CDJ Compatibility

Sounds great, but will it work with my player?

CDJ basically works with all of the newer Sony high capacity disc changers. CDJ does not work with Pioneer, JVC, Kenwood or other brands of players. The reason is that the interfaces on these other players are very limited compared to S-Link and would not allow CDJ to automatically identify your CDs or know where it was in the playback of a song. Instead of go to the lowest common denominator, we decided to only support the Sony players. When the other manufacturers get their act together, we'll support them too. The following table lists a number of Sony CD changers which are compatible with CDJ. Some of the players have been tested in house by Nirvis and some of the information comes indirectly from other Slink-e / CDJ users. If you don't see your player here, contact us and we will find out if it is compatible for you.

Are there any problems to watch out for?

  • Some of the older 100-disc players require special cabling to connect to the Slink-e.
  • If you have multiple changers, you will need a way to feed the multiple outputs into your receiver or preamp. There are a number ways to do this:

    Chaining the audio from one player to another using the "second player" input provided on the changer

    • + Nothing to buy or build
    • - No cross-fading
    • - With older players (e.g. CX270), this is a poor solution due to the fact that the "pass-thru" player will mute the signal from the other players if it is paused or moving. This means that you can't take advantage of the pre-queueing features of CDJ. With newer players like the CX300, you can use the pass thru without a problem.

    Connecting each player output to a seperate analog or digital input of your receiver. CDJ will switch the receiver inputs automatically if you show it what IR commands are need to switch inputs.

    • + Nothing to buy or build
    • - Requires an IR or S-Link controllable receiver
    • - No cross fading

    Using an analog mixer

    • + Cross fading possible!
    • + No CDJ control required
    • - Need to build or buy a mixer

 

Player Model Capacity Works with CDJ? Text Display Upload Title Upload Artist Upload Track Titles Digital Out
CDP-CE515 5 YES YES 13 chars      YES
CDP-CE545 5 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CA70ES 5 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX53 50+1 YES NO       YES
CDP-CX55 50+1 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX57 50+1 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX150 100 This player does not have a Control-A1 S-Link port and will not work
CDP-CX151 100
CDP-CX153 100 YES1 YES NO     YES
CDP-CX200 200 YES NO       NO
CDP-CX205 200 YES NO       NO
CDP-CX210 200 YES NO       NO
CDP-CX220 200 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX225 200 YES NO       YES
CDP-CX230 200 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX235 200 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX240 200 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX250 200 YES YES NO     YES
CDP-CX255 200 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX260 200 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX270 200 YES YES 16 chars 16 chars 16 chars YES
CDP-CX300 300 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX333ES 400 YES YES 20 chars 20 chars3   YES
CDP-M333ES 400 YES YES 20 chars 20 chars3   YES
CDP-CX335 300 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX350 300 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX355 300 YES YES 20 chars 20 chars3   YES
CDP-CX400 400 YES YES 20 chars 20 chars3   YES
CDP-CX450 400 YES YES 20 chars 20 chars3   YES
CDP-CX455 400 YES YES 20 chars     YES
CDP-CX555ES 400 YES YES 20 chars 20 chars3   YES
CDP-M555ES 400 YES YES 20 chars 20 chars3   YES
CDP-CX70ES 200 YES YES 13 chars     YES
CDP-CX88ES 200 YES YES 16 chars2 16 chars2 16 chars2 YES
CDP-CX90ES 200 YES 16 chars 16 chars2 16 chars2 16 chars2 YES
DVP-CX850D 200

The Sony DVD changers are not supported by CDJ because they cannot be controlled via Control-A1 like the Sony CD changers can.

DVP-CX860 300
DVP-CX870D 300
Notes:

1. The CX153 requires an adapter cable listed below

2. These player models support 16 characters of artist, disc title, and track titles. CDJ downloads this information using "IR over S-Link keypress emulation". This process is tedious and you can expect some errors during the text transfer process. It is considered an unsupported but existent feature. 

3. These changers only support text for 200 artists even though they hold 400 discs.

Connecting the Slink-e to older Control-A players requiring a stereo plug:

The simplest way to do this is to plug a Radio Shack part number 274-375  dual 1/8" mono jack to 1/8" stereo plug adapter into the CD player. Then plug a standard 1/8" mono plug cord into one of the mono jacks and the other end into the Slink-e. Since the two mono jacks on the 274-375 aren't labeled, you'll have to try both of them to discover the correct connection. Or, if you have a voltmeter or are constructing you own cable, do as following:

  • Use a 1/8" stereo plug for CD player
  • Use a 1/8" mono plug for the Slink-e
  • Connect the center ring of the stereo plug to the tip of the mono plug.
  • Connect the shank of the stereo plug to the shank of the mono plug
  • Leave the tip of the stereo plug unconnected