So what made you choose your particular DJ program. I’ve been a 2 year user of Traktor, never looked back after using it but I was just recently thinking what influenced my decision. Why have I never considered switching? and even though a lot of other software is beginning to use the same features do people choose one over the other.
I think I choose Traktor because it was the first one I was exposed too. I saw a youtube video of a guy using that POS DM2 but he was able to throw down with it, he said he just used it as a midi controller with Traktor. I couldn’t believe it. I came into Traktor at Traktor 3 but it was shortly after that they launched Pro and everything was so streamlined, even for a beginner like me. I had actually never heard of Serato for a while and when I did, I thought it was so limited by comparison. And even though it’s the “standard” I still wouldn’t switch. What’s crazy now is how Traktor is really gaining more of an american audience/scratch audience. They’ve got Flash, Craze, Klever, and Shiftee.
Another thing that I find interesting is how even though there are so many other DVS systems, Traktor seems to be hot on the tail of Serato (in terms of popularity), while other DVS don’t seem to come close even though they offer most of the same features. So what’s the Traktor and Serato difference, does it really just come down to branding, or is it more in line with there unique offerings (Traktors Fx, Auto sync, mad midi capabilities/Serato’s minimalist interface, and stability) I think it’s combination of both for me personally, I feel Traktor is the underdog, and stomps in terms of features. What do you guys think?
I used Live for a while but I ditched it due to three main reasons. The first being Traktors browsing functions (much more comfy than having to sort all your songs in different folders). Second was that I wanted to be able to do “real” mixing, not having to plan my sets in advance. The third (pretty minor though) was that i really hate finding other files in my music folders than just the sound files. Live makes all of these analysis-files to every sound file thats been loaded into the program.
Oh, and I chose Traktor instead of Serato cause Traktors interface looks so much nicer
I used to DJ many years ago on a mixer and two TT 1200’s. A while back i wanted to play music at small socials, friends houses, etc. and new that to carry a full set up was ridiculous but with a small mixer I could play enough for us to have fun. I really didn’t care about what software to use. Mixing two songs and playing some tunes could be done on any software just as long as I had a decent mixer. So I bought a hercules RMX on craigslist and found out what VDJ was, then when googling the RMX I found this site and ArmyofMe’s 4 deck tsi. I started to see what was really capable of just a small mixer with the right sofware. I really wasn’t aware of how timecode worked but still had my 1200’s stashed. So I went all out and got Traktor Scratch Pro. By this time I knew of Serato, but I had already invested in a TimeCode system as well as a portable one (VCI-100). I was sold on Traktor as a system I could do both on (full set up, or portable midi)
Recently however I started messing around with Itch. Playing on a VCI300 is the closest thing to using two CDJ’s and Mixer. Nothing fancy just traditional DJing. Honestly I love it just as much. My gripe with Traktor and controllers, midi mappings, etc. is that somedays I feel more like a computer programer than I do a DJ. All these cables, buttons, USB hubs, midi configurations. modifiers, etc. Sometimes I just wanna sit down and play. TP I think still has limitations, and Itch definelty has a bunch of limitations but I really think the S4 will fill many of those gaps. HID Jogs!!! Thats huge, one-to-one mapping, etc. It sounds so far as the best of both worlds. One thing that I will say Itch has over TP is the colored waveforms. They really are that awesome. So currently I’m using a VCI-300 and play with both systems depending on what mood Im in.
pretty much the same reason’s why i switched to traktor from live plus i found i wasn’t enjoyin mixin on live i found it too mundane for me.
plus i chose traktor over serato due to the need for 4 decks & more cue points per track. Tried itch and it wasn’t for me, lookin forward to the s4 now so i can have the sample decks i’ve always craved
Was a very happy user of DJDecks, liked it for it’s relative open-ness compared to other timecode supporting systems. Switched to OSX for various reasons, got annoyed by rebooting into windows via Bootcamp everytime I felt like djing for a few minutes. There was no properly working DJDecks on OSX back then, also I needed a better quality soundcard than the ESI U46DJ which didn’t work properly with OSX either. So the Traktor Scratch Duo bundle was the obvious choice. Upgraded to Scratch Pro just for the extra options in layout customizing some time later. I didn’t go for SSL because the Audio4 just sounded better to me than the SL2 interface (SL3 wasn’t available yet), Torq had a reputation of being rather unstable back then.
I almost sold my Traktor gear because of the extremely annoying AAC caching bug and it is my view that playing audio files properly should be a primary and properly working part of DJ software. Let’s see if the 1.2.7 fix works out as soon as it’s public.
See this is exactly why i DO use Live. I like planning my sets out in advance, i feel it gives me more control over what I’m playing and I like knowing exactly what I’m going to do next. Perhaps because I have that producer’s mindset as well, I like things to be structured. I want to know that “I have to start the second track, volume off, 64 bars before the end of the first and 1/2 way through to raise the volume to an audible level and mix from there”. Straight up, I’m not good enough yet to pick a song out my library and know to do that on the fly. I’m just more comfortable sitting down before I mix and planning all that out.
No doubt Traktor is way easier to use tho. Took me a while to even figure out what the hell i was doing with Live but i think it’s like anything else in life: you learn to adapt to whatever system you use. I hated Live at first but forced myself to learn how to use it, now i like it shrug
I’m not knocking the way you do it, but if you want to start mixing maybe plan out a set in Traktor for 30 minutes or something and play that then go back to Live. Increase that a little each time and see how it goes.
I began on Traktor until I could afford turntables. Used Traktor + turntables together, finally moved to serato (traktor scratch was not around, and even when it did come out was nowhere near as stable as SSL).
