Serato DJ Pro General Discussion

Talk about Serato DJ Pro, expansion packs and supported hardware

Advice before I download Serato DJ

SteveJKo 3:49 PM - 24 April, 2014
Hello everyone. I transitioned from CD to Serato Itch and a Numark NS6 a little under two years ago. I've been very happy with both the hardware and software. I understand that Serato DJ has replaced Itch, and I'd really like to try and work with it. Now this is probably a stupid question, but I just want to make sure. If I download Serato DJ to my laptop will it install as a separate program from Itch (and allow me to experiment with it at my leisure) or will it overwrite Itch and force me to use it whether I like it better than Itch or not? Thanks for your assistance.

Steve
Jensen Määäm 4:03 PM - 24 April, 2014
You will have two icons on your laptop, one for itch and one for SDJ, if you allow your latop to create those icons. You can have both software on your laptop, no problem, they share the same library, so all your music, crates, subcrates, etc. will be the same, if you use one of the two programs.
SteveJKo 4:24 PM - 24 April, 2014
Jensen, thank you very much for the information.
Dj MacMillz 5:03 PM - 24 April, 2014
Make sure to read the quick start guide for the NS6, as some of the functions you're used to via itch have been change to incorporate the new SDJ functions.
SteveJKo 12:21 AM - 25 April, 2014
Yes, I will. Thanks for the heads up.
Diggz NYC 2:20 AM - 25 April, 2014
Here's an add on question: if I update the firmware on my ddj-s1 so that I can use it with DJ, will that screw things up if I need to go back and use Itch instead? Like, does Itch run only on the S1's "old" firmware?

Might be a dumb question, but I thought I'd ask before moving over to DJ.

Thanks.

-D
Dj MacMillz 4:40 AM - 25 April, 2014
No, you're fine switching back and forth.
Diggz NYC 5:48 PM - 25 April, 2014
Thanks, MacMillz.
SteveJKo 2:33 PM - 28 April, 2014
Just a quick update on my experience with Serato DJ.

Used it at work both Friday and Saturday night. It worked well with my Numark NS6, but as was told to me earlier in this thread not all the "functionality" was the same as with Itch. This was most apparent to me when I tried to hit the letter "M" to go to artists names that start with that letter. Turns out that unlike Itch, you can't type in a letter and go to the beginning of artist/title/genre/etc... with that letter. What did happen was the track that was playing went into bleep/reverse mode. A quick touch on my controllers bleep/reverse and we were playing forward once again.

I don't really use a lot of the effects, which may be for the best since effects usage seemed needlessly "busy". I like to use sync if I'm running a loop for a long period under another track, sometimes I had to give sync a second touch to actually sync up the tracks. Ultimately not a big deal, but Itch never needed a second touch of the sync button. Also noticed the red indicator pitch lights were no longer being used (in Itch, if a track's tempo was not perfectly matched these lights would warn you of the speed difference for when you disengaged sync).

All in all I had no major problems with Serato DJ, I just think I'd enjoy it more with a controller specifically designed with it in mind. I was NOT able to use Itch at first (the library would never load), then something occured to me. I'd been so happy with "Itch" as I first had it, I'd never done an update. I downloaded the last available update and VOILA! All was well in my universe.....

..... But not for long. The plug of my 12 year old headphones broke INSIDE the headphone jack receptacle. Yes, I had purchased the extended warranty, so all will be well again for me at no cost of shipping and repair. But for the weeks I'm without my controller I'm back to spinning CD's (for the first time in almost two years). What used to seem so much faster and more convenient than spinning vinyl now seems so slow and awkward. Now pardon me while I go and burn a bunch of CD's....... .