- CX : £ Sound and comfort are such personal things. That’s what arguably makes headphones such hard products to review. That said, when Federico from Pioneer DJ dropped a pair of their new HDJ-CX headphones at my door and said, “see what you think of these,” I thought I’d give it my best shot. 88 sponsored by The box was insanely light, suggesting a lighter weight product compared to my current preferred headphones choice, the Pioneer DJ HDJ-1500s, and inside you find the very cool looking HDJ-CX (they actually remind me of a product that’s been out for years: the HD25, which hundreds of DJs use).

With these new headphones, Pioneer DJ aimed to reduce weight to an absolute bare minimum, and at just 136g without cables (also re-designed to save weight) I doubt you’ll know you are wearing them. But more about that in a bit. In the box were two cables, a 1.6m straight and a 1.2m coiled (which extends to 3m). Great for me, as I prefer a coiled cable because it doesn’t get in the way and keeps the booth tidy.

Then there was the plug adapter holder, which holds the included 6.3mm jack adapter. As we all know, adapters are very easy to lose and Pioneer DJ has combated this with a nifty solution that easily clips onto your cable. To my pleasant surprise, you also get a pair of replacement ear pads in the box. Now, about that weight – or lack of.

You may think this reduction in weight could make the headphones feel a bit flimsy. To test this, I put them through their paces. I pulled, prodded, dropped and dragged the HDJ-CX through just about every test I could think of. In fact, it seems Pioneer DJ were one step ahead of me, as they’d already subjected them to a stringent US military-standard MIL-STD-810H shock test to prove their durability and resilience against physical impact.

So, expect these headphones to last you a good while, especially considering the replacement ear pads. The HDJ-CX are ergonomically designed to minimise stress to your head, neck and shoulders, and the weight distribution of the headband and the earcups, as well as the thickness of the headband cushion, have been carefully adjusted for optimal balance. Pioneer DJ has reduced the diameter of the wire inside the included cables and, on the coiled cable, has shifted the position of the spiral closer to the plug that connects to your mixer, so it’s more balanced with the straight section.

The headphones also feature PEEK-PU-PEEK composite film diaphragms – a triple-layered design with polyurethane (PU) resin sandwiched between polyether ether ketone (PEEK) resin – that provide tight sound with a frequency response of 5 Hz to 30 kHz. This means you can clearly hear the kicks, snare drums and hi-hats for precise monitoring and mixing in any environment. PIONEER DJ HDJ-CX The φ35 mm driver units realise the input power to reach 2,000 mW and the bass reflex chambers the housings improve low-frequency response even further, while the sound insulators create a higher level of audio insulation, so you’ll hear the full bass along with every nuance in the music.

Based on their technical spec and ergonomic design, Pioneer DJ tells us the HDJ-CX are specifically designed for comfort and tuned to deliver outstanding sound quality for DJs who mix and monitor music. On paper it all sounds perfect – but what are they really like to use? The headphones are on-ear cup, which means you’ll still hear the outside world (I mean, you wouldn’t want noise cancelling headphones for a gig anyway, would you?). The metal headband for me was a little tight, pushing the bottom of the ear cups into my face (and yes, before you say it, I know I have a big head).

This meant that when I wore them in the studio for an hour solid, they weren’t as comfortable as I imagined. That said, Pioneer is not aiming the HDJ-CX at this market, so maybe that’s a tad unfair. The sound quality, however, was super impressive – deep bass response and more than loud enough to cope with noisy DJ environments as well as for monitoring purposes. PIONEER DJ HDJ-CX - CX I also tested the headphones at a gig.

The joints allow in for either cup to be placed at 90 degrees, so you can go with that one cup on and one cup off look when mixing live. This is a cool feature offered by very few alternative brands. When cueing a track and checking a mix before I sent it live, the uncomfortable feeling of long-term use that I’d experienced in the studio simply wasn’t there. And this is where Pioneer DJ has pitched this product – I could clearly hear everything I needed to and, with them being so light, they were a pleasure to use.

All in all, there were many aspects of the HDJ-CX that I enjoyed. The detachable cable is great, as I’m used to this already with my 1500s, and the replacement cups also make for good value. I found the sound quality of the HDJ-CX very deep at the bottom end, whilst the mids and highs were clear. In addition, the flexibility, lightweight design and robust build are very well-suited to mobile DJs.

In March, the HDJ-CX also joined me on a trip to the Pro Mobile Conference, where I dropped them onto the stand in the networking hub so that DJs could try them out. Feedback was almost unanimously positive, so I think it’s safe to say Pioneer DJ has hit the nail on the head with this one. If By Fabio Capozzi chairman@ What a pleasure it was volunteering my time to Pro Mobile at the long-awaited Pro Mobile Conference 2022 in Solihull. It was great to meet and greet so many members and likeminded DJs from across Britain, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, who all came together at one of the key events of the year.

