Seen this issue posted on here before and herd of couple other ppl have the issue.

Im pissed about this one!

I really dig the DDJ-SX but this shit blows!
Is not even a year old.
What kind of bullshit is pioneer pushing?

First the wobbly up fader caps and now the faceplate buckling?

Damn!

Pioneer and their shit build quality....and people have the nerve to knock on Numark, pffft!!

I truly see an NS7II in my very near future.

Damn I'm pissed about this!

I still have a brand new white NS6 bit I don't like it with serato dj. The pioneer and the NS7II will make 3 controllers and none of them are designed for back up work. They are all too big.

This truly sucks ass!

Why not a Vestax VCi-400? It's small, solid, and quite capable.

The Vestax is a good controller but I still need a good MAIN unit.

1. NS6............. Love the unit but hate it with Serato DJ
2. DDJ-SX....... Works great with Serato DJ but has loose up fader caps and buckling faceplate
3. NS7II........... Seems like a good unit as a main controller cause i'm PISSED at the Pioneer

That will be 3 large (ish) controllers I will have and none of them are good as a practical backup.

Sorry, what exactly do you mean with buckling? I'm not a native English-speaker so I don't understand but I have an SX so I would like to know :)

i.imgur.com

Thanks for the explaining :) Luckily I have 3 year warranty for my SX!

Why not just get a DDJ-SP1 to go along with your NS6 in the interim. Wait until after WinterNAMM to see if anything else is on the horizon. There may be sone new 'ish coming that's gonna have us all drooling. Personally, the NS7II is already doing that for me. I don't see what the big deal is with it's size & weight......2 Techs and a mixer in a coffin weighs nearly double what the NS7II does in a coffin. But I suppose the whole DJ community has become pussified in these past few years. Take into consideration what we used to have to carry back in the day.....nearly 200lb. coffin & several 40+ lb. crates/boxes of vinyl. I'd say carrying the NS7II & a laptop bag is bitch-ass in comparison.

Pioneer build quality is getting worse,people knock 'cheaper Chinese product's' when in fact that is where most 'big names' have their controllers manufactured. I'm lucky as through work I travel to China once a year, and companies like Voxoa ( who make LOTS of branded gear) are making there own branded gear and I must admit the build quality is brilliant. Google Voxoa m70,midi mixer (very Rane like) innofader and Fox Alps faders,brilliant sound card and costs under $250. Unbranded Pioneer dj Sr's for $300 a pop anyone? Only thing is you can't order them through normal channels (internet etc) as this is a condition of sub manufacturing.
Transport switches for cdj's cost us 45 cents in bulk and are IDENTICAL to Pioneers apart from the ridiculous price tag!
Pioneer used to be a sign of quality,that ship sailed about 5 years ago

When is winter NAMM?

Even with the sp1, I don't like how the numark ns6 sounds with serato dj. I don't like how it performs with DJ. With itch, it's a killer combination. With sdj, not so much.

The weight is not much of an issue for me with the ns7ii as I'm one of those dj's that used to carry techs, mixer and crates of records.
Believe me, I know what back breaking dj work was like. Techs, mixer, crates and crates and crates, bouble 18's, 3way tops, crowns in the amp racks plus the processor rack.

Today is easy with a ns7ii, powered k181's, powered ev tops.

I'm tired of shooting money out and getting sub par shit.
The 1st ns7 was GREAT till it died in it's 2nd year. It got replaced with the ns6 that was extremely good but it developed an issue so I got the pioneer while it was sent out for repair.
Numark just sent me a new one instead of fixing the one I sent in so now I have 2 large controllers and considering the NS7II.

I make good money but damn!

WinterNAMM is the trade show in late January where companies roll out their new gear.

What happened to the original NS7 where it needed to be sent in? Did the motors or mainboard fail?

I know What NAMM is, just did not know exactly when.

The board on the ns7 started to fail. Hitting cues was not working right and hitting play was sometimish.
You could hit play and it would stutter instead of play.

Numark did not have the parts to fix it at the time so I just went out and got the ns6.
The ns7 was on warranty so I was all good on the ns6.

