Building upon the success of the DDJ-SZ, the 4-channel DDJ-SZ2 from Pioneer is the all-in-one flagship Serato DJ controller system designed for live performance applications such as at a party or in a club. This updated version is equipped to control the latest additions to Serato DJ including key shift, key sync, pitch play, and Serato flip. Additional updates include an improved jog-wheel with better latency to make scratching more responsive and precise. The controller features two decks styled after CDJs with large touch-capacitive jog-wheels and in-wheel track LCD displays, two banks of eight customizable LED-backlit performance pads which offer instant feedback on playing status and pad modes, and a 4-channel DJM-style mixer with two built-in USB 24-bit/44.1 kHz audio interfaces.
The two audio interfaces utilize Cirrus Logic DACs with a signal-to-noise ratio of 111 dB and enable two separate computers to be connected to the controller at the same time. The top of the mixer section features switches for assigning channels 1 & 3 and channels 2 & 4 to either USB A/B, allowing for seamless transitions between two DJs and their computers. Channels 3 and 4 offer dedicated switches for selecting CD/line input, turntable (phono) or USB, while channels 1 and 2 can be switched to either CD/line or USB inputs, providing a range of analog and digital connectivity.
Each of the two decks feature large aluminum touch-capacitive jog-wheel adapted from the CDJ-2000 Nexus. The wheels feature "On Jog" LCD-displays that show playback status and track position. The control load and continuous backspin time of the wheels can be adjusted for different scratch and playing styles. Pitch control sliders, cue and play controls, loop controls, and a needle search touch strip enable precise and flexible control over each track.
Each deck also features a bank of eight rubber LED-backlit performance pads. The pads can be used for hot cue, roll, slicer, and sampler controls within Serato. The color of each pad can also be customized from within Serato to color-code different cue points in tracks such as builds, drops, and breaks.
Each of the four channels in the mixer section feature a trim control, a 3-band EQ, a level fader, and a variable knob for applying echo, jet, pitch, and filter color effects. Effects can also be applied to the two microphone input channels with 2-band EQ as well as the master output channel. The echo effect can be synchronized to the BPM of the set. The mixer supports external digital vinyl system control and includes a Magvel contact-free magnetic crossfader with adjustable cross fader curve that is rated to over 10 million uses. An oscillator section allows for adding noise, siren, cymbal, and horn sound effects to the mix.
For I/O, the front of the controller features a 1/4" TRS and 1/8" mini headphone jack. The back of the unit features two phono RCA inputs with signal ground terminals, four Line/CD RCA inputs, a combo XLR-1/4" microphone input, a 1/4" microphone input, two USB type-B inputs, a pair of 1/4" booth outputs, an unbalanced pair of RCA master outputs, a balanced pair of XLR outputs, and a Kensington lock.
The unit is designed to work with and comes with a copy of Serato DJ. The software and controller combination supports 4-deck and sampler functions, slip mode for maintaining track position during effects, hot cues, loops, a suite of iZotope powered FX, eight cue points per deck, and a vertical display of the track waveforms.