NADJ attended in our capacity as education partner, and our stand in the foyer was the perfect setting to catch up with members and supporters, and proved to be a fantastic networking opportunity. it The conference was managed and curated by Steve Honeyball and Peter Holding, and I would like to thank them both on behalf of our members for their sterling work on delivering a fantastic two days of education and inspiration, set against an awesome back drop of lighting, staging and video wall by ADJ If and Boxoso, with audio provided by FBT, and all brought to life by the engineering expertise of Kent Media Group.

We were very sad to hear of the passing of Dave Brown from Promo Only. We extend our deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to family and I friends at this unhappy time. Dave was honoured at the Pro Mobile Awards with a ‘Recognition for Services to the Industry’ award for his incredible in generosity of time and support to the DJ industry. Dave will be greatly missed.

Unfortunately, The DJ Show has been postponed, we will be keeping a close eye out for a new date. The show, hosted by djkit®, has become an important calendar event for DJs, offering a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues, connect with manufacturers and retailers, and get a closer look at all the gear in our market. NADJ was invited to attend, we look forward to exhibiting soon at this fantastic show, it’s perfect for networking with members and gives us a real chance to showcase the benefits of NADJ to prospective members. you feel we are missing out on a benefit or a discount that members would love, please do email chairman@ with your suggestions and ideas.

Finally, as we land in the Spring/Summer season, my thoughts turn to new beginnings and growth. As you know, our association is run by DJs, for DJs, and we completely depend on the generosity of time from our volunteers who get involved in helping us manage the needs of our members. The work is rewarding but challenging, stimulating yet essential, and we thank all the members and their supporters who are currently in committee positions, for doing a wonderful job looking after our membership at regional level.

Nevertheless, is essential for new people to get involved in either national or regional roles to ensure our association remains fresh and vibrant with new initiatives and exciting concepts, helping us to grow into the future. you feel you could be a suitable candidate for the position of Chairperson, Secretary or Treasurer, or to help out in your local region, please do come forward and speak to me, Nick Chatten or Keith Ellwood to find out more about the available roles.

Contact us via email at hello@ wish you all a brilliant and busy summer season. I’m looking forward to all the outdoor events, weddings, pool parties and celebrations that we have all enjoyed our busier years. Please do remain COVID aware as we all know it has not disappeared completely, remembering to sanitise key touch points to stay safe. But most importantly, keep your clients happy and your dancefloors full.

NADJ NEWS For more information call: 0800 468 1363 or visit: BRANCH UPDATE By the NEC team We are thoroughly enjoying what appears to be positive return for our industry. We are hearing of members booking more gigs, receiving better quality enquiries and of course we have the return of live sessions, where we can meet and network as we used to. All branches are very appreciative of the suppliers that constantly make a huge effort to make it to branch sessions and without support from all the manufacturers, retailers and specialists that offer their time, we do not know how we would do Thank you all, it really is very much appreciated.

There has been a lot of discussion about attracting new customers, and how other members go about this. We have been advocating better use of NADJ profiles, and if you missed the last report there were some good tips on how to do this: • Now is a great time to spring clean your profile page • Update your contact information. • Update your current address, which is important to ensure you have your copy of Pro Mobile delivered to your door (your address does not have to be displayed in your public-facing part of your profile) • This is also a great time to update photos, show off your new setup and add your best photos of full dancefloors to illustrate what you do • Update your services as these may have changed or you may have added more to your list • Write a new intro or freshen up your sales pitch The Wales, Essex and London branches have already reverted to live sessions, and more branches will be following suit.

Please keep an eye on our social media for dates and locations and if you are available, please do support your branch. NADJ NEWS A session is not always about the kit, and a big thanks to Josh Clarke for his introduction to social media on the South-Central online session. This was especially well received and a good intro to how social media may help you reach out to more customers. It’s not all about the demonstrations and great a speakers but also about connecting with other DJs, networking, and helping each other.

If you can spare some time, why not speak to your branch committee and see if you can offer help in making the sessions great? It always amazes us that so many members and visitors help with creating great content, and with the support of the NEC team we are confident that all the officers of the respective NADJ branches are it. ready to take our members on to a new era of gigs and events, helping, supporting, and appreciating what everyone has contributed to making the NADJ the UK's largest DJ Association.

Finally, we were very disappointed to hear that The DJ Show was to be postponed, as this is a great opportunity for NADJ to meet potential new members and also to see current members. The South-Central team and the NEC committee love attending the show and we look forward to hearing a new date. It is important to get out there and represent our association, helping fellow DJs understand a little more about what we do and how members benefit. Full membership is now back to the regular fee of £75 per year and NEC have confirmed that this will remain for the year, just as we get back on our feet.

If you would like to know more about us please do visit the website at or call our Membership Officer on 0203 307 4468, we would love to hear from you. Please check the NADJ Branches Facebook page and NADJ website events for up-and-coming NADJ events and Zoom meetings. Thank you everyone for your continued support and have a fantastic and successful start to the summer season. 91