Setup
Licensing & software
This is a Serato DJ Pro hardware unlocked device, meaning it unlocks Serato DJ Pro when connected.
It is also a paid upgrade to Serato DVS device, meaning it requires the purchase & activation of a Serato DVS license, in order to use Serato DVS functionality.
Please ensure you have the latest version of Serato DJ Pro installed:
Drivers & firmware
The Pioneer DJ DDJ-SZ2 requires manufacturer-specific drivers for both macOS and Windows operating systems.
Visit the Pioneer DJ Support website to download and install the latest DDJ-SZ Windows driver.
Overview
| # | DDJ-SZ2 CONTROL | FUNCTION |
| 1 | HEADPHONE OUTPUT | Connect headphones via a 1/4" audio output |
| 2 | HEADPHONE OUTPUT | Connect headphones via a 1/8" audio output |
| 3 | CROSSFADER CURVE ADJUST | Adjust the crossfader between a slow gradual fade and a sharper cut |
| 4 | KENSINGTON LOCK | Connect Kensington Lock to secure the device |
| 5 | MASTER OUTPUT 1 | Master output (XLR) to speakers |
| 6 | MASTER OUTPUT 2 | Master output (RCA) to speakers |
| 7 | BOOTH OUTPUT | Booth output (TRS) to booth monitors |
| 8 | GROUND TERMINAL | Connect a turntable grounding wire |
| 9 | CH4 PHONO/LINE INPUT | Connect line or phono level input via RCA |
| 10 | CH2 CD INPUT | Connect line level input via RCA |
| 11 | CH1 CD INPUT | Connect line level input via RCA |
| 12 | CH3 PHONO/LINE INPUT | Connect line or phono level input via RCA |
| 13 | GROUND TERMINAL | Connect a turntable grounding wire |
| 14 | MIC 1 INPUT | XLR/1/4" microphone input |
| 15 | MIC 2 INPUT | 1/4" microphone input |
| 16 | USB A/B | Connect a USB cable to a computer |
| 17 | STANDBY/ON | Turn the device on/off |
| 18 | POWER IN | Connect a power cable |
| # | DDJ-SZ2 CONTROL | FUNCTION |
SHIFT |
| 1 | PANEL | Select panel (Rec/FX/Sampler) | - |
| 2 | FX KNOBS | See FX section | - |
| 3 | BEATS | Select FX beat parameter | - |
| 4 | TAP | Tap to the desired FX tempo | - |
| 5 | NEEDLE SEARCH | Touch the needle search strip to scroll through track (Paused track) |
- |
| 6 | LOAD | Scroll through tracks/Press to load track to deck/Double tap for instant doubles | - |
| 7 | MIC |
Dedicated microphone controls |
- |
| 8 | FX | Select FX unit | - |
| 9 | USB & INPUT SELECTOR | Select USB A or B and channel inputs | - |
| 10 | CHANNEL LED | Shows channel output | - |
| 11 | TRIM | Adjusts the individual channel output gain | - |
| 12 | MASTER CUE | Turn on the master cue | - |
| 13 | MASTER LEVEL | Adjusts the master sound level output | - |
| 14 | MASTER EQ | Displays the master output’s audio level | - |
| 15 | BOOTH MONITOR | Adjust the Booth Output Volume | - |
| 16 | CENSOR | Hold to reverse track until release | Toggle reverse |
| 17 | SLIP | Activate Slip Mode | Toggles between Vinyl/Jog Modes |
| 18 | BACK | Toggles focus between library, crates and open panels | Cycle View Modes |
| 19 | LOAD PREPARE | Press this to add a selected track to the list of tracks in the Prepare Panel | Cycle Files/Browse/Prepare/History |
| 20 | JOG FEELING ADJUST | Adjust platter sensitivity | - |
| 21 | STOP TIME | Adjust time it takes for track to stop | - |
| 22 | KEY LOCK/TEMPO RESET | Keylock/Hold for 1 second to reset BPM | Cycle through available Tempo Range |
| 23 | PLATTER | Adjust/Scratch or Jog | Skip |
| 24 | TEMPO SLIDER | Adjust Tempo/Pitch of deck | Ignore Tempo adjustments |
| 25 | AUTO LOOP | Autoloop On/Off | Activated selected loop |
| 26 | 1/2X | Halve Loop Length | Loop Shift/Beat Jump Left |
| 27 | 2X | Double Loop Length | Loop Shift/Beat Jump Right |
| 28 | OUT |
Set loop out point (Loop in point set) Adjust loop out point (Loop active) |
Loop Exit (Loop active) Reloop (Loop not active) |
| 29 | IN |
Set loop in point (Loop not active) Adjust loop in point (Loop active) |
