Gotta put my two cents in on the denon bashers... Now I realize that the club standard for the last few years has been 2-3 tech 12's, and a pair of cdjs with an efx500, but it should be noted that before that, it was a rack-mounted single cd player and, well, tech 12's. lol. I mention this because it is important to not let a vendor, such as pioneer, dictate that the cdj's are a forever club standard. They did the job, but it's time to move on to bigger and better toys, and Pioneer knows this (note, the dvj-x1 & efx1000). Denon has always been at the cutting edge of dj technology, sometimes, to an extreme. Who actually used the numeric memory recalls on the old denon 2500's anyway?? I believe that too many of us are 'comfortable' with what we have, and rely on the clubs to set the standard. Does anyone realize that the clubs have the gear WE the industry demand? That being said, the Pioneer CDJ's are really nothing special. There's no platter spinning, no effects, and a simple lcd display made in asia, and all wrapped up in a plastic shell like the rest of them. What does it actually cost to make these things? I personally own a pair of denon dns1000s in my studio. They, along with the 3500s, 5000s, and even the rack mounted 6000 have SICK effects built into each player. I hardly have the need to touch an efx when i'm using these. Maybe change is intimidating, but just remember how we all felt when that crazy lil box with all those buttons called the efx500 came out. Think outside the box....once you do, you'll have no reason to go back. Just ask anyone using serrato. As far as them skipping? They all have buffer memory, and routine maintainance seems to be in order. Maybe someone would donate a can of pressurized air to our friends over @ Mansion?