All user reviews of 4/5 for the Technics SL-DZ1200

Hi All, I am the happy owner for 1 week with a pair of Technics SL-DZ1200, and I give you my heart Premire impressions on the product.
You STRP your ... here we go here we go!

First, we must know that I spend time rfractaire t 'ct the dark', since I use the SL-1200 MKII for 10 years now, and they give me Obviously many full satisfaction.
But I realized the obviousness, if sizes such as Laurent Garnier itself are mixing more and more rgulirement CD, play productions by young artists in club for instance, j 've seen my intrt to play my own tracks too.

I. Prsentation gnrale

Say anything, it's hard-Technics. Ms. matrial that 'classic' SL-1200, same height, same foot, same pitch button ... it is not dpays.
The central screen is legible ... even if the plate is laying flat.
I will not hang out on the subject, we know o support, even without reading the manual.

II. Ergonomics

This is probably the most important. Anyway this is what I most feared.
As Deejay House / Techno, I'm not a 'performer'. I do not Scratch. Me, all I want is completely stalling the drive and not m'terniser above. When it is cal cal APRS and all my work is done on the mixing desk.
And I have mixed feelings. No dception, but a little while of the same.
Well, nothing wrong on the set, arpond the finger and the eye as it is the same as the analog MODELS.
But my big frustration comes from two things: Premire the 'felt' that is placed on the Palteau.
There is a lightweight 'game', and especially a slide too! It has nothing do with a vinyl on a real felt.
But if n'tait as a. ..
The worst is to come: WHAT IS THIS ???????? PITCH
Nan does not care but littralement us or what?? O is pass the 'hardening' of the legendary Technics pitch?
Believe me, I'm pretty remont designers to l. It's simple, it has the same feel as a Denon, for example ... It is too flexible, and we go 5 times longer stall the drive ... and this time the pass it would prfr grind the mixer according to the crowd ...
And I'm surprised I even touch the plate to wedge the beat 'as a beginners', as did 6 / 7 years since I hold more 'than pitch' ...
Big dception this niceau-l.

BUT, not everything is black. In fact, we must 'relearn' stalling the drive is everything.
Cal because once you have the enjoyable sensation (as opposed to analog) not to have reset the Moreau then. Yes numrique oblige! It's true what, who never fail a little bit on the pitch because SL-1200-that 'it's like a'??

Little info important it is rather longish to load the CD ... and yet I only used the CDDA, not the CD with mp3 on it ... Finally it's like a, it is fast with and who is not a Drang.

III. Effects, loops etc ...

I will not be the goal trs above, almost nothing because I tried this level-l.
But I quickly glimpse the effects 'Vinyl Sim' and 'FX' is a bit useless when even ... But hey it's not what I expected either to the plate so for me it's not a serious fault.
The balls etc ... I will try soon. But it's not my thing.

However, I frankly found it excellent reverse in real time, the comings and goings is very well situated arpond is instinctive and really in the timing, well done!
Auto-Cue is also very practical, even if you have to press a little too long down the 'Remain' to enable ...

IV. Personal opinion, conclusion

Well ... it must be clear, Technics has released a product really tough. Does this justify this price? Well I think it's too expensive 20 25% even when.
Now, once one gets into the skull that the pitch has NOTHING to do with the true SL-1200, and we agree to change their habits, well, we see that it's really trs prcis.
And you'll love all the touch plate identical to it vritablement THE SAME as the vinyl. And that's the basics.
Small bet? By 2 / 3 years, all clubs in Pioneer QUIPS not leave my opinion on the MODEL Technics, reputable requires ...

Well, I leave you, I go back I !!!!!!!

- How long have you use it?

It was a little over a year
- What is the particular feature you like best and least?

