Technics DZ1200 - Are they really that bad?

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spaceling

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I just recently bought a set of Technics DZ1200's. I have yet to receieve them, but started to notice a lot of negative comments on these. I assumed because they were Technics (I have used the vinyl 1200's like many DJ's for a very long time now), that they would be good.

I am wondering. Are they really all that bad? I started to look at the Pioneer CDJ 1000 MK3 and those look promising. Those are a bit out of my price range at the moment though and I got a pretty good deal on the Technics.

That being said and going back to my original question... are they really that bad?
 
They do the job, but there was massive amount of hype about them what with them being Technics first attempt at the CDJ market. Unfortunately they just didn't match the Pio's or even the Denon s5000's. Along with the hype these just bombed.

If your just using them for mixing though, there fine I wouldn't worry about it. Personally though I think the scratching emulation is absolute crap.

Depending on what "deal" you got, in the UK you can pick up a pair of the new Pioneer CDJ800's MK2 cheaper than a pair of the Techs. I would definitely get the 800's.
 
Thanks for the reply....

Well I do scratch occasionally (depending on what I am mixing). I have to say I am disappointed at the bad rep these have. I guess I expected more from Technics. I've heard that there is a digital noise issue when scratching. That's kind of hard for me to overlook.

I guess I got a pretty good deal ($900 U.S. for two).... Maybe I should have held out and waited until I had enough for the Pioneers. I might be able to sell them for a bit more after I get them.... but I guess I should give them a try first and see how bad they really are :(
 
Yeah, that's what I thought. No matter where I go, I keep hearing good things about those. I should have really done my homework before purchasing the Technics. I am still going to give them a chance though. Maybe I can learn to ignore the extra noise in my music.... okay not really.....

I've heard that there is a firmware update. Is this true? If so, does it solve any of the lag and digital noise issues? Where can I find this update?
 
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I've no idea. All I can say is google for it.
 
To be honest $900 is a really good deal. They go for roughly £1200 here (pair) which at the current exchange rate is $2375. Of course that doesn't mean much as they do retail for less in the US anyway.

If you look at pssl.com they retail at $799.99 each:
http://www.pssl.com/bitemdetail.tpl...07051814033045~disp_IMG~Y~catgroup~[catGroup]
So you have got yourself a bit of deal. If anything they are an investment. Like you say you could probably sell them a year from now and not lose any money.

This is a good review:
http://www.skratchworx.com/reviews/sldz1200.php

Also im not sure what the firmware upgrades fixed but what I cant believe is that Panasonic actually charged for them which is out of order.

However I found the latest one for you that someone put online here:

http://www.madbeatfactory.com/Quickstart/FileLib/SLDZ1200_Firmware_Update_2-3.zip
 
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Thanks Beefy, you are my new best friend... :)

First off, that was a pretty good review. It sounded unbiased as opposed to most other things I have read about it. Still, what sticks in my mind is a recurring theme. It almost seems as if Technics wanted to cash in on the digital turntable market ASAP instead of waiting to get it right the first time. Well I guess that's what MKII is going to be I'm sure (FYI, I've never heard of an MKII, but you know there will be one).

I am going to have faith and upgrade the firmware (thanks!) and see if I could still make use of these puppies. Otherwise I will have to bite the bullet and buy myself some Pioneers (I was really hoping for the Technics though.... sentimental value I guess).

With regards to scratching with the pitch-lock on, I really don't see that as a problem. I can live without that, but that's just me. Does the digital distortion during scratching also happen without the pitch-lock?

I hope that the lag is not so bad and if so, then the firmware update fixes that.

Sorry for the long post, but I really want to see if I can make these thigns work for me. I guess that on the bright side, I didn't pay full price for these....

By the way, do you know how to update the firmware? Do I burn it onto a CD or put it on an SD card?
 
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Sorry I meant to include that!

How to Update FIRMWARE
Obtaining the program.

Note:

* Don´t change file names after download.
* Copy to the root directory of SD card.
* Use 64 M bytes or less of SD card.
* Format SD card in this unit. It does not format with a personal computer.

Program Writing to the Flash ROM (IC23) after Replacement

1. Insert the SD card to which the program has been written into the SD Memory card slot.
2. Switch on the power while keeping the CUE PADS buttons {1}, {2}, {3}, and {4} all pressed.

