it's pioneer - it's not going to sound anywhere near as good as a Rane - let alone the old club mixers of old. The SZ is based off the DJM900NXS internals - which I never thought sounded that great.

The best you can do is add an EQ - either a standard 32 band rack or run it through something like a Driverack or a mixer with a master EQ or digital plugin.

I find pioneers tend to be very mid and high pronounced while the lows sound comparatively thing, so you can probably EQ down some of those offending frequencies.

I agree u need to run it through something to enhance the sound so u can teeek it

I got rid of mine because of the sound quality. The DDJ SZ 2 isn’t any better. Got the Roland DJ 808. That’s the best sounding controller out there. Not the most popular but the best sounding.

808 is the best sound controller on the market imo. The Denon controllers sound pretty good too - better than pioneer, but not quite as good as the 808.

I’d be curious to see if you notice any improvement going out of your SZ’s RCAs to a small analog mixer vs direct from your SZ’s XLRs.

If you're really concerned about sound quality Mackie speakers are not going to cut it in 2019. If you're really concerned about mic quality you should not be running it into a controller, your mic should be connected directly to a quality line mixer.

You should probably post a complete audio gear list.

@pdidy The gear list is somewhat irrelevant, in that when I plug the controller output directly to a speaker vs (for example) my older Rane mixer going directly into that same speaker, there is an audible difference between the two.. Playing on a Meyer rig isn't going to solve that.. And with regards to microphone preamplifier, bringing out another mixer to make up for the shortfall of this one, entirely defeats the purpose of the mixer.

@577er I haven't tried it, however I cannot see it making a difference.. If I am not mistaken they are the exact same output, except the xlr is balanced and the rca is unbalanced.. I will give it a try.. You never know.. :-)

I dunno about specific mixers or controllers but the mic channel can sound lousy even on good quality mixers.

I use an external line mixer to make my signal mono, but I enjoy the using it for the good mic inputs and gain structuring as well.

Also, because I run the system mono and I use a mackie line mixer I’m able to independently control the eq and volume of the (combined mono) R and L outputs, sending a different mono mix the the different speaker “zones”. Like for example the R goes to the “club” system and has the bass boosted while the L is patched into the bar system in the other end of the building with lower bass.

Ps Unless you are playing at clubs with a dedicated front end sound guy then you should be working on your engineering/sound reinforcement skills/knowledge in parallel with building yer dj skills.

^^^ not directed at the OP specifically or anything.

If you show up and the bar says “that xlr goes to the outdoor speakers so plug into that too” you need to be able to assess the situation and send them a balanced mono signal. And if they don’t have a mixing board you should be able to eq that signal differently then your main signal on your end.
You don’t need to know what I’m talking about but you do if you want to “know what you are doing”.

Unfortunately there is no way to get "better sound". The only real logical method to achieve "better sound" would be to buy "better hardware" hence providing you with said "better sound".

Good day. I share your concerns about the Pioneer DDJ SZ. I am very frustrated with the sound quality of the controller. I am also disappointed that a controller of this price sounds bad (most would not notice it, but I do).

I had the problem that whenever I cranked it up there was no head room, and the sound just fell apart. So a friend recommended using a mixer to boost the signal. So I came out of the rca's from the SZ into a Numark X6 mixer (24 bit). It made a big difference. Better sound quality, and more head room.

But, some time ago I got caught doing a outside gig, and it rained, and my Numark got wet. Every since then my output seems not to be the same from the mixer.

So I just ordered a Allen and Heath Xone23 mixer. It should be here 3/6/2000 and I have a huge event the next day, so I will keep you posted.

But, back to your point it is a shame that you have to go through all of this when you have a $2000 controller.

Before buying the SZ, I tried the Numark Ns3, and there was big difference in sound and output. But I just could not get pass all the red lights. It just looked old to me.

I thought about going with the SZ2, but I heard that there is not that much of a difference (one guy did tell me that the sound cards are different in the SZ and the SZ2).


I was even looking for a smaller controller, but I hear the same things about the Pioneer sx3 (I love the set up, but hate the small platters).

Then I thought about the Pioneer 1000SRT (perfect size, and large platters). But, found out they messed up the looping function, and there is no cross fadder curve adjustment on the front of the controller (you have to go into the controls section to adjust!) "COME ON PIONEER"

If Pioneer could take the platters from the SZ or the 1000Srt and put them on the SX3, and add a quality sound card and make it stand alone--that would be a hit.

Or maybe I will have to get on the Denon Prime, or Roland 808 band.

Pioneer just doesn’t sound that good. That’s indisputable.

Lots of people think it sounds “good enough,” and the 900nxs2 is even approaches “pretty good,” but it’s always been near the bottom in terms of sound quality reputation.

If you don’t want to buy a new controller, the best you can do is run it through an Eq and Eq the pioneer out of it.

The three main issues I find with pioneer is that the highs and mids are boosted up too much and the low end is pretty thin, so if you run a graphic Eq, shelve the highs at about 12k and reduce a couple db, put a dip around 2-5k, and give a bit of a low shelf boost or q bump if you’re filtering low at about 80-100hz

SRT sounds better than the sx3, but it still sounds like pioneer. That said, it’s super easy to just remap their looping controls into something usable so that shouldn’t be a major detractor.

Best sounding controller on the market is Roland imo, but they have some quality issues - especially with the 505 and the 202. The 808 seems hit or miss sometimes and the 707M has been solid since release, but is very small.

If you want a controller with a soundcard thats as warm as a Rane mixer, get the Roland dj808, the BEST sounding controller out as of 2020

Remember - everyone has to go through all this pain because Serato continues to use the "Sound Card" in the hardware as a Dongle to activate the software.

If they'd move the Licensing away from that, you'd have the ability to use a High End Audiophile sound card, if you so choose.