A lot have been written about some shortcomings of the AMX mapping (see also the DJTT and DJWORX reviews). With this post I would like to suggest improvements for the 5 biggest problems I have with the current mapping:

1. Pitch adjust resolution is now 0,4%. This problem is already addressed many times and a fix is probably planned for next release of SDJ.

2. Gain adjustment with endless rotary knob. This is just not working very well, because you have no reference where you are (also discussed here: serato.com).

3. Pitch adjustment with shift + gain. Having to use shift for adjusting the pitch is doable, but not ideal. The bigger problem is that the gain button is used for this. If you miss shift, you have a problem.

4. Pitch bending with search + browse knob. Again you have to use shift for a primary dj function. Combined with the browse knob, it just doesn’t feel really intuitive.

5. Scrubbing resolution too fine grained.

I think these five fundemental dj functions are not ideally mapped at the moment. So, I have been using the AMX mostly with DJ Player for iOS. This allows me to experiment with alternative mappings (and makes a perfect super-mobile and dvs capable setup!). I will now address the above mentioned problems and the way I've solved them in DJP.

1. The pitch adjustment resolution in DJ Player is 0.05%. This which works pretty accurate and not to slow.

To solve problems 2 and 3, I’ve mapped the AMX to DJP like this:
- GAIN-knob => Pitch
- TREBLE-knob => Gain
- MID-knob => Treble
- BASS-knob => Bass

So basically I sacrificed my Mid eq (which I don’t tend to use so much, when you also have a filter) to have dediced Pitch and Gain knobs. Having the Gain on the (ending) TREBLE knob is so much better since you feel where you are and have the center click as a physical refrence point.

4. Now for the pitch bend up and down functions: I’ve mapped these under the Touch layer. When Touch is enabled:
- touching TREBLE => Pitch bend up
- touching MID => Pitch bend down

For me the frequency kill-functions are nice, but not at all necesarry functions to have. Pitch bending though is a fundemental function (even when you use sync). The capacitive touch knobs turn out to be a very natural feeling interface for the pitch bend function. In combination with the dediced pitch under the GAIN knob, this mapping does make the AMX suitable for manual mixing in a standalone setup.

5. Scrubbing resolution too fine grained

Also addressed by others, the scrubbing is too fine grained. Haven’t solved this one in DJP though, since with DJP I use the on screen waveform for this function.

A possible solution for Serato DJ could be to still use the search + browse knob, but with different behaviour: When you turn the browse knob at low speed (click for click) use the current behaviour for fine scrubbing, but when you sweep the knob faster make the scrubbing also faster. I think this velocity dependent behaviour is also used for browsing tracks in a long playlist (like the CDJ’s do). I can’t say if this would work though, because I can’t test this out.

Now I really don’t expect Serato to implement all these suggestions (because of the silkscreening for instance), but hopefuly my findings are somehow useful for coming up with future improvements. Allowing us to change the mapping of primary SDJ devices would of course be a great solution.. :)

Finally I want to point out that although these problems exist, I can still strongly recommend the AMX.

Cheers.