3. The lamps of the CUE PADS {1} and {2} light and writing to the flash ROM (IC23) starts.

4. Afterwards, the CUE PADS {3} and {4} automatically light in sequence, and finally the lamps of all CUE PADS/SAMPLE PADS light and writing is completed.

Note: The flash ROM can be destroyed when the power is switched off during writing. Do not switch off the power until writing has been completed.

Please wait for about 2 minutes until writing has been completed.


Program Confirmation

The program of the flash ROM (IC23) can be confirmed according to the following procedure.

1. Press button {1} of the SAMPLE PADS and the EXECUTE button at the same time for at least 5 seconds whem powering up the deck.
2. The CD version is displayed on the LCD as Version (Example: V 1.7). Also, the lamps of the SAMPLE PADS and the CUE PADS light as shown below.



For example

Above figure is shown as V 1.7.
SAMPLE PADS shows “0001” means that 1.0. (Binary scale)
CUE PADS means 0.7 as “0111” shows. (Binary scale)

NOTE: For V 2.3 SAMPLE PAD 3 will light and CUE PADS 3 and 4 will light.



Hope that helps.

I think you got it spot on about Technics wanting to cash in. Its obvious to me that the DZ was rushed and as you say I imagine there will be a MK2.

I really dont think you will lose any money on these and you may even make some on eBay which will get you closer to the Pio 1000's. Although consider the new 800mk2's they are superb.

As for the Digital Distortion the firmware upgrade I linked to is supposed to resolve it, but from what I remember when I played with them (circa upgrade) Digital Distortion was present while scratching.

I hope you enjoy these, let me know how it goes when they arrive.
 
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Hey Beefy, you've really come through for me.

I am not sure if the decks currently have the firmware update already, in which case I don't have to do anything, but chances are it probably doesn't so I will definitely give this a try when I get the decks (Friday) and confirm that it is not already done!

I am not really religious about brand names, but I have come to associate Technics for quality decks. I really don't mind doing some patch work to make things right in the meantime. Those Pioneers are sounding really good right about now, but hopefully this firmware trick will be enough for my purposes.

I really just bought them to have fun and record mixes for myself and friends. I used to DJ in public years ago, but didn't quite do anything with that. I am not looking to go out and be a world famous DJ or gain the respect I once had when spinning for a huge crowd of people. Right now, I just want a decent pair of decks to play with. Something that will last long and do the job.

I am going to really try and see if these things will be enough or will I have to make the move to Pioneers (shattering my current opinion of Technics). If things don't work, then I hope they make things right with their MKII.

I will definitely keep you posted. Maybe this thread can help someone else out in a similar situation in the future....
 
What's up Spaceling? I use the SL DZ1200's in my set up and I love them. I am part of the forum from which the installation of the firmware was obtained. Madbeats is one of the site admin and I'm a moderator. I invite you to join the SL-DZ forum and get as much information about any questions or issues you may have on your decks. The one thing I tell people when they are unsure about purchasing a set of DZ's is to go and test them out before you buy. Unfortunately it sounds like you just had to order. With that said your firmware should already be v2.3. As long as the deck were manufactured after Sept 05 they have the update. Mine were manufactured Feb 06 as should yours. You can check by looking on the bottom side of the decks. Ok next thing pour all the negative feedback you got from everyone out of your brain. Now think along the lines of a turntable. Yes a SL 1200 and answer these questions....1. does a turntable have pitch control button to turn on and off...NO 2. does a turntable have single or coninuous play...NO 3. does a SL 1200 have 0.02% pitch adjust....Maybe the Numark TT, but not a SL1200...basically my point here is think of the SL DZ1200 as a digital turntable because that is exactly what it is. It is not a CDJ 1000/ 800. It is a SL-DZ1200. The ring or digital sound you hear mostly occurs with high pitch sounds. Now unless you plan on scratching on every sound through out the entire song you will not be annoyed by the sound you get. Only high pitch sounds are effected so with that said if you are scratching beats, or fresssshhh, ahhhh yeahhh sounds type deal you will have no problem. If you have specific questions on the deck hit me up and I will give you the link to the SL DZ forum that I moderate. Also check out my mynspace and you can find the link there as well..... check out www.myspace.com/tigersharc1 and www.mydjspace.net/tigersharc1 you can check out my pics of how my gear is set up with Torq and SL-DZ1200's. Peace
Shoot me a PM if you have any other questions.
 