Faded away from Traktor in favor of Live (I don’t have a problem DJing on the fly with Live; ie: no planning my sets ^^dunno what thats all about).
Heard that serato + Live were teaming up, that sealed the deal for me. Can’t wait to get that Bridge going and pick up an APC40.
i used ableton for ever but didnt like the lack of spontaneity. tried traktor, felt it was better then ableton but again somthing wasnt clicking for me. finally tried serato itch, it just clicks for me. if i feel like doing prep work i do it in ableton, but with serato i can just plug it in and go.
Brotha.. appreciate the honesty!! When I made the switch from traditional Turn Tables & Mixer it took me 6 mo. to learn the new setup… even though I now use Turn Tables, Mixer & Traktor Scratch Pro… I realized that not having tangible media was a real issue to get past.. I never was good at remembering names, but always remembered the record artwork!! In fact.. I’d hear the song in my head and see the artwork, then I’d search through my record box to find the LP… When I switched to a digital setup I found that a list of 1000+ track names (even w/ artwork) was way too much to get hold of. What worked for me was to pre-plan small play lists in advance with cue and loop points and then in a live show - switch between those as the set progressed. In this way it is possible to react to the crowd and be more engaged in a live scenario. You can do this with Ableton as well.. just not nearly as spontaneously as you can with Traktor or Serato.. and you can’t scratch either :eek:
I like to plan out shorter sets, anything under 1,5 hours. I just feel more comfortable doing it in Traktor since I can manage all my songs really easily.
The second problem for me when I used Live was that I overplanned everything and felt I was just one of those press-play-stare-at-the-screen-and-look-like-youre-doing-something-DJ’s.
i always had a thing for djing…back in the days when i was 12 i played alot with the tt´s of a friend…startedplaying music at small family/birthday/etc.parties with winamp 1
winamp was shit for djing and i had no meney for tt´s nor cd´s so i got a copy a traktor 2…it worked well…then i got traktor 3 i loved it…now i have tspro and i worship it! why because i hate the design of ssl, i hate the cheapish look of otherr programs than traktor and monocolored waveforms i love
Went from vinyl, then to Traktor, then to Ableton, then back to Traktor when it went Scratch Pro. That was a process that took a few years from the point I tried to leave vinyl behind.
The last three years I was mostly using TSP exclusively… but now just recently I moved to Serato’s Itch.
Here is why:
Superior playlist management options for playing music. TSP is frustrating because it doesn’t allow you to select tracks on the fly to put aside for possible playback like Serato provides. This is akin to pulling vinyl out of your crate and placing them so they stick out (usually diagonal) for future reference when playing a set.
For DJ workflow while responding to crowd reactions, etc - this is crucial and I like how they’ve implemented it. Secondly, I like the export functions of playlist management more than traktor’s at this point too.
Colored waveforms. TSP’s monochromatic wave form is useful, but not nearly as useful as Serato’s colored waveforms which allow you to see what type of frequencies are playing - gives you a sense if it is a low end part of the song, high end, or a combination of those two with midrange. At first I thought this was gimmicky, but when in use, its is great. This is tantamount to looking at vinyl and seeing if the grooves are more sparse which usually indicates a breakdown and possibly a sense of what that breakdown is going to consist of (although on vinyl you don’t get nearly the information you do compared to Serato’s waveforms).
This is the most important for me: Warpable Beat Markers. This allows one to put beat markers where there are variations in tempo in a track. TSP simply cannot do this. With Itch you can do this and keep in time without having to do the kludge of importing a track into ableton, warping an intro, a section, or the worst case scenario, the whole track, and then re-gridding it in TSP. The grid/beat markers in Serato’s Itch are simply better for playing music with variable tempo, keeping them in sync, and not losing the feel/groove of tracks. Secondarily, beat gridding a track in Itch is not only faster than TSP it is easier. I say this coming from spending countless hours beat gridding tracks in TSP.
this is less important because S4 is imminent, but the one to one relationship to a controller is a plus. It allows you to essentially never touch the laptop at all - and because I use a pair of Numark V7 controllers, I get the spinning platter like a technic turntable which is, surprisingly, oddly comforting to me to cue up and spin/release a track when mixing in like I’ve spent many years doing before I stopped playing vinyl exclusively.
The Bridge, although not part of my original analysis for trying out (and then liking Itch), has a lot of potential production/performance wise. So, that’s a plus. I’m surprised that NI hasn’t done more direct integration with Maschine into Traktor with S4 - but I’m sure this is coming (as they have hinted as much in their Q&A sessions with people on their boards). Either way this is a win/win for all of us interested in these possibilities even though I think Serato/Ableton definitely has the edge at this point since it is released as a product enhancement and available now.
I’ve spent a lot of time on all these various sytems (forgot to mention that I was using Torq until they crapped out on delivering version 1.5 in a timely manner) and I can see why Itch/Serato has held their own. The work flow for DJing is very well thought out. I think the sum of its parts is hard to explain how it makes the whole program … elegant is a word I would use.
Do I think the interface of Itch is blocky and maybe less appealing? Yes. do I think Itch’s effects are less sophisticated and not mature compared to TSP. Absolutely. Would it be nice to have MIDI mappable controllers of my choice for the software - possibly.
But those feature sets, in direct comparison, don’t necessarily make me want to change back yet or in the foreseeable future due to the workflow advantages that Serato’s itch has IMO.
Gotta say that I agree on the multicolored waveforms and the warpable beat grids. I miss both. I can live without both, but would surely like to see those features integrated into future versions of Traktor.
