DJ technology has come a long way since the early days of clubbing. At the end of the noughties controllers and DVS were all the rage but in the past 10 years more DJ’s have favoured standalone DJ systems as their weapon of choice both at home, in the studio and on the road. The standalone market has a huge range of controllers with varied features and price points. In this round up we will be covering some of the more compact and portable standalone offerings on the market today.
Numark Mixstream Pro Go
The first unit in our roundup is also the most budget friendly. The original Mixstream Pro from Numark, first launched in October 2021, has been popular since its release. The latest iteration of the controller, the Mixstream Pro Go features full streaming capabilities (Beatport, Beatsource, Tidal & Amazon Music) as well as a built in battery that boasts up to 6 hours battery life.
While the Mixstream Pro Go may be missing a few of the more advanced features seen on other controllers in our shootout, the minimalistic design has all the essentials and means that the controller comes in a small, lightweight package. The built in speakers and streaming capabilities make this an all in one package for beginners and professional DJ’s alike.
Pioneer DJ XDJ-RR
The next unit in our line-up was the first to be released and is arguably the most recognisable in our roundup. The XDJ-RR is a two channel standalone unit from industry leader, Pioneer DJ. The RR adopts Pioneer's synonymous club standard design and applies it to a compact standalone unit.
Featuring a club standard NXS2 layout with a 7 inch screen and professional style mixer section, similar to the one seen on the club standard DJM900NXS2 mixer but in a much more compact footprint, the XDJ-RR is perfect for DJ’s who want to practice using a club standard layout in their home studios but without the need for a full CDJ setup.
Denon DJ Prime-Go
The third unit in our roundup comes from the guys at Denon DJ. The Prime-Go has been specifically designed with portability in mind. The unit has been designed to be as compact as possible but doesn’t sacrifice any key features that have made Denon’s Prime range so popular.
Denon DJ's Prime-Go was the first standalone unit to introduce a rechargeable battery onboard, a feature which has now proved to be popular as Denon’s competitors are also now adding batteries to their compact standalone options. It also features built-in Wi-Fi along with wired internet connectivity for music streaming and dedicated XLR mic inputs with EQ/Level/talk-over so you can be ready for any situation on the road despite the unit's small footprint.
Alpha Theta Omnis Duo
The final standalone in our line-up is the most recent addition to the market. The AlphaTheta Omnis-Duo is a two channel standalone from the company behind Pioneer DJ. The Omnis-Duo is a portable battery powered two channel controller. The Omnis utilizes a minimalistic but very functional design, similar to the layout first introduced on its bigger brother the Opus-Quad.
Despite its simplistic control surface the Onmis still comes packed with new features including flexible audio routing which features a Bluetooth output and up to 5 hours battery life from a single charge. The Omnis is perfect for DJ’s on the move but also features the latest technology and a sleek design which will make the Omnis look right at home in any environment.
