Serato vs Traktor (setup advice pls)

I was using a simplistic virtual dj setup recently until I upgraded to twitch and Serato. I don't particularly like the sync feature or all the features of the touchstrip. I wish they'd included more variables in the setup for things such as touchstrip sensitivity. I've heard that Traktor is completely mappable and it really interests me. So I'd like to know if you guys think Serato will progress with time, or if I should get an X1 and then upgrade the Traktor LE to PRO2 for the 70 dollars. I thought purchasing an X1 would upgrade my setup with alot more real estate. Please give me your experiences with the two.

traktor is very mappable but so is vdj - more so maybe. as well as the X1 there's the soon to be released NI F1 controller, the A&H K2 and a few more months down the line all the behringer modular controllers. all depends on what extra controls u want.

i'm sure itch will keep getting better and better but it's never going to give u the flexibility to change/tweak what controls do like traktor/vdj.

there's a big twitch thread already if u want to get opinions from twitch owners. one draw of twitch/itch is the slicer which isn't in traktor - not yet anyway. be interesting to see if anything like that gets added to the next big 2.5 release tho. also no one knows for sure that 2.5 will be free, so that might be a reason to hold off upgrading to tp2.

Thanks for your opinion, I'm not going back to virtual dj It feels so simplistic to traktor or itch. I enjoy Itch a lot; I'll probably keep using it with my twitch alone until the newer controllers come out.

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Originally Posted by zestoi

one draw of twitch/itch is the slicer which isn't in traktor - not yet anyway.

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Love how you can adjust the slicer using the touchstrip too. I can't beleive anyone would have issues with sensitivity on the touchstrip, I find it works perfectly, and Itch has been fantastic :)

It would be good to hear how you make out with your setup if you go the other route.

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Originally Posted by jprime

Love how you can adjust the slicer using the touchstrip too. I can't beleive anyone would have issues with sensitivity on the touchstrip, I find it works perfectly, and Itch has been fantastic :)

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what param(s) can u change with the touch strip? the overall number of beats that are being sliced?

from the manual...

"Slicer Mode always creates a block of eight slices. By default, the DOMAIN value is 8, where 1 slice = I beat. It is possible to modify the Domain value by using “pinching” and “expanding” actions - with two fingers – on the Touchstrip.

E.g., if Domain is set to 4, each of the eight slices will be ½ a beat in length.

A further parameter relevant to Slicer Modes is QUANTIZATION. The description of Slicer Mode action above assumes a Quantization value of 1; this means that when a slice is triggered by a Performance Pad, the whole of the slice is played. If Quantization is set to ½, only the first half of the slice will be played, and so on with lower Quantization values. In addition, the quantization value also determines when a slice can be triggered; with a value of 1, triggering can only occur on the beat; with a value of ½, triggering can occur on half-beats as well."

It's not the fact that the touchstrip isn't sensitive enough; I just don't think the swipe is sensitive enough for scratching elongated notes. For slicer or loops I love the touchstrip.

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Originally Posted by jprime

from the manual...

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cheers... i should have re-read the pdf manual i download. i was being lazy. being able to change the size of slices if quite interesting... you often use it on settings other than 1slice=1beat and quantize to 1 or 1/2 beats?

edit: i think it would get pretty hairy emulating the slicer in traktor jumping less than 1/4 or even 1/2 beats with the delays needed between some of the beatjumps

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Originally Posted by djbassaddict

I just don't think the swipe is sensitive enough for scratching elongated notes.

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Yeah I wouldn't try to scratch shit up with it, lol

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you often use it on settings other than 1slice=1beat and quantize to 1 or 1/2 beats?

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Not at all, I just know it can be done ;) I'm quite happy with the full 8.

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Originally Posted by jprime

Love how you can adjust the slicer using the touchstrip too. I can't beleive anyone would have issues with sensitivity on the touchstrip, I find it works perfectly, and Itch has been fantastic :)

It would be good to hear how you make out with your setup if you go the other route.

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Just to add:

I can't believe people are having problems with the Sync. It works perfectly, you can get it to sync to beat grids, and it's completely logical especially if you think about it from a standard turntable/CDJ perspective. You set the initial deck you want as the Master and then sync up the slave. After that, as long as you keep sync engaged, whatever deck gets unloaded will then automatically become the slave. It's friggin simple as can be. Also at least one person complained about why the track jumps whenever he hit the sync button, well if people actually bothered to read the instructions or even use common sense, if you are using smart sync which snaps beatgrids, of course every time that you hit the sync on the slave deck it's going to jump the track, because snapping the grid is completely different from nudging the track. Duh. Read the manual people, it's pretty straight forward.

As for Twitch, don't forget that you can use the touch strip to also select loop lengths (this is separate from the pinch and expand adjustment). Basically, for both Slicer and Looping, the touchstrip has for quadrants that you can touch to set 4 different Slice/Loop lengths. Basically it goes from left to right. Default it's in the middle of course. You basically halve it each on each immediate quadrant to the left of wherever you have it.

I personally do have an issue with the touchstrip though, and that's with hitting the backspin on them 100%, that's just a complete hit or miss for me. No biggie but a bit annoying (sometimes the backspin is quick like I want it, sometimes it's like I'm spinning at half speed, I think this might just be a limitation of touch input because the hardware looks to be working fine).