how did u decide 'yes im going to be a serato dj'

watson dubstep · Post by **watson dubstep** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:26 pm

I have used it in once when my mate came down to radio with me
Its really good as everything you want to play is there!!

BUT i have seen 2 incidences where it has caused problems, i remember a certain 'big' name dj trying to hook up his laptop to the mixer at a club, took ages to set up, instead of him playing 1-2an it was more like 1:30-2:30.

The 2nd was i remember seeing a dj at a club and the laptop died.

There are loads of pros/cons

But i rather collect the vynil

jay · Post by **jay** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:53 pm

johnboy01 wrote:
jay wrote:i bought it and cant fucking bleev that i did, its horrible.
im trying to get used to it but i havnt took it out to a club yet and im not sure i ever will. its crap. it just feels terribly complicated for some reason. in principle i know its the same as records but there's something about it that just doesn't sit right.

www.myspace.com/darkstar001
you are a retard. i've never encountered a more user-friendly, intuitive program in my life. that shit is made BY DJs FOR DJs.

i can see its done you alot of favours because you are? that other big dj that uses serato?
im playing vinyl tonight 4-5 at why not, come call me a retard to my face.

shredexx · Post by **shredexx** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 2:19 pm

jay wrote:
johnboy01 wrote:
jay wrote:i bought it and cant fucking bleev that i did, its horrible.
im trying to get used to it but i havnt took it out to a club yet and im not sure i ever will. its crap. it just feels terribly complicated for some reason. in principle i know its the same as records but there's something about it that just doesn't sit right.

www.myspace.com/darkstar001
you are a retard. i've never encountered a more user-friendly, intuitive program in my life. that shit is made BY DJs FOR DJs.

i can see its done you alot of favours because you are? that other big dj that uses serato?
im playing vinyl tonight 4-5 at why not, come call me a retard to my face.

bahahaha big up darkstar...

its true though... it takes a bit of getting used to... but its kind of like starting to DJ again from scratch... everything is different... you have this fucking screen in front of you, which is long... and you can help looking at it...

but once you get past all the issues, it becomes really nice to use. I havent tried any of the other ones, mainly because i dont need to. I use it to be able to play unreleased tunes... tunes which only have digital releases, and for convenience.

Standardly, whenever i play out, I still carry atleast 20 tunes, cos if serato fails... "my computer froze" isnt going to cut it...

Sharmaji · Post by **Sharmaji** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 2:58 pm

been using it since 2005-- on decks, cdj's, the occasional god-awful rack-mount cd player ( egh), and even just on internal mode. The only problems ive ever had with it are user-based-- dirty needles, dodgy rca's-- truth be told, the only drawback is that you need a 100% perfectly-functioning turntable to make 'em work-- and that can be a problem.

I still buy vinyl, and i still carry vinyl and dubs to gigs because it's just what i do. Serato has nothing to do with it.

Though in truth, once you go digital and see what's available (midi control in serato is fantastic), the looping, the pitch control, and then you see what's available in ableton, you start to think that there's SO much more you can do in a set other than play records and keep them matched. Your ability to really affect the dancefloor and the vibe of the night grows exponentionally as your tools grow.

ufo over easy · Post by **ufo over easy** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 3:22 pm

TeReKeTe wrote:there's SO much more you can do in a set other than play records and keep them matched. Your ability to really affect the dancefloor and the vibe of the night grows exponentionally as your tools grow.

nah i disagree, a good DJ playing vinyl or serato or anything is doing more than just beatmatching, and i don't think more tools necessarily translates into increased freedom as a DJ.

SHAFEY · Post by **SHAFEY** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 4:34 pm

Obvious purchase for me as I wasn't used to using CDJ's and didn't fancy burning CD's all the time. No doubt it's a sick program and perfect for home use/radio shows BUT can be a long ting setting it up in clubs.

shambandito · Post by **shambandito** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 4:40 pm

does nobody in the uk scene use traktor? only been hearing people talk bout serato..
cause setting up traktor in clubs is as easy as piss.. just pull out the soundcard connect it to the mixer and thats it.. traktors got these special multicore cables so the whole thing is set up with 3 cables takes bout 5 minutes if you know what youre doing

r.demon · Post by **r.demon** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 4:45 pm

i dont trust serato .... most times ive used it .. it crashes... myt be cos the pcs runnin it are shit... none the less... i wouldnt risk takin it to a rave,.... i meen .. try explaining to a crowd of 500 peeps that the seratos gone wonky... hmmmm ....

