Hi

!! For those of you wo don't want to read the whole pust, just skip to the end for a bulleted list!

I'm looking for a place to ventilate my frustrations.
I decided to post this in de feature suggestions forums, because those frustrations can be fixed. The problem is, Serato simply won't.


I really hope someone from Serato takes the time to read this post and take it seriously, as I can't be the only one with those thoughts.

So, here goes...

I switched from a Traktor Audio8 a long time ago, must have been around the time the SL3 came out. I switched to Serato because it was the de facto standard and everywhere I wen't I had to hook up my Audio8 when a SL1 box or a TTM57SL was provided already.

I'm a turntablist/hiphop DJ, back then, those were about the only DJs to use DVS. I, as well as most other DJs in the same genre I ever seen, heavily rely on a sticker at the start of the record, which pushes the needle right to the first second of the first track on the record.
This, ofcourse, requires the "track start offset" feature.
This has the big advantage that my 2 o'clock is always at the start of the track, and everytime I use it, the sounds are always at the same position when I load up a track. For any kind of turntablism, this is simply a necessity.
This, ofcourse, implies that I spin in absolute mode.

At gigs, I always switch to rel mode, combined with "drop to absolute position".

This way is _perfect_ for me. I've been doing it the exact same way with traktor, and have always done that with SSL as well.

When I need to put load a new track very fast just to start it & cutover to it at a gig, I just load it at wherever the CR is at that time and let it spin on from there - in that case the position of the sticker is not important, I just need to play the track.
In case I have the time to mix the track in or do some tricks with it, I just put the needle behind the sticker, the needle drops to the 2:00.0 position on the records and SSL lines up the track to te very beginning of the file.
This action takes about ONE second and I have it right where and how I need it.

So you guys can see, I generally do not rely on cue points, as a lot of hiphop tracks don't have a use for it.

However, a lot of tracks, I DO put cue points on, especially those with longer intros. In that case, I just press the number of the cue point to line it up to 2 o'clock manually (or when practicing at home - in ABS - I just browse to the cue point manually with the record). I have a system, using mostly cue points nrs 1, 2, 4 and 5.

So, when I first heard of SSL being abandonned and replaced by SDJ, ofcourse I immediately tried it out. This must have been about 1-2 years ago. The way I spin, you can guess that the first thing I noticed was the track offset feature missing. I believe I +1'd that feature back then even though I can't find the post where I did that anymore, and immediately switched back to SSL.

A while ago, I decided I needed to replace my cheap mixer at home. I decided to go for a Rane mixer for various reasons, and went with the TTM57MkII.
I knew I would have been forced to switch to SDJ, so I decided to give it another chance.

With the new mixer being placed on order, I hooked up my SL3 to SDJ and what do you know, my SL3 wouldn't connect. I opened a case with tech support, I explained the exact steps I did myself to try & fix it. They reply with a mail which asks me to do about all of the steps I already done, only difference is to turn off UAC. As an IT Pro, I know what UAC does and I know it's not really recommended nor necessary to turn it off but whatever, I did it again just to avoid discussion. I replied as such. The guy on the other side clearly didnt' read my notes very well because he asked me to do it anyway with UAC off. I then replied that I already did that, and now it's complete radio silence for more than a week already.

My TTM57MkII arrived in the meantime and luckily that one does connect to SDJ.
Luckily? I think it was better it gave problems too, because I have had nothing but frustrations with this software...

So,
Track offset feature missing. Let's look for an alternative way to get by...
* Switch to rel and find a way to line up the track to the start. There ISN'T one. The "previous" button comes close, but when the track is at the beginning (and I need to i.e. tweak the alignment), the previous track loads. Not an option.
* Load the track again: this would work, but then I need to keep the track selected at all times and I can't browser my library in the meantime. Not an option.
* "Sticker lock" feature... Hm this looks interesting. What? I need to put cue point nr. 1 at the beginning of EVERY track and rearrange my whole cue point system? No way.
* Put the needle on very first track of the record and drop the use of the sticker:
I don't want to drop the sticker. It could be an option, but I then need to search for the beginning of the track either by listening through the headphones or looking at the screen.
This takes SECONDS in addition to having to interpret either a computer screen or searching for the start of my track with my ears, when doing this quickly I'd definitely go beyond the start, needing to pull back the record, meaning even more lost time. As opposed to ONE second and KNOWING I'm at the start of the track with my old method.

I've looked high and low for a way to get around this, but my conclusion is that I simply CANNOT use SDJ as once I prepare a track for mixing, it takes ages (yes, seconds are ages for me) and a lot of "trouble" to cue up the record to the beginning of the track again.

I'm actually really disappointed with Serato at the moment.
* They seem to completely ignore my technical issue with my SL3 not connecting to SDJ,
* The software we're all gradually being forced to use, is useless to me because they'd rather spend time trying to "wow" new users (read: generate revenue) or upsell existing customers to a lot of useless crap, than to make their software as stable as it once was and make sure their existing, VERY loyal customer base who looked up to Serato and gave it a LOT of credit without even turning their heads to alternatives (which exist, don't forget that),
* Furthermore, the vinyls included with my mixer are so warped that when I put my hand on the record to pause it, my needle jumps. My brother bought an SL2 a few months ago and those included records where warped even more, so bad that the needle jumps when the record is just playing (I was told to take it up with my dealer...)
* They neglect to implement the most basic features to make the software useful to non-dance DJs (turntablists or hiphop djs) which were actually mostly the first to adopt [Serato] DVS and where actually a very big help in helping Serato grow and get to where it is.
* SDJ cracks a lot. I put my buffer up to 10ms already and am still getting a cracked sound every now and then. My SL3 with SSL was at 3ms and I never got any problems!!!

Damn it Serato, just bring back the track offset feature already, it REALLY can't be that much work, and create a simple button to put the track at the beginning (which can simply do the action "reload the current track to the current deck" behind the scenes!!) and make me and a lot of other users happy to recommend Serato again, because right now, with all of the above points combined in addition to just having spent a lot of money on a new mixer, I'm _really_ not thinking very highly of you.

Thanks!