On 10/08/2009 21:50, kent williams wrote:
I have friends that use both. I don't basically for philosophical
reasons -- I'd rather DJ actual vinyl, or do something like DJing (but
different) with the computer.
Based on A) playing around with Traktor (without the time-code vinyl),
and B) watching people use Serato, it seems like Traktor has a lot
more sound manipulation and effects, and supports 4 virtual decks.
Serato's interface is simpler, and I don't think it has effects,
though it does support looping on the fly.
The thing I really like about Serato is the vertical waveform display.
With the two channels scrolling vertically next to each other, you
get good visual feedback about how well two tracks are synced up.
With Traktor, the waveform displays aren't adjacent so you don't get
the same visual feedback. Traktor also has pretty fancy tools for
automatic beatmatching which work amazingly well -- except when they
don't. You can go into a track and fix Traktor's idea of tempo, but
I've never really tried it. And I have no idea how using the time
code vinyl interacts with the tempo analysis.
Hey Art,
I've only used Serato a few times but found it intuitive and easy to
use. The one thing that I rate in it that's missing from Traktor is the
waveform display, as Kent says. When I purchased Traktor Scratch when it
first came out it was quite a punt compared to the known quality of
Serato, but I still chose Traktor Scratch because it came with the Audio
8 interface for a similar price and that was compelling to me. This also
gets you the ability to record in Traktor Scratch as you mix, which is a
nice bonus. I believe Serato have added this in a new version but that
it costs more money. The only other thing that sort of irritates me in
Traktor Scratch is the graphic design and UI. It works perfectly fine
but I'm inherently irritated by an interface that looks like it was
mocked up in Flash when there's no need for it whatsoever. A minor gripe
though. Personally I think the difference in the hardware spec makes it
a simple decision but everyone has their own take on this and I imagine
you'll be happy with either. As always, one of the best options is to
take them both for a test drive and see which one you get on with.
Cheers,
Tristan
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phonop...@phonopsia.co.uk
http://www.phonopsia.co.uk