My ddj is built like a tank so that sucks and people who claim pioneer builds better is just not up on builds of products. cdjs are plastic and i have denon 3900 witch i think are built way better but besides rane all is made overseas and not made well at all.

I thought the fader caps we deliberately made that way to reduce the chance of damage if you slam the faders.

Can you list a link to your SX picture. just can't imagine it!

Vestax 380 - quality so far , over a year old and runs like new still

Where is it buckling, exactly? I'm kinda curious since I've got an SX and I carry it in a soft case. And poor, rushed packing in said case has already bitten me in the ass once (a bit of cosmetic damage).

As for CDJs being made of plastic, I agree that it's kind of cheap to do that with such expensive hardware, but I think it partially depends on the quality of the plastic. Does it feel cheap, or is it closer to Nintendium (the plastic that Nintendo used in the N64 and GameBoys, which was very durable and felt like it, albeit heavy)?

(It's important to note that I've never been able to mess around on CDJs since there are few DJs where I live and virtually no retailers that sell professional-quality gear.)

This just happened to mine. I left it in the clod studio over night. Went back and the faceplate had buckled in a few places.

I took the faceplate of and bent it back into place. But I should not have to do this!

Found a.picture on the web. Disappointing for Pioneer, but no signs of a problem with mine.

I was gonna buy the ns7II today bit desided not to after playing with it for a while.
Went to guitar center, played with the demo and passed on it for the time being. I did not like the play buttons at all. I saw a post somewhere on stato that said you really have to mash the play button hard to get it going or to get it to stop.
He was right! I can't do that in a club or cabaret. I need it to play when I hit play, not stutter then just not play. I need it to stop when I hit the button, not act like I did nothing to touch the pause button.
I had the first ns7 and loved it. When it died, I replaced it with the ns6 that I still have. I still like the ns6 with itch but I don't like it with serato dj. I have the pioneer ddj sx too and I like it as well but the faceplate started to buckle.
I'm disappointed in the ns7II. I'm hoping they can fix the play buttons with a firmware update but I don't see how. Oh well, I guesses it will be me and my ddj sx till after winner NAMM or till they acknowledge and fix the buttons on the ns7II.

I was going to say the same thing. I pretty much get a warranty with every purchase I make that offers one. I have the three yr with the SX and will extend when it ends. I still have a warranty on my PS3 yet got one with my PS4 which strikes me as weird but wat the hell. Hell I have the geek squad warranty on my iphones ($15 a month with $0 deductible and unlimited claims) and have gone through 9 iPhones this past year alone because I refuse to use a case and work as a carpenter.

Just out of curiosity would you say weather is a factor here. After all this is the first full cycle seasoning the unit has seen.

Yeah, I've seen this mentioned lots of places. I wonder if Numark are going to publicly address this, or If it's going to be a quiet little adjustment to the manufacturing process? Either way, I think I'm gonna wait for a couple months....hopefully by then, the first batch of units will get replaced by a new one with this issue resolved.

It's a shame that such a small thing slipped through either R&D or QC. Personally, I'm hoping it's just a QC issue.....one that can be easily remedied.

lets stick with the faceplate of the sx

yeah, sorry.....I actually posted this in the wrong thread.

Anybody have a picture of this? I don't understand what's buckling...

^^^ Exactly. I am curious if this is temperature related as in the plastic stressing at a different point than the metal when being pressed so tightly together.

Well, crap. If temperature has a lot to do with it, I'll probably see it sooner rather than later. I have to walk through temperatures below zero (°F), not uncommonly -40° (literally doesn't matter if you use °F or °C at this temperature), with my SX in my gear bag to get to my radio studio in the winter. The padding will insulate it a bit, and it's in a room at a constant temperature most of time, but taking it through the cold worries me even more now.

For those affected , get some pics up , might be good for others will the sx to see or spot signs of wear on there controllers

Dosent sound good for £800 pounds worth of kit

also has anyone contacted pioneer to see there response

In what area of the controller does the faceplate buckle at? Near the Pitch faders or?

All over!

Then please post a picture so we can see what it looks like! We're curious to see it :)

Yes, please post a pic!

I have since fixed it. But the faceplate raised in different places like large bubbles. I had to in screw it and bend it back into place

wait did you call pioneer. imagine they would replace the plate?

