Serato DJ Pro General Discussion

Talk about Serato DJ Pro, expansion packs and supported hardware

Vestax VCI 380 - Waste of money and time!

Eats 4:05 AM - 9 November, 2012
I have written on this forum 3 times and each time my post gets marked as INACTIVE when they have still not been solved.

Making me waste more of my time by needing to repost to bring this to everyones attention.

My Vestax VCI 380 doesnt work!!! I have tried to reach out to so many people, from Vestax (Over 10 emails already), Serato (How many posts now?), West End Dj (3 emails) and even local distributors (4 emails).

I JUST WANT TO SAY A BIG THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR WASTING MY TIME WITH THIS ENDLESS FRUSTRATION AND BACK AND FORTH B*LLSH*T!

ITS BEEN 3 MONTHS and still no solution!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR...

WASTING MY MONEY!

and most of all for....

MAKING ME LOOK LIKE A TIT WHEN PERFORMING LIVE!!!


THANK YOU!

Watchwww.youtube.com
nikodb 12:57 PM - 10 November, 2012
I don't get it...this is definitely a hardware issue...why can't you get it fixed-replaced based on its warranty terms? ... I mean you clearly have a problem with the platter...it's obvious..
djvik9534 3:40 PM - 10 November, 2012
had same problem and I set sensitivity knobs on the the front left of the controller .I set mine to 10 o'clock and the problem went away.there are to knobs one left and one right. Good luck.
nikodb 4:09 PM - 10 November, 2012
Quote:
had same problem and I set sensitivity knobs on the the front left of the controller .I set mine to 10 o'clock and the problem went away.there are to knobs one left and one right. Good luck.


true...that could also be it....never had to adjust mine on the 300....keep forgetting about those knobs exist there for a reason :)
Eats 5:22 AM - 11 November, 2012
Not the Touch Sensor ADJ knobs guys, thanks for trying to help.

If you watch the video Watchwww.youtube.com - I show that turning the adjustment takes no effect to the platter sensitivity and tracking of the hand movements.

I can't get it exchanged or fixed under WARRANTY because Vestax says:

"As for warrantty: yes, Vestax is international, but the warranty is local as we are not a big enough company to cover worldwide warranty and service! Basically warranty is covered by distributors, not by Vestax."

So since I bought it from West End DJ in the UK and I dont live in that country, I am screwed.

The lesson here would be - buy this stuff at a local dealer if possible. They didn't have it here until recently so I bought it in the UK.

Vestax have been really helpful trying to help me to fix it but it has been months and its still not fixed. I have opened the machine up as to their instructions and tested this and that but nothing has resolved the problem.

I am very sad and frustrated with it, hoping that somehow the problem would resolve itself. I have been very unlucky, paying for a machine that doesn't work is the worst feeling.

I have been practising my scratching on the left platter for now, but recently my Serato ITCH has been chewing up my WAV files.

They worked fine up until now and then randomly, the tracks get corrupted and crashes ITCH.

I only use WAV and now a lot of the WAV files I use are corrupted. If I find the file on my hard drive - it has been reduced to a 6k in size!

It seems Serato had addressed the WAV problem:

"We are aware of this issue with .WAV and it will be fixed in the next release update of ITCH, I don't know when this will be released"

So we just wait around till one day a next version gets released? Not very nice to do if I bought this machine to earn my bread. Now, not only can I not scratch on the right platter but I cannot play WAV?

I must go waste my time and compromise the quality of my audio by converting my entire library to MP3? I could understand if it was FLAC issue but WAV has been around for 7+ years!

Sorry for the rant but I really need this to work.

I paid good hard earned cash for this machine and software and it is not delivering what it promised. It has sapped up my time and my performances are suffering as a result. Please excuse my frustration and actions on it - I just wish everything was cool.
nikodb 7:19 AM - 11 November, 2012
Ok...kind of lost now...do you mean its working properly on mp3s or FLAC?? because it did look like a platter sensor issue on that video to my eyes...

Yes if you bought it from UK you need to send it to them for replacement which is a mess if your in the US or elsewhere...but if its a software issue there is not much a replacement can do...I guess u stuck with it till the update...

Actually i am not so sure how much of the sound quality is compromised when FLACing those WAVs...Yes i agree you should keep the original WAV Archive and duplicate it to FLAC instead of converting it...but also thought they were adequate in sound quality or at least with no obvious performance issues for DJs at least (could be wrong as well)...Maybe you can also look at AIFF uncompressed as a temporary solution...i mean yeah WAV does sound phat on loud setups vs MP3s..but how much phatter from FLAC or other lossless encoders ?

