this issue), a game-changer for mobile DJs, and the Opus-Quad, the first of a brand-new line of high-end all-in-one units.
The Opus-Quad is clearly not a budget device – aimed squarely at high-end mobile DJs, posh bars and roof terraces, and the homes of professional DJs – and the company makes no secret of this. Its release created quite a stir in the industry, which was reminiscent of when Pioneer DJ released the CDJ-2000 and CDJ-900 players. At that time, Denon had a perfectly able single player, and today observers are drawing comparisons with the Opus-Quad and the Prime 4, a unit which has been around for quite some time. I do find it funny how so many Prime 4 users suddenly put their kit up for sale when the Opus-Quad was launched! Mind you, I too put my home system up for sale for the same reasons.
When the Opus-Quad arrived in high secrecy, my wife (normally oblivious to the beauty of my Pioneer DJ XDJ1000 Mk2s and DJM-900 home system) pronounced this new equipment “really pretty” before telling me it could stay. Minnie the cat however was less impressed, although she really liked the huge box it came in!
Helen is absolutely right though: the Opus-Quad is really pretty for a piece of DJ gear. Pioneer DJ have crafted this system with a gently sloping black metal surface, a curved front, and a faux-wooden look on the sides and front (likened online to an old Atari games console). Indeed, back in the 80s when I first started DJing, every mobile DJ had a black coffin console that looked awful. Then Citronic (a UK-based DJ kit manufacturer) suddenly released the Thames – a high-end deck that was hugely functional but also beautiful to look at. This is exactly what the Opus-Quad brings to mind.
Upon opening the box, the first things you notice are the massive touch screen, full-size 4-channel mixer, full-size platters, and some groovy bronze encoders – all housed on a gently sloping matt-black metal fascia. The familiar controls from the CDJ and DJM ecosystems are all there. When I turned on the unit, a warm set of colours appeared across all the meters and displays – this is the Opus-Quad going through its power-up sequence. These new colours can be changed for certain elements, such as picking jog-wheel colours to identify which deck is set.
The Opus-Quad is a standalone, 4-channel unit that’s compatible with Pioneer DJ’s Rekordbox software (Serato support is set to be added later this summer). There are several different sources for each channel, including Cloud Direct Play. You can plug in a large SSD into the rear USB3 A-slot, or into the two USB-slots in the top right-hand section of the front panel. You can also connect a laptop running Rekordbox to an ethernet port, the USB-C port, or using the built-in Wi-Fi.
In the coming months, support will also be added for tablets, and there will be streaming with onboard analysis. If that’s not enough, you can also connect your phone or tablet via Bluetooth and stream audio to any of the four channels. This will be incredibly useful for when you get one of those requests for a hard-to-obtain track, you need to send a stream of music to your zone output, or just for background music. As with the new DJM-A9 club mixer, Pioneer DJ have used new 32-bit ESS Technology’s digital-to-analogue converters, so the sound quality is awesome.
The huge electrostatic multi-touch screen is a vast improvement on all previous screens – it feels and looks like a decent iPad. You can use it for setup, navigation and loading music, as well as for beat effects and displaying detailed waveform information.
At the time of launch, you can see two full-size waveforms on screen, but future updates will allow all four channels to be used together. A new combined joystick and encoder to the right of the screen allows you to navigate and load tracks into each of the four channels. Navigation of large libraries is swift thanks to a powerful new processor not previously used in any other product. This is also good news for new features and functionality as they arrive.
Unlike the XDJ-RX3 and DDJs, cue pads have been placed above the jog wheels just like the CDJ-3000, leaving the area below the jog wheel uncluttered. The jog wheels themselves feature a display that shows various cue and play rotation information. A mechanical jog-feel adjustment is available on each deck. Loops are now activated by either the usual in/out control, or by a rotary button on each deck. One thing that lets it down is the lack of SLIP function, something I find useful, although a reverse-slip button is included. The usual sync and tempo controls and sliders are there, and each of the players controls two decks.
