As we all know Pioneer and Serato used to be like Salt and Pepper, joined at the hip.

This relationship seems to be have been withering away ever since Pioneer's Record box has grown up from a project to a worthy competitor.

When you learn from somebody else but is no longer reliant on them, you want to spread your wings and fly out of the coop.

I believe Pioneer wants to do this with their hardware and Recordbox Software.

Serato (i think) reluctantly is slowly beginning to accept this realization because their ex-best friend (Pioneer) wants to slowly part ways without any hurt feelings.

Why else would they unlock their software (after so many years of being proprietary software) and partner up with new inexperienced manufactures like Mixars but also with experienced respected hardware manufactures like Roland who have had no experience whatsoever in the DJ controller world.

Serato (and - may still have...just going for wild predictions here) had great relations with Rane and Pioneer in the beginning .. but things do change, and hey that is the way the world works.

I want to make something very clear. I started using Serato. I started DJing in 2002. This is what i am used to. The layout, the handling of the software, the dependable stability. I probably will not stray (for the time being at least)

I have a problem though. The lack of good hardware that is compatible with Serato DJ. I am by no means a audiophile, BUT i do know good sound when i hear it.

In my opinion, all of Pioneers offerings that are compatibly with Serato sound Terrible.

Im not sure if its the DACS or something done intentionally to make you want the "next best thing" but the darn things have no headroom (poor output) or just sound plain muddy and distorted. Many of you will fiercely disagree, but i have rights on my own opinions :-)

There is one Pioneer piece of hardware that BLOW everything out of the water in my opinion and that is the DDJ-S1. This thing may not be the prettiest girl in school but oh my does she sound amazing. (this was Pioneers first controller BTW, so alot of R&D, time and effort and careful selection of high quality components most likely went into her to make a first good impression) *as do all girls haha!*

It has incredible headroom and it brings out the best of the worst MP3's. The internal components used in this amazing controller are hands down the best that Pioneer has used with exception of the SZ2 which in my opinion does not sound as good.

With proper gain staging through a high quality analog mixer the SZ2 sounds "ok"

With that said, what if i told you guys that the SZ2 was === never suppose to happen??

Have you noticed the difference in features between the SZ and SZ2? Not much eh?

Keys and pitch, Serato Flip. You may be asking where i am going with this. In my humble opinion Pioneer made the fatal mistake of choosing a Wolfson DAC (Digital to Analog Converter)

For those of you who do not know what a DAC does, well it turns your computer files (MP3) to something you can hear out of your speakers.

The SZ-2 was release shortly after with a Cirrus Logic DAC (completely different manufacture) and a few insignificant features to erase the fact that the SZ was a failure (in my opinion sound wise).

The SZ series is undoubtedly a gorgeous controller. The designers clearly did a fabulous and meticulous job designing the "perfect" controller aesthetically .. but it does not offer the punch in your music files like the DDJ-S1 DAC did.

I have a feeling that NAMM 2019 is going to clearly dictate if Pioneer and Serato still have a relationship. Are we going to see a high quality DDJ-1000S released (for Serato) or will everyone go a separate path?

Anyways, i am not trying to prove a point in any kind of a way .. or trying to make fact of something that may not be, just expressing some thoughts and would love to hear yours!


- Cheers! DJ SHaKa!