Saved Loop slot select |
| 30 | FLIP START |
Starts the current Flip / re-trigger Flip |
Turns current Flip On/Off |
| 31 | FLIP RECORD |
Starts the recording of a new Flip |
Turns Flip loop On/Off |
| 32 | QUANTIZE |
Toggle Quantize |
|
| 30 | OSCILLATOR |
Hardware-based oscillator section |
- |
| 34 | Crossfader Assign | Set crossfader channel assign (A,THRU,B) | - |
| 35 | CHANNEL FADER | Adjusts the Channel Output | Fader Start |
| 36 | SOUND COLOR FX |
Hardware-based channel FX SEE USER GUIDE FOR MORE INFORMATION |
- |
| 37 | CROSSFADER | Outputs the sound assigned with the crossfader assign switch | - |
| 38 | CUE | Cue selected channel / Mic Talk Over when Mic is connected | Tap BPM of loaded track to selected deck |
| 39 | MIXING | Adjust headphone output between cue and master | - |
| 40 | LEVEL | Adjust headphone output | - |
| 41 | PARAMETER1 | Use these to set the Loop Roll, Slicer and Sampler parameters | A secondary parameter for Slicer Mode when using Performance Pads |
| 42 | FLIP SLOT SELECT | Cycle through the available Flip slot | Save current Flip to next available Flip slot |
| 43 | PERFORMANCE PADS | See PERFORMANCE PADS section | - |
| 44 | PLAY/PAUSE | Play/Pause track | Stutter Play |
| 45 | CUE | Add or Jump to Temporary Cue |
Jump to the start of track (more than 2 Sec elapsed) (less than 2 sec elapsed) |
| 46 | SYNC | Sync On |
Sync Off |
| 47 | SHIFT | Use with other buttons that have shift modifier functions | - |
| 48 | Deck Select (3) | Activates selected Deck | - |
| 49 | Deck Select (1) | Activates selected Deck | - |
| 50 | EQ | Adjust HI, MID and LOW | - |
| 51 | KEY SHIFT DOWN | Shift key of track down | Key sync |
| 52 | KEY SHIFT UP | Shift key of track up | Key reset |
Performance Pads
The Pioneer DJ DDJ-SZ has 8 RGB performance pads that can be used across 10 different modes.
The modes consist of:
HOT CUE mode: Pads 1-8 trigger Serato DJ Pro Cue points, and if no Cue point is present on that slot/ pad, sets a Cue point. Holding SHIFT while pressing a pad will clear the Cue point from that pad/slot.
CUE LOOP mode: Hold SHIFT and press HOT CUE to enter CUE LOOP mode. Press buttons 1-8 to trigger your hot cues. It will also enable an auto loop after the selected Cue Point with the current auto loop length. Use the PARAMETER1 buttons to halve or double the loop length.
SEE LOOPING FOR MORE INFORMATION.
SAVED FLIP mode: Hold the HOT CUE mode button to enter SAVED FLIP mode. Pressing pads 1-8 in will trigger saved Flips, pressing SHIFT + pads 1-8 will turn saved Flips on/off. Pressing an empty Flip slot will save any active Flip to that slot.
ROLL mode: Pressing buttons 1-8 activates a loop roll. The loop length is determined by the Auto Loop Range currently selected in the Loop section of the software, which you can change using the PARAMETER1 buttons. Press ROLL twice to enable Saved Loops mode. Pads 1-8 trigger saved loops.
SAVED LOOP mode: Hold SHIFT and press ROLL mode to enter CUE LOOP mode. Pressing buttons 1-8 can set, save and launch previously made Manual Loops. Use the PARAMETER1 buttons to halve or double the loop length.
SEE LOOPING FOR MORE INFORMATION.
SLICER mode: A specified range (or domain) is divided into eight equal sections, and these eight sliced sections are assigned to the respective performance pads. Pressing SLICER once for the first mode, is a shifting Slicer Domain. Pressing SLICER twice, for the second mode is a fixed Slicer Domain or “loop”. Use PARAMETER1 to set the quantization for the slicer function. The quantization can be set in four ways: 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1. Hold SHIFT + PARAMETER1 to set the domain. The domain can be set to one of six settings: 2 beats, 4 beats, 8 beats, 16 beats, 32 beats or 64 beats.
