08/26/2025
Ok what I'm about to say may be controversial and may irk some people, but I really don't give AF. It's about the whole Sync button debate on the CDJs and DJ's who use it vs those who don't.
I don't have much experience on CDJs or any decks that have it for that matter and over the last few weekends I was thrust upon them and had to adapt, but in that time I was able to watch a few DJ's use the decks to just see how they use them.
For the DJ's that don't use the Sync button, this is what they do. They play the track in Cue and adjust the pitch so the BPM on the one screen matches the BPM of the track currently playing, then they mash "Cue" to time their track to come in on a phase and hit Play when they want it then hit the jog wheel a bit to make sure the beats line up and are in the same spot.
For the DJ's that DO use Sync, they have the Beat Sync Button on, no need to change the pitch to match the BPM numbers and then do exactly the same thing with the cue and play buttons and use the jog wheel to make sure tracks are in the same groove beat wise.
EXACTLY THE SAME OUTCOME
SO! My thoughts???
Why not use the sync button? All you are doing is saving yourself a few seconds to not have to match two numbers on two different screens. Everything else is pretty much the same. Not using the Sync doesn't really change what you do on those decks much. It's only a time saver.
Now of course, this is from my observations and there is probably some DJ's out there that do it differently, don't grid up their tracks prior and go by sound like we used to, kudos, I get it. I may be missing something as I said, I don't have much experience on them.
What I do know is with my b***y tracks, gridding is vital. Tempo changes and floating BPM's are a part of the genre as it's some of the worst produced and inconsistent music in the game, and when I played vinyl, I had to CONSTANTLY baby my mixes with my fingers on the wax and platter, CDJ's feel a little more unforgiving to me and slide past my desired speed it feels, so gridding has made that so much easier when using digital gear.
I've tried both Sync and not Sync and from what I learned, there was no difference. Same routine, one is just a slight time saver and make your life a little easier and gives you more time to do what you do instead of playing the on screen BPM number matching game. THAT'S IT!!
If I'm missing anything, please point it out.
Technology is here to make your life easier and if you are a true DJ, you don't need to prove you can beat match, I certainly don't fkn need to. Who cares!! Make the floor move, make them go nuts, make sure you have good track selection, good timing and can read a crowd, that's all that matters.
My $0.02