I did not easy fix. Plus I use it 4 of the 5 nights a week I dj

I tried to post a pic but I can't do it from my phone. Don't know why.

I have never seen a picture be such a difficult feat to achieve. LOL

I have pictures of it on my phone but I don't know how to post them from the phone.

Look into dropbox app

I have Dropbox but I don't see how to post pics from my phone.

Photobucket ? Come on i am sure you can work out how todo it?!

Mail the picture to yourself and upload it through your computer? Photobucket also allows uploading through cellphones :)

Here's a quick guide for you: (I'm running off of an android phone and an admittedly outdated version of dropbox because I am terrible at keeping apps updated)

1) Open Dropbox.
2) Go to the menu.
3) Select "upload here" (or similar option).
4) A popup will ask if you want to upload "Photos or Videos" or "Other files." Select Photos or Videos.
5) Wait for your photo collection to load up (this may take a while depending on how many photos you have on your phone), and select the picture you took.
6) Wait for the photo to finish uploading.
7) Press and hold on the entry for that photo in the list of files on Dropbox, and select "share"
8) You'll be presented with a number of options to share that photo, most of which are through apps. Select the one that says "Copy link" (it's at the top of all the options on my phone).
9) Once it pops up a little message saying that the link is ready for copying, close Dropbox and go to your internet browser. Then, get to this thread (or go through a link in your email if you get the tracked discussion emails on your phone), and paste the link in the reply box (I tap the reply box so that the keyboard comes up, then tap and hold on the reply box until a menu pops up, and then select "paste").


And bam, a guide on how to show us that photo from your phone. It's a lot less complicated than my instructions make it out to be.

Here are the pics of the buckled faceplate.

www.dropbox.com

www.dropbox.com

www.dropbox.com

www.dropbox.com

www.dropbox.com

^ damn, that would piss me off ^

Yeah, Pioneer is soooo quality.......LMAO!!

Numark might have a stigma associated with it from previous years of cheaply made gear, but they've certainly redeemed themselves with the NS7 & NS6. I've been rocking my NS6 at gigs for over 2 years now....sometimes in a case, sometimes not, and it is still in excellent condition. My friend has the SX, and as soon as I laid my hands on it, I felt it to be vastly inferior as far as build quality and materials were concerned. It might have the functionality that I desire, but I just can't bring myself to pay $900+ for shit like that.

That's poor I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the jogwheel perhaps because it looks like its the weakest area around the buttons I'm thinking even with the slightest twist in the faceplate it'll ripple the metal is that thin

Its nothing to do with the jog wheel. Its what its made out of

that blows! i own a ddj-sx but this has not happened to me yet, not sure what kind of conditions will cause something like that, what a piece of crap is pioneer, paying premium price for that kind of crap.

only reason i have the ddj-sx over the ns6 is because of the pads, im sure numark is coming with a revised ns6 that includes the ns7II goodies.

I can tell you that it's temperature related.
If your unit gets COLD, the faceplate will buckle. It get's better as it warms up but not quite back to normal.

so now we need to buy a blanket for the ddj sx to stay warm? what?……damn was this a problem with the first units? i have a sx & sr don't want to see this happen

is pioneer fixing/replacing for you?

Lol @ blanket.... Thanks for the pics mine hasn't done this yet... Def will inspect that area...

It happens to mine when I left it in the cold studio over night. It is normaly in my house.

this makes me think, if you keep it it the pioneer bag or any other of the bags on the market, it might save you from this problem

I always keep mine in a flightcase

Thats f-ed up... Sorry about your SX... Pioneer would have to replace my ish asap.
Don't you have a year warranty? Make them work!

Hey Guys,

I know its a bit obvious but if you haven't already I would recommend getting in touch with Pioneer directly: pioneerdj.com

Hopefully they can help you out.

Sam

That is damn unfortunate. Did you say you were able to fix it up? I ended up getting the extended warranty as per usual (which was 3 yrs in this case) and I know on year 2 day 364 there will be an unfortunate accident occurring............... wink wink LOL. That should absolutely be covered as it happened with regular use and it is due to craftsmanship.

hello,

unfortunately so've been following this FORUM pioneer not much help to users, I'm also a User DDJ-SX, and already sent several posts on the subject and no answers, not even when related to the problem and Serato have answers by team Pioneer, I think this a lack of respect for the users Pioneer.