SLICER LOOP mode: Hold SHIFT and press SLICER mode to enter SLICER LOOP mode. Pressing buttons 1-8 can set, save and launch previously made Manual Loops. Use the PARAMETER1 buttons to halve or double the loop length.
SEE LOOPING FOR MORE INFORMATION.
SAMPLER mode: Buttons 1-8 Trigger Samples loaded in your Sample Banks. Use the PARAMETER1 Left and right buttons to cycle through Sample Banks. Press the SAMPLER mode button twice to enable velocity sensitivity. When enabled, the Sampler sample slot volume will now be velocity sensitive when played using the performance pads.
PITCH PLAY mode: Pressing performance pads allows you to play Cue Points over variable pitch ranges.
SEE PITCH PLAY FOR MORE INFORMATION.
VELOCITY SAMPLER mode: Hold SHIFT and press SAMPLER mode to enter VELOCITY SAMPLER mode. Buttons 1-8 behave in the same way as the standard sampler mode described above. However, in Velocity Sampler mode the volume of the sample will be affected by the amount of pressure applied to the button.
Pitch Play
There are 3 key ranges to choose from, and the following tables show the pitched key ranges (in Semitones) while using the 8 performance pads in Pitch Play mode.
The root keypad (0) is always lit white, which will play the cue point at its regular pitch.
Use the Parameter Left & Right buttons to move the Key Range up or down.
In Pitch Play mode, pressing a pad will pitch the currently selected cue point up or down the following ranges:
Up Range: (Up 7 Semitones)
| +4 | +5 | +6 | +7 |
| 0 | +1 | +2 | +3 |
Middle Range: (Up 3/Down 4 Semitones)
| 0 | +1 | +2 | +3 |
| -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 |
Down Range: (Down 7 Semitones)
| -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 |
| -7 | -6 | -5 | -4 |
When Pitch Play mode is first enabled, the middle range is selected. Pitch Play mode will default back to the middle range if a new track is loaded. The selected range is recalled if another pad mode is selected, then
the user switches back to Pitch Play mode.
Pitch Play can only pitch one Cue point at a time. To change the selected Cue, hold the SHIFT button and press a performance pad where the cue point you want to select would be (as shown in the HOT CUE performance pad mode).
While holding SHIFT, press the corresponding performance pad for:
| Cue 1 | Cue 2 | Cue 3 | Cue 4 |
| Cue 5 | Cue 6 | Cue 7 | Cue 8 |
The selected cue point defaults to Cue Point 1 on track load, even if instant doubled. A new cue point will be created if a pad with no cue point is selected. Deleting a cue point is not possible in Pitch Play mode.
NOTE: Pitch Play mode is available once the Pitch 'n Time DJ Expansion Pack has been activated in the Expansions window, under the My Account drop-down. Then ensure Pitch 'n Time DJ is checked in the Expansion Pack tab of the Setup screen.
Looping
You can control Auto and Manual Loops within Serato DJ Pro, using controls on the Pioneer DJ DDJ-SZ
NOTE: You can also save a loop to the next available free loop slot in the software. To do this, click on an available loop slot. Your loops are saved to the file and recalled the next time it is loaded. They are not lost if the file is moved or renamed.
| DDJ-SZ2 CONTROL | FUNCTION |
SHIFT |
| IN |
Set loop in point (Loop not active) Adjust loop in point (Loop active) |
Saved Loop slot select |
| OUT |
Set loop out point (Loop in point set) Adjust loop out point(Loop active) |
Loop Exit (Loop active) Reloop (Loop not active) |
| AUTO LOOP |
Active/Deactive Autoloop |
Activate selected loop |
| 2X |
Double Loop Length |
Loop Shift Right |
| 1/2X |
Halve Loop Length |
Loop Shift Left |
DJ-FX
The FX panel button is displayed in the top left area of the main Serato DJ Pro screen, click on this to toggle the DJ-FX panel.
With the DJ-FX panel open, you have control of two DJ-FX units, and if your hardware supports it, Channel FX, which can be applied to tracks played through your connected Serato DJ-hardware.
Both DJ-FX & Channel FX can be controlled with your mouse, by using dedicated controls on your hardware (where available), or by MIDI mapping controls to the respective software functions.
