What do you use: Serato, Virtual Dj or other ?

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Having a verified BPM in advance is an import part of timing since you can often do the math in your head while loading a track and know that if you want to get from 120 to 128 that's about a 6% difference. If you're already up 2.5% then you know you need to make up 3.5% before you even start to cue. That's a time saver and very good information to have when you are breaking new music.

Dramatic changes in pitch will seriously alter the key, and extreme key correction or time stretching creates audible distortions in the track, not to mention most people are familiar with what a given song is supposed to sound like. So even if you can increase it's tempo by 12% it's not likely to be well received that way.. you'd have to have a plan to return it to normal range while masking the wow.

Software doesn't have any of that instinct and at best it simply aligns beats, ignores key, and times out a cross fade without any deference to lyrical content or measure.
 
That's why we have Key Lock or Master Tempo :D
Granted, I have my pitch set to 6%, and I sometimes set it to 8% (the pitch % of a Technic 1200 I might add), or in extreme cases 10%, but that's about it. I typically stay within 1-4 BPM of the track I am playing, but sometimes, like Pro said, I will have to mix a song like Ke$ha's "Blow" which is at 120, into a set that I am doing that is 128 or more, in which case I would set it to 8% or 10% to make it work. That is where Key Lock is a godsend.

Edit: This is only for tracks that are 120+ though. In hip-hop type tracks that are 115 or below, I usually will not stray from a 1-2 BPM difference, and usually it is closer to the same BPM. I will gradually shift it up or down depending on the situation, but still stay within 1-2 BPM as a general rule.
 
SoftJock Rick said:
I am certainly awaiting your results Canute... :)
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OK I loaded the two songs on a Flash Drive, plugged it in to my MEP 7000, made a short Auto Playlist, Romantics to Wynette back to Romantics, selected the Mix (Not Sync) feature then let it play. Very amazing! Real smooth transition between the two songs in either sequence. I am going to record/videotape this on my phone and figure out a way to post it so that all can hear. I love this machine. I am going to do the same with Traktor and compare. I bet the MEP 7000 mix will be better.
 
ahoustondj said:
OK I loaded the two songs on a Flash Drive, plugged it in to my MEP 7000, made a short Auto Playlist, Romantics to Wynette back to Romantics, selected the Mix (Not Sync) feature then let it play. Very amazing! Real smooth transition between the two songs in either sequence. I am going to record/videotape this on my phone and figure out a way to post it so that all can hear. I love this machine. I am going to do the same with Traktor and compare. I bet the MEP 7000 mix will be better.
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So if Im reading this right the MEP 7000 is mixing songs in no particular order with smooth transitions i.e. DJ on autopilot. That sounds really cool. Seems like party rentals renting out such a device with audio equipment and automated lighting could be a competitor to some wedding DJs. At least those budget guys as well as those with no MC skills.

Looking forward to hearing the mix comparison.
 
TheOlogee said:
So if Im reading this right the MEP 7000 is mixing songs in no particular order with smooth transitions i.e. DJ on autopilot. That sounds really cool. Seems like party rentals renting out such a device with audio equipment and automated lighting could be a competitor to some wedding DJs. At least those budget guys as well as those with no MC skills.

Looking forward to hearing the mix comparison.
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It does. It sets its own parameters. I will experiment with it's other Mix settings to see how well the "Sync", "Cut-In", "Zip" and "Echo" do. The one I used is the "Cross Fade".

The "Echo" mix feature is kind of cool. It takes the last word of the playing song and repeats it as a stuttering effect while mixing in the next song.
 
Ok I would like to post these results somewhere. I have an Android phone with Camcorder. The Recorded file will be .3gp. I am going to use this for both Video and sound. Do I have to upload to You Tube or can it be hosted on this site? I really don't want to post Copyrighted material anywhere.
 
ahoustondj said:
Ok I would like to post these results somewhere. I have an Android phone with Camcorder. The Recorded file will be .3gp. I am going to use this for both Video and sound. Do I have to upload to You Tube or can it be hosted on this site? I really don't want to post Copyrighted material anywhere.
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Youtube.... I don't think Dan has this setup for posting video like a pic....
 
jokerswild said:
Youtube.... I don't think Dan has this setup for posting video like a pic....
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I will figure it out tomorrow. I do have a You Tube account but have never uploaded anything! BTW Rob have you figured out Traktor as yet?
 
The MEP Mix is better and smoother than the one I did with Traktor. Traktor was nice too, don't get me wrong but I am the one who has the Mix time set 8 seconds before the end it starts mixing.
 
ahoustondj said:
I will figure it out tomorrow. I do have a You Tube account but have never uploaded anything! BTW Rob have you figured out Traktor as yet?
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For the most part yes.... I mean I can do a mean crossover in 2 deck mode but, still not loving the automix (cruise)... VDJ has options that can be changed on the fly such as the style of crossover, length of crossover.... etc...
 
jokerswild said:
For the most part yes.... I mean I can do a mean crossover in 2 deck mode but, still not loving the automix (cruise)... VDJ has options that can be changed on the fly such as the style of crossover, length of crossover.... etc...
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You will find the same in Preferences. Traktor has everything VDJ has and more less the Video Part.
 
The part that bugs me the most is in most Traktor videos about Cruise they show using the Sync button as ON on both decks but, near as I can figure the master deck controls this and doesn't reset to the new track as master nor bring the new track back up or down to it's original BPM and thus screws with the next song in the list.... so for example say the initial song on Deck A is 74 bpm and the next song on Deck B is 78 bpm.... Traktor sets the new song to 74bpm and sync nicely but then leaves it at 74 and makes that deck Master.... so when the next song loads it's immediately sync'd to 74bpm.... Not a really good thing especially if the new song is 80bpm for example.
 
ahoustondj said:
You will find the same in Preferences. Traktor has everything VDJ has and more less the Video Part.
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Oh, yes I know that.... but, VDJ puts it in a popup menu making it much easier to navigate to... plus the autoplay list is much easier to manipulate in regards to song order... or so it seems. I'm not sure I like this business of the Cruise utilizing whatever playlist is active at the time of song change or when it loads the next song anyway.... a dedicated autoplay list would be better.
 
ahoustondj said:
Ok I would like to post these results somewhere. I have an Android phone with Camcorder. The Recorded file will be .3gp. I am going to use this for both Video and sound. Do I have to upload to You Tube or can it be hosted on this site? I really don't want to post Copyrighted material anywhere.
Click to expand...
jokerswild said:
Youtube.... I don't think Dan has this setup for posting video like a pic....
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Yeah, we don't host video due to copyright concerns. If you have trouble I can host it on another server and give you a link to it.
 
jokerswild said:
Oh, yes I know that.... but, VDJ puts it in a popup menu making it much easier to navigate to... plus the autoplay list is much easier to manipulate in regards to song order... or so it seems. I'm not sure I like this business of the Cruise utilizing whatever playlist is active at the time of song change or when it loads the next song anyway.... a dedicated autoplay list would be better.
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Use the preparation list and put any additions in there so it stays in the same list..
 
RockIt here....tried a couple of others and found them to be a waste of money...I like RockIt, I know how to use, it's stable, and the couple times I've had a question, I find an actual human on the other end of the call, and I don't have to press 1 for Engrish.
 
I use Virtual DJ with rewire to ableton for my "performance" gigs.
 
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