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

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:38 pm
by Steve AC23
it wud be handy with unreleased stuff coz i cant cut dubs every week out here

but i feel like im selling my soul

what pushed ppl to move to serato?

i think im actually scared to give up my record bag. :?

discuss?

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:44 pm
by tabz
Theres no need to give up your record bad, you can switch between the two. It's not like buying CDJ's, you still have the turntable, and adding serato won't stop them from playing normal vinyl.

Personally the idea of being able to buy just the tunes you like, as in not a whole EP, pushes me towards buying serato. I find half the fun is collecting the vinyl, better to have a physical copy of something rather than just data.

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:32 pm
by immy
Serato is awesome in lot of djs eye's this has kept the two turntables and mixer alive as its a much better alternative to cdjs and you can still play vinyl/dubs.

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:33 pm
by cure
I was playing vinyl & cdjs (for the dubs)..The CDs got to be a mess so I got Serato... I just Kinda stopped playing vinyl...I mean Ill play the promos and shit that I get, and my labels tunes... But its too easy to carry a laptop around as opposed to a heavy ass crate of records...especially when you are traveling... Plus if you play WAVs, you cant really tell the diff. Ive converted the most snobbiest of snobbs to Serato...

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:42 pm
by d man
i only used serato for radio as it saved my dubs, but at the mo i cant afford the dubs so thats how i justify it, will keep using it until bookings are frequent enough to pay to cut dubs.

serato is gr8 for the above reason, but will never sound as warm as a dub, vinyl, you can tell the difference if a dj playing on serato is followed by a vinyl dj, but hayho its the electronic age!!!

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:21 pm
by dubsola
My biggest problem with the laptop is finding the tunes. Number of times I've thought the next day 'Argh I forgot to play that one!', because it's not right there in my record bag. I can't find the tunes I would consider playing on the laptop, because I associate album art and record labels with the tunes, not the artist name or the name of the tune.

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:24 pm
by jay
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

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:31 pm
by d man
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

wow, it couldnt be more user friendly, u drag n drop the mix, its that easy!

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:37 pm
by shambandito
dubsola wrote:I can't find the tunes I would consider playing on the laptop, because I associate album art and record labels with the tunes, not the artist name or the name of the tune.
Don't know how it is in serato, since i have traktor scratch pro but i can browse all my tracks with album art.. does take a bit of effort to load up all of the covers with the corresponding tracks but its worth it imo..

using a dvs makes so many things easier imo. i dont have to buy tracks i dont actually want just cause they're on the flipside of a 12", also i can play loads of wicked dubs that get posted here in the forum without any big effort.. saves me so much money.. can buy like 5 tunes for a tenner or less and have them straight away and dont have to wait for them to be shipped from uk..

I do still buy vinyls and play vinyls but my collection has grown so much and ive found so many amazing tunes i would never have been able to get my hands on if i hadn't bought the DVS..

most importantly though i just love the fact that in theory i'm still spinning vinyl.. a cdj just wouldn't have the same feeling with the whole cue button and no needle and shit.. the only difference i notice when using the timecode vinyls is that i dont have to switch vinyl i just load a new song and put the needle back to the start. :]

my two cents :D

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:51 pm
by iron myke
1) Being forced to buy an EP or LP full of crap/filler for one tune. A la cart purchasing - best thing ever

2) There are things that aren't released on vinyl and vice versa

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 5:16 pm
by gimpyj
im finally about to break down and buy serato sometime over the next 2 weeks. i never really played cd's, just vinyl. but yeah it just makes sense, now that i have been getting lots of dubs from people i want to be able to play them, if anything just for making a mix, in which case the vinyl/serato difference becomes a non-issue
but im not about to stop buying records, dont get me wrong. i'll just be buying less..

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 5:22 pm
by surface_tension
As soon as they slapped the name "RANE" on it, I was all over it.

you can actually use serato with CDJ's as well, so it's not some exclusive club. That said, I prefer the vinyl controllers.

