I do NOT want to start a Traktor vs. Serato war. I hereby give the mods an eplicit request to delete any such posts and close this thread if it goes too far.
I’ll also try to stave that off by saying that I own both brands (TP2, X1s, a DDJ-SX, and an SL1)…I’ve owned them more than once each and for quite a long time. There are aspects of using each that I prefer over the other. I honestly don’t think I have a real preference overall for one or the other except to say that I slightly prefer Traktor without platters and Serato for DVS.
The prices just don’t make sense to me.
TA6 - $300 for 3 decks
TA10-$500 for 4 decks + a loop + midi IO
SL2 - $500 for 2 decks
SL3 - $700 for 3 decks
SL4 - $900 for 4 decks + a loop
Why is the most expensive thing NI makes the same price as the cheapest thing Rane makes? I’m not really concerned with used prices…I’ll still decide what’s best for me based on what I want to do and what I want to spend. I’m just curious about WHY the new units are priced like that.
Does anyone know?
The only thing I can think of is claims of better DACs in the Rane units, but with the popularity of Pioneer mixers…I feel like…if they really cared about sound quality, they’d have digital outputs to avoid a pair of conversions. Or maybe claims that SDJ is enough lighter-weight than TSP that it can try to claim to be more stable or something…?
I have MY reasons but they would in turn be debating the exact thing you are trying to avoid. I do use both (as well as Rekordbox) so if anything I can say I am not biased.
To add to your question you would think with N.I. being the software developer/hardware manufacturer they would be able to charge more. Let’s add to this by stating a fact that Serato offers like five times the amount of hardware that Traktor does…
My guess is This is how Traktor competes. VDJ does it by basically supporting anything on the planet hardware-wise as well as offering free versions. N.I. IMO competes by offering their version of the hardware at about half the price.
I tried to keep my opinions separate and kept things as factual as possible…
Maybe it’s the same reason why perfume is so expensive. People expect that cheap products are crap. They tried a discount brand once, it didn’t work. Maybe if people see that Serato soundcards are more expensive they’ll think it’s better quality.
I’m actually curious what you mean by that. If you use them and aren’t just blindly saying “because they’re better”, you might have a point. I’m really seriously trying to figure this out.
The “Price is the product” model seems to apply to liquor more than perfume (Grey Goose is objectively shit vodka, for example). But, I used the same $75 bottle of cologne for like 8 years, so I don’t think of that as expensive.
Could that really be it? 'cuz Rane makes some damn-good gear at relatively competitive prices, well…at least the things that don’t have SSL soundcards. The mp-2016s, mp25, and mp26 are damn-good mixers for $1500-1800. The Empath was awesome for the money back when they still made it.
Well there are a few considerations to be made as well. With Traktor Pro you purchase the license which is applied to the software. With Serato the license is built INTO the sound card thus the license is internally embedded. This means a license fee is included with the sale of the SL box while the license is NOT necessarily included with the TSP Box.
The personal opinions I have are as stated personal and NOT what I think you were looking for yet DO apply and matter. Furthermore I feel they directly add to the reason/s for the higher cost. As a disclaimer I try to NOT blindly state anything ever. I primarily use Serato BUT have used Rekordbox often and Traktor even more often. Furthermore I have a unique library including an 85K+ file library which is 100% synced between Serato, Traktor & Rekordbox via N.I. SSL Database Importer tool (SDJ>Traktor) and Rekord Buddy (Traktor>Rekordbox) including all cue points, loops, Keys, beat grids etc. as well as all crates & subcrates (playlists & folders). This lets me have a very “open” and unbiased assessment of all three professional DJ apps.
I have & use TONS of gear and try to assess fairly. Dropbox Numark NS7II, Akai AMX, Rane 64, Urei 1620 LE, Rane SL4 Traktor Kontrol X1, Kontrol F1 & N.I. Audio 6 & more NOT pictured as this was just a picture of my Pioneer family LOL.
The only reason I can think of is in the sl4’s case it has 2x usb inputs which I guess means it is two soundcards under one enclosure. But yeah, even then its really expensive. If traktor made a dual usb sound card I would be all over it change overs and back to back sets especially with a 2 channel mixer are really annoying.
You will note the SL4 and Audio 10 have the EXACT amount of inputs & outputs. The Audio10 keeps things side by side in/out while the SL4 keeps all inputs on one side with the outputs on the other is all.
Yeah, the 2 USBs are awesome. Since Vestax was the only company that routinely put enough Line inputs on mixers and most current ones require some invasive mods to disable the phono preamps, it’s a bit of an issue.
That is probably worth paying for if you’re doing an install or willing to let everyone for a night use your box. A double-USB TS card and a mixer with 2 line pairs per channel would be good.
As far as I’m concerned, that explains the SL4 and the 68. The rest of the line?
NI can charge less because it’s their hardware & software.
No licensing fees to pay to anyone.
Rane has to share the wealth, so to speak.
Hence, they choose to charge more.
There is also an argument to be made for the construction of
Rane’s card’s housing versus the NI’s. Those Rane enclosures are
Top notch!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t NI develop their software in-house? A Rane licensing fee would be on top of any other development and manufacturing costs. I’m speculating, of course.
You are simply buying the name. As NI becomes more industry standard, either their price will go up or Rane’s will go down. As far as build quality, they are on par with each other. This goes for sound quality as well. The SL box does have better power management which leads to cooler running circuits thus leading to better sound definition over extended use. As far as licensing goes, it is not enough of a difference to justify the heavy increase in price.
As an example, JABIL licenses (and manufactures) components to Apple at more than 25x production + R&D. In that way, it’s not about justification as much as opportunity and access.
Apple is also willing to pay it. It wouldnt be the first financial idiocracy the company has endured in it’s lifespan.
This is true tho. I just don’t see Serato asking for that much in licensing. If they were that greedy, it would seem that they would make consumers pay for the software when not using it with direct compatible devices such as the mixdeck and charging more for the DVS expansion for users who do not purchase SL.
We may be on different pages… I think they have the sound cards manufactured for them and pay a licensing fee on the hardware. I’d be surprised if they didn’t have software in-house or under an LLC.