Not sure what you are trying to say but if is the same problem as OP this would be an issue that Serato can do nothing about. This 100% falls in the lap of Pioneer and must be taken care of over there. Serato is a software developer. Pioneer is the hardware manufacturer.

Mine does this too, I stopped leaving it in the trunk of my car. I noticed cold was a problem with my NS7 when I was using that too.

These controllers do not like the cold people, take the time to take them out of our vehicles after your gigs.

The buckling in my DDJ-SX isn't as bad because I have only noticed it once and it went away after it warmed back up. My NS7 wouldn't work properly until maybe an hour into my sets which was the reason why I had to upgrade.

It would jump BPM of a range of about 20 sporadically during my sets.

TLDR keep your shit warm

My unit has the same metal buckling issue.
The metal around the Slicer and Sampler buttons, it seems as though the metal/aluminum is weak or this may have been the point to where the unit was stamped and extra stress was put on the metal/aluminum material.

Has anyone had any luck returning the unit for a replacement or recovered?

Mike

I am curious to all who have this issue (just curious to know if this can be avoided as I have an SX as well) was this like an

a.) "oops I left my DDJ-SX in the car and NOW the faceplate is warped"
b.) "I DJed in the sun and now my DDJ-SX is warped" sort of thing?
c.) "One day it was fine then the next it was warped............. no logical reason"
d.) "This was a slow process starting with a small bend and it progressively got worse"
e.) OTHER____________________________________________


Any help would be appreciated.

for me... (A)

Here's some photos of the buckling on my unit.
www.dropbox.com
www.dropbox.com
left deck

www.dropbox.com
right deck


Its very apparent on the left deck.
I have notice the right deck is showing signs of it as well. Mind you this unit has been in the case since first purchase and it secured to the Odyssey case by high strength velcro. What does yours look like?

Looks just like mine.

Mine is doing the same as yours.

DJCity did you get this serviced?

what did you do with yours? did you get warranty service?

Not yet

I'm waiting till spring.

Hey guys,

Pioneer notes that this is a rare manufacturing defect and will be repaired or replaced at no cost for units still under warranty. Please contact your dealer or Pioneer directly for further assistance.

Pulse

I'm trying to wait till next month when the ddj sz drops.

I will be sending my sx in for repair but I'm trying to get them to upgrade me to the sz.

What will most likely happen is that I Will pay about half or less of the price for the sz.

Good Luck with that, haha.

Not through Pioneer but through the retailer.

Already talked to them and is looking good right now.

Warranty is a Good Thing!

Oh, okay....I thought you meant through Pioneer.

I just read through this thread and I can only say that I hope Pioneer did a better job with the new DDJ-SZ.

I'm a Denon user and I have left my equipment in the trunk of my car on numerous occasions during the cold Canadian winter and this has NEVER happened. Even yesterday when it was -20°C, I was forced to leave my Denon DN-MC6000 in my trunk for 6 hours while I was at work as I a gig afterwards. Still works and looks fine.

The saying "you get what you pay for" definitely does not apply to Pioneer products.

as I *had a gig afterwards

I had Denon s700's and I left them in the trunk ONCE and they were NEVER the same again. The platter would stop while the motor kept going. Then I played with them in the summer and they got direct light ONCE for about 15 mins and they overheated and ever since then I had to fight w them to play recorded CD's. Then again they were my beater decks and I would never even bring my current setups out to a gig if the weather is not 100%. That is what controllers are for.

^^^ Dn-S3700's I meant LOL

Thats strange. My 3700s never had any "weather" issues. But anyway, I haven't seen that buckling on any of my equipment that i have left in the car on a cold day.

its 30 below with windchill today and just took stuff out of trunk so lets see. lol lol lol

Here's an update about my SX:

Pioneer will be replacing the my DDJ-SX since repairing/replacing the faceplate is not cost effective due to a labor intensive operation. Pioneer will be shipping out a brand new unit to me and will be extending the factory warranty period for 3 additional months.

