Serato vs Traktor. More like Rane vs NI?

[Patch]

The reason I love using the Serato s/w is cause its….got me back to doing what I love,....playing music.

Also known as Winning.

The truth.

[Frank112916]

Why does everyone care so much about serato vs traktor? Why is it "vs" anyway? At the end of the day, if you can play on CDJ's, spin Vinyl, use serato, traktor or any of the myriad of software and controllers/DVS, the only thing that matters is your crowd and how they respond to your music and how much YOU enjoy playing on whatever you are playing on.

Every time some other DJ (mostly Serato DJ's) see me using Traktor, the first question they ask is "do you use sync?" They see the turntables in front of me, they see me changing the pitch, and they still ask, without fail. I say no, keep on doing what I do, and keep enjoying every minute of it from the beginning of the party to the end.

At the end of the day, for me, if banging on bongo drums brought people into the club to dance, I'd bang on bongo drums till my hands were bleeding. To me, being in the promotion and event planning game (very recently) has been just as rewarding as DJing. I just like seeing people have a good time. Then again, I'm probably much less concerned about the art of DJing as a end in itself than most of you guys here. I see it as a means to an end, and that end is filling up a club with a whole lot of people.

Honestly the difference for me between using Serato and Traktor was the initial cost of entry. At the time Traktor was cheaper with the S4, and then I just kept on using it. Probably won't ever change. I'm comfortable with it. The only thing I like better is the simpler layout of Serato. I found, however, using side by side/overlapping waveforms much more difficult than traktors current layout.

[Quenepas]

Because it's cheap. That's why. Before if you wanted to get into DJing you had to by turntables, later on you had to by CDJ's. Now you can buy a 200 mixtrack and throw a party......that's not neccisarily a good thing as VERY few controllers stand up to the professional grade and tactile feel of "real" gear. That's why major clubs continue to have pioneer CDJ and mixer installs. Others will argue that because of the lower cost folks that may never have DJ'd now have an opportunity.

Exactly! Thus a great opportunity to make profit! Even more, this exactly represent my situation and how I got into DJ since back in the day I couldnt afford it! Yes it true that some controllers are build cheap but the Numark NS6/7, VCI-400, Xone 4D... you gotta admit those are pretty decent controllers with a nice build and professional looking. Even the S4 with 2 TT's on each side makes for some serious piece of equipment.

I don't think Rane will enter the controller market. Serato with Itch and SSL is not set up that way. Also, who's to say they make a controller that is any good. Look at what happened with A&H and the Xone DX.

Well I do hope, IF they want to take a nice market chunk, that they make could make some alternative. I bet everything I have the Rane people have been paying close attention to the controller market and how it is developing for many reasons we could just ponder.

I also think the use of a controller and "controllerism" are two very different things. The last set of Itch controllers (aside for Twitch) are set up very well for mobile DJ's. XLR outs, Booth Out, 2 Mic/Aux inputs, etc. and there is a market for that working DJ as well.

Just like controllerist and bedroom DJ are 2 separate things. You can be a bedroom DJ with top of the line CDJs and DJMs just like you can throw a party with an old mixtrack. Yes clubs are beign dicks about controllers but how long they can really keep ignoring the elephant in the room? Many clubs are already changing and if they can hire the controller guy for less and still keep the drinks sold well thats profit. Not the soul, not the equipment... PURE PROFIT!

[Quenepas]

Why does everyone care so much about serato vs traktor? Why is it "vs" anyway? At the end of the day, if you can play on CDJ's, spin Vinyl, use serato, traktor or any of the myriad of software and controllers/DVS, the only thing that matters is your crowd and how they respond to your music and how much YOU enjoy playing on whatever you are playing on.

Every time some other DJ (mostly Serato DJ's) see me using Traktor, the first question they ask is "do you use sync?" They see the turntables in front of me, they see me changing the pitch, and they still ask, without fail. I say no, keep on doing what I do, and keep enjoying every minute of it from the beginning of the party to the end.

