i tested out the SB2 in local guitar center and ended up buying this blind, since they didnt have one in stock.
As a complete beginner, i Love this controller as a beginner bedroom DJ, even tho this has the capability to play small medium house parties etc as you learn. I read tons of info on the reddit beatmatch forums for beginner controllers. and youtube videos by ellaskins and the ddj rb, he has some great reviews/tutorials etc.
Why i chose this over the more popular DDJ-SB2, some pro's and cons with 3 main reasons that decided my choosing this one.
Cons: Sort of a con how you look at it. Compared to the ddj sb2 it only has 2 decks to mix with, on the SB2 you can hit a button and switch to a 3rd and 4th deck to control (which i believe is locked out unless you have paid version of serato), but i find this tedious as it only has the 2 channel mixer to control it which i think would get confusing as a beginner
no headphone mix control knob on the controller just volume, but as a beginner, im fine with just cueing which track i wanna listen to on the controller. (you can set the control volume mix level on the software with your mouse)
also you can only control 2 FX (unless you are quick with the mouse, or possible map the on off to a keyboard shortcut in the software), at a time instead of the 6 on the SB2. seems like a big difference, but by the time you need to start going crazy with multiple FX layering, you'll be looking at a higher level controller anyway.
thats about it for the Cons,
Pros!!!
1: DEDICATED hard plastic PLAY/CUE buttons similar to a standard CDJ setup, this made a huge difference compared to the mushy square pads on the SB2 for play/cue/etc. on this you get to use the 8 dedicated pads for fx/looping/sampler/cue points in a song, and all those features are individually editable. I find this makes a better tradeoff for losing a couple FX controls at the top. (the SB2 gives you 4 pads, since the bottom row of pads are for play cue pause etc. you CAN hit shift on the SB2 to use those bottom 4 pads on it as extra cues/looping/sampling etc BUT you HAVE TO HAVE THE PAID LICENSE of serato to use this feature and the SB2 only comes with the free intro version.
2: the DDJ SB2 comes with an intro version of it's software and is pretty locked down, fx's locked down to minimum, you cannot even record your mixes with the trial software.
THIS DDJ-RB comes with a FULL license of rekordbox DJ, comes with FX pack. you can download a 30day trial before you buy the controller to test it out. this is 130$ value just by itself. Yes the controller is pretty much locked into Rekordbox, the SB2 can use multiple software, but i absolutely love the rekordbox software.
Think of it like this. the license is linked to the computer, and not the controller. and can be used on 2 computers at a time. So when you are ready to upgrade to say, a DDJ SX2 that is a serato controller yes it will come with a full serato license to use bound to that controller but it will also work with rekordbox DJ so now you have your choice to choose from since now you have both. Or you can deactivate the license from the computers and now you can sell the controller with the full license if you do not need it after upgrading, or if you just don't stick with the hobby.
Also the Rekordbox music management is pretty much the standard for actual clubs and pros, so all your que points and such you can export your tracks to a usb and use on other equipment and your good to go.
3: a pro and a con. you can choose to play your music through your computers speakers/soundcard via the usb cable connected. i liked this feature since i use a desktop with decent speakers/woofer. the only problem is that you cannot cue headphones to haer a track and mix with. to use headphones you have to use the RCA connections instead and use the mixers internal soundcard. so i bought a 5$ adapter that female 3.5mm to RCA males plugged into back of controller . (maybe if you have a better soundcard than a standard motherboard soundcard that would be a feature available, but i do not know.)
they are almost identical controllers. so it boiled down to the buttons layout setup and full license after i trialed the software..
picked up the 15$ amazon basic on ear headphones and they work great. (remember... im a beginner, so not dropping a ton of cash until i know the hobby will stick.
AmazonBasics Lightweight On-Ear Headphones - Black
yueton 2 Pack Gold 3.5mm 6" Stereo Female Mini Jack To 2 Male RCA Plug Adapter Audio Y Cable
love it love it love it, learning to mix DnB dubstep/trap breakbeats...
any questions ask i'll try to answer.
running on an 3.5ghz fx6300 8gig ram, and an old hd7850 1gb ram GPU. 250gb SSD
it uses about 10-15%cpu while in use on my setup and about 800-900MB ram round it up to 1gig ram
it will hit 50-60% CPU when analyzing and importing tracks to your collection which is no big deal. just select all your tracks and hit import, and walk away for a bit and let it do its thing....
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This Item  Pioneer DJ DDJ-RB Portable 2-channel Controller for rekordbox dj |  |  |  | |
| Price | $575.00 | $159.00 | $549.00 | $299.99 |
| Delivery | Get it May 13 - 16 | — | Get it as soon as Monday, May 13 | Get it as soon as Monday, May 13 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||
| For beginners | ||||
| Value for money | ||||
| Easy to learn | ||||
| Sturdiness | ||||
| Easy to use | ||||
| Sold By | Ultimate Goods Depot | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com |
| hardware interface | — | — | usb2.0 | usb |
| style | Controller | DDJ-200 | S3 | Hercules DJControl Inpulse 500 |
| model year | — | — | 2019 | 2020 |
Reviews with images
It's been almost 4 years folks...
Hey fam,About 4 years ago I bought this controller on amazon. Its compact, lightweight and has plenty of features.I took it everywhere, parks, sandy beaches, planes, roadtrips etc. Living mostly out of my van this board was always on the go.After 1 year the right jog wheel lost its touch sensitive top.After 2 years the bottom switch to change between decks stopped working.After 3 years the left deck gain knob started freaking outNow almost 4 years later I can only use one deck and am hoping to get a new DJ controller.I didnt mistreat the controller but I did put it through its paces. I'd have liked to get a few more years out of it. The touch sensitive plate especially I feel went out early.I'd say if you dont need regular mobility go for this board. If you do, look for something more rugged.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2017
Style: ControllerVerified Purchase
My 5 star raiting is only for the controller and not for the seller. Be aware that my ddj-rb came with a box that you could see it was opened before. It had a random tape inside of it and the plastic covering was crooked. Also, the controller itself had a little bit of dust on top of it. I’ve bought many pioneer products (Ddj-sz, djm400, cdj400-900-2000) and i can tell you someone was messing with it before me. Now lets talk about the ddj-rb: its an amazing dj controller with most of the high end features packed in a small and lightweight product. If you are a profesional dj or a starter this will be a great choice. The rekordbox dj key worked perfectly✌🏼
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