Pioneer HDJ-1000 Review

[Raymond Kim]

Just got my Pioneer HDJ-1000 in a couple of days ago, so please allow me to write down some of my impressions...

My previous pair of headphones was the Sony MDR-V6 (a.k.a. Sony 7506... do NOT mistaken it for the MDR-V600, as the V600 is CRAP!), a tough headphone to beat, for sure, but I lost it at a party that I recently spun at, which led me to purchase the HDJ-1000. I have used the Sony MDR-V700 extensively as well.

The Pioneers, quite frankly, cannot match the sound quality of the Sony MDR-V6. They don't call the MDR-V6 the head-shaker for nothing, as they can bump out some bass really, really well. I could literally feel the headphone shaking from its own vibrations.

The HDJ-1000, however, cannot display that much power when it comes to bass. It does show a strong presence in mid-bass (more-so than the MDR-V6), but the lower portion of the bass cannot match those of the V6.

The treble is very prominent and can sometimes become shrill ie. the hi-hats or vocals will sound very tinny, unlike the MDR-V6.

Comparing the HDJ-1000 to the MDR-V700 is a different story, though. I am sorry, but I just cannot stand the sound of the MDR-V700; the overbloated mid-bass just makes it that much more difficult to listen to.

As I have always said, the MDR-V700 is the headphone solely for DJing, not for home-listening. The mid-bass is just so overbearing, but that is probably what the makers of the MDR-V700 had in mind when making them so that it would be easier to DJ with them.

Still, the mid-bass... just makes for an awful headphone listening experience, and the HDJ-1000 certainly has the V700 beat. It is much more balanced than the V700, although not quite as well as the V6.

As for the build quality... I'm not very impressed. I'll even go as far to say that the Sony MDR-V700 is better built than the Pioneers. The plastic and the way it looks make it look like a toy, and although the V700 is also plastic and toyish looking it is still, admittedly, pretty solidly built, except for the hinges of course, which many people complain of it breaking.

So really, where would I place the HDJ-1000?

Right between the Sony MDR-V6 and the Sony MDR-V700, with the MDR-V6 right on top.

Man, I miss my V6.

 

[Xecter]

The Sony V6 are great studio moniter headphones. There was some talk on TranceAddict that Paul van Dyk used the Sony V6 in a couple gigs.



Everyone on TA has some people raving about how great the HDJ-1000s are for DJing. Thats good. Atleast we have people moving away from V700, to this much better headphone; along with some DJs..... Carl Cox i think uses them now.

 

[Duncan]

The Pioneers retail for quite a lot in the UK...

...Shocking to see your opinions Raymond that they can't even beat the V6

More power to Team V6 though

Thanks for your honest review..

 

[bangraman]

Ah. I forgot about this one. I wrote recently about the shortest time I had a phone. I put the SR80 in there but actually these qualify as I put them up for sale immediately after I burned it in and heard it in depth. I bought this from Japan straight after it was released. I thought that overall, it was worse than the V700. It had all the problems that the V700 has, but with extended range and less efficiency.


Is there such a thing as over-bling? I think the HDJ-1000 achieves it. Lots of chromed plastic and as I was surprised to discover, quite a lot of aluminum too, maybe more than the V700. It is less conveniently / robustly designed than the V700. Given a choice between the two I'll take the V700. Not that this is a glowing recommendation of any sort...

If I needed such a phone again, unless my portable was very underpowered (i.e. practically anything new from Sony) I'll join Raymond in the stampede for a 7506/V6. However we in Europe have a better choice for the same money if you shop around: The Sennheiser HD25-1.


The 7506 sell for a good amount in the UK too, Duncan... Most shops want £120-130 for it. Whereas you can pick up a V700 for £80 or less.

 

[justAsking]

Sorry to wake up a dead thread, but I wanted to come to the defence of the Pioneer HDJ-1000 headphones.
 
The Pioneer HDJ-1000 has got a lot of bad press around Head-Fi, that is for sure. And I am not really surprised. They are not meant to be audiophile headphones and indeed, they are not. You can get much more neutral sounding headphones with better soundstages for the same money. I just want to say that the HDJ-1000 does what it is supposed to do rather well: it works as a DJ headphone. Why?
 
Well, first of all, I would say because of colouration. It has a huge mid-bass hump that really lets you hear the kick. When this is coupled with the better-than most sound isolation, it really helps beatmixing. I had Senn HD25's before buying the Pioneer HDJ-1000's. From an audiophile point of view, the HD25's sound better and more realistic (despite not really sounding that realistic compared to real audiophile headphones, like the Senn HD600 - also the soundstage with the HD25 is all very much "inside your head", as compared to being somewhere "out there") than the HDJ-1000. For that reason, I understand that the HDJ-1000 doesn't get very much love on these forums. But in my opinion, the HDJ-1000 does very well what it is supposed to do.
 
I bought them because when I was beatmixing with the HD25's, I found it a little too hard to really hear the bass drum of the cue track when another track was playing through the PA at club volumes. The bass of the HD25 was too realistic for this, too sub-bass when the kick of the music was sub-bass. Sub-bass you mainly hear with your body, so the sub-bass coming from the PA was overpowering what I heard from the HD25's, making the kick as heard through the headphones rather blurry and indistinct. Thus I bought the HDJ-1000's that have a huge mid-bass hump that "translates" a lot of that sub-bass kick drum into the higher, more audible range, giving a very distinct and easily heard snappy kick drum well within the range that ear hears, which is also rather distinct from the more rumbling, lower kick-drum sound coming from the PA, making the kick of the cue track overall much easier to hear distinctly. This is not a faithful reproduction of what is on the record, but it is exactly what the situation calls for when beat-mixing. For the purpose that it was designed for, I think the HDJ-1000 is a great headphone.
 
