Pioneer DDJ-WeGO2 review

Like the original Pioneer WeGO, the Pioneer DDJ-WeGO2 is a compact MIDI controller that lets you mix tracks, scratch and perform live remixes. Indeed, the DDJ-WeGO2 is the same as the original WeGO, except the DDJ-WeGO2 lets you connect an iPad so that you can mix with Algoriddim’s excellent Djay 2 app rather than use other software on a laptop. Given the high-performance and quick start-up times of the iPad, as well as the sophistication of Djay 2, this is an important development.

You connect an iPad to the DDJ-WeGO2 with the supplied Lightning-to-USB cable and then slot the iPad into a special stand that screws onto the DDJ-WeGO2. Conveniently, the stand doubles as a carry handle that further enhances the DDJ-WeGO2’s portability. We must say that we’re not happy that only a Lightning connector is included and not a 30-pin connector for older iPads. You can use a 30-pin iPad with the DDJ-WeGO2, but you’ll have to buy a special cable (WeCAi, £30, www.decks.co.uk) and the iPad camera connection kit (£25, http://store.apple.com/uk), which adds greatly to the overall cost of what is supposed to be a cheap route into DJing.

The DDJ-WeGO2 is powered over USB, so you just need to plug it into your laptop if you’re using the included Virtual DJ LE software or other DJing application, or into a USB wall transformer, such as the one used to charge iOS devices, if you’re using an iPad.

We found that we used the DDJ-WeGO2’s controls and the iPad’s touchscreen in tandem. We’d press the Load button for a particular deck, for example, and then use the iPad’s screen to find and select a track. In other instances, we’d use the DDJ-WeGO2’s controls for basic controls and use the iPad’s screen for more advanced features. To give one example, we’d use the DDJ-WeGO2’s autolooper control to set a loop of a specific length, but still use the iPad’s screen to use the Bounce Loop effect when we wanted to use that effect.

Each deck has an autolooper control, which is a rotary control that you twist to change the length of a loop and press to activate the loop. You can change the length of a loop while the loop’s active, which means you can go from a 1-beat loop to a ½-beat loop and then decrease it further. This technique is good for building a drum loop effect on the outgoing track in a mix just before you cut over to the incoming track completely.

The DDJ-WeGO2 also gives you four hot-cue buttons. These are great for creating ad-hoc edits and performing live remixes. You map a specific place in a track to a hot-cue button, and when you press the hot-cue button again you jump straight to that point in a track. The hot-cue buttons are a bit close together and a little too small in size, but were at least responsive.

As for effects, the DDJ-WeGO2 has three FX buttons, and two Control buttons labelled A and B. The buttons are used to activate an effect and the jog wheel is then used to control an aspect of that effect, such as the timing of the Echo effect. When the DDJ-WeGO2 is used with Djay 2, Control B is mapped to a filter, and moving the jog wheel lets you sweep from low to high pass filtration. This effect is great for quickly taking a track out of a mix when the incoming track reaches its first breakdown.

The Jog wheels are pretty good for entry-level jogs, and felt loose enough to scratch and wind through tracks, but not so loose that they were uncontrollable. The DDJ-WeGO2’s crossfader is also looser than we expected, and when used together you can pull off some basic cuts and scratches. We were concerned about latency, the period of time taken for your hand to move the jog wheel and for the iPad to play the sound, to be too high, but that isn’t the case.

The DDJ-WeGO2’s sound quality isn’t too bad, either. We’ve heard better, and the DDJ-WeGO2’s sound quality predictably isn’t as good as that of Pioneer’s flagship products, but we have no real complaints for a controller at this price.

The DDJ-WeGO2 is designed to be portable, and at that it excels, but for that reason the DDJ-WeGO2’s control surfaces feel cramped. We sometimes hit the hot-cue buttons when using the crossfader, for example, with disastrous results for our mix. We’d also accidentally move the jog wheel when moving the channel faders or twisting the bass pots. With the DDJ-WeGO2 it’s important to exercise care when mixing, but that can be difficult when your hands are moving quickly in the heat of a mix.

Overall, the DDJ-WeGO2 is a good entry-level controller that’s ideal for those new to DJing who want to step up from their iPad’s touchscreen and use physical controls. The DDJ-WeGO2 works brilliantly with Djay 2, and it’s important to remember that it also works with your computer. However, at £299 it is expensive, and will be even more expensive if you need to buy the extras needed to make it work with a 30-pin iPad. You’ll also need to buy Djay 2 separately, as the DDJ-WeGO2 only comes with Virtual DJ LE.

A notable alternative to the DDJ-WeGO2 is the excellent Numark iDJ Pro (£329, www.decks.co.uk), but that only works with 30-pin iPads. If you want a controller for your iPad that you can take anywhere, you should check out the Pioneer DDJ-WeGO2.