effective use of 3 or 4 decks

**Finnish_Fox** · 04-04-2012, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by ben mills

My personal opinion is that any of the Traktor products blow Serato out of the water for pure mixing, house music style, so yeah, I would go with that.

(I think) I'm happy with my decks and mixer for mixing house. The idea for the serato was to get into more funk, soul, hip hop, some (older) top 40 shit (like from 70s and 80s). Work on my scratching and mixing non-EDM styles. I imagine serato and TSP are fairly equivalent in that respect.

But, after listening to what you do, I am certainly interested in exploring that option. Are you syncing or anything?

Here is a thread I started to help me understand the differences between Serato and TSP2:

http://www.djforums.com/forums/showt...-Scratch-Pro-2

**ben mills** · 04-04-2012, 01:27 PM

If you are looking at expanding into a more turntablist routine, then perhaps Serato would be better. I don't know that though. To be honest I've never used Serato. All of my opinions are based on my observations of others using it, talking with others that use it, and extensive reading about the technologies in the industry as they have developed over the years. I don't think that you would go wrong with Traktor - I think you could potentially go wrong with Serato, though. Again, just my opinion.

I don't use any syncing at all, the beatmatching is done manually. It's actually a point of pride for me. I enjoy it, am good at it, and it's just another element to the performance of a DJ that I think can "add" to an event (not to say that syncing "takes away" or anything like that). But when the crowd knows that the DJ is up there doing it all manually (the informed crowd), it does make a difference. I know I enjoy listening to manual beatmatching DJs a lot more than syncers. Especially syncers that don't do half the stuff I do - that just do basic blends in and out during intro/outros. Blah. I enjoy hearing the skill and ability of a DJ work the decks.

**mrkleen** · 04-04-2012, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by ben mills

My personal opinion is that any of the Traktor products blow Serato out of the water for pure mixing, house music style, so yeah, I would go with that.

Totally agree. Not impressed with SSL at all.

**DJNR** · 04-04-2012, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by Finnish_Fox

Maybe I should get TSP2 instead of Serato then... so I can use my 12s, CDJs and X1?

Or a Serato SL4 and map the X1. That can be pricey though.

**DJNR** · 04-04-2012, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by ben mills

My personal opinion is that any of the Traktor products blow Serato out of the water for pure mixing, house music style, so yeah, I would go with that.

As a Traktor user, I am pretty convinced that the differences between the two programs really revolve around GUI, and that's about it. Serato has stepped up their game, and I think the two programs have very little differences at this point in time. With that being said, I don't think either have any advantage in either genre.

**ben mills** · 04-04-2012, 02:40 PM

That's a good point. I was actually thinking about coming back and making that point. The GUI of SSL is dated, clunky, and in general sucks. The side-by-side waveforms, and to an extent the colored waveforms are a gimmick.
Traktor GUI is on another level.

**Finnish_Fox** · 04-04-2012, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by ben mills

If you are looking at expanding into a more turntablist routine, then perhaps Serato would be better. I don't know that though. To be honest I've never used Serato. All of my opinions are based on my observations of others using it, talking with others that use it, and extensive reading about the technologies in the industry as they have developed over the years. I don't think that you would go wrong with Traktor - I think you could potentially go wrong with Serato, though. Again, just my opinion.

Cheers. Trying to to get as many opinions on the matter as possible. Check in on that thread, if you want.

I don't use any syncing at all, the beatmatching is done manually. It's actually a point of pride for me. I enjoy it, am good at it, and it's just another element to the performance of a DJ that I think can "add" to an event (not to say that syncing "takes away" or anything like that). But when the crowd knows that the DJ is up there doing it all manually (the informed crowd), it does make a difference. I know I enjoy listening to manual beatmatching DJs a lot more than syncers. Especially syncers that don't do half the stuff I do - that just do basic blends in and out during intro/outros. Blah. I enjoy hearing the skill and ability of a DJ work the decks.

Good... mad props. I think the scene I go out in would actually feel that syncing takes away from it.