OVERVIEW
Pioneer's EFX-500 has long dominated the DJ effects marker. It is a very solidly built, rugged piece that works well both at live performances and in the studio.

FEATURES
The controls are split 3 different sections on the face of the unit. The first is a high powered isolator. Think of it as super-equalizer. It can completely cut out an EQ channel, better than 90% of the mixers out there. The other 2 parts deal with the effects. One part controls beat effects: delay, echo, pan, flanger, and trans. The other controls the sounds: jet, zip, wah, ring, and fuzz. The true power of this model is how well you can control these effects. The beat effects section (timing effects) includes a beat counter, tap button, bpm controls, and channel selection (allows you to effect high, mid, and lo in any combination). The sound effects are controlled by a spinning jog dial which like the Kaos pad controls the intensity and frequency of the effects. In addition, there are memory capabilities for the jog dial. Take it one step further, and you can use all 3 parts simultaneously or in any combination. For example, isolate a channel, chop the beat in halves, and add a wah effect to it.

Additional features include and auto-bpm counter, a headphone monitor and active read-out (levels, bpms etc) displays. Heavy duty construction quality and Pioneer quality sound.

OUR OPINION
Compared with the Kaoss pad, the EFX-500 feels like a real piece of studio equipment. It is well designed and very solid, and it performs incredibly. For this reason, the EFX is better suited for both DJ and studio usage.

- auto and tap BPM counter
- MIDI IN/OUT
- 3 Band EQ (Low, Mid, Hi) oo - +6 dB
- 10-7/18" x 2-1/2" x 8-11/16"
- 5 Ibs, 8 oz.