6fbs

concept_ · Post by **concept_** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 5:11 pm

I use serato but lots of vinyl as well. I like it- nice for being able to create loops on the fly, and being able to manipulate the music in a small number of ways whilst still playing vinyl format- it is very intuitive and simple to use as well, which is nice. Plus the weight factor of course- its nothing on a full bag of records (though always take some records with just in case).

For me, the 2 channels available are a bit limiting, unlike traktor which boasts 4- but serato is built with the 2 channel user as the target- if it started incorporated more, the software could end up very messy and confusing (a bit like traktor on first glace) instead of the simple user layout it currently has.

On the other hand, I have had to use input reverse quite a few times when turntables have been broken or just not accepting the signal (as someone said, you must have near perfect signal connections and good nik needles for it to work properly) and can't fault that aspect of it. Saved me from embarrassment many a time.

It's good though. The new Serato Itch is a similar digital audio interface, looks like a good simple alternative but compatible only with certain hadware.
http://www.serato.com/itch

All those saying they forget their tunes- sort your crates out

makes it so much easier and less time scouring your hard drive for a tune.

kani · Post by **kani** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 5:20 pm

i tried to be a vinyl purist for as long as i could,
i have probably about 1k dnb records purchased at ~$10k and i bet i could get maybe a $1000 for the lot at this point. I dont mind having given that money to artists and even elements between them and myself at all. Good times were had.

Granted there are a few classics that i know will stand the test of time and keeping a little crate of vinyl gems to supplement whatever system persists in the hereafter will be the difference between old schoolers and new schoolers.

also, as far as fidelity for mp3 vs Vinyl, im now convinced room and system dynamics will outweigh any discernible difference in the two formats as long as you have a good file.

juggling interface boxes and cables between Serato/FS/Tracktor is a mess tho.

abZ · Post by **abZ** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 7:19 pm

kani wrote:juggling interface boxes and cables between Serato/FS/Tracktor is a mess tho.

This has been happening a more and more lately. Thinking about getting Serato vinyls actually. If someone already has Serato set up and lets me use it then fuck it I save everyone a little tassel. But everytime I have done it we get it sorted out somehow. It's only going to get easier. It doesn't take me long to get myself going these days and I manage to do it without pissing off the dj before and after me. Practice makes perfect. When I first started using Torq, like the first couple gigs I set it up and then turned around and used all vinyl lol. It took a while but now I dont even bring records with me.

ramadanman · Post by **ramadanman** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 7:30 pm

as jay says, its weird trying to choose tunes on a laptop rather than flicking through a bag or CD wallet. that's the main problem with it

also the sound is definitely different. it does affect the bass in my opinion. i have had often a problem with sustained sub bass notes not being properly translated when playing off serato.

i think sometimes having the endless choice and the gigabytes of music on your laptop can in fact have negative effects! i think you could use the term 'options paralysis' to describe - having too much choice and ending up not knowing what to play

serato is wicked at home though, doing a mix, or doing radio

restless · Post by **restless** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 8:30 pm

How do you copy your vinyl collection onto your laptop though ?

And what laptop are you people using for serato ? (pics would be good !)

MikeE · Post by **MikeE** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 9:55 am

kidlogic wrote:
MikeE wrote:Dont' use serato (even though I literally work just downt he road from them in Auckland)... use Torq instead, simply because I like the ability to be controlled by midi. much easier to set up (simply plug in, no pass throughs) and in essence its just the same as having a CDJ... just the buttons are in a different place on a midi controller.