Concluding though I completely agree you shouldn't have to go through all this mess,...for demanding to work strictly in high quality WAV audio files.,,,but you look better off with a temporary FLAC or other supported Lossless encoder solution...if that the case to get the 380 to work....rather than waiting the ITCH update to get available...
RobArran 8:38 PM - 11 November, 2012
Hey Eats,
Just had a quick scan of your post.

So since I bought it from West End DJ in the UK and I dont live in that country, I am screwed. - Wrong, you are covered.

Your contract is with West End DJ, Im assuming here you bought it online and you are therefore covered by the Distance Selling Regulations.
Check out these links:-
www.moneysavingexpert.com
This one gives a good guide to your rights as a customer.
or
www.oft.gov.uk
For a more detailed description.

Your first call should be to West End DJ to try and resolve the issue, I know you have emailed them, but its much better if you can call them.

Read through the first website, It will guide you through what you can and cant do !

Good luck
Panotaker 9:52 PM - 11 November, 2012
This looks like the same problem that the VCI-300's had. I had that on my 300. I don't know about the 380, but on the 300, the sensor gets dirty and you have to clean it. You have to take the whole thing apart to get to it on the 300. There are videos on you tube that show you how to fix it on the 300, I bet it is basically the same thing on the 380. On the 300, the sensor is a thin flat copper rod that rubs against the brass shaft of the platter. Eventually, the copper shaft turns black from oxidation and then the black stuff gets on the brass and they quit making a good contact. When it happens, it does the same thing that your 380 does. To fix it, you shine up the copper rod and the brass shaft with some sand paper to get rid of the oxidation. There is some grease on the brass shaft, dont wipe that off completely, leave a little bit so you can reuse it. Without the lube, the problem will come back faster. Vestax told me that you can use lithium grease if you have to. Just a drop is all you need.

I had to fix my 300 myself since I bought it used and had no warranty. It usually happens to the platter you used the most. I would do a search on you tube to see if the 380 has the same fix as the 300. If it was me, I would have taken it completely apart already, but I am pretty mechanical. You got nothing to lose since it is already broke. Good luck.
Eats 1:06 AM - 12 November, 2012
Thanks for all the help guys! I will look into all this and get back to you!
nikodb 6:29 AM - 12 November, 2012
He is covered...but but for that service he is obliged to pay the shipping out and return costs and if he is lucky enough to get the parcel stopped at customs that's another story.
2:17 AM, 13 Nov 2012
Discussion moved to Vestax and Serato
Serato, Support
Aaron E 2:21 AM - 13 November, 2012
Hi guys

Sorry to hear about your issue Eats, the VCI-380 is usually such a solid unit. I've moved this to the general Vestax and Serato area as it doesn't seem like you need our help in this situation.

Good luck with the fix suggested by Panotaker (and/or the consumer advice from RobArran), let us know how you get on...
2:32 AM, 14 Nov 2012
Discussion moved to ITCH General Discussion
pdidy 2:33 AM - 16 November, 2012
why didnt you send to West End DJ in the UK for repair ?
Roca415 3:43 PM - 15 March, 2013
Did you end up taking it apart?
djbanger 8:14 AM - 4 August, 2014
Just want to thank Eats and nikodb, was having sensitivity issues with the right platter and was pissed because i brought it from the states and was not covered by warranty. After 2months contacting vestax and pulling my hair out i have finally got it to work without any problems thanks to this thread. Thank you guys Eats i hope youve sorted it now!
MrMarquis 1:42 AM - 28 July, 2015
i had the same issue and just fixed, push down on the platter until you hear a click that should sort it!!!
Eats 4:19 PM - 13 May, 2016
Just thought I would get back to everyone to let you know Vestax actually sorted me out. They were great about it. It took some time to troubleshoot it but the problem was resolved and the unit has been stable since and I am loving it. Thanks so much for all the replies and the help offered. Truly appreciated!
Serato, Support
Aaron E 11:46 PM - 15 May, 2016
Nice! Good to hear.
London Broil 1:42 AM - 16 May, 2016
So what was solution?
akakak 3:42 AM - 16 May, 2016
I'm glad they sorted you out, because West End DJ are w*nkers.
Eats 12:52 PM - 16 May, 2016
Yeah the Vestax guys were awesome about it all, even considering the company was in hot water at the time. They first patiently worked with me to trouble shoot the problem and then sent me a new platter which sorted out the issue. The unit is so good for scratching, I tried a few, this one is on point.
pdidy 6:51 PM - 16 May, 2016
Quote:
Thanks for all the help guys! I will look into all this and get back to you!

Dude it's four years later....wtf
Eats 4:30 PM - 14 May, 2017
My humblest apologies, I am slow-mo like that. See I even took a year for the next comment. Thought I would say something cause Vestax were great even went ish went down and then I didn't follow up on this post.