Pioneer DJ’s new controller has touch strips and even more pads

Pioneer DJ has unveiled its new DDJ-XP1 controller, meant for enhancing DJ

performances. Along with the new hardware, it’s also announced a new version of Rekordbox, its music management and DJ performance app. Pioneer gear is largely considered a standard in clubs and at festivals for DJs, and this controller, while not as expansive as others on the market, helps close the loop on Pioneer / Rekordbox performances with turntables, multi-players, and other devices. At first look, the DDJ-XP1 controller appears to be a beefed-up version of Pioneer’s previous add-on controller, the DDJ-SP1. This is a more dynamic interface, though; with 32 pads and touch strips that replace FX knobs, the DDJ-XP1 is more for improvisation and reinventing your set versus something that simply triggers hot cues. Among the DDJ-XP1’s key features are 16 pads for each Rekordbox DJ deck (fully assignable via the Pad Editor in Rekordbox 5.0), the Slide FX strip, a Keyboard function, which is basically a built-in sampler, allowing you to take a sound and play it in different semitones on the pads, and a Key Shift that adjusts the key of various songs being played.                                                                                                          https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/12/16294704/pioneer-dj-ddj-xp1-controller-rekordbox-5-0