Essentially this has many of the features you find in more expensive synths, for 1/10 the price. At this kind of price, you do expect some tradeoffs. Yes it looks like shit, yes 283 voices isnt really that many, yes its only got an 8 track sequencer, yes its only 3 second sampling. But its infintely expandable via synth modules, it has the analog knobs and sounds, good midi and makes a great start for any aspiring techno musician. When you grow out of the DJX's built in sounds and patterns...there are always synth modules. And as one user said, you'll still probably end up using the drum kits.

For a keyboard, it's good. For a synthesizer it sucks.

First off I should say that when I bought it for full price $300 US I had only a TR-606 (which I bought for $25) and not a whole lot of money as an unemployed 16-year-old so I wanted to get something that would be "all-in-one". With a built-in sampler, sequencer, and filters, it sounded like some pretty neat shit to me. I stayed home for a week playing with it, admittedly because I had never really layed hands on a decent synth before.

Later on, I began to realize the limitations...a bandmate of mine brought home an ESQ-1 from his uncle's studio. He had no idea how to program sounds on the synth and I knew just from research on the internet. So I played around with it and instantly fell in love. I came back home to see my DJX and began to realize just how much I had been ripped off.

The bottom line is control. You don't have a whole lot of it for the DJX. Yeah yeah you can get the cakewalk deal and I've tried it...meaning you can sequence 16 tracks of DJX with one effect type, one reverb, however many filters, and you can control attack/release (for SOME sounds). And still all you're playing is someone else's PCM sounds.

Oh but it has the sampler! No. That sampler sucks. You have 6 total seconds, max of 3 per sound. You hit ONE key to select where the keyboard will map the sound, then it averages it out according to where the other sounds are sampled. The only cool things I could do with this sampler is the old SK-1 trick where you sample a thump and then set the sample time really low until it becomes a waveform like a saw or something. Also FM sounds (from my SoundBlaster) came out OK...fun w/ arpeggiator.

The sequencer? Forget the sequencer. You can't record anything except for notes. No filters at all, have to stick w/ effects you choose before recording, I think only 8 tracks, and step recording is absolutely terrible. No editing...it's basically a cheap 8-track MIDI recorder.

The sounds themselves are excellent, but once again it's just PCM. Very little editing. Some of the pads and "synth" sounds are just incredible though. Also the drumkits are spectacular...this is the biggest plus. Also the cheapy digital LPF can be kinda nice sometimes w/ drums. Once again, though, don't expect a lot of shaping or control of drumsounds...pitch bend and filtering, and a few effects and that's about it. Also as this keyboard is PCM, some of the cymbal/decaying sounds have a "reverb" sound which is a really short repeating sample which decays over time and sounds FAKE AS SHIT. I gotta say though, the kicks, snares, hats, and some of the more different percussion sounds on here are just wonderful.

The ribbon controller really didn't impress me that much. I liked that it was assignable, as well as the extra knob. I don't know how you guys can defend the DJX with that anyway, it seems cool at first, but then started to seem gimmicky to me. Just there to make you think it's more of a bargain and it zippers just like the filters, so bleh!

The effects are pretty good. The distortions can be good on some sounds but are a little fakey to me. I really like the gated reverb sounds. The choruses and flanges are OK but it'd be nice if you could control the speed+feedback on them. I don't like most of the standard reverb...yamaha just isn't my type, I like lexicon or better Alesis (opinion).

I never really bothered a lot with the rhythm/styles that people rave about so much, I mean I went through all of them and did the on/off and filter control thing but I mean I just didn't like playing someone else's rhythms. I'm a DIY kinda guy.

The DJX sucks for controlling itself, but on the other hand the arpeggiator, the conveniently placed knobs, pitchbend and yes sometimes the ribbon controller, make for a nice controller keyboard. The MIDI control is good. One nice application.

So here are the pros: 1) good useable sounds - as TeknoSoul said. 2) good MIDI control so this works well as either a sound module to be controlled by another sequencer or a controller for another sound module. the two don't work well together, for some reason, though.

Cons: 1)limited sound control 2)limited effect control 3)crappy sampler 4)zippery filters (usually sound good though, and this is actually kindof a pro to me) 5)absolute shit sequencer(oh yeah you can't even MIDI sync with this sequencer)

that's about it. So reflecting, I think I wish I would have blown my $300 on a used ESQ-1. I think that's what I was looking for and still am looking for. So I think I'm gonna go buy one of those, and save my DJX to use as a drum module. maybe when I get a sampler and a proper sequencer I'll use as a controller.