You should be using Relative mode in 1.8 that allows needle dropping as well. That will fix your problem if you love vinyl that much.

I cannot say i love vinyle. I hardly even know what I am doing with it. based on your profile you seem to know your stuff. Basically what i really wanted to know is if i went away from vinyle what would the suggesion be to get? I like the ability to scratch if I need to but more importantly the ease of beat matching with either a jog wheel or a record. I like some of the added features that come on the cdj 800 and the Denon 5500. Right now I have a buddies technics turn tables with a fader on it and that is it. I couldn't even tell you the model number or anything about it.

The features on the CDJ's will most likely mean nothing as you won't be able to use some of them in SSL. As far as ease in mixing, it really doesn't matter. Vinyl or CD is the same thing. Some say CD will "stick" better and you won't have to be "riding" the pitch but for experienced DJ's, that means nothing.

If you really want to keep on learning to scratch and you fall in love with it, the bigger surface (vinyl) will be better than jog wheel.

When you say features won't work which ones are you refering to?
The ones i like the best are the quick loop button and then the 4 speeds of the loop right next to it. Maybe I am premature on SSL but the loop is not easy for me to do on the fly.

Sixxx, by the way I went and checked out your website and the other music site you have where you create mixes. I am a weekend DJ with 3 day jobs during the week aside from my djing. I would love to have some sweet remixes of 80's tunes with new beats behind them. for example i heard a pour some sugar mix with a techno beat and it sounded cool. The bar i play at has a very mixed crowd and I have to constantly be changing from top 40 to 80's to a little country and if I am lucky i get to play techno. I would love some cool remixes though. Even a long cheater song with a string of current hip hop songs all blended together as in the winter it can get very slow and it would be nice to throw something on and mingle with the crowd a little. Let me know if you have any options for me.

Playing vinyl can take sometime to get used too, but in the end it is more rewarding and overall a more immersive experiance. The problems you ae having can be cause by several different variables but most likely due to cheap turntables. I would recommend getting 1210's or better. Check the weight on the tone arm - normally 2 to 4 grams, the antiskate - put it somewhere in the mddle, the needles(good needles pick up less dust), and that they are on a good solid and level unit.

3500 and 5500 denon's firmware were designed or updated with SL in mind, (as I understand it.)

Have a look at DJ SHY on you tube or in media in this webiste, for demo's of what dennon cd players can do with respect to SL

I haven't seen and cdj pioneer vids with this kind of ability