Well that was handy - exciting new kit launches just in time for the weDJ Expo...

So far, 2024 has been a crazy year for the DJ equipment world. In January, the parent company of Pioneer DJ announced that they would begin to release products using the AlphaTheta brand.

Shortly after, the Omnis-Duo and Wave-Eight were released and, I think it would be fair to say, these products proved to be a bit polarising. The feedback across the socials was mixed, and many were struggling with what seemed to be a new brand and potentially new direction for the kit released by the revered Pioneer DJ organisation.

In March AlphaTheta delivered the Euphonia. This forward-thinking rotary DJ mixer demonstrated that the pioneering approach that had created the industry standard CDJ and DJM product ranges lived on in the research and development team. The new mixer excited users of rotary DJ mixers and has arguably increased the awareness of this type of mixer – but it’s not a new DJM, and many began to question if we were about to see a seismic shift in the output from the PDJ camp.

Jump forward to October and we have additions to three of Pioneer DJ’s key ranges, with new HDJs, a new DDJ controller and – finally - today we see the announcement of the big one – a new XDJ in the form of the AlphaTheta XDJ-AZ.

What the latest products should make very clear for doubters of AlphaTheta, is that the product development team are more than capable of reinventing the product ranges that have been so popular with DJs at all levels, from beginners through to professionals.

The XDJ-AZ answers the question on many DJ’s lips – what would a four channel/deck XDJ look like? Well, it’ll feature a club standard layout with CDJ-3000 jogwheels, ESS processing onboard, streaming (which I’ve seen in action in an early build and is every bit as good as any other platform out there) a great mixer section lifted straight from a DJM and the inclusion of SonicLink - which delivers low latency DJ headphones without the need for a separate transmitter. And, for those questioning how and where the Opus-Quad now fits in, well nothing has changed – if you want the features offered and you like the styling then it’s still a great product, it was never trying to be the replacement for the XDJ-XZ (sometimes the clue is in the name).

While the XDJ-AZ will steal the show at the weDJ expo in London this coming weekend, the DDJ-GRV6 and it’s innovative Groove Circuit drum replacement feature will also command the attention of many attendees. The ability to live remix with STEMS inside of Rekordbox is one of the best uses of this exciting new technology and might cause more than a few DJs to consider the switch from Serato DJ.

Finally, the HDJ-F10 demonstrate a technological capability and clear intent from AlphaTheta to continue to push the DJ booth forward with the introduction of low latency wireless DJ headphones. It’s highly likely that, while the XDJ-AZ is the first product to include a SonicLink transmitter within the mixer, it certainly won’t be the last.

Six big hitting products in under a year is impressive, all of which answer the needs of DJs and signal that it’s more than business as usual over at AlphaTheta – I’m not really sure what people were worried about back in January.

All of the products mentioned in this post are available to demo at the FREE weDJ Expo, taking place on October 13th and 14th at the Novotel London West. Limited tickets are available from Skiddle.