Anyone who is professionally involved with audio would do well to invest in good monitors. Pioneer DJ has been successfully targeting the disc jockey for years and is expanding the range with a new set of speakers. We were allowed to try the Pioneer DJ DM-40BT-W.
Pioneer DJ DM-40BT-W
Price: 199 euros, 171 euros for the black versionFrequency range: 60Hz - 30kHz
Assets: 2 x 21 Watt
Connectivity: 1 line RCA, 1 line 3.5mm (input), 3.5mm headphone port (output), Bluetooth 4.2 with SBC, AAC, Qualcomm aptX and –Low Latency
Speakers: ¾-inch tweeter, 4-inch woofer
Format: 146mm x 227mm x 223mm (W x H x D)
Weight: 2.7kg (left), 2.2kg (right)
Colors: White and black
Website: pioneerdj.com
To buy: Kieskeurig.nl 7 Score 70
- Pros
- Design
- Bluetooth aptX
- Energetic sound
- Lots of inputs
- Negatives
- Not neutral enough for studio
- No switch between inputs
- Low area limited
The 2-way active speakers have a modern design and are available in black and white. On the front is the volume knob for the DM-40BT-W's own sound interface, as well as a headphone jack. This is a handy addition, since you only occupy one audio input for both speakers and headphones.
Thanks to the supplied non-slip pads, the monitors remain firmly in place and the speaker does not rumble into the surface on which you place it. The left speaker is active and contains the power connector and an RCA cable for the input. The right speaker is passive and you connect the set via an analog speaker cable.
Wire and wireless
Through the RCA input and mini jack input, you can connect two devices with cable at the same time, bluetooth devices can use the new class 2 bluetooth module in the DM-40BT-W. It supports SBC, AAC and aptX Low Latency, which means that – in addition to improved sound quality – there is virtually no audible delay between the source and the actual output. So if your device supports it, you can watch a video without a noticeable delay in the sound.
This combination of connections makes the Pioneer DJ set suitable for many situations. From an analog connection to your computer and/or laptop to a wireless connection to your smartphone – without delay. By connecting headphones, the output is sent to the headphone jack and the speakers themselves make no sound. With the volume knob on the left speaker, you control the sound from the headphone input, analog inputs and the signal that comes in via Bluetooth.
All 3 forms of input are always active, which means that you will hear multiple audio sources mixed up if you don't mute 2 of the 3. If you like to switch between outputs, the absence of a switch can be a bummer.
dance
The sound of the Pioneer DJ DM-40BT-W is not completely natural as befits a monitor. The bass is warm and the highs are clear, so the midrange is not always as strong. When producing music, the sound image is something to take into account, while it is a nice addition when listening to certain music genres.
Dance in particular sounds quite energetic through the speakers of Pioneer DJ because the bass gets a big boost. When playing artists such as Claptone and GotSome you quickly get the club feeling, which can be motivating when putting together a DJ set. Genres like rock, however, don't sound great due to the less strong midrange.
The frequency range is not sufficient enough to reproduce an enormous amount of detail in the low range. A kick drum sounds fine, but a bass solo by Marcus Miller quickly sounds messy.
The speakers are equipped with a class A/B amplifier and with 21 watts are loud enough for a small room. Although the low tones are directed fairly forward, the mid and high range sounds a bit wider and clearly audible from many places.
Two out of three
According to the packaging, the Pioneer DJ DM-40BT-W is made for music production, DJing and simply listening to your music. The soundstage may not make the set the best choice for the first purpose, but the many connections and energetic soundstage make the set worth considering for the latter two – especially for dance buffs.
