It all depends on what type of turntables you have. Certain ones have less pitch drift than others but with analog t-tables you will always have a slight pitch drift. Didn't think chopped & screwed was still a thing now interesting.

Just ordered two Denon VL12 Primes and a Pioneer S9 serato battle mixer.

So even with the Anti-drift and sync turned on there will still be drifting?

not sure if sync makes a difference with anti-drift or not I don't really use sync but regardless you will have pitch drift no matter what t-tables you use cause they are turntables however certain dj cartridges and quality control records will greatly help too. Anti-drift is not a permanent fix or will help stabilize bpm but doesn't fully fix drifting as they are analog devices. Good choice btw I have the S9 and a set of Technics it's the baddest mixer there is right now. Just make sure you test all the outputs on the S9 there have been a few defective units out there I know first hand cause my first S9 mixer was defective I had to switch it out for a new one. Everything's been golden so far. Let us know how the turntables hold up.

it* will help

Thanks for the heads up. This may sound dumb by how do I test all my outputs? Would that just be making sure my speakers play?

All good I see you're new to it all. Make sure all the outputs are working correctly as in Master XLR, Booth Output, RCA master. There have been issues with faulty outputs (1 channel being louder than the other etc). I hope you have a computer with the minimum system requirements as SDJ uses a lot of cpu and a good processor and ram is needed to run efficiently.

Yes I have been using a Numark NS7III with no issues at all with my computer. I'll make sure I test all my outputs too.

What kind of DJ cartridges/needles did you order for the Denons? Luckily the S9 comes with Serato vinyl so you're good there.

2 x SHURE M44-7 Turntable DJ Needle Phono Cartridge

Great choice I heard those will really decrease drifting just make sure you calibrate Serato and set the tonearm weight properly.

Will do. I have never done any of that before so this will be a learning experience!

Are these coming premounted on a head shell? It can be a bitch to connect them if you haven't before. The cartridges do not come pre mounted unless you buy them pre mounted but rest assured it comes with all the tools connecting the wires can be a bitch though.

Don't think the are premounted

K well you'll need the headshell for them without the headshell which is usually Technics or Serato you can't connect the needle cartridge without it.

The headshell comes with the turntables. I'll have to mount them though.

The VL12 comes with:

Headshell
Felt slipmat
Target light
45 RPM adapter
Counterweight & scale ring
Additional counterweight
RCA stereo cable
Power Cable (IEC)
User Guide & Warranty documentation

Oh my bad was unaware headshells come with it. You're good then just follow the instructions on how to connect the cartridge. Hope you enjoy the Denons I hear they are very high quality t-tables.

If it is a technics sl-1200 mk2, mk3, mk4, mk5 they will not drift. You can keep two tracls locked for minutes. Other turntables like the Pioneer and super OEM drift. They all suck.

I disagree I have a set of Technics 1210 mk5's and they drift at least 1-2 bpms it is never steady. I recall having less pitch drift with Scratchlive since I moved to SDJ it's been hell. Maybe that's why they have anti-drift in the first place cause they fucked it up...

I have a friend who has the brand new Technics GR's and he confirmed they infact drift as well. They are analog devices they all drift from vinyl playback. Still Scratchlive proved to be more steady.

IMO anti-drift is only useful if you use sync. if you ride the pitch fader anti-drift gets in the way.

Mk5 or M5G? The M5G drift. I also had a brand new pair of 1200 mk2 drift, but that was weird. I think it was defective.

I have 1210 mk5's the black ones w/pitch reset and no click pitch. I haven't seen a Technics that doesn't drift.

Umm, I have had several pairs of mk2s that did not drift. I could keep two songs beatmatches for minutes without having to nudge.

I don't think you understand that I mean DVS drift w/bpm fluctuating. It's not necessarily a pure vinyl problem I have no problem matching real records. Serato tends to fluctuate bpm compared to real vinyl. Maybe it's just Serato DJ cause Scratchlive did it less.

I can tell you this using 2x Technics SL MKII

I tested with 2 copies of a track on vinyl and mixed them start to finish with 0 on pitch on both decks. There was the regular slight drift over the course of the 5 mins. As expected. the odd nudge was required but nothing to worry about.

I ripped the tune at 0 pitch.

Put it in SDJ using the Denon DS1 as the Serato interface on deck A & Deck B, mixed them, and they drifted much more. That was without griding it or using sync.
I would have thought it would have been the same but it was not and was notably worse as I had to nudge the track many more times than previously when it was a couple of times.

I then gridded the track, and it made a slight difference but the drift was still more than mixing 2 vinyl's.

Additionally it was AIFF format as to remove the extra processing needed to decode an mp3.
DVS drift is real and seemed more than vinyl drift in this test....

In reality its not a huge amount but I found that it is slightly more using DVS than mixing 2 records on turntables.

I think it has to be expected to a certain degree.

To sum up comparing mixing 2 tunes on vinyl (same copy so you can hear the phase) against the track ripped in AIFF format and mixed in Serato DJ via DVS there was noticeably more drift.

I will compare this test with other systems such as Traktor when I get the time but I would think it would be a similar experience.

thats my 2 pence worth. ;)

I should have added that I did not use Pitch In Time or Sticker Lock or any other feature that I anticipated could affect the test.

Its not conclusive by any means just my observation.

Good info curious did you have anti-drift on? This feature is only in SDJ 1.9.6 and it's supposed to help with DVS drift. Regardless they are analog t-tables they will drift in any DVS setup. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on Traktor though. Appreciate your testing.

no not in the test.

I will do a test over the weekend with Traktor

I am still have N2IT's final scratch (BEOS) and Stanton soundcard. That DVS never drifted. Possibly the most responsive DVS ever.