I stopped by the Gemini booth today and after an excellent chat with Craig, he took me through the key features of the upcoming SDJ-4000.
Now when the first pics came out, I said that I would reserve my judgment on the build quality of this controller until I see it for real.
Video Introduction
Let me tell you, this is NOT a plastic toy! The unit is enormous, rugged, and all the materials feel solid as hell. Granted this is a pre-production unit and Craig stated that it might still change until its final release in Q3 this year, but if the final unit has half the quality of this prototype, it will be one of the best ever build by Gemini. And considering the unit comes in at USD 999, I’m sure this will interest many, many DJ’s that are in for some standalone quality!
So is it an improvement over the SDJ-2000? Yes, most definitely yes. It’s bigger, bolder, more original, better build and shows a new direction for a company that seemed to be stuck in the budget end of the market.
Now if this is the direction the company is going with their DJ gear, I can’t wait to see what their next media player will look/feel like. With Denon DJ and Pioneer DJ fighting the battle at the top end of the spectrum, there is certainly room for competition at the mid/entry-level.
The weak link in all this still remains their music preparation software, Vcase. With still 3 quarters until the launch of the SDJ-4000, they absolutely need to get the software right in order to interest Dj’s. Nobody wants a top of the line controller with mediocre software.
2017 is shaping up to be a hell of DJ gear year, and Gemini clearly wants their part of the cake.
