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.