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:06 pm
by jay
D Man 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

wow, it couldnt be more user friendly, u drag n drop the mix, its that easy!
i know i know, but there's something about the process of going to the computer instead of my record bag that i really dont like. it pisses me off.


www.myspace.com/darkstar001

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:27 pm
by spire
jay wrote:i know i know, but there's something about the process of going to the computer instead of my record bag that i really dont like. it pisses me off.
haha, i cant tell you how many times ive been using serato and as soon as im done with a track i take the (serato) record off the platter to go "put it back".

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:32 pm
by kidlogic
dubsola wrote:My biggest problem with the laptop is finding the tunes. Number of times I've thought the next day 'Argh I forgot to play that one!', because it's not right there in my record bag. I can't find the tunes I would consider playing on the laptop, because I associate album art and record labels with the tunes, not the artist name or the name of the tune.

The easiest way to make sure you dont miss playing a tune is to make a crate full of all the tunes you want to play ahead of time - just like picking the records you would bring with normally, except that if you think of something on the spot, you can search for it on the software and boom, there it is. No more forgetting records at home as you have the whole collection with you.


jay wrote:
D Man 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

wow, it couldnt be more user friendly, u drag n drop the mix, its that easy!
i know i know, but there's something about the process of going to the computer instead of my record bag that i really dont like. it pisses me off.


www.myspace.com/darkstar001
Theres also an album art feature on 1.9, and two ways to switch tunes without ever touching the computer. You can set it so that it goes to the next track in the crate when you flip the record, or use the tiny track on the inside of the record to scroll up and down in the record crate. The end of that track scrolls between crates. Put the needle down and the track is loaded into the deck you used to select it.

Personally, I just use the key command of Apple+L or R (depending on which side you want) to load the tunes. I think its CTRL + L or R on a PC.



Learn the program. Yeah, it is as easy as just loading a deck up and hitting start on the turntable, but there are also loads of shortcuts and tricks to make Serato even better than vinyl, control wise.

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:35 pm
by drama(urbannerds)
What made me switch was i humped my fat ass bag off records to an Urban Nerd Winter Warmer 2 Years ago one night and was deadout.

I played a roasting set and thought yes sick i then had to hump it back stage...

Plastician showed up like a lil spring chicken and jumped on decks set up played a roasting set then slapped his laptop back in the bag with the serato box and came back stage for a drink. Converted me as soon as we started talking.

Its user friendly
Easy to travel with
You can carry 100times more on your lappy than u could carry physically in Vinyl/CD form (As much as everyone says its hard to get decent beats, you got to know the right peoples as you do with dubs i suppose)

You can switch to dubs if you got some old classics to draw for

You can archive your dubs using some decent quality needles. Then they last forever without dieing or losing quality.(I have done this/do this)

Seriously i wouldnt go back now. Its the best investment i have made.

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:37 pm
by kidlogic
Forgot to answer the OP's question...

I made the switch about three years ago so that I could play my own productions and to cut the cost down of playing multiple genres.

I borrowed a copy and a box from a friend before I bought it and as soon as I loaded one of my own tunes in and mixed it with another original, I was hooked, went out and bought it the next week.

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:56 pm
by abZ
I don't no why everyone has to call it Serato dj. I have never used Serato. I bought Final Scratch when it first because available. I cannot justify spending the money to cut dubs even if I had that kind of loot. Not then not now but I have always wanted to play my own stuff / unreleased stuff. Of course Final Scratch blows so I never used it but I always wanted to. Serato was a bit out of my price range so I jumped all over Torq. Never looked back. I don't miss playing vinyl that much tbh.

Oh yeah and CD players were always an option but IDK I could never get into using CD's.

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:39 pm
by asa
1)RANE Make it

2)The way i look at it is you can rip a tune from a vinyl for archiving easily, however you can not rip a tune from a cd and easily have it on vinyl.......... if you know what i mean? Unless ofcourse you have serato or another piece of similar hardware.

They are my reasons.

Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 12:10 am
by collective
http://mspinky.com/




shits amazing. the power of max/msp. endless possibilities.