Do you beatmatch manually or sync?

[amadeus]

A DJ's number one job is to have great taste in music and to be able to play it to a crowd's mood. Everything else is garnish.

Couldn't agree more.

The music is the most important part of being a DJ.

[atontheproton]

Both, depends on what I am doing.

Sampling I generally sync, if im mixing track on track, I don't bother... unless I need to get that track in "right now" but even then I personally prefer to beatmatch over using sync.

Personally I wouldn't get into the habbit of using sync unless I knew how to beatmatch well...

Started with turntables & I went years with black tape on my display screen on CDJS so I couldn't see my BPM or %'s. I know alot of sync djs and they shred it up... all know how to beatmatch perfectly fine too.

[atontheproton]

hahaha I used traktor for almost 2 years before I realised there was a grid so I could line the two tracks up as well.... goes to show that the ear will never do you wrong!

[mostapha]

Couldn't agree more.

The music is the most important part of being a DJ.

And when you really think about it, that priority can solve a lot of these stupid debates, chief among them is that it would cost about $3700 to replace all of the equipment I actually use (booth equipment; not speakers), and the simpler pair of CDJs and a nice mixer setup with fewer capabilities would be more like $6000. Doing it with the turntables I already own would limit my music selection and just about quadruple the cost of each song.

I use what I use because it's good enough, feels good to play on, works with how I think, and is cheap for how it sounds. I'd rather spend the extra money on speakers and music than useless street cred. That's not passion. That's a bigger budget.

[ZxZDeViLZxZ]

Fwiw I don't care if people use sync or not I do however care when they use it cue drum and all that jazz and their routines aren't up to snuff. Even then this only bothers me if their only fight for sync is that it gives them more time to do their routines....

I'm a big believer that if you talk the game at least make every effort possible to put your skills where your mouth is.....

That being said about 4 years ago I thought I'd try my hand at a routine or two and while it is immensely creative I just didn't feel the same passion for it as I did traditional mixing..

I Dj from my emotions and I feel I can't do that beat from a traditional stand point and get the most gratification from that style.

[Stormcaller]

I learned on vinyl but lost my decks in a flood so I use a controller now. I use simple sync just to set the tempo and save a little time, then I just scratch in and do everything else manually from there. I don't want to rely on sync too much as I like to play a lot of old stuff that doesn't beatgrid sometimes.

I used to DJ with Ableton. I would spend days warping tracks in advance, bending them to fit the beatgrid and be perfect every time, but I got to the point where I couldn't prepare tracks in time for the set because it took so long, and I needed the versatility of something more akin to turntables where I can just drop tracks in and go. On the other hand you could use Ableton's effects to take things really sideways if you want...

[Paul Margiotis]

I do both, since I play on a controller (X1) and CDJs. I often do 3 and sometimes 4 deck mixing, both of which are very, very difficult to do if you beat match manually. Sync is a great tool to use if you want to get really creative and take the mix to the next level, but it shouldn't replace the skill of beat matching entirely, since a DJ will always have to use beat matching at some point in their career, like when they have to mix out of another DJ in a club environment.

[mostapha]

I do both, since I play on a controller (X1) and CDJs. I often do 3 and sometimes 4 deck mixing, both of which are very, very difficult to do if you beat match manually. Sync is a great tool to use if you want to get really creative and take the mix to the next level, but it shouldn't replace the skill of beat matching entirely, since a DJ will always have to use beat matching at some point in their career, like when they have to mix out of another DJ in a club environment.

1. I hate that creativity excuse. There are people who mixed with 3 or 4 turntables; it's just not common because it's hard. And people used to play with drum and tape machines. Sync doesn't make anything possible, it just makes it easier. Own it.

I use sync because it's easier, not because it opens possibilities. I just wouldn't do them if I had to beat match drum machines.

2. The big festival guys just glitch out the last guy's last track. They're on CDJs and don't even beat match between DJs. It's really only the small guys who still give the impression of caring about their craft.

[teknik1200]

sync is not easier unless you can't hold a beat match.

with bpm displays you have all the ease to get it close enough to juse queue and mix in.

beat matching is easier if you have the skill ingrained, but I'm one of those folks that can mix on three 1200s and keep a perpetual mix going my whole set. That said I feel more creative with the limits of two deck mixing still trying to mix perpetually.

I like feeling like I'm hanging on to the edge of my seat, If I'm nailing it I can go off as I get excited and it dials me in.

Sync is silly.

[mostapha]

I can, and yes it is.

If it weren't easier, there wouldn't be a debate.