AlphaTheta’s DDJ-FLX2 Is a Near Perfect Controller for New DJs
That’s not to say there are no issues. The jog wheels are unimpressive at best. They’re helpful for finding your place in a song, but I can’t imagine trying to scratch or do any real DJ tricks with them. Limiting its usefulness in a live setting is the fact that there’s no mic input, and the only two audio outputs (cue and main) are 3.5-mm TRS jacks. It’ll do the job if you’re just looking to practice at home or DJ a small house party, but if you showed up to a club with this, you’d definitely get some looks.
Excellent Integrations
Chances are, regardless of your preferred DJ app or whether you’re using an iPad or a laptop or even an Android phone, the DDJ-FLX2 should work with your setup. I tested it with a MacBook Pro, a six-year-old Dell XPS, a base-model iPad from 2021, and a Google Pixel 7. I had few issues when connecting over USB-C (other than the port on my Pixel being extremely flaky).
Getting connected to the iPad over Bluetooth could have been a bit more seamless, and I never managed to get it to work at all with my phone. That being said, because of the latency Bluetooth introduces, it’s not really ideal for DJing anyway.
AlphaTheta says that the DDJ-FLX2 is compatible with Rekordbox, Algoriddim Djay, and Serato DJ Lite, though I only tested it with the first two. Since AlphaTheta also makes Rekordbox, it’s unsurprising that integration there is the tightest. It works exactly as you’d expect right out of the box, and the labels on the hardware mirror the terminology you’d find in app. If you haven’t committed to a particular DJing platform yet, Rekordbox is worth exploring since there’s a surprisingly feature-rich free version. Plus it supports streaming from SoundCloud, Beatport, Beatsource and Tidal, in case you’re still building out your library at this stage of your DJing career.
I mostly used it with Djay however, since that is the software I was trained on when I joined the ranks of Maker Park Radio all those years ago. Plus, it has Apple Music integration, which makes it easier for me to add things to my rotation on short notice and with minimal fuss. The FLX2 worked out of the box without issue with Algoriddim’s Djay Pro software, though the labeling and naming conventions don’t always line up which can lead to some confusion.
Usable in Real Life
Photograph: Terrence O’Brien
In addition to practicing at home, I DJed a couple of episodes of my radio show with the FLX2 and even experimented with doing short seamless blocks of dance music on air. The Smart Fader function made it simple for a noob like myself to transition between tracks with the aid of filter and echo effects, while smoothing over small discrepancies in tempo. And when I wanted a little more time to make sure I had everything lined up or wanted to do a mini mashup into the next track, the loop pads worked like a charm. I wouldn’t say I’m ready to DJ a huge venue, but I feel a little more confident indulging in dance mixes on my show now.
