AlphaTheta DDJ-FLX2 Review: A Great Entry-Level DJ Controller Leave a comment

That’s to not say there aren’t any points. The jog wheels are unimpressive at greatest. They’re useful for locating your home in a track, however I can’t think about making an attempt to scratch or do any actual DJ tips with them. Limiting its usefulness in a stay setting is the truth that there’s no mic enter, and the one two audio outputs (cue and primary) are 3.5-mm TRS jacks. It’ll do the job in the event you’re simply trying to follow at dwelling or DJ a small home celebration, however in the event you confirmed as much as a membership with this, you’d positively get some seems.

Wonderful Integrations

Chances are high, no matter your most popular DJ app or whether or not you’re utilizing an iPad or a laptop computer and even an Android cellphone, the DDJ-FLX2 ought to work together with your setup. I examined it with a MacBook Professional, a six-year-old Dell XPS, a base-model iPad from 2021, and a Google Pixel 7. I had few points when connecting over USB-C (apart from the port on my Pixel being extraordinarily flaky).

Getting linked to the iPad over Bluetooth may have been a bit extra seamless, and I by no means managed to get it to work in any respect with my cellphone. That being stated, due to the latency Bluetooth introduces, it’s not likely ideally suited for DJing anyway.

AlphaTheta says that the DDJ-FLX2 is suitable with Rekordbox, Algoriddim Djay, and Serato DJ Lite, although I solely examined it with the primary two. Since AlphaTheta additionally makes Rekordbox, it’s unsurprising that integration there may be the tightest. It really works precisely as you’d count on proper out of the field, and the labels on the {hardware} mirror the terminology you’d discover in app. If you happen to haven’t dedicated to a specific DJing platform but, Rekordbox is value exploring since there’s a surprisingly feature-rich free model. Plus it helps streaming from SoundCloud, Beatport, Beatsource and Tidal, in case you’re nonetheless constructing out your library at this stage of your DJing profession.

I largely used it with Djay nonetheless, since that’s the software program I used to be educated on after I joined the ranks of Maker Park Radio all these years in the past. Plus, it has Apple Music integration, which makes it simpler for me so as to add issues to my rotation on brief discover and with minimal fuss. The FLX2 labored out of the field with out subject with Algoriddim’s Djay Professional software program, although the labeling and naming conventions don’t all the time line up which might result in some confusion.

Usable in Actual Life

Along with working towards at dwelling, I DJed a few episodes of my radio present with the FLX2 and even experimented with doing brief seamless blocks of dance music on air. The Sensible Fader perform made it easy for a noob like myself to transition between tracks with assistance from filter and echo results, whereas smoothing over small discrepancies in tempo. And after I wished a bit extra time to verify I had every thing lined up or wished to do a mini mashup into the following observe, the loop pads labored like a allure. I wouldn’t say I’m able to DJ an enormous venue, however I really feel a bit extra assured indulging in dance mixes on my present now.