TECH: Pioneer DJ PLX-500 Turntable

Pioneer DJ has announced the PLX-500, a brand new DJ and casual listening turntable. Hot on the heels of new Rekordbox features designed for recording and organizing vinyl, this new turntable comes in two colors and is budget-friendly at $350. The killer feature? A USB port for DVS control.

This new turntable goes beyond what the PLX-1000 offered when it was announced two years ago in July 2014. They’ve added a USB soundcard, which allows DJs to connect it with Rekordbox to quickly digitize vinyl or to use as a DVS player for Rekordbox DJ.

Here’s the full feature set of the PLX-500:

1. High-quality analog vinyl sound: The PLX-500 series inherits design features from the PLX-1000 to produce the high-quality sound expected from vinyl. The shortest possible audio routing from the stylus to the outputs reduces distortion, and the phono and line outputs mean users can connect directly to their sound system or powered speakers to enjoy warm sound

2. Easy digital recording: A built-in USB output means you can record your vinyl collection to high-quality digital WAV files by simply connecting the PLX-500 to your PC or Mac. Digitizing tracks is easy using our free rekordbox application

3. High-torque direct drive turntable: […] the high-torque, direct drive PLX-500 is ideal for mixing and scratching. Users can also combine it with the rekordbox dvs Plus Pack to play and perform with their digital files when using a compatible DJM mixer and the RB-VS1- K Control Vinyl (available separately).Worth noting: Pioneer seems pretty explicit in their press release about these turntables only working as DVS controllers with Rekordbox DJ and a compatible DJM mixer – but according to Pioneer, that includes everything on this list.We suspect that Rekordbox won’t support DVS input via the USB port into a DJ mixer – but that would be really cool if it did! Theoretically you could make an aggregate audio device out of two PLX-500s and try to use it as a DVS input in Rekordbox DJ…

4. Dust cover with record sleeve stand: Enjoy […] records and their artwork at the same time thanks to the dust cover that incorporates a stand for displaying record sleeves when open.