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Overly sensitive pitch fader on CDJ in HID mode
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Overly sensitive pitch fader on CDJ in HID mode

msoultan 6:45 PM - 6 April, 2013
For some reason Serato has decided to deviate on the pitch % increments when using ScratchLive with the CDJ-900 in HID mode - I'd venture to guess this is the same with the other CDJ HID implementations, but I only have 900s. When you select +/- 6 as your pitch fader range on a stock CDJ (no HID connection), you'll notice that the pitch increments change in 0.02% intervals - this has been like this for as long as I've used them and it's stable and works great.

For some reason when Serato added the HID integration for the 900s, and you select +/- 6% as your pitch fader range, they decided to use 0.015% as the interval so you'll notice your pitch values being 0.00, 0.02, 0.03, 0.05, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10, 0.11, 0.13, etc (weird values due to rounding) instead of 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, etc. I'm not totally sure why they chose to use 0.015 instead of 0.02, but maybe they were thinking that it would give you finer adjustments? Well, unfortunately that finer pitch increment comes at a cost of the pitch fader being way too sensitive. There are a few of us that have noticed that pitch values will **change on their own** (due to vibration or using the jog wheel) and have also found pitch adjustment to be jumpy and more difficult to zero in on a value because it slides too easily past the value I'm trying to get to.

What bothers me is Pioneer had it dialed in with the 0.02% pitch increment in non-HID mode - it's great as it gives enough granularity to dial in those perfect mixes without being overly sensitive - plus, even numbers are much nicer to work with - and it's been the industry standard for years! I don't get why they messed with that. I would venture to guess that this also affects other CDJ decks, but I only have the 900 so hopefully someone else can verify this on their HID compatible decks.

I've posted this as a bug in the ScratchLive help forum, but I'm guessing not everyone casually browses there so I'd really like to know if anyone else has noticed this. If you're using a CDJ with Serato and have also noticed the same thing, please chime in and ask that Serato support the CDJ in a transparent manner that keeps the pitch functionality true to the way Pioneer designed it! Here's the thread that outlines all of the details:

serato.com

Thanks!
Mike
msoultan 6:14 PM - 25 August, 2016
So, I just wanted to update that this bug is still present over three years later in Serato DJ. I just tested it on my 900s and sure enough the pitch will change on it's own as described in the post above and the other post linked above. There is absolutely no reason that Serato DJ should be using a finer pitch resolution than 0.02% as it is only picking up vibration and noise which allows the pitch value to drift from the value I set it to and throws off the mix.

I haven't tried other HID implementations, but I'd venture to guess that they might have the same issues. Unfortunately there might not even be a way for users to tell anymore as Serato DJ doesn't show you multiple decimal places for pitch in the UI, so if you don't have a readout on your controller you have no idea what's happening under the hood in Serato DJ.

I'd be interested to know if other people have noticed, when using their CDJs in HID mode, if the pitch fader seems overly sensitive or if you've had the pitch value change on its own (i.e. 1.51 to 1.52) without touching the fader. Usually tapping on the jog wheel or the unit (simulating bass vibration) will make it change. But sometimes it just does it on its own...

Thanks,
Mike