Look at this way: if you are listening to some audiophile headphones at home, do you put on some OTHER music through your home stereo simultaneously at over 100dB? Of course you don't! But this is the situation for which the HDJ-1000 was designed for and it is a situation in which it does what it is supposed to do. It is coloured, for sure, but it is coloured in a way that lets you hear the beat easily. It also has some higher frequency colouration that helps you hear which portion of a track you are in when listening a track that you already know well from before - even when there is other music playing real loud around you.
 
Having said that, I have also clocked thousands of listening the HDJ-1000's just for fun at work. Not really focusing on the music, but playing my own music in the background at the office without bothering my colleagues. In this situation, their good sound isolation is practical - I can listen to music at normal volumes and my office mates a mere metre away will not hear anything. However, I do use quite a bit of EQ in that situation to get them to sound more neutral. But once you do that, they can present most of the detail that is contained in the music. In this respect, they are respectable headphones. Ok, so they are coloured. Ok, so they don't have much of a soundstage to speak of. But they do largely reproduce the sound that is in the recording, even if it is in their own coloured fashion.
 
Having said that, they do look rather tacky and they are quite fragile near the swivel joints and buying replacement parts for those broken bits cost quite a lot.
 
Overall, I think the HDJ-1000 does very well what it is supposed to do. Yes, there is a price for that in terms of faithful reproduction. But in the end, I also think that these headphones are not as bad as they are made out to be on these forums for just listening to music. However, if that is what you will be doing, there are certainly lots and lots of better options out there for the same price.

 

[priest]

very interesting post. i am not even a DJ, but it drew me in and edified me. thanks.

 

[qiqibaba]

so great to see ppl appreciating hdj1000, its built for club/dance music, and club/dance music lovers and djs. its definitely one of the most
fun sounding headphones that make you feel like in a club raving with the music.
 

Sorry to wake up a dead thread, but I wanted to come to the defence of the Pioneer HDJ-1000 headphones.
 
The Pioneer HDJ-1000 has got a lot of bad press around Head-Fi, that is for sure. And I am not really surprised. They are not meant to be audiophile headphones and indeed, they are not. You can get much more neutral sounding headphones with better soundstages for the same money. I just want to say that the HDJ-1000 does what it is supposed to do rather well: it works as a DJ headphone. Why?
 
Well, first of all, I would say because of colouration. It has a huge mid-bass hump that really lets you hear the kick. When this is coupled with the better-than most sound isolation, it really helps beatmixing. I had Senn HD25's before buying the Pioneer HDJ-1000's. From an audiophile point of view, the HD25's sound better and more realistic (despite not really sounding that realistic compared to real audiophile headphones, like the Senn HD600 - also the soundstage with the HD25 is all very much "inside your head", as compared to being somewhere "out there") than the HDJ-1000. For that reason, I understand that the HDJ-1000 doesn't get very much love on these forums. But in my opinion, the HDJ-1000 does very well what it is supposed to do.
 
I bought them because when I was beatmixing with the HD25's, I found it a little too hard to really hear the bass drum of the cue track when another track was playing through the PA at club volumes. The bass of the HD25 was too realistic for this, too sub-bass when the kick of the music was sub-bass. Sub-bass you mainly hear with your body, so the sub-bass coming from the PA was overpowering what I heard from the HD25's, making the kick as heard through the headphones rather blurry and indistinct. Thus I bought the HDJ-1000's that have a huge mid-bass hump that "translates" a lot of that sub-bass kick drum into the higher, more audible range, giving a very distinct and easily heard snappy kick drum well within the range that ear hears, which is also rather distinct from the more rumbling, lower kick-drum sound coming from the PA, making the kick of the cue track overall much easier to hear distinctly. This is not a faithful reproduction of what is on the record, but it is exactly what the situation calls for when beat-mixing. For the purpose that it was designed for, I think the HDJ-1000 is a great headphone.
 
Look at this way: if you are listening to some audiophile headphones at home, do you put on some OTHER music through your home stereo simultaneously at over 100dB? Of course you don't! But this is the situation for which the HDJ-1000 was designed for and it is a situation in which it does what it is supposed to do. It is coloured, for sure, but it is coloured in a way that lets you hear the beat easily. It also has some higher frequency colouration that helps you hear which portion of a track you are in when listening a track that you already know well from before - even when there is other music playing real loud around you.
 
Having said that, I have also clocked thousands of listening the HDJ-1000's just for fun at work. Not really focusing on the music, but playing my own music in the background at the office without bothering my colleagues. In this situation, their good sound isolation is practical - I can listen to music at normal volumes and my office mates a mere metre away will not hear anything. However, I do use quite a bit of EQ in that situation to get them to sound more neutral. But once you do that, they can present most of the detail that is contained in the music. In this respect, they are respectable headphones. Ok, so they are coloured. Ok, so they don't have much of a soundstage to speak of. But they do largely reproduce the sound that is in the recording, even if it is in their own coloured fashion.
 
Having said that, they do look rather tacky and they are quite fragile near the swivel joints and buying replacement parts for those broken bits cost quite a lot.
 
Overall, I think the HDJ-1000 does very well what it is supposed to do. Yes, there is a price for that in terms of faithful reproduction. But in the end, I also think that these headphones are not as bad as they are made out to be on these forums for just listening to music. However, if that is what you will be doing, there are certainly lots and lots of better options out there for the same price.