At the end of the day, for me, if banging on bongo drums brought people into the club to dance, I'd bang on bongo drums till my hands were bleeding. To me, being in the promotion and event planning game (very recently) has been just as rewarding as DJing. I just like seeing people have a good time. Then again, I'm probably much less concerned about the art of DJing as a end in itself than most of you guys here. I see it as a means to an end, and that end is filling up a club with a whole lot of people.

Honestly the difference for me between using Serato and Traktor was the initial cost of entry. At the time Traktor was cheaper with the S4, and then I just kept on using it. Probably won't ever change. I'm comfortable with it. The only thing I like better is the simpler layout of Serato. I found, however, using side by side/overlapping waveforms much more difficult than traktors current layout.

Same thing I ask myself. Its like apples vs oranges. Both have good things and bad things. The reason for the thread is not about their qualities, features and applications... The internet is full of those. Anyways, Im more interested in the BUSINESS part of the equation. How it works, how they make their money and how they work their business in this new era of controllerism and MIDI and whatnot.

From what I have learned so far:

- Rane doesnt own Serato. Serato is a stand alone software company.
- Serato sell the license to the companies instead of users. Thats why you can download the software for free from their website.
- Traktor is sold to the users for them to control with anything MIDI capable, from a Mixtrak to a S4 to a Ohm64. Thats why they charge the user to unlock the software.
- NI is a bigger corporation than Serato. Thats why they can afford to build their own controllers and Serato can just license their stuff to other corporations without many other resources to able them to build their own.
- It's like Traktor is Windows that run on anything and Serato is like OSX that can only run on a few devices like Macbook, Mac Air, iMac, etc...
- Rane apparently will never make a controller. They will stay a one dimensional company forever.
- Serato beign the biggest thing in the US is apparently, old news. Just like Traktor beign #1 in EU. Seems like it is Traktor world domination which feels like it but it is not what you see in clubs.
- Any kid with a torrented copy of traktor and a laptop apparently can be a DJ.
- Controllers are toys that get scoffed at by meanie old as shit dj's. More normal to see a leprechaun fucking a unicorn than a controllers beign used in a large clubs (yes I have seen controllers beign used as large clubs but go with me).
- No matter the source of the music, it is all about the people dancing and p.l.u.r.



Still It would be very interesting to have the Serato people really focused to be the numero uno DJ software company. Im sure they can, they could build the software and have other companies build to their specifications and be a serious contender. The more alternatives we have, the more we as customers benefit from it. While Im not that interested in Serato, I hope they succeed in everything they do for the sake of all of us. That and p.l.u.r.

[mostapha]

Because it's cheap. That's why.

Amen.

[haze324]

Exactly! Thus a great opportunity to make profit

Here's my take on why they don't, and here's a story of a good friend of mine. He owns 4 Tax offices here in Miami and now that it's Tax Season this guy is booming. I'm talking 7 figures he'll make from his offices. He wants to expand and we were talking business and I said "dude why don't you open one up in downtown where everyone has money and you would bank" and he says - that's not my market. Why would I try to compete with the guys that are already there. Most of the people that live in Downtown need CPA's. I'm opening offices where the average W2 says 40k a year and that's it, and I'll keep opening offices in those neighborhoods and continue to bank.

So in reverse to Rane. They just released the TTM62. It's a 2200.00 mixer and they arguably make the best scratch mixers in the world. They have dominated that market, why would they now start making cheap controllers and risk competing in an already overly saturated market. At least Pioneer already made HID CDJ's so the transition wasn't a big leap --- even then, their controllers are no CDJ 2000's + DJM 900 set ups.

Kinda like saying why hasn't NI released the next DB:4?? Its not their thing. They are kicking ass right now with controllers.