A new feature that premiers on the Opus-Quad is the Smart Cue. This is one of those things that’s tricky to explain, but here goes… Smart Cue allows you to automatically overwrite the current cue position with recalled hot cues, making it quicker and more intuitive than ever to use hot cues with a single touch. In practice, it’s a really cool function.
The 4-channel mixer section will be familiar to users of CDJ-900s and DDJ-1000s. All the controls are well spaced, with each channel having full 3-band EQ, trim, its own level indicator (yes!), cue and sound colour knob, and full-size fader. Each channel can run from various sources, all switchable from the touch screen. As you’d expect, the cross-fader is assignable. The mic 1 channel includes full 3-band EQ too, something that I’m sure will be welcomed by most mobile DJs, and the usual headphone controls are present.
The sound colour effects are much the same as on the other high-end mixers, but then we move to a new way of doing beat effects. The usual way of engaging a beat effect is where you expect to find it on the right-hand side of the mixer section, but when you start rotating the beat FX selection encoder, stuff starts happening on the big screen above! This means you can select from a large list of effects and then configure them. But this is where the magic happens. A new X-Y display is shown and you can use the touch screen to apply the effect on one plane whilst adding filter to the other. This is amazing; reminiscent of the Kaoss devices from many years ago. I absolutely loved this way of being creative in the mix.
Another new effect on the Opus-Quad is called smooth echo, which I think mobile DJs will love. The parameters can be configured easily on the touch screen, but basically it adds a quantised echo out if the fader is dropped, the track is stopped, or the crossfader is actuated away. It’s simple to use and is a great way to transition between two different genres of music.
Setting up your Opus-Quad is a breeze. On the rear is a welcome IEC mains socket, while XLR and phono (RCA) sockets provide the main sound output. If you use monitors, booth output is provided via 1/4” TRS jacks. There is also a pair of XLR sockets to provide zone output, which means you can send a different music feed to another part of the venue. I would definitely find this feature useful at some weddings and corporate parties.
In terms of audio inputs, you’ve got phono (RCA) sockets and an earth binding post for turntables or CDJs for channels 3 and 4, as well as a combined XLR/jack socket for mic 1. Other sockets on the back include a fast USB3-A socket for SSD or USB drives, a USB-C for connecting your laptop, and a 1Gbit ethernet socket for connecting to your laptop or a network. Finally, there’s a Kingston slot on the back for added security. Meanwhile, on the front wood-effect panel is another combined XLR/jack socket for mic 2, together with the off/on/talkover switch, and full 3-band EQ, as well as a pair of 1/4” and 3.5mm headphone jacks.
Overall, I found the Pioneer DJ Opus-Quad a real joy to use. For the few days I had the demo unit, I had lots of fun and my son Simon (who is an excellent, technical DJ) would not leave it alone! I love the warm colours, fast navigation, ground-breaking effects, connectivity, and indeed the new look.
You can tell that cost saving hasn’t influenced the design, and in my opinion there’s very little missing. Proper connections, no power brick, great faders, great jog-wheels, 3-band EQ on the microphone inputs, multi-point touch-screen, and a real luxury feel all contributed to me falling in love with the Opus-Quad.
I am disappointed to find there is no SLIP mode, but I hope Pioneer DJ can add this, even if it’s just a screen-based button. I would have loved to see both time elapsed and time remaining simultaneously on the deck displays. And if you were thinking of using DVS control with the Opus-Quad, it’s a no – get an XDJ-XZ!
I know exactly where I’ll be using be using this unit and, as well as sounding amazing, I know it will look fab in use as well. The Opus-Quad may be expensive, but it will retain its value just like other high-end kit does. Having sold my XDJ1000Mk2 and DJM900 in anticipation, I now have a large space in my studio awaiting my very own Opus-Quad. I can’t wait…
released for months, then suddenly four Pioneer DJ releases in quick succession! Of course, we know the main reason for this is due to a combination of Covid-related issues and shortages of technical parts. But on the plus side, Pioneer DJ have been busy developing tonnes of exciting new stuff during this time.
