Roland DJ-505 review

Roland first entered the DJ controller market with the DJ-808, a four-channel controller for Serato DJ mixer paired with a TR-8-derived drum machine. 

The logic behind bringing these two worlds together is certainly sound - the distinctive beats of the 808 and 909 run through the heart of dance music, and anybody who’s attended a Jeff Mills club set can attest to how well a live drum machine can work a dancefloor. Personally, however, we were always sceptical about the DJ-808 due to its size and price. Controllers aren’t always the best option for touring DJs - particularly in the worlds of house and techno where club setups tend to be built around CDJs or timecode setups. It’s therefore debatable whether having your DJ workflow built around a specific - fairly weighty - controller is preferable to simply buying separate drum machine and DJ devices. 

On this front, the DJ-505 seems like a sensible compromise. With a street price a little over half that of the DJ-808, it’s much more affordable, and less cumbersome. You lose some features from that bigger sibling - most notably two mixer channels and the VT vocal processing - but what remains is still a well-equipped DJ controller combined with ACB-powered 909, 808, 707 and 606-emulating drum machine. 

As a mid-priced Serato controller, the DJ-505 more than holds its own. Its construction is perhaps not as high-end feeling as some other controllers, but all the rotaries and faders feel robust. The jog wheels feel decent too, with little latency. We’re not a big fan of all the green backlighting, but it’s useful in dark settings. 

Setup is simple - install the included copy of Serato DJ Pro and the DJ-505 is pretty much plug-and-play. In terms of control offered, it’s pretty standard fare for a mid-level controller, with eight performance pads and a bank of effect rotaries joining the jogwheels on each deck. 

There’s a decent amount of I/O here that makes the DJ-505 fairly expandable too. The mixer itself can work standalone, with inputs for two decks/players on the rear. The controller is Serato DVS-ready too, so can be turned into a hub for a timecode setup with a Serato DVS software upgrade. There’s also a mic-in with gate, high-pass, reverb and delay equipped. The controller packs a MIDI output too, so it can act as a clock source or send out MIDI messages from the 16-step sequencer or performance pads, which is great for triggering external drum machines. 

The real selling point here is the inclusion of the ‘TR-S’ drum machine, and the DJ-505 delivers well in this regard. The sounds are the same as those in the first gen TR-8 - some of the best emulations you’ll find in modern hardware. Hands-on control of sounds is, naturally, reduced compared to the dedicated ‘TR’ machines, but there’s still a bank of four rotaries to control the level, attack, decay and tuning of each sound. The 16-step buttons allow for classic x0x-style sequencing, with accented steps and a 16-pattern memory available. The sequencer can simultaneously be used with Serato’s sampler too: a nice touch. What’s more, each deck’s performance pads can be used to play the TR-sounds: great for finger drumming. It’s just a shame there’s no MPC/Maschine-style beat repeat. The TR section also gets a global level and cue control in the central mixer. 

All in all, we really do like the 505. It’s a little visually garish, but given its compact size and affordable price, it’d make a good studio addition for bedroom producers who are looking for both a DJ scratch pad and a hardware drum machine.