Hey Tigersharc1... It's refreshing to hear something positive about the DZ1200's. I am eagerly waiting for mine despite the bashing. I've already purchased my SD cards to store samples on... :)

I should have tried them out first, but I didn't really have the opportunity to. I have to be honest, in that I might not sell them... unless of course they are really bad.... I have a feeling they will be just what I need though. They should be coming in this Friday so I might just have to take a day off of work and wait for the delivery guy!

I am pretty interested in finding out more about what I can do with them (as opposed to what I can't). I will check out the link you mentioned.

By the way, thanks for all the useful info on the firmware version. I will definitely put this info to use when my decks come home!
 
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Personally I dont like cd turntables at all really, but if I had to use some then it would be the denon dns3500 cos they have a spinning platter. But I say you can really beat a pair of technics sl1210 turntables and a pair of ortofon nightclub e cartidges and an allen and heath xone 02 mixer. I use to have one and I can say the sound quality is astonishing really. It annihlates any vestax, gemini, citronic, numark, blah blah blah mixers i've had. I know cd sound quality is suppose to be better but really its not cos analogue is warmer sounding so i'll never actually buy any cd decks myself.
 
What's up DJ Teknovibe no offense but the discussion was about the DZ's not regular turntables. In essence that is a apples to oranges comparison. Now going back to your analogy of the Denons.....first off the dz have a 10" spinning platter to a denon 7" spinning platter. The only thing closer to vinyl in this case would be the CDX and HDX Numark cd decks. THe point was brought up that the DZ's had the scratching issue with the high pitch or digital sound. The denon decks are still trying to fix their firmware issue even after they release to update and fix certain bugs the decks had. My point here is no cd deck is perfect and you can't compare a real turntable to a cd turntable. To give more clarification with the DZ's and the scratching. Basically on CDJ's you can leave the pitch lock activated. Essentially when you scratch the pitch lock is deactivated. In the case of the DZ's the pitch lock does not deactivate. So either you turn it off or you just get a different effect other than scratching. Turning the pitch lock off will allow for normal scratching. LIke I said earlier think in terms of a DZ not a cdj when you opporate the deck.
 
I had an SLDZ for a while and really liked it. Seriously had no complaints about it at all. The only part that I hated was the whole downloading mp3 -> burning to cd process. It just made me realize that maybe I'm too lazy to have cd turntables!
 
Dont worry tiger I didnt get offended, I was just saying about real turntable being better overall. And I didnt know about the firmware problem with the denons. thats not really very good news, but I have heard that the denons are slightly better sound quality. I've used the denons once and used pioneer's cdj800s twice and presonally I prefer the denon, but thats just me.
 
FWIW

some very highly regarded (in some circles) installers have said that despite the shortcommings of the unit, the Technics CD unit sounds better than the pioneer did on a very large installation...

that said, they seem to be installing the Pioneers b/c that is what all of thier clients desire
 
I just got my SL-DZ1200's. It came with firmware 2.3.

I don't see any problems other then when pitch lock is on and you muck with the turntable and make scratch movements. Personally, I can live without that though.

They seems to do the job for me. I spent about 3 hours last night trying out all of the features. My conclusion? I don't see what the fuss is about. Granted, I haven't tried out any others like the Pioneers or Denons, but I am not trying to compare differences in feature support here. I was mostly concerned with the quality of the existing features.

As the aforementioned problem is the only thing I noticed, I don't really see a problem recommending these decks to anyone. I think they are great.... and this is not just a justification because I dropped some dough on these puppies. I really do think they are good.
 
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Awesome, good result.

And even if you do try out the Pioneers or the Denon's soon and you prefer them you'll probably still make profit on selling these.

Im glad you like them, as long as they do the job you expect you can't go wrong.
 
Once you get used to the platter on the DZ's a static platter like the CDJ's will be boring. You will also find the platter to be too small with the Denons if you go with those once you spin on the DZ's for a while.
 
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