You’re looking at Pioneer’s new XDJ-1000 DJ deck. What’s special about it? It’s the first deck of its kinds to, uhh, not play CDs.
Pioneer’s original CDJ-1000 ushered in a shift among many DJs to stick their vinyl in a closet and instead play using CDs. But now the CD’s practically dead, so decks no longer even need CDs. While the XDJ looks much the same as its predecessors, it’s actually USB-only.
It has pretty much all the features that other high-end CD decks offer, but also features a 7-inch touchscreen to help browse an external hard drive, along with the ability to analyse and prepare tracks on a computer or tablet before or during a set. The deck also allows you to jump backwards or forwards within a loop, and is kindly built with the same layout of old. So, despite the lack of CDs, it should be easy for existing users to play with straight away. The XDJ-1000 will retail for $US1200. [Pioneer via Fact via Engadget]