“Which Program is the Best” Traktor, Ableton or SSL?
I’ve been using these three softwares to DJ, and I figured to share my thoughts on them as more and more beginners come to this forum each starting their own “Which DVS/controller is the best?” threads. Note, that as I speak from my own experiences, I’ve left out programs like Virtual DJ, Torq, Mixx etc. I am also speaking of Traktor Pro, not Traktor Scratch Pro, but I believe that everything said below applies to both as it is just a difference of the controller.
As I speak from my own experiences this is obviously MY opinion, but on the other hand I also haven’t received any benefits from any companies and I can complain about each one of them.
Traktor
This is the software I’ve used the longest. It has definetly seen lot of improvement coming to the Pro version. It is also the weapon of choice for many in the DJTT community. Traktor is specifically designed for digital DJing, and is in many ways far ahead the competition. You can mix midi controllers and “real mixers”, and with Scratch version add vinyl decks and CDJs.
Traktor is reasonably priced to what it can do. The midi mapping capabilities are excellent and the screen is readable. The browser works pretty well - you can make playlists and use the browser full screen. On the downside, especially if you use 3 or 4 decks, the layout is cluttered. The effects and master take a lot of space. You can toggle them off but in my opinion it is a bit of a hassle. The decks are even worse, as the deck buttons take a lot of space regardless of the size of the waveforms. Customization of the layout could definetly use improvement.
In order to sync and cue juggle properly you need to beatgrid the tracks. Traktor is pretty good with it, but some tracks require preparation nevertheless. Overall it is a bit quicker that what it takes with Ableton. The cuepoints can be named but you need to toggle through them, which I don’t really like. Alternative could be an inbuilt sampler that many of the competitors use, but it seems that instead Traktor is integrating Maschine better. It is a great looking device and capable of plenty, but ups the price of the setup considerably.
Overall, stability of the Traktor is good and it offers great effects and plenty of useful features in easily accesible package. If you plan to use plenty of samples and drum loops, you should carefully think your setup and whether you want Traktor. Unfortunately, the competition is quite poor what come to stable alternatives.
Ableton
Ableton isn’t designed for DJing per se, as it is a tool for live performance. It offers only one waveform visible at a time, but it can be linked with Traktor, and soon officially with Serato. I tried Ableton with Deckadance (demo version) as VST, but it crashed Ableton within minutes every time. It can also be used with Ms Pinky, but I have not heard of any experiences on the stability or functionality.
Ableton is an expensive program, as the lite versions are not going to offer everything you want. The full version will, on the other hand, have plenty of stuff you’ll never use. Even worse, the midi capabilities, especially compared to Traktor, are poor. Due to the conversion of the compressed media, you should use wavs instead of mp3s, which requires a good size harddrive. This frees you from the gripe a lot of people are having of Ableton not allowing to be spontaneous. The file browser is in my opinion decent, and you can make a playlist for your set beforehand if you so wish.
The learning curve to the program is steep. It took me 6 months of trying and my producing-oriented brother to figure out how it actually works, although basic A->B mixing is easy and there is a tutorial within the program for it. Preparing the tracks takes a long time as well, as you have to warp them. It is really easy to cut a sample from the track. Actually, I cut the whole track into pieces and name them as “Intro”, “Breakdown”, “Vocals” etc., and better yet, I can easily read the names from the screen, loop them, play them in whatever order I want in perfect sync, and automate sequences.
Dummy clips are another thing worth mentioning, as you can program 4/6/8/whatever bar risers, loops and other effects. Effects in general can by the way be put to send channels, the audio channels themselves (including master), or both if you like.
If you get bored with Ableton or feel like you’re cheating, you’re not using it properly. The biggest hurdle for the djs with experience is thinking outside of the box. For example, at the moment I use 16 audio channels, including 4 “decks” (and soon possibly 6) and dummy clips.
The rabbit hole goes deep, and seems that there are no boundaries of what you can do, and you can always add VSTs and instruments to go further or even mix videos! This is the only DJ tool with which you can easily integrate live drumming or your keyboard with ease. The feeling of freedom makes Ableton my choice at the moment.
Serato Scratch Live
SSL is a very stable system making it possible to use CDJs and vinyl decks. It is not the cheapest, although you (have to) get it with the SSL box which functions as a soundcard and unlocker to the program itself. The box is rugged and pretty small, and the software runs with older computers just fine. It is easy to carry everything you need to a club, but if you are organizing a party, taking 2 decks, mixer and SSL instead of a controller gets quite burdensome.
SSL relies on hardware functions, meaning that you use it with turntables, CDJs or certain midi controllers and a mixer. This is nice since nothing beats the controllability of a vinyl, but on the other hand if the club’s decks are shoddy, or the mixer has no efx, you might end up using most of your time fighting the wavering pitch and simple a->b mixing. There are so called “club standards”, which of course are not used by every club, so you might have to learn new hardware while mixing.
There are no inbuilt effects in Serato as mentioned. What it has is a clear interface and good browser with vertical or horizontal waveforms (which can save you a lot of screen space), midi-mappable cue points, looper, stutter, sampler and whatever you can do with the decks (scratches, phasing etc.). As I mentioned before, that even though there aren’t many gimmicks, everything that is included in Serato works amazingly well and doesn’t require the newest computer. I’m waiting with anticipation what the collaboration with Ableton brings. If Serato offers you everything you want, you should get it. If you don’t have decks or mixer, it’s probably the most expensive to start with.
As a footnote, although the SSL pitch lock was the poorest in the DJTT comparison, I haven’t really noticed that in use, which is probably due to the fact that I mix within the limits of vinyl deck, and the pitch change is therefore limited. I haven’t seen a problem with this, but your style might differ from mine
-Tuomas