>> Assets:

* The look
* The turntable 20cm Diameter
* The 4 hot cue points
* The 4 Sample Pads (recording 32 sec. Per sample)
* The Pitch Lock: not seen any diffrence to the master tempo of the CDJ 1000
* The "Instant Change" that allows you to switch from stop / off mode dpart Instant / vinyl dpart

>> Cons:
* No buckles (you must set the "in" and "out" or even, when you do a live, if you miss a point of entry or exit is the cata ...)
* No "Time Remaining" when using the mp3
* Effects: avoid (personally I've never used), more if you want to select an effect in a live, they must pass one by one so it's not usable
* The compulsory purchase of software (Jukebox Panasonic) if you want to use the mp3 on the SD card. Impossibility to put mp3 on the SD card to mix ... Bizness Politik '...
* No possibility of scratching Pitch Lock Mode
* Load times and startup CD of the plate
* The brake rglage of the rear shelf of the plate

- Have you tried many other models before acqurir?

Before the acqurir: No
APRS: testing a Pioneer CDJ 1000 (the first)> I do not know what people found this board ... She did nothing extraordinary to me APRS and the more it bugs (h yes cd decks like all I believe!). Trs plastic finish and no Cue hot ... Finally we are not to talk about the CDJ 1000!

- How do you report qualitprix?

My cot when Technics made the effort to make updates, the ratio quality price is right for me. Unfortunately, they make the deaf ears and out of an update every 36 months and when they come out, we do not know what it is exactly ...

A quote from the 'bugs' of the plate with the current v2.3:
* No Time Remaining mode mp3
* When you press play or cue point and when the deck is the stop, if the tempo is DCAL (forward or backward) the plate does not Ragit instantanment the thrust e or slowing the board. We must "wait" 1 2 ragisse it dry.
* If the "Instant Change" is active, the timing of his scratch to be DCAL during movements of the plate (n'tant not confirm a crazy scratch)

- With the exprience, you do again this choice? ...

For the moment yes. Opting for a CD player that a turntable I have not found equivalent:
* The Numark CDX 1: not robust enough (I almost buy the egg)
* The DN-S 3500: plate too small, look through, the couple infrieur sl-dz
* The DN-S 5000: I want to try it, maybe I will pass on this MODEL ...

If you have questions, Do not hesitate because I think I have not done everything (is that ... it takes time to comment)

Feature-wise it's not the most packed CDJ around, it's clear that Techs focused on producing the ultimate vinyl emulator (suceeded) with striking looks (suceeded) and some gimmick thrown in for marketing sakes (suceeded). I'm not talking about "quantity" but rather "quality", or should I say "selection", as IMHO the age and day of perfect vinyl emulation are over. Extra features in a CDJ are a pretty much settled down criteria nowadays: every gimmick, add on, whatever, having been tested by the manufacturers and users alike quite a good lot. But more on that later, let's get to the list: loop in/out with exit/ reloop; 4 hot cues; in/out editable sample bank with 4 slots, both located at the top left of the faceplate; effects aplenty, SD card reading, reverse toggle switch and the striking 12" rotative platter with strobe light and dotted borders just like doc ordered (yeah like the MK2). And oh, the slot-in feeding of CD... nice!

Price paid

zero (test unit)

A major let down right from the go: the sound suffers miserably (and I mean it!) when the Pitch Lock (otherwise known as Master Tempo or Key Correction)is applied. Even in the +/- 8% (the lowest pitch setting, the others being 16, 33 and 50%), a lousy delay and sound distortion is audible, specially when pitching down. Doesn't matter though, it's so bad it could ruin a mix, least say being played out and loud in a powerful sounsystem! I mean, c'mon, every manufacturer has come around such sound matters & bugs at this point and I can't see how Techs and Motorola would pass that up in their first attempt at the CDJ game - this is a top player and the MT bug is a top no-no, not exactly a perfect match. I would have expected more. Anyway... The overall sound quality is good, with phat bass and clear frequencies throughout the spectrum. The sound manipulation when in vinyl mode is impressive - just stay away from the higher pitch ranges and the MT!!! Boo!

