Just make sure you buy from a store you can return & get a refund.

Keep your original sx for back up while you slowly transition to the sx3

I’m also debating, I opted for the Denon mc7000 which arrives today. I still have my eye on the ddj sx3 though. I have the original sx, had the sx2 and use both with great results. The problems I saw people were having with the sx3 scared me a little, but I still think I want it. I can easily return the mc7000.

love the dedicated mic inputs with effects on the sx3. really wish i knew if they are all good now.

I own the SX3 and i’m verry happy with my unit .
It’s with the black dot near the serial nr , so it’s the post f**kup version .
I have owned alsoo the SX1,SX2.... the SX3 is the best one in this series .
Sounds slightly better than the sx2 . The 3 mic inputs & dual usb’s are clearly a winn .
Had no isues with it . Using it with the latest serato dj pro & latest firmware .

If everything is working perfectly, then just keep what you have. I have the 2 and have no plans on upgrading. I also use Rekordbox, and from what I understand, it doesn't work with the 3.

Wanting to upgrade for the vinyl control and the added features, mic inputs with built in effects. sound quality is a step up as well. Added to the fact i have the $ at the moment. all good reasons. not getting rid of my sx. great backup rig

"sound quality is a step up as well"

In what way? Have you actually listened to the SX3 next to other controllers?

I use Pioneer DDJ-SZ's but needed a smaller controller to travel overseas with so I bought an SX3. I need to use the two line inputs. I tried it first at home. The unit worked well except the line inputs worked intermittently after an hour. I exchanged it for a 2nd SX3 which had the same problem. I returned it for a 3rd SX3 that worked well for several hours. I left it on overnight and it was still performing flawlessly. I then turned it off and then back on again. The same problem arose. I made certain this time to make a video recording of the problem to show the Guitar Center sales person. While the Serato portion of each of these worked well, I did not want to chance there being other defects in addition to the line input problem. I ended up with a much less expensive controller that actually was better sounding and cost almost half as much.

What controller did you end up with?

i have used the sx3 on the same sound system where ia have previously used the sx2 and the sz2 . It does sound better than the sx2 but is still no match to the sz2 .

I ended up buying a Roland DJ 505. It is a perfect fit for my luggage and it sounds better than even my DDJ SZ's I still think the Pioneer build quality is better and easier for me to use. The DJ 505 however has thus far been reliable for my purposes.

I have been using pioneer for over 25 years including the best DJM's,CDJ's and DVJ's with no problems. I bought both of my SZ's the month they were available several years ago. They are both trouble free. I feel that the SX3 may not be as reliable as former Pioneer DJ products.

Did you check the link on the Pioneer website? Some units of the SX3 had recalls and they are offering a free replacement/repair. Have you looked into it?

I lost faith in the SX3 after trying three (3) units with similar results. I would always be worried if I were to take one overseas where Pioneer service may not be easy to find. Even using an unreliable device at a local event is scary for me.

Roland is still new to the DJ game and I have had a life time of Roland gear with issues that are in markets they have been in for decades.

Still too early for me to feel comfortable with their offerings in the DJ controller market.

I've owned the SX3 since pretty much a month after it came out. I sent mine in to get the recall done and although they took 2 weeks to complete the work (I live in NorthEast so the shipping took serveral days for send/receive) I can say I have had generally no problems.
I say generally because I have a MBP 2017 with touchbar 16GB Ram and I suffer from the dreaded 'unplug by accident, laptop freeze shit'. But that's a Macbook problem not SX3.

I've owned the SX2 from day it came out and worked pretty flawlessly save for the occasional right channel hot issue which the SX3 does not exhibit.

Sound wise - I recognize it doesn't compare to SZ, but that's also why it's about 1k cheaper than the SZ.

So overall I bought mostly for the dual USB capability because where I DJ this is a need at times. I'd say go for it, pretty solid controller with minimal issues and pretty good sound quality.

Have you looked at the mc7000?

I believe you, but I just wanted to know what differences you noticed between the 2.

I'm quoting myself because I've tested numerous times the plugging and unplugging of the SX2 & SX3 to my MBP with touchbar and I can say that pulling the USB cable while playing does indeed stop playback, but as soon as I plug back in the controller becomes usable and I can resume by pressing play. I say this because previously I had the misfortune of pulling the USB cable mid set and the MBP 'hard froze' and I had to do full reboot...

