anyone else using/used both traktor and serato?
so i spent about 5 years working on traktor, and a few months ago ended up upgrading my mixer to a native serato mixer, and from my personal standpoint , i find traktor to be vastly superior in just about every way. what are some other peoples opinions or experiences?
I spent 15 years on turntables and the last 5 or so on traktor. I find the technics 1200s to be far superior to traktor and a controller 
traktor and serato are both very powerful softwares better for different things. i have not had good luck with traktors reliability and connectivity but serato for me is absolutely plug and play 100% of the time.
I keep hearing that people have had issues with traktor and it’s connectivity and I have never had a problem with traktor on a crappy laptop with three controllers. I wonder if it’s a mac thing.
my buddy has had mad issues with his connectivity on a brand new windows laptop. also midi mapping on the PC suuuuucks. i went through 3 midi monitor softwares before i found one that worked.
See, to me, plug-n-play is a disadvantage because I can’t use it how I want to. Case in point: Reassigning the channels for DVS on a 4-channel mixer.
isnt this just a problem with all controllers in general?
No controller will have a mapping that will make everyone happy. One of the key things about using a controller is customizing the mapping to your liking. It’s not convenience or technology. It’s about customization. (for me atleast)
I’ve used both and prefer serato. Traktor was simply not reliable enough on a regular basis, I like serato’s library mgmt better, it’s layout and am really liking Pitch N Time.
That being said, when it comes to smaller modular setups (midifighter / Trigger Finger) in a pinch Traktor’s mapping to get you up and running on just about anything is fantastic.
LOL Yes I agree
However, I used Traktor (Scratch) for about 6 years after using just vinyl since the mid 90s and last year upgraded my mixer that is native Serato (Rane 64) so am in the same boat.
Personally I had no stability options when using Traktor and found its midi mapping capabilities really good and timecode was good.
When I initially started using Serato I hated it, purely because it was different to what I’m used to. I like it now but there are some issues that I find frustrating:
No DVS Smart Sync (this is being addressed in an upcoming update), handy for those moments when I want to layer samples.
When in Rel mode if you put the needle to the start of the timecode in Traktor it would start from the beginning, Serato doesn’t! I get round it by using a hotcue.
Hotcues. Aaaaaaargh. In Traktor if you want to assign a Hotcue 4 on its own you can, in Serato you can’t, you have to assign them in order. I like to have my hotcues the same in all tracks ie 1 at the start 2 and 3 for various breaks and 4 for start of vocals for example, I might not have used 3 but it wont then let me use 4 for a vocal. There are ways around it by using 2 hotcues in the same place but its frustrating.
Serato automatic beatgrids are not as tight as Traktor. I have had to manually adjust alot in Serato and hardly any in Traktor.
Seratos GUI is alot better.
There are less setup options in Serato as its just plug and play.
Serato cannot be used in standalone mode without hardware connected like Traktor.
You say Traktor is superior, I feel it is more customisable and flexible but have heard Serato has the stability trump card. Personally I’ve never had any stability issues with either.
I am warming to Serato and finding it more basic yet somehow more satisfying.
I have hacked my Traktor so it thinks the Rane 64 is a Scratch Certified mixer and have flipped between the 2 programs regularly but haven’t turned on traktor for a while.
Have both, prefer Traktor.
Stability, have had a prob with MIDI Bridge and TouchOSC with Traktor, but I wasn’t using it as an integral part of the setup. So when not using that, it runs great. I prefer the customisation, and the flexibility of Traktor over Serato.
I currently run Traktor Scratch // Rekordbox media, but I’m thinking of unlocking my DJM-850 to utilize with Serato DJ. I am going to try it out!!!
I have spent a lot of time on both and from a controller perspective I see them being very similar with one main difference. Traktor tends to display A LOT more information on the screen than Serato. When I tutor people looking to get into DJing I first ask them if they like having tons of data in their face or if they would like a more simple and clean display.
I have heard that Traktor offers better latency when it comes to DVS control. I will also give Traktor credit for both remix decks and mixing stems. I do notice that Traktor tends to be more innovative in their software design than Serato is.
The thing is, pretty much everything on screen can be toggled in Traktor. That, to me, is so much more attractive. I’m a tinkerer, though.
DVS/Mixing
I use both, and I like both for different reasons and uses. I have a DVS setup (Mixars Duo/2 Denon DN-s3700’s) that i use for scratching, hip-hop, trip-hop stuff. For this I’m obviously using Serato. I love it, and also with the new beta, i can mix house with ease as well with a pair of my buddy’s CDJ 850k’s. Most of the time, however, my buddy and i spin as a duo, and use his setup on traktor, with a Z2 and his aforementioned CDJ’s. Both are great for their own reasons.