Home > Consumer Reviews > Yamaha DJXIIAD 61-Note Dance and Techno Portable Electronic Keyboard with AC Adapter

Look, I'm an accomplished musician and while this thing is fun, it's not something i'd use in the studio. But i sure as heck would use while DJing to fill in between songs. If you are shopping for a keyboard to learn how to play honkey dorey songs, dont get this one. If you are seriously into Hip-hop, techno, and house, this is one cool tool to use!

I have had one of these beat boxes for over a year and enjoy it. It's fairly easy to use and fun to perform on. It's not a "serious" instrument but it has capabilities that only a few years ago were costing much much more. The keyboard function is fairly limited and has no performance nuance like touch sensitivity, but it works in a pinch. It also has automated mixing and processing capabilities that took a lot of effort and time to execute a few years ago. It definitely allows non musicians (or non-keyboardists) to jam and create club music. Some of the grooves are very good, but most are pop and sure to sound dorky within a few years - but then again - retro gear will have its own appeal several years hence. Likewise, the effects are what are currently "in" in dance production. I like the ease with which effects can be sync-ed to the beat.

As to use by pros - it might be a good addition to a DJ to spice up a mix. I am a guitarist, and I have used this unit as a drum machine with a small combo and it sounds fine through a PA. It's a fun jam box, and the price is right.

I wanted to learn basic keyboard/piano-type keyboard. So for a long time I was looking for a good musical keyboard. When I saw this DJXII under 100 bucks I ordered it immediately.

This has got hundreds of bells and whistles with the keyboard I was looking for. I like it and I am learning keyboard right now.

The DJX-1 (PSRD1-DJX) was a great keyboard. I suggest you look for one of those on ebay or something. In many ways the DJX-2 is a stripped down version of the original. The sounds are fine and you can record your own beats and samples etc, but if you want to use it in a MIDI setup, forget it. Its "MIDI out" capability is only for saving your samples to a computer --- you cannot use the DJX-2 to output note information to an external sequencer (or computer or other keyboard...). Also, the DJX-2 does not include the industry standard set of 128 general MIDI (GM) voices. And who wants to look at alternating gray and white octaves???

The Yamaha DJXIIAD Dance And Techno Keyboard was a great buy. I looked at other keyboards but this one offered DJ effects such as hip hop and dance beats, which I was looking for. Great product.