[RobotNinja]

Just as CDJ's replaced turntables in alot of venues, I forsee all-in-one controllers replacing the typical 2x CDJ 1x DJM setups in the not so distant future.

CD's are already outdated technology, the future is gonna have everything hosted on "clouds" where you can wirelessly download/store all your music and controllers will manipulate those tracks.

Heck, my new Macbook air doesn't even have a CD/DVDROM and I don't miss it. Software can be purchased via digital copies, and it has the ability to use another laptops CD/DVDROM wirelessly if need be.

The futures so bright, I gotta wear shades

[keeb]

Quenepas hit the nail on the head. I'd also like to add that Traktor users are sometimes looked down upon because of the potential that they pirated the software whereas with Serato it's not even a question.

Also, I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I've used both Serato and Traktor (I currently own both) and I can say that personally I prefer Traktor. It's not a huge margin, but I find Traktor to be far more flexible, less expensive, has better vinyl timecode, IMO a cleaner UI (honestly the stacked/vertical waveforms are more a novelty than a necessity, especially with the phase meter performing the same function arguably better), and has a more precise BPM readout/better grid system.

Ableton/the Bridge may be a better solution than sample decks, but that's 1) another piece of software you're forced to run/potentially have issues with during a gig and 2) another $500ish you're spending for better sample decks (Ableton is not free, remember). Nevermind that (excluding mixers, since that's a hard comparison) a top-tier Traktor setup costs $600 (Audio 10 + TSP2) vs. top-tier Serato costing $900 (SL4 + SSL). What about video mixing? Sure Serato has the option, but it's another $200 on top for the plugin; fair enough though, I really don't have much of an interest in video mixing, though I know others will have different opinions on that.

Aside from everything else, Traktor's got the DJM-900. The Rane 68 is an awesome mixer from the looks of it, but I doubt you're going to see it in a club install. So there's that, too.


Serato's rock solid. I know many DJs who use it and love it. My bias toward Traktor may well come from the fact that I've been using it longer, too. To me, Serato's appeal lies in its interchangeability. I can hop on a friend's Serato setup and know exactly what I'm doing with no explanation. When you throw midi controllers into the mix though, as Traktor is wont to do, and things get a bit more complicated. For me though, I'd rather something that I can tweak and tune and get just right instead of something that works how it wants to, whether I like that or not. I see the appeal of both and don't have an issue with anyone preferring Serato.

[tombruton69]

sera to could easily implement all the features of tractor. All it would take is one or two very good programmers hammering away. they already have things such as video and the bridge. writing a sync function wouldn't be that hard, it already has beat grids not that most sera to users have noticed. just throw another 20 effects at it. it wouldn't be that hard for them to alter there midi mapping to make it better than tractors and easier to use.

then we have the 3rd wheel which is mixxx that is really starting to take hold just look at the feature list of the one that is coming out. the one thing i think mixxx really should do is get rid of user interfaces and just have 5 or 6 standard ones

[mostapha]

Here's my take on [stuff]

Awesome post, man.

Just as CDJ's replaced turntables in alot of venues, I forsee all-in-one controllers replacing the typical 2x CDJ 1x DJM setups in the not so distant future.

You're wrong. But if that day comes, I'll either quit or open a venue that doesn't allow it. It wouldn't even be a value judgement thing at that point, just an obvious business opportunity. And the fact that it's so obvious means that a lot of people will do it and your vision will never come true.

Quenepas hit the nail on the head. I'd also like to add that Traktor users are sometimes looked down upon because of the potential that they pirated the software whereas with Serato it's not even a question.

Which is funny, because it doesn't imply that they own it either.

If a venue buys an SL1, every DJ in the world can use it by downloading the software.

Of course, that's an awesome business model for Rane too. If I were starting a crew or opening a venue, I might order an SL4 before deciding on a table. There's nothing that competes with it.

sera to(sic) could easily implement all the features of tractor(sic). All it would take is one or two very good programmers hammering away.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.