I don't give a F what everyone here is saying (no offense as I never was one to listen to other people) I have/had it all.
1.) SL1
2.) SL3
3.) SL4
4.) Rane 62
5.) Rane 64
6.) Vestax VCI 300 MKII (x2)
7.) DJM-900SRT
8.) DDJ-SX
9.) DDJ-SZ
10.) Countless NON Serato gear (S4, Urei 1620, Rane MP2016, Rane M24, Rane MP44, Pioner DJM-700, 800 & 900Nexus, etc. etc.)
Many will consider this to be a brag................ it's not. Simply saying I consider myself qualified to make my own decisions based on comparisons with other high quality gear. I LOVE my CDJ-2000nexus/900SRT/SP1/Remote setup and would NEVER give it up nor do I think the SZ compares to it.............. BUT the SZ is not supposed to be better. For the extremely low price of $1700 I ended up getting something that took off where the SX left off and made it better (for me at least).
"oh the SZ is broken", "Pioneer messed up", etc................. all fair comments. If and I do mean IF you are having issues with the sensitivity or anything else for that matter I hope all gets fixed for you and I am sorry you are having these issues. If you weren't you could potentially see what I do. It's this, its that, whatever!! There is ONE thing no one can convince me of otherwise. THE THING IS RIDICULOUSLY FUN to play with.
The sound is amazing. As compared to my Rane 64 maybe not as warm but still amazing - The Rane 64 costs $2199 and is JUST the mixer portion.
The platters could use work as my CDJ-2000Nexus's are much more responsive and feel better - CDJ-2000Nexus players cost $1,999 each and are JUST the player portion.
The performance pads are better than my SX or SP1 and they do more. The color coded cue points have already been worth their weight in gold. I actually predicted this feature (or wished for) years ago so I have been color coding my cue points since then (eg blue = intro, red = main beat, green = break, yellow = buildup, etc.) and I am now able to know what's what when cue point juggling without looking at the screen!!!
The mic section is in no way horrible as I saw one person say and furthermore the color FX are ridiculously fun to play with. Wanna make your GF sound like a Demon from hell or the manliest dud you know sound like a 6 year old girl? Have fun with the Pitch FX on the Mics.
The dual USB is just as amazing as it sounds. At first I didn't see much use as I in no way want to pass my gear off to an alternate DJ spinning after me but I employ 2 master Libraries (one for all music, one for my peak hour sets) and this proves to be quite convenient.
I now have my CDJ-2000Nexus hooked up to my SZ and I am trying to figure out if I like them better controlling 1 & 2 or 3 & 4. The point is this setup is now both feasible and supported. I was able to do this with my SZ but it was unpredictable and unreliable at best NO ISSUES REPORTED HERE except for the expected CDJ/Laptop lag with large library & HID issue
serato.com but this can NOT be blamed on the SZ as it happens with every interface running HID.
All & all I understand and make no excuses for Pioneer with the issues that are being reported BUT considering the big picture it was actually one of the cheapest pieces of gear I have purchased in the past three or four few years (beaten out by the SP1 & DDJ-SX among others) and when you break it down for what it is (player, mixer, sound card x 2, midi controller, etc) the value is even more obvious. As ALWAYS I say to each his own but don't get lost in the hype. Even if EVERYONE here says I am wrong in this. Remember that is just everyone HERE. On the local scene I finally heard of one person by me having any issues and this is ONLY because I went on a war path today trying to prove a point that no one locally has these issues. I was wrong...................... but not by much. I am sure the numbers may come out someday BUT I am sure they will not be as high as some think it is. I would even go a step further and say this could be a batch issue. I hear of people going back to get new ones. Let me ask when you get a new one are you getting from a different store, or region, or country (the last one is a little ridiculous but you get the point)? I know some people have their "guy" at their DJ shop who "takes care of them" so they make sure they get one of the new ones first off the new delivery. I used to be one of those "guys" and I "took care" of my special customers too. They are trying to make money end of story.
I'm not trying to come off as mean and I will say again as some people get one thing in their mind and can't accept anything else I AM NOT saying there is no issue. I am NOT making any excuses. I am NOT saying the people affected don't have a right to be upset about it. What I AM saying is there is another side to the story an I am one of the few who like to post about good experiences. I see to it that I always have a good experience whole doing most things in my life. I have nothing to prove to anyone and IF this was in any way a bad experience I wouldn't complain (too much LOL) I would simply ban this from my everyday life. I am not the type of person to ask for help (in all my years here on the forums I have had ONE real help request which was difficult enough to still to this day not be solved. The easiest way to fix a problem is to get rid of it and I promise the SZ is not something you should be getting rid of. This WILL be fixed one way or another. I don't care if it's firmware, software, or hardware replacement PIONEER has an obligation here and even if it's NOT as big as people make it out to be (as no one really knows for sure how big it is) it is BIG ENOUGH to be considered a real problem. This problem 1000% falls in Pioneers hands. Shit happens..................... fix it and we are all good IMO.
Make your own opinions. Give people a chance (Pioneer) and have a little leniency for brand new gear. not EVERYTHING is perfect day one but the SZ has real potential. In the end remember it may be a little more than you are used to paying for your gear but big picture wise it is actually fairly cheap for what you are getting.
Again I know people will now tear me apart for saying otherwise but I repeat. I don't dare. NO ONE is able to tell me what works for me and what doesn't. For the most part I'll try anything once and I am 100% super happy I tried the SZ.
Fire away!! LOL.