We’re not just talking updates to kit we already have, but extraordinary new products that push things forward. Most recently, the company made two truly ground-breaking releases: the DDJ FLX10 (also reviewed in this issue), a game-changer for mobile DJs, and the Opus-Quad, the first of a brand-new line of high-end all-in-one units.
The Opus-Quad is clearly not a budget device – aimed squarely at high-end mobile DJs, posh bars and roof terraces, and the homes of professional DJs – and the company makes no secret of this. Its release created quite a stir in the industry, which was reminiscent of when Pioneer DJ released the CDJ-2000 and CDJ-900 players. At that time, Denon had a perfectly able single player, and today observers are drawing comparisons with the Opus-Quad and the Prime 4, a unit which has been around for quite some time. I do find it funny how so many Prime 4 users suddenly put their kit up for sale when the Opus-Quad was launched! Mind you, I too put my home system up for sale for the same reasons.
When the Opus-Quad arrived in high secrecy, my wife (normally oblivious to the beauty of my Pioneer DJ XDJ1000 Mk2s and DJM-900 home system) pronounced this new equipment “really pretty” before telling me it could stay. Minnie the cat however was less impressed, although she really liked the huge box it came in!
Helen is absolutely right though: the Opus-Quad is really pretty for a piece of DJ gear. Pioneer DJ have crafted this system with a gently sloping black metal surface, a curved front, and a faux-wooden look on the sides and front (likened online to an old Atari games console). Indeed, back in the 80s when I first started DJing, every mobile DJ had a black coffin console that looked awful. Then Citronic (a UK-based DJ kit manufacturer) suddenly released the Thames – a high-end deck that was hugely functional but also beautiful to look at. This is exactly what the Opus-Quad brings to mind.
Upon opening the box, the first things you notice are the massive touch screen, full-size 4-channel mixer, full-size platters, and some groovy bronze encoders – all housed on a gently sloping matt-black metal fascia. The familiar controls from the CDJ and DJM ecosystems are all there. When I turned on the unit, a warm set of colours appeared across all the meters and displays – this is the Opus-Quad going through its power-up sequence. These new colours can be changed for certain elements, such as picking jog-wheel colours to identify which deck is set.
The Opus-Quad is a standalone, 4-channel unit that’s compatible with Pioneer DJ’s Rekordbox software (Serato support is set to be added later this summer). There are several different sources for each channel, including Cloud Direct Play. You can plug in a large SSD into the rear USB3 A-slot, or into the two USB-slots in the top right-hand section of the front panel. You can also connect a laptop running Rekordbox to an ethernet port, the USB-C port, or using the built-in Wi-Fi.
In the coming months, support will also be added for tablets, and there will be streaming with onboard analysis. If that’s not enough, you can also connect your phone or tablet via Bluetooth and stream audio to any of the four channels. This will be incredibly useful for when you get one of those requests for a hard-to-obtain track, you need to send a stream of music to your zone output, or just for background music. As with the new DJM-A9 club mixer, Pioneer DJ have used new 32-bit ESS Technology’s digital-to-analogue converters, so the sound quality is awesome.
The huge electrostatic multi-touch screen is a vast improvement on all previous screens – it feels and looks like a decent iPad. You can use it for setup, navigation and loading music, as well as for beat effects and displaying detailed waveform information.
At the time of launch, you can see two full-size waveforms on screen, but future updates will allow all four channels to be used together. A new combined joystick and encoder to the right of the screen allows you to navigate and load tracks into each of the four channels. Navigation of large libraries is swift thanks to a powerful new processor not previously used in any other product. This is also good news for new features and functionality as they arrive.
Unlike the XDJ-RX3 and DDJs, cue pads have been placed above the jog wheels just like the CDJ-3000, leaving the area below the jog wheel uncluttered. The jog wheels themselves feature a display that shows various cue and play rotation information. A mechanical jog-feel adjustment is available on each deck. Loops are now activated by either the usual in/out control, or by a rotary button on each deck. One thing that lets it down is the lack of SLIP function, something I find useful, although a reverse-slip button is included. The usual sync and tempo controls and sliders are there, and each of the players controls two decks.
