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horrible sound when changing pitch on Stanton c.303 cd players
A read-only archive of old serato.com help threads.

horrible sound when changing pitch on Stanton c.303 cd players

Product
Scratch Live
Version
2.3.3
Hardware
Rane SL2
Computer
PC
OS
Platform
-
Panos Par 4:16 PM - 22 May, 2012
I own a Stanton pack (two c.303 cd players and a M.202 mixer).
When I play a song and move the pitch slider (on any cd player) from zero to let's say +4.3, I see the pitch indicator on Serato (both on ABS and REL mode) trembling randomly from +3.8 to +5.1. If the keylock is not preesed (on Serato, never on the cd players) the song changes note the same way of the pitch tembling. I also get a red signal on the tracking indicator, which isgetting bigger if the trembling is bigger.
I have tested the same system at a bar and had the same issues but not when testing it with the bar's cd players, two Pioneer CDJ-350, so it's not a grounding issue.
The green circles on setup appearfine when the pitch isat zeroand start to have some random green dots everywhere iside the circles when the pitch is moved up or down.
Thanks in advance,
Panos Paraskevopoulos
Rane, Support
RafaelM 4:43 PM - 22 May, 2012
Sounds like the Pitch from the CD Players is simply sending a dirty signal. You will have to get those CD Players looked at.

If other CD Players work fine - then its def. yours that have issues.
Panos Par 5:57 PM - 22 May, 2012
Thanks for the quick reply, what do you mean "dirty"? Why isn't that happening with audio cds?
Rane, Support
RafaelM 4:12 PM - 23 May, 2012
Meaning the Pitch on the CDJs could be bad. Sending out a distorted signal.

Not sure why it wouldnt happen with regular CDs - but again, if another set of CD Players work fine - then its YOUR CD Players that are having an issue.
Panos Par 4:38 PM - 23 May, 2012
How about this? serato.com
I thought that it is a similar problem, I just don't use a mac.
I have to say that the pitch indicator is trembling on Serato, the cd players' pitch indicators look fine and stable.
Rane, Support
RafaelM 5:42 PM - 23 May, 2012
If you are using ABS or REL mode then you have the Cds inside your CD Player. You dont have your CD Player Midi Mapped to Scratch Live. So thank Thread you Linked doesnt apply.

Looking at ytour CD Players again - I see they have a Key Lock and Pitch Lock button correct? Make sure both of those are turned off.

....any luck?
Panos Par 10:35 PM - 23 May, 2012
Is there a way to midi map those C.303 cd players to SSL? Is this done with my s/pdif out of the 2 cd players? Do I need a Rane sixty eight mixer to do this?

Key lock anf pitch lock are never pressed. When the pitch trembles on Serato, the pitch indicator at my cd players is always stable, the same way it is with audio cds and SSL off.

Could this problem be caused from a different than usual technology used to make the pitch faders of those particular cd players? There are two pitch bend (-) and (+) buttons on the bottom of each pitch fader that I havent seen on any other (Pioneer usually) cd player for example.
Rane, Support
RafaelM 11:06 PM - 23 May, 2012
Cant seem to find a clear rear-shot of those CD Players. Do they have a USB Port on them?

No the SPDIF output is not used to Midi Map. That can only be used with Control CDs. Its like an RCA Connection but just with one RCA.

It could be caused by the type of pitch slider they used on those CDJs. Those buttons you mention are just Nudge Buttons. They are not the problem (Unless one might be stuck?)
Panos Par 11:14 PM - 23 May, 2012
Here's a link for the manual, I did rtfm, lol.
www.stantondj.com

There is no usb port on them, so why on the thread I listed before you suggested something about midi mapping? Anyway, I guess I have to go to check my cd players by tomorrow...
Panos Par 11:39 PM - 23 May, 2012
If I buy a Traktor X1 controller (mostly for song browsing and pitch fading maybe) is this only for internal mode?
Panos Par 12:25 PM - 24 May, 2012
Have you ever been asked for help for pitch trembling? Was it the cd players' pitch faders that ususally needed fixing? I don't want to have an extra cost of having my cd players' pitch faders changed since they operate fine with audio cds.

I see that on Traktor scratch pro 2 system there is a way to correct this witha "stable bpm" function:
forum.djtechtools.com
phatbob 12:55 PM - 24 May, 2012
A CD deck should always put out a rock-steady pitch to Scratch Live. I've used numerous different players and they always do.

If you're certain that the keylock is switched off on the players, then you should be getting a fully stable pitch.

What are your threshold settings in the setup screen? Try throwing them all the way to right, see what you get.

Also, are you using original Serato CDs, or burnt copies? Copies are fine but only if you burn them right. Any badly produced copies could cause this, maybe.
Rane, Support
RafaelM 4:13 PM - 24 May, 2012
Thanks phatbob.

Panos - I have helped people with Pitch issues in the past. Most the time, switching to another Deck or CD Player gets rid of the issue. This shows us those Decks are having Pitch issues.

Unfortunatley Scratch Live doesnt have that Feature built in.
5:00 PM, 7 Jun 2012
This help request has been closed due to inactivity.