So it’s no secret that Pioneer DJ overcharges for their products. They aren’t as bad as Technics, but they can still be a bit outrageous. The DJM-S11, which for all intents and purposes is pretty similar to the Rane 72 Mk2, costs $200 more than the Rane does. Its not built with an all metal construction like the Rane is, and the Rane has more sturdy effects levers as well. Pioneer uses plastic in their mixer builds for the most part so there really is no justifiable reason for the price hike, other than the fact that the product has the Pioneer name on it.
They are coming out with a new DJ turntable which looks very nice. It’s an analog digital hybrid turntable that doesn’t require control vinyl or Phase or anything like that to use Serato DJ pro or Rekordbox DJ in a DVS type orientation. It has cue pads on it that have a lot of the modes you’d want access to on it, including stems separation. It’s a very cool turntable, but at $1400 it costs way too much. Sure 2 of those turntables still cost as much as one Pioneer CDJ-3000, but the CDJs Pioneer sells are vastly overpriced as well. You can get a Denon “motorized” player for much less than a Pioneer “static” CDJ and it has way more features on it, including the motorized platter which gives the feel of using vinyl.
Pioneer makes amazing gear I will say that, but I don’t know why they choose to eliminate so many people from being able to purchase their products. If they lowered the price of that new turntable by $600, it would be accessible and reasonable for a LOT more people. Sure there will be those that buy it, but for the most part, the average DJ can’t justify spending that much on a turntable when something like the Reloop 8000 mk2 exists for only $799. It doesn’t have timecode built into it, but it does have pads and lets you do different pad modes in Serato DJ Pro among other cool features.
I would really like to see Pioneer stop gouging the DJ market with their insane pricing on their products. They could make so much more money if they priced things at the borderline of what most DJs would be tempted to buy their gear at. In a world where people are opting for Spotify or Tidal playlists over hiring a DJ, its harder for a lot of DJs to get “gigs” these days that pay a reasonable price. Also, the DJ market is oversaturated with DJs who learned how to DJ very quickly on a controller and are quite competent at it. There’s so much competition, that it can be hard for a DJ to land a gig at the rate they want to charge for it. Some of the newer DJs will undercut so much that you can’t compete. How do you expect DJs in a market like that to be able to afford such high priced gear?
Personally, I can’t see them making much of a profit off only clubs or events buying the gear. DJ equipment is a niche market as it is, and to price things so highly only makes your product even more niche. Hopefully, the poor sales of this product will prompt them to bring the price down and reconsider how they price their products moving forward. DJs love new innovative gear, but not if you have to sell a kidney on the dark web to afford it. Get it together Pioneer….