I sure like the feeling of vinyl on a CDJ, so much so I always use the VINYL mode on the Pio's when I'm playing out, but other things have become more and more important in my sets when it comes to digital manipulation of sound. As I said before, my take on the CDJ thing is: the focus is not (or should not be) at vinyl emmulation anymore, that's sorted out and overhyped enough. For me, the game is now at expanding the digital capabilities with real-life usable features that work as they should. The simple ones actually, features that set appart turntables and CD players. Like adjustable, editable, accurate looping; wide, precise, versatile pitching, ranging from + to - 100%, that's mandatory IMHO; precise, fast and easy-to-use hot cueing... And the Techs has almost none. The loop is as basic as the one found on the CDJ500 of old, without even the loop out adjustment, the pitch has odd and close ranges and no 100% wide, it has no pitch bend but the ones you'd have on a regular turntable (that is touching the side of the platter or using the pitch to slow down/speed up). The effects are bellow par, with both selection and usability suffering. No wet/dry mix, and you have to select the effect live, meaning you go thru the menu of effects to pick your choice when cueing or you'll do it with the sound up. I'd fault the effect sound too, other manufacturers like Numark did much, much better on their attempts, this simply doesn't sound good, period. That turns it into a gimmick, and one I'd gladly exchange for, say, adjustable in/out loop, a wide 100% pitch range or maybe even a better sounding MT. Maybe I'm too picky, but fact is I didn't like the effect bank - it's weak and falls short, you better off with a dedicated efx unit or a decent DSP on a mixer. I also had my gripes with the looong loading/unloading times, the odd cueing and the too-smooth pitch rule that turned pitch-bending and thus beatmatching into a tricky job somethimes. Many times... and hey, never, ever touch the top of the platter to speed up or slow down it's just too oversensitive, you might get lost into your mixing quite easily!

Tough build throughout: aluminum casing, coiled feet just like on the Techs TTables; solid platter; tight, precise and backlit main buttons, butter-smooth pitch (sometimes too smooth), slot-in CD feeding... it feels solid throughout, as I would expect from Technics. I can't lay comment on durability as I did a short term test. Besides the usual home mix-a-lot, I took it to a few real-life situations (clubs and gigs) and it held its own pretty fine, just one of the feet coming out all the time but it was an easy fix. I would trust it in a club, but we have to see how it performs in long-term or even under heavy use and abuse.

It is a paradoxx I know but many a DJ would have that exact feeling about the beloved Technics SL MK2 turntable too. As much as I disliked many of the DZ 1200's features - it's a rather flawed CD player in many areas including sound and design - I felt incredibly secure and confident and in fact came to enjoy the experience of playing with it right from the first time. It's that "the whole comes up as more than the sum of the parts" saying, it applies once again to this piece of kit. Its flaws sure detract from the quality and the sound bug when in MT are a major factor to me, but still it's a joy to play with and mess around. And it's a big attention drawer for sure, everyone into DJing or not, even my dog and my bird, liked its look and the spinning platter. Cool factor 10! But if you're looking further for a CD player that has features to expand your digital capabilities to the maximum, maybe another deck such as the unbeatable Pio CDJ100Mk2 or a Denon or maybe even the Numark would be a better bet. Every DJ can make wonders on such a feature-filled CD player, just give it sometime and amazing tricks will float up. The quality is up there with the best, but it takes more than that IMHO and there is no limit when it comes to digital manipulation of the sound these days, it's a tough game and I have my coins on other players.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: Unknown ( 1-, 2005)

Hella lot missing. the effecte are boo-boo. wish it had the effects of the numark cdx. u have to buy that sd memory card thats kinda cheese. i spent my last dollar on these things. no i gotta buy a memory stick 2? damn!!!!!!!

750 a peice

sound quality is good 2 go. it can also depend on ya mixer

the usability is great. the reasons i got the sl dz1200 is because they are more of a challenge rather that the numark cdx. its the exact replica of the sl 1200.

i havnt had them long enough to really comment on the durability. ive heard negative fee backs on them but not like the numarks cdx. no repaire yet although im waiting for one

i love em. for a challenge get the sl dz1200. if yer lazy get the numark cdx, for great effects get the pioneer cdj1000. all and all id stay wit the technics

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: djStickd ( 4-, 2006)