I decided to try this at home and I pulled the plug and replugged in about 10 times both using chroma USB-C cables and using a HYPERDRVIE USB C hub and original USB-B cable and was able to get back to playing within a few seconds. This is HUGE for me. So relieved.

My config is a MBP 2017 11,3 model with 16GB ram 512 SSD and dedicate RADEON 560 and i USED to have the dreaded USB unplug freeze MBP issue. Don't know what's changed. I am running latest version of Mojave and Serato DJ Pro 2.1

UPDATE: Its the power-off controller during play in Serato DJ that causes Serato to not be able to detect the controller again and I have to literally shut down the MBP. (Have to do a hard shutdown because at this point the touchbar has become unusable and the shutdown won't complete)
Upon reboot with the controller plugged in and powered up, I can re-launch Serato and controller is detected and I can play again.

Again, let me iterate - it's ONLY IF I POWER OFF THE CONTROLLER during playback that I get the issue. Otherwise, I can plug and unplug all I want (the usb cable), and as long as I don't power off the controller, Serato will re-detect controller as plugged back in and I can continue playing.

As for why the power off controller does that, I have no idea, hopefully someone can elaborate.

Some units of the SX3 were recalled have you made sure your product has not been affected? Maybe there’s a firmware fix?

does it have the dot next to the serial?

Yup, sent in, fixed and updated. No change. Same behavior can also be reproduced using the SX2.
Pretty sure it has to do with the dreaded touchbar max issue. It won’t happen with my 2015 non touchbar MBP.

** I meant dreaded touchbar Macbook Pro issue

I purchased a DDJ-SX3 with a Mfg. Date of November 2018 (Includes the black dot next to serial), and my wife (who I DJ with) has had no issues with it. We have played live gigs at a bar/lounge and also a fitness event with the DDJ-SX3, We've also practiced with it at home for hours. Still no issues of any kind. We own an SZ2 & an SZ and love the portability and dual USB features of the DDJ-SX3.

The units w/black dot were not affected so you should be fine. Glad you’re not having any issues. Looks like a great controller I’m just not into 4 ch units. I come from 2 ch battle mixers would like to keep things small & compact.

have you thought about just bringing your s9 runnning internal and using the transport mode to mix

The only issue I have with my sx3 post recall is when I try to set a loop theres wicked latency on the in and out point. If I set an auto loop, its right where I would expect it to be but for some reason, i hit the in or out point and it doesnt register till almost a beat later. Oh the quantize button seems to have no affect on anything whatsoever in the setting of loops either. ive got decent timing so i know im not just bad at setting loop points. other than that it makes the rounds to the radio station every week without fail. The mic preamps sound great and being able to bring them up on faders is deluxe.

Anyone try anything other than Serato on this controller?
Traktor, or DEX3?

Yes, I have tried VirtualDJ and I had the same problem with jog wheels not recognizing spining forward.

I just bought the SX3 a little over a month ago (beginning of April)... it has the black dot on the bar code and the date on the bar code says (January 2019) i have used it 7 times now (on 4 Hour jobs) with Serato DJ Pro.. on 3 of those jobs i experienced the controller Freeze (sound LED's frozed as well) seems to happen within the first hour of my set.. i just power off the controller for 5 seconds and powered it back on and it seems to work perfect the rest of the job... i did not have to restart serato or my laptop in fact as soon as i powered off my SX3, serato continued to work fine again so i know it's not the laptop or the program.. the firmware is up to date as well as Serato and my PC laptop is a HP-ENVY I7 (8th Gen) 16 Gigs of RAM (less then a year old) well over qualified specs.. last week i used it with my HP-Pavilion I7 with 8 gigs of ram (older laptop) and i had no Freeze issue.. i'm thinking it was just luck since it doesn't happen to me at every job... has anyone else had this issue?

I am also a new controller, I also have a problem in another activity!My new controller suddenly failed to turn the dial and press play during the June 1 event, and since then, sometimes I have to connect the software twice to succeed！Just tonight when I was using the controller, the pause didn't work for a while, after a while when I was using the loaded song could not play, the music appeared “ci-la ci-la” Sound! And, if I turn on the machine before I turn on the software, the connection will not work.My machine has little black spots！I’m use 15MBA and Mojave 10.14

Wow, that sounds really scary and frustrating. I would return it and get another. 3 times is two times too many. Don't bother sending it for repairs, just return it.