Confirmed by Pioneer Management there was a run of SX units that may experience the warping issue due to max production. Whether its 30 below or normal ambient temperature inside a studio (warpage will be depending on the air temperature)

Hope this helps!

May I ask what that is?

My apologizes…..Mass Production….when may units are created there may be the possibly of a material flaw or similar shortcoming.

Ahh there it is. Now THAT term I know. I knew what you meant just figured I'd make a little jab LOL. Glad to hear Pioneer worked with you on this though.

This has happened to mine as well. It has warp so bad it's effecting the slide of the upfaders and and the use of the pads too. My luck, Chicago has had the worst weather we've seen in years with below 0 temps. I didn't leave it in the trunk overnight but have loaded into a cold trunk for the drive to the gig and home. Don't really think the case is the issue maybe i just need a heated case. lol Will be contacting Pioneer tomorrow..... Cross My Fingers.

Thank God I still have my long trusted 1200's and djm800 for back up.

btw Mixx (Mike from Chicago) how long did it take to get your replacement?

I just received the Factory-sealed replacement on 2/14/2014, guess what the faceplate was buckled on the replacement unit. I believe there is something wrong with the aluminum used to produce the SX unts. I would like to hear from others that have this issue.

The manager at Pioneer even mentioned he has seen this issue before.
Pioneer will not repair the unit they will only replace it only if its under warranty and anything outside of the warranty period will not be considered unless you get legal consult. Atleast thats what a few of my friend were telling me.

Damn.
That's scary and fucked up.

I have not sent mine in yet but it's getting worse. It's not going back into shape when it gets warm and the play, pads and fats are beginning to be affected.

I think I might get the sz before sending my SX in.

lets hope the SZ doesn't have the same issue! guess they need to use stonger glue.

the sz might have the issue but worse since it a bigger piece of metal, that said i've never heard if this same issue with the ddj sr.......maybe cause it's a smaller piece of metal

i noticed the SZ Is three bits of metal the mixer is separate from the two decks.

^^^^^ Exactly. Furthermore keep in mind not everybody's SX suffered this unfortunate mishap. I can't say whether or not it could be possible on mine but I could tell you it will never happen as climate control is a must whenever I transport/store my gear. I've had too many bad experiences with gear inexplicably never working the same again just from being left n the sun for 15 minutes or out in the cold for an hour. With DJ gear there is just too much going on that you are depending on, moving parts, optics, contact surfaces, etc. it's kind of amazing the stuff is as durable as it is.

if it is than that would be good maybe that was there remedy for the problem

supposed to say the play button, pads and faders are beginning to be affected.

So basically they will just send us another defective unit.. what does that solve?

I'm amazed that even in the case it still gets cold enough to warp the faceplate.

The foam inside cases are open celled foam which is used for cushioning not insulating so it actually makes perfect sense.

I sent mine in just 3 days ago.
Curious to see how long it takes to get back to me.

Do we think that pioneer will end up addressing this issue by releasing a replacement faceplate made of a different material?

I would guess 100% not. Although if you have this issue I am sure it is horrible but it just is not common enough for them to go to that level. TBH I am not sure what material would suffice for those suffering from this. Clearly the units are being exposed to cold temperatures/hot temperatures & inclimate weather which brings on condensation/perspiration/flat out precipitation which rules out steel. I don't think you guys would want plastic. What does this leave? Brass, copper, wood, etc. Plastic, Aluminum & steel are the primary materials used in exterior casing construction i regards to pro audio.

On a different note they should probably look into splitting their remaining stock of faceplates into three (like the SZ) so the warping would be less likely due to "expansion joints" which would leave room for displacement thus removing the issue altogether.

I fixed mine i unscrewed the top portion of faceplate and bent it a carefully

same thing happen to me it's always on a road case but after overnight in my car the next day the plate is warped.

Thats why i sold mine

best bet is to go out an buy a DDJ SZ, I've had good luck with it so far (about 1.5 years)

If you decide to DJ on outside event spanning from 3pm-1am, condensation will occur. Heed the warning, your gear will sweat and don't freak out. Happened to me and its upsetting, luckily nothing happened to the controller or another piece of gear.