A new feature that premiers on the Opus-Quad is the Smart Cue. This is one of those things that’s tricky to explain, but here goes… Smart Cue allows you to automatically overwrite the current cue position with recalled hot cues, making it quicker and more intuitive than ever to use hot cues with a single touch. In practice, it’s a really cool function.
The 4-channel mixer section will be familiar to users of CDJ-900s and DDJ-1000s. All the controls are well spaced, with each channel having full 3-band EQ, trim, its own level indicator (yes!), cue and sound colour knob, and full-size fader. Each channel can run from various sources, all switchable from the touch screen. As you’d expect, the cross-fader is assignable. The mic 1 channel includes full 3-band EQ too, something that I’m sure will be welcomed by most mobile DJs, and the usual headphone controls are present.
The sound colour effects are much the same as on the other high-end mixers, but then we move to a new way of doing beat effects. The usual way of engaging a beat effect is where you expect to find it on the right-hand side of the mixer section, but when you start rotating the beat FX selection encoder, stuff starts happening on the big screen above! This means you can select from a large list of effects and then configure them. But this is where the magic happens. A new X-Y display is shown and you can use the touch screen to apply the effect on one plane whilst adding filter to the other. This is amazing; reminiscent of the Kaoss devices from many years ago. I absolutely loved this way of being creative in the mix.
Another new effect on the Opus-Quad is called smooth echo, which I think mobile DJs will love. The parameters can be configured easily on the touch screen, but basically it adds a quantised echo out if the fader is dropped, the track is stopped, or the crossfader is actuated away. It’s simple to use and is a great way to transition between two different genres of music.
Setting up your Opus-Quad is a breeze. On the rear is a welcome IEC mains socket, while XLR and phono (RCA) sockets provide the main sound output. If you use monitors, booth output is provided via 1/4” TRS jacks. There is also a pair of XLR sockets to provide zone output, which means you can send a different music feed to another part of the venue. I would definitely find this feature useful at some weddings and corporate parties.
In terms of audio inputs, you’ve got phono (RCA) sockets and an earth binding post for turntables or CDJs for channels 3 and 4, as well as a combined XLR/jack socket for mic 1. Other sockets on the back include a fast USB3-A socket for SSD or USB drives, a USB-C for connecting your laptop, and a 1Gbit ethernet socket for connecting to your laptop or a network. Finally, there’s a Kingston slot on the back for added security. Meanwhile, on the front wood-effect panel is another combined XLR/jack socket for mic 2, together with the off/on/talkover switch, and full 3-band EQ, as well as a pair of 1/4” and 3.5mm headphone jacks.
Overall, I found the Pioneer DJ Opus-Quad a real joy to use. For the few days I had the demo unit, I had lots of fun and my son Simon (who is an excellent, technical DJ) would not leave it alone! I love the warm colours, fast navigation, ground-breaking effects, connectivity, and indeed the new look.
You can tell that cost saving hasn’t influenced the design, and in my opinion there’s very little missing. Proper connections, no power brick, great faders, great jog-wheels, 3-band EQ on the microphone inputs, multi-point touch-screen, and a real luxury feel all contributed to me falling in love with the Opus-Quad.
I am disappointed to find there is no SLIP mode, but I hope Pioneer DJ can add this, even if it’s just a screen-based button. I would have loved to see both time elapsed and time remaining simultaneously on the deck displays. And if you were thinking of using DVS control with the Opus-Quad, it’s a no – get an XDJ-XZ!
I know exactly where I’ll be using be using this unit and, as well as sounding amazing, I know it will look fab in use as well. The Opus-Quad may be expensive, but it will retain its value just like other high-end kit does. Having sold my XDJ1000Mk2 and DJM900 in anticipation, I now have a large space in my studio awaiting my very own Opus-Quad. I can’t wait…
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 119, Pages 88-90.