Hello,

I have been using a DDJ-SX2 for 4 years with a Mac probook 2013 year model and never any issues. I just purchased the DDJ-SX3 and have another back up Mac probook same year (2013) and installed the new Serato DJ Pro and when I connect my laptop to the controller, the software doesnt load.

Can anyone assist me with this?

Appreciate!

Try this except install the SX2 driver. Should work

youtu.be

Correction: Meant SX3 driver

You are awesome and thank you for solving my issue with the YouTube link.

Haha nice! You’re welcome bud👍🏼

Bought a couple SX3 units. One worked fine, then I took it to the Burn and it started f*ing up, needed multiple reboots during my set. I went and got the DDJ-1000, its great, but the mixer is plastic and super scratched up after one use and there is no needle search. I am debating on going back for the SX3, but honestly, dot or no dot, i am not sure I can trust it.

Wait for the 1000 SRT

All over the forums right now, there's at least 3 threads on this page.

I have the DDJ SX3 with a MacBook Air and I’m using Serato Dj Pro 2.23 the latest update. I downloaded Catalina and then found out it was not compatible. I then had my computer wiped clean at the Apple Store. Time machine backed it up on mojave, plus all of my music is on an external drive. I was having problems with Mojave as well before I updated the Catalina software. But after doing all of that, Im still having severe lagging issues. I can’t properly play tracks, change crates nor load new music without all the buffering... please help! Is anybody else having this issue because I don’t know what to do?? And what can I do to rectify this issue?? 😩😩😩

I have a DDJ-SX3 with a black dot on serial #/barcode sticker that was manufactured in January of 2019. I am running Serato DJ Pro 2.1.0 on a MBP. My issue is that I am unable to adjust the Master Volume control and have no meters for Master Control volume. The Master Volume control is hard set to the 12:00 position. This issue ONLY happens when I am using the DDJ-SX3. It does not happen with my other controllers (DDJ-SZ2 and DDJ-SB3) or my Pioneer DDJ-S9 mixer. I am under the impression that this issue should not occur with any DDJ-SX3 controllers that have a black dot on the serial #/barcode sticker. I know Pioneer has a hardware fix for the earlier manufactured DDJ-SX3 controllers that DO NOT have a black dot on the serial #/barcode sticker.

I am starting to think this may be a serato issue. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Is anyone else have this same issue on a later manufactured DDJ-SX3 with a black dot on the serial#/barcode sticker?

Thanks in advance

2.1.0 is old just update the software it’s a bug no need to post 3x’s about it.

I opened a ticket with Serato a while back for this same exact issue and was informed by support that this is 'by design' because they consider the SX3 a 'prosumer' controller and that controlling the Master Volume in Serato software is not possible. I don't know if I think this is a good answer or not by Serato, but that's what I was told. Sucks because my headroom is very limited a lot of times by the inability to set my Volume Master in Serato.

I would agree. That does not seem to be a good answer. I would consider the DDJ-SB3 controller to be a prosumer controller more than the SX3. You CAN control the Master Volume in Serato Pro with using th3 $300 SB3 controller.

I also opened a ticket with Pioneer and this is what they replied:

The adjustment of the Master Output level for the software before it is sent to the DDJ-SX3 was disabled in the Serato software. This is normal operation.
I would suggest reaching out to Serato to see if that is a function they can bring back in a newer version.

Thank you,
Pioneer DJ Support

I have been waiting almost a week for a response from Serato. It is disappointing that they are not responding to this.

Dj Techniq you are misinformed. You shouldn’t post when you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Well then it’s a bug on Serato’s end I don’t know why Pioneer would change this when all of their previous controllers are able to use the master volume in the software.

This is a known bug with the SX3 and SDJpro. Its a bug on the serato side and they are aware of it.

Hello,

I am having an issue recording audio in Serato DJ Pro version 2.3.2 on my 2015 Macbook Pro 13inch. I tried download grading the version to 2.0.4 that I was running on my 2012 Macbook Pro and also updating the audio drivers and nothing has changed. Has anyone come across this issue before and if so what did you do to get it back to normal?

Which OS are you on? If it’s Mojave or Catalina you need to give SDJ mic access or else you’ll encounter audio issues. Should get you sorted
support.serato.com

What is the issue you are having with recording audio? you will need to be a little more elaborate in what your having problems with.