Learn more about how to use DJ-FX & Channel FX:
| DDJ-SZ2 CONTROL | FX FUNCTION | SHIFT |
| ON (SLOT 1) | Slot 1 Effect On/Off | Slot 1 Select Effect |
| ON (SLOT 2) | Slot 2 Effect On/Off | Slot 2 Select Effect |
| ON (SLOT3) | Slot 3 Effect On/Off | Slot 3 Select Effect |
| FX KNOB 1 | Adjust Slot 1 FX Parameter | - |
| FX KNOB 2 | Adjust Slot 2 FX Parameter | - |
| FX KNOB 3 | Adjust Slot 3 FX Parameter | - |
| TAP |
Tap to the desired FX tempo Hold to return to AUTO mode |
- |
| BEATS KNOB |
Turn to adjust Beats Multiplier |
- |
| FX ASSIGN | Assign the selected FX panel to deck 1 or 2 | - |
Flip
Flip is an Expansion Pack for Serato DJ Pro. Flip controls are only available once the Expansion pack has been purchased and activated. The Expansion pack can be bought via Serato.com -https://serato.com/dj/pro/expansions
Please check out our Flip User Guide for more information on using Flip.
DVS
When a Serato DVS license is purchased and activated, this paid upgrade to Serato DVS device allows you to use connected turntables, media players or CD players to control Serato DJ Pro using NoiseMap™ Control Tone.
NOTE: Serato DVS is only available once the Serato DVS expansion pack has been activated in the Expansions window, under the My Account drop-down. Make sure Vinyl / CDJ Control is then checked in the Expansion Packs tab of the Setup screen.
Find our more about Serato DVS:
Beat Jump
To activate Beat Jump, open the Setup screen, navigate to the DJ preferences tab and turn on “Show Beat Jump Controls”.
When you close the Setup screen, you will see Beat Jump controls underneath the existing Auto Loop values on each deck. Checking this box will turn on Beat Jump features in the deck area and let you control Beat Jump from your supported Serato DJ Pro hardware.
When the Beat Jump option is enabled, performance pad modes AUTO LOOP or ROLL mode (where applicable) will use the bottom row of 4 pads (pads 5-8) as Beat Jump controls. This is designed to mirror the change in the deck Auto Loop area (from 8 Auto Loop sizes to 4 Auto Loop sizes + Beat Jump controls).
MIDI
The MIDI feature in Serato DJ Pro allows you to remap Serato DJ Pro software functions to your primary Serato controller, interface or mixer. You can also assign controls to a secondary MIDI controller to further enhance your performance.
For more information on MIDI mapping with Serato DJ Pro, click here.
To remap your supported Serato device, open the SETUP screen and click the MIDI tab. If your Serato device supports hardware remapping, it will appear in the MIDI DEVICES list.
Select your connected device from the MIDI DEVICES list and check the Allow Serato Hardware Remapping option.
Once checked, the MIDI assign button at the top of the main Serato DJ Pro interface will become available for you to start remapping.
You can save, edit or delete MIDI presets in the MIDI tab of the SETUP screen. Clicking Restore Defaults will erase any custom mappings for all connected devices and revert their functions back to default.
Help
Show Tooltips
Click on the Help button in the upper right-hand corner of Serato DJ Pro, then Show Tooltips to enable Tooltips. Tooltips provide a handy way to learn the various features of Serato DJ Pro.
Move the mouse over a section of the software to bring up a context-sensitive tooltip that describes the feature.
Click on the Help button again to turn off Tooltips.
Show Shortcut Keys
Click on the Help button in the upper right-hand corner of Serato DJ Pro, then click Show Shortcut Keys to launch a pop-up window displaying shortcut keyboard combinations.
These shortcuts can help you perform various actions quickly, such as triggering specific deck functions, controlling playback, or navigating the library.
Watch Tutorials
Click on the Help button in the upper right-hand corner of Serato DJ Pro, then Watch Tutorials to launch
your default internet browser and watch tutorials to help you get familiar with Serato DJ Pro.
Get Support
Click on the Help button in the upper right-hand corner of Serato DJ Pro, then Get Support to launch your default internet browser and navigate to the Serato DJ Pro knowledge base, where you can find helpful articles and guides on Serato DJ Pro. Alternatively, type keywords in the Search Help box to search the Serato DJ Pro knowledge base for specific, related topics.