Serato Software Feature Suggestions

What features would you like to see in Serato software?

DDJ-SZ Pitch bend is Unresponsive DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY

DJ Krissi D 12:30 AM - 17 June, 2014
I am aware this is a Help Request issue however Sam at Serato feels this is a Feature.......

Its Not so here i go!

The Pitch Bend on the Platters on the DDJ-SZ is unresponsive and does not evan come close to mimicking a Turntable let alone a CDJ using a SL box or any other controller in the range

Example
When mixing 2 tracks lets say at 130bpm the track coming in is 1/4bar behind so you want to kick it forward with the bend. to accomplish this on a DDJ-SZ you need to rotate the plater around 8-10 full rotations to achieve this. For ¼ Beat!

Compare the same situation with a CDJ or Turntable using an SL box in ABS or REL mode and the kick forward is achieved by 1/4 turn on the platter. Job Done!

The Issue with the DDJ-SZ has been Verified in my initial Help Request by Sam and Confirmed

However Serato seem to think that as this problem was there when the DDJ-SZ came out its a feature suggestion? Not that maybe it is a mistake and needs fixing

I argue that all products need to be consistent like pioneer equipment so as DJ's who Tour around the Country/World they are able to jump on to any Serato Setup and use it. the DDJ-SZ is standalone on this and needs to be Fixed.

If you feel this is more a help request please (Serato Staff) locate my help request and treat it as such

Small Point the DDJ-SZ is meant to mimic the CDJ NEXUS the pitch bends is miles apart

Disappointed I have be shovelled here to get my BUG fixed. Such a grind yet all we do is help improve your products


Kris
DJ Krissi D 12:44 AM - 17 June, 2014
Sorry to do this but this is the First Sentence you guys have written to describe the DDJ-SZ on your website....

"The Pioneer DDJ-SZ is the first Pioneer controller to closely match the experience of a CDJ-2000nexus and DJM-900nexus setup for the most intuitive DJ experience."

if i put a control disc in my nexus it doesn't come close in feel or Experience....

This now is coming more under "Deceptive Advertising" as false and misleading statements have been made about the hardware that it does not meet in comparison to the NEXUS as you have Stated.

I don't want to be "That Guy" however i need you to see this is an issue not a feature suggestion as you advertise this above.

Go on put a Nexus next to the DDJ-SZ they don't evan come close? (regarding the pitch bend) which is up there as one of the top 5 things you need out of any player

Instant Start
Accurate Pitch Control
Reliability
Accurate Manipulation (Scratching to Bend)
Quality of Sound

All other Features are for performance as you know and a bonus but the above is a must!
DJ Krissi D 12:48 AM - 17 June, 2014
Evan on the Pioneer Website the Comparison is made of which it falls Short. this is an issue not a Feature Suggestion.

I am Laughing now at how silly this is. Just Say its an issue and put it in the Queue of problems/Bugs to fix...
DJDynasty 5:04 PM - 17 June, 2014
I have been experiencing the same and quite dissapointed with the pitch bend responsiveness or lack of when nudging the platter.
This is especially apparent if your playing with older lived non edm tracks where it is near impossible to control the mix in the matter I have all these years.
To slow down or speed up even an EDM track just a half a beat it would require 8 or 9 full spinbacks on the platter or resort to do it through pitch bending with keyboard shortcuts to get back to a close match then the plater?
I have had previous Pioneer/Serato controllers as well as CDJs. The DDJ SZ Platter is no where near the same as the rest of their lines in this perspective and is a huge shortcoming as it is deemed useless for mixing especially live drum recordings ie soul, disco, funk.
This has to be something that can be user adjustable. How can this be by design?
DJ Krissi D 6:04 PM - 17 June, 2014
True if it is based on a Nexus it should be like one. ITS NOT. this is not a DJ preference this is a Standard that needs to be across all products
DJ Krissi D 6:11 PM - 17 June, 2014
This is a Response From Sam at Serato and needs mentioning here...

Sam GG 2:53 AM - 17 June, 2014
Thankyou for starting a feature request, that is the best way to get our products team on board.

The reason I'm refraining from logging this as a bug for now is that this controller underwent a vast amount of testing by us and Pioneer and as far as I know it was designed this way. Correct me if I'm wrong but the Pioneer announcement regarding the DDJ-SZ was to do with platter latency and capacitive touch sensitivity, not pitch bend sensitivity: pioneerdj.com Its possible that it was a grand oversight but the fact that most users are happy with it and have not made help requests concerning the pitch bend sensitivity makes me believe this is more of an issue with personal preference. However, that being said, I respect your opinion and think it would be an excellent idea if users could change the Pitch Bend sensitivity in the software themselves to match their own preferences. This would keep everybody happy.