That said - the laptop I use is one of those tiny asus ones, so its not like I'm lugging a big hulking thing around with me.

plus it allows you do do really fast mixes, double drops, crazy shit with acapellas, vocals etc that wouldbe a lot harder on vinyl, and sound weird as hell, without the pitching algorithms in software solutions.
You can control everything in Serato with Midi as well.

How does that Asus handle Torq though? Was thinking of getting one for Serato to take some of the workload off of my laptop.

You wanna only use midi on the asus, external countrols (i.e. timecodes) make it lag...

spire · Post by **spire** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 10:05 am

ramadanman wrote:i think sometimes having the endless choice and the gigabytes of music on your laptop can in fact have negative effects! i think you could use the term 'options paralysis' to describe - having too much choice and ending up not knowing what to play

this is my main problem. i get concerned with playing whatever new tracks ive got, insted of concentrating on the blends themselves. i mix faster/more abrupt and am generally sloppier when using serato. it makes me lazy.

and i also usually just forget about all the good tracks ive got on vinyl, regretting it later.

Sharmaji · Post by **Sharmaji** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:29 pm

ramadanman wrote:as jay says, its weird trying to choose tunes on a laptop rather than flicking through a bag or CD wallet. that's the main problem with it

also the sound is definitely different. it does affect the bass in my opinion. i have had often a problem with sustained sub bass notes not being properly translated when playing off serato.

i think sometimes having the endless choice and the gigabytes of music on your laptop can in fact have negative effects! i think you could use the term 'options paralysis' to describe - having too much choice and ending up not knowing what to play

serato is wicked at home though, doing a mix, or doing radio

well that's the big thing about cutting dubs-- you can only cut the best stuff, and thus you only play the best stuff. takes a bit of self-discipline in serato to stay on that straight an narrow.

if you're using the pitch lock in serato, it definitely will affect the low-end, making it beat-y. w/o it, works fine.

to ben UFO, i'm approaching using other tools as part of a live aspect-- real-time remixing, building live drum loops, etc; not just using software to match 2 recorded bits.

ufo over easy · Post by **ufo over easy** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:04 pm

TeReKeTe wrote: to ben UFO, i'm approaching using other tools as part of a live aspect-- real-time remixing, building live drum loops, etc; not just using software to match 2 recorded bits.

sounds cool but i still don't think that this necessarily results in a greater ability to "affect the dancefloor and the vibe of the night" than a good vinyl DJ

ngyoshi · Post by **ngyoshi** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:06 pm

i think the only down side for me is that the ''vinyl'' feel a bit to light, i wish they made some thinker ones. i use it at home mostly for playing exclusives from people and testing my own stuff, i have taken it to a few clubs but only when the scratch live box has been set up for other dj's as well so i dont have to mess about setting it up.

i do think it effects the sound quality a bit, but then again i have noticed it sound so much better when i have just put some fresh concord tips on.

overall 2 thums up

overcast radio · Post by **overcast radio** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:10 pm

All subjective...personally cannot wait to be less busy and fuck with Serato...thanks Tom (Chosen Substance/Hellfire Machina).

The thing that pisses me off about vinyl purists in the club/DJ world is that often they are not audiophiles from the get-go. People seem to cut the crappiest files and then say it's better just bc it's on vinyl and this is just not true. You cannot put the toothpaste back in the tube...once you bounce a file to 320 or even a 44/16 wav or aiff...that's it. No cutting is going to make that sound better...if it "sounds" better than it's psychosomatic. If everyone was summing analog, laying off at 96/24, monitoring with discreet d/a, then I'd be pro vinyl in the DJ world but there's no standard so who cares. The audiophile labels (like Stereophile mainly classical and jazz re: acoustic music) have this mindset and rightly so. They are starting with incredible instruments, players, acoustic space, mics, pres, src, and output. When people get all high and mighty about vinyl and they are cutting a bounce from Ableton or Reason, all synths, internal summing, bad mixes anyway, and who knows what other master-buss dalliances...it's just not true that vinyl is better in those all-too often norms.

nofunzone · Post by **nofunzone** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:38 pm

don't do it man.

how did u decide 'yes im going to be a serato dj'

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