Budget DJ controller sound quality good enough for gigs?

I am weighing up getting one of the above controllers as a travelling unit and to use with an iPad Pro for clubs and festivals.

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How is the sound quality of the stereo outputs and headphones on these devices? Anyone as obsessed as I am find an issue or use them without?

One benefit of the Flx4 is that it works over Bluetooth as a controller, which could be used in combination with a USB-C audio interface if the quality is not great.

Depends on your personal definition of “good enough”…

Some would say that even budget devices made now have audio quality far beyond what we used to have on equipment in that sector during the 70s and 80s. Others would insist on spending thousands on a boutique mixer because they assume anything mass produced is bad.

If it matters, or could influence you, Laidback Luke used a $199 Reloop Mixtour for his gigs.

Thanks for the reply.

For context, I have been a full-time mix engineer for many years and sound quality is super important to me and I believe in the wider world too. As we are long past the 70s and 80s PA days. Just this last weekend I did a DJ gig and had several other DJs and the festival sound guy asking me how my set sounded so good. It was tangible and even came across on a few social media clips.

Why was this? I actually took my studio audio interface for DAC with me and played 24-bit WAVs - and even EQ’ed the system a little. I also suspect the other guys were playing MP3s, as the sound was a little fuzzy, less clarity, high freq extension and lacking in deep low-end and transients.

I think this contributes to making a better experience for the audience too.

Course it occurred to me that I could get in one of these units to try in the studio for a real test. Just before I take the time to do so thought I’d check in here to see what other folks experience is

When it comes to clubs and festivals, you will probably not go directly from the controller to the PA, but to an external mixer. And then the sound card of the controller is not unimportant, but often doesn’t play such a decisive role. So I think you can work with almost any controller in such an environment.

A quick note on the idea of using the Flx4 with an external audio interface: This will not work if you connect the controller to the iPad via Bluetooth, because then the sound will not be output via the controller, but via the iPad.

Yeh sure - but it is the DAC part that I am focussing on, before the mixer. However with a few system setups, I have been able to bypass the mixer by swapping the outputs of the mixer. Not great though as it will need an audio swap. Just saying it is possible.

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Yeh that is what I meant and said. Bluetooth will control Djay Pro - leaving the iPad audio output via USB-C to an audio interface.

The Buddy is fun with some cool features but the build quality and sound output isn’t there for it to be taken seriously. It made my Bose S1s sound average.
It’s great for a quick practice at home and does work well with the iPad, apart from the mixtour pro I believe it’s the only other device which can raise the function panes on the app without touching the screen. But overall I played a few gigs with it and didn’t find it up to the task.
The Flx4 sounded good but I didn’t take to the layout. Nice build quality and size though.
I’m currently using the Hercules 500 which is a great allrounder but a little bigger than I’d like.
I don’t think there’s a perfect portable controller for djay yet. The prime go is the only really serious professional contender but I hate the idea of paying for the onboard screen and not using it.

The Flx4 is decent and also a really good size.
I guess it comes down to what features you like and don’t like.
I like FX per channel rather than having to assign, coloured pads and a looping dial.
The flex 4 has none of these but the other 2 I mentioned do.
If these aren’t deal breakers for you then I would recommend it.
I’m reserving judgment on the mixtour pro until I’ve had a look and a go at somewhere like Bopdj. It’s so out there I have no idea whether I’ll like it or not.

I’m with you and high end sound quality (my interpretation of it at least) is paramount. there’s loads out on the market obviously but I use a Topping D70 DAC along with a Reloop Buddy and iPad Pro. Sounds great to my ears. Just remember when using an external audio card / dac that DJay pro will default to whatever audio source was last connected. This means that sometimes it may default to the controller and you’ll need to hop into settings and/or unplug your external DAC at the USB and reconnect it. Also, I find some USB hubs work with all of this going on and some don’t. Good luck!

I own FLX4 and when there’s an opportunity, I play from CDJS and I can tell you there’s noticeable difference in sound quality between the two. Unintuitively, you won’t notice it on studio monitors or headphones, but on a “big” PA system, it’s a surprising difference.
Not going into details, this is a topic for long articles, but to make it short, there are at least two DAC parameters playing role in this - signal to noise ratio (SNR) and total harmonic distortion (THR). Unfortunately, it’s not so common nowadays to publish these values. However, Pioneer publishes it and you can find out FLX4, as their “entry level” controller, having the worst values, while CDJS or their flagship mixers and controllers are the best. Yes, putting DAC from e.g. FLX10 to FLX4 would cost Pioneer nearly nothing, but this is how marketing works - you have to distinguish your products to not cannibalise each other.
I also ended up buying a separate audio interface to use with FLX4. It’s extra hassle to setup, but as someone mentioned here, I was immediately approached by other DJs with “it sounded so amazingly good, what do you use?”

As a side note, DAC is definitely not the most important thing in resulting quality of your DJ set - the music sources (always use lossless), working with levels (limiter vs distortion vs strong output signal), venue sound staging (if you have an opportunity to do sound check, especially with a sound engineer on the deck, do it!) and a bonus tip: don’t use key lock / time stretching. It damages the sound in the most extreme way. Just try an A/B test on a big soundsystem on a bass heavy track and you’ll know yourself.

Nice reply Adam, and we share the same attention to detail to sound. I know of the Topping D70 DAC - do you use the USB input from the iPad Pro?

I really like the idea of the Buddy’s tight integration with Djay Pro - so will probably get that and maybe/likely carry on using my DAC.

On a side note, do you have the iPad Pro connected to a USB Hub which is subsequently connected to the Buddy and the Topping DAC?

Could I ask which USB hub you are using?

Cheers!

I now use a setup similar to the one you describe. An iPad pro; A Numark DJ2GO Touch for midi control only; A Reloop Flux as a DAC; Routed via a Union Audio Elara 4 mixer. This has the advantage of being (almost) as portable as a controller, with the sound quality of a decent DAC, plus the excellent summing of the mixer. It’s this last point that really made a difference for me. As I play multiple genres, I really notice how bad some Pioneer gear sounds when combining two disparate sources.

You can route audio to a dedicated interface with a USB hub. I tried a UA volt 476 for master out 1-2 and routed the headphones out 3-4 and then through a preamp as well. Trying out the FLX4 as a controller only. Don’t love the sound quality of the soundcard and had to remap the performance pads for Neural solo/mute. I’m thinking Rane Four/Performer is where I’ll end up. That’s cool you play 24 bit WAV files, do you use a pool or buy them? That can get pricey. I’m enjoying how Tidal sounds.

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