Sam
DJ Krissi D 6:12 PM - 17 June, 2014
My Reply on the HELP REQUEST.

Sam its not a feature or personal preference!!! the DDJ-SZ reacts nothing like the other controllers, doesn't come close to Rane hardware either.

Its an outsider, Wrong, Design Flaw.

Looks like I'm going to have to find the New Zealand Equivalent of Trading standards. report this as both pioneer websites and your own does come under "Deceptive Advertising" as false and misleading statements have been made about the hardware that it does not meet in comparison to the NEXUS as you have Stated.

For the love of God i don't want my own personal pitch bend preference i want the standard one that all DJ's are used to using Control discs and on all other controllers???

Run a NEXUS pitch bend test..... then the same test as you performed above on the DDJ-SZ Does its come close to matching the Experience the answer is no? False Statement! no argument I'm sorry

Kris
Serato, Forum Moderator
Michael R 5:22 AM - 24 June, 2014
Hi DJ Krissi D,

I've read over your issue here and have spoken with Sam GG in our Support Team who you were dealing with, and have attempted to reproduce your issue. Unfortunately I can't reproduce as you described, please find following how I tested.

I've connected a DDJ-SZ as my controller, enabled the CD control mode and connected a DDJ-900Nexus to it. By playing the same track on both decks, I have used the pitch bend (the outside ring of the platter) to move the tracks. When using both the DDJ-SZ and the DDJ-900Nexus, the pitch bend is the same - pitch bending a full rotation on the DDJ-900Nexus gets the tracks out of sync, doing a full rotation on the DDJ-SZ brings them back into sync. I have also tried using the CDJ in HID mode (connecting it to the cimputer using USB) and get the same result. I showed this to Sam, who had previously been able to reproduce the issue, and he was surprised.

I'm wondering if there is perhaps an issue with the unit you have, or perhaps there's something in my testing I have overlooked? Please let me know if how you have tested is different, so that I can re-test here. I'm keen to get to the bottom of this issue, so your help is appreciated.

Cheers,
Michael.
Peasey 10:51 PM - 29 June, 2014
I think the test needs to be Serato DJ + DDJ-SZ vs CDJ-900Nexus WITHOUT Serato vs Serato DJ + any other controller apart from DDJ-SZ.

I have been struggling to control drifting BPMs with this controller to the degree where I thought there was a problem with the platters. I noticed that Pioneer have recently released an official mapping for Traktor which I tried yesterday and found controlling drift markedly easier, a very small nudge was all that was ever required.

After reading about the above issue I performed a quick comparison. Using a 118 bpm track and the pitch set at zero. With the deck not playing I used the pitch bend to move the track along one single beat, this took...

Serato DJ - 4 complete revolutions

Traktor Scratch Pro 2 - 1/3 of a revolution

I used NI's default setting for 'Tempo Bend' which is 100% and had made no adjustments to the Pioneer TSI file.

I definitely agree that this isn't how pitch bend should operate. Just look at any one of many videos on You Tube of DJs in action and when they nudge a deck, it's only ever a slight movement, definitely not full revolutions.
Serato, Forum Moderator
Michael R 11:38 PM - 23 July, 2014
Hey everyone,

Just letting you know that we have been able to reproduce this issue in house. It is possible to get Serato DJ and the DDJ-SZ in a state where the pitch bend functions at 50% of it's expected performance. We'll investigate this further to find out what the cause of the issue is.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback.

Cheers,
Michael.
Davideon 5:15 PM - 24 July, 2014
8 revs for a quarter beat is defo wrong. Thankfully my unit doesn't do that
DJ Fito Raleigh nc 9:43 PM - 27 July, 2014
i just got the pioneer ddi-sz
and i have the same problem the bend sucks i can't mix like that.
i tried to look every were for a solution and nothing i think i going to return this product and get back a normal cdj
Peasey 10:34 PM - 27 July, 2014
Quote:
i just got the pioneer ddi-sz
and i have the same problem the bend sucks i can't mix like that.
i tried to look every were for a solution and nothing i think i going to return this product and get back a normal cdj


I'd hold fire and see what Serato come back with after they've investigated.

At least they've acknowledged it's not right.
DjSevenNocheMas 1:45 AM - 3 August, 2014
I (now) have the same problem.

My DDJ-SZ was working ok with firmware 1.1.2, since i´ve updated to 1.1.8 is not bending good, the problem is definitely from the controller firmware.

WE NEED PIONEER or SERATO to give us a solution, for people that just like me need this equipment in daily base.
D.J. MYTH 3:43 PM - 12 August, 2014
I noticed this problem with the pitch bend also but kinda overlooked it. Now that I'm reading it here I definitely agree this needs to be fixed. serato needs to add an option that allows you to adjust the the pitch bend to your liking just the way you can adjust braking. It can be frustrating when you trying to quickly notch a beat up or down to beat match. Ultimately it should respond the same way the pitch bend works if you were the click the + or - button in internal mode.
dubmatic 10:37 AM - 17 August, 2014
I also have the same problem bought the sz to switch to serato even though I loved mapping the fx in traktor but due to this pitchbend issue have had to switch back to traktor where sz midi is useless for scratching I think sz and serato worked fine with firmware came with out of the box (1.12 I think) but updated and is now practically useless for manual beat mixing making serato useless while traktor can't use the sz to scratch but can use external cdj for scratching while using the sz to beat mix
DJ Sidies 11:09 AM - 17 August, 2014
New firmware update is coming
dubmatic 7:00 AM - 18 August, 2014
Is this from serato? I sure hope so using sz as a midi controller for Traktor is far from perfect but at the moment works better than it does with serato which is a joke, a lot of my vinyl collection that I have recorded to wav can't use beatgridding due to the minor fluctuations in tempo due the nature of vinyl so can't use sync on them at least with traktor it feels like a cdj when beatmixing, several revolutions for a basic nudge is unacceptable for $2k+ hardware
DJ Krissi D 10:31 AM - 18 August, 2014
I Must admit i gave up on this issue and have not logged on in a while in frustration with Serato as the response i got was it was "Me" and "it was designed that way"

Glad but not glad everyone has the same issue and that the DDJ-SZ does not come anywhere close to similar DVS support on other hardware.

However going on another issue i helped report last year don't bank on this getting solved in under a year...

Faith in Serato is whaning!! However whats the alternative? #Stuckwiththem
Davideon 4:28 PM - 18 August, 2014
This is a pioneer issue. Not serato
dubmatic 6:15 AM - 19 August, 2014
Hate to say it as this product was supposed to make me switch but very few customers I've had have ever had anything bad to say about the s4 apart from its plasticy toy look but it actually works that or a full blown pioneer or whatever analog set up is your only option as this is a paperweight
Peasey 11:34 PM - 7 September, 2014
Quote:
Hey everyone,

Just letting you know that we have been able to reproduce this issue in house. It is possible to get Serato DJ and the DDJ-SZ in a state where the pitch bend functions at 50% of it's expected performance. We'll investigate this further to find out what the cause of the issue is.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback.

Cheers,
Michael.


Any update on this yet, it dates back to June?
Serato, Forum Moderator
Michael R 3:22 AM - 8 September, 2014
Hi Peasey,

Quote:
Any update on this yet, it dates back to June?


No update yet but we are still looking into this issue. I will let you all know when have found out what is going on.

Cheers,
Michael.
dj marky j 7:27 PM - 17 November, 2014
Experience the same problem, pitch bend is useless, myself being a Latino DJ I can't work with it !! Salsa and other genres shift tempo very often.
Pioneer or serato need to fix this or recall the sz and refund DJs their money.
It also uses a lot of ram power of my computer (MacBook pro i5 8gb ram)
It freezes and glitches when recording a set .
Overall disappointed
Serato, Forum Moderator
Michael R 11:17 PM - 17 November, 2014
Hey dj marky j (and everyone else following this thread),

We are investigating this issue currently, I'll post back when we have more information.

Cheers,
Michael.
dj marky j 5:19 AM - 19 November, 2014
As of today updates My computer to Yosemite 10.10 os x updates serato dj to latest 1.7.1 and pitch bend seems to work ok Now !!
Recording sets same it glitches badd!!!
Dj Lemon 10:11 AM - 11 December, 2015
Quote:
Hey dj marky j (and everyone else following this thread),

We are investigating this issue currently, I'll post back when we have more information.

Cheers,
Michael.


So have we figured out a way to adjust the pitch bend yet on the DDJ SZ?