Traktor is a great piece of kit and its my main setup unless I'm fooling around on my friends Serato setups. Some things I've noticed about the transition:

1) Traktor runs best on OSX Sierra, as users have reported issues from Mavericks all the way to El Capitan.
2) Traktor doesn't save information in the metadata of a music file, but rather its own database. This makes things semi redundant if your recordpool already analyzes and codes in the metadata because Traktor will write its own values.
3) You can analyze tracks real time in Traktor and you do not need to do all your analysis ahead of time.
4) Traktor beatgrids and BPM detection are usually really tight, with the exception of tempo drift and change in BPM, as the beatgrids aren't flexible.
5) Traktor's browser is pretty out of date. I've learned to live with it but you lose a lot of the flexibility that Serato has with smart crates and dual sorting. Using iTunes mitigates this somewhat.
6) Lack of parallel waveforms is huge. Especially if you're beatgrids aren't set properly it really forces you to use your ears. This might not be an issue for some (like it isn't an issue for me) but if you rely heavily on matching waveforms to mix then you're going to have a really hard time.
7) Lastly Traktor's Quantize & Snap modes are amazing compared to Serato. Lets say your beat grids are completely off, but you beatmatch the two songs and you have the right pitch %, but you wanted to start the song from a different point. With quantize enabled, when you press a cue point it will keep the song in time even with the grid off or your own timing off.

Any more questions or concerns let me know. I could go all day on this

I bought a Z2 back in September and have been getting more and more comfortable with Traktor. I still prefer to use SDJ but I am now comfortable enough to play out using Traktor.

My biggest hurdle was getting my library stable in Traktor. For a couple of months I had to keep re-importing my music because I ket getting a "Collection Invalid" error. I think it was caused by a bad file name or some special characters. It hasn't happened again in a few months so I think that issue is resolved for me.


I'd have to agree. I have no issues whatsoever with Sierra and the latest version of Traktor.


I agree with this also. If Traktor had side by side waveforms, preferably Vertical waveforms then I'd be much more comfortable using it.



Another good point. Browsing for songs sucks in Traktor compared to Serato products.

If the browsing and waveform view were to ever change I might completely switch to Traktor.

If tried that joint several times over the course of 10 years and gave up. Every time there's an OS update (not even upgrade) something breaks. Good look luck with fast troubleshoots.

You need to be a guru just to midi map anything. The GUI blows, but that's just my opinion. I could go on further, but as you can tell already LOL

I bought it when it was on sale over the holidays and opened it up once to try to map it to my VCI-380. Stared at the mapping screen for like 10 minutes and haven't opened it since.

I'll try again one day...

LOL this pretty much my experience except with my APC40. The sale made me bite and i was thinking i could fiddle with it on my desktop pc. Serato really did make midi mapping easy.

#6 and #7 are very different from Serato because Traktor EMBRACED Sync, instead if fighting it.

not sure if serato was fighting it, might not have been a consideration since they were going for a dvs system from day one. was sync even available in any cdj/software pre traktor?

theres a caveat on #7 too. Gridding a non-quantized song is very difficult/impossible. Serato makes it pretty easy to adjust grids and tweak them without messing with the song file. meanwhile, a pinned thread in the Traktor forums (www.native-instruments.com) basically tells you to re-encode it. That was from 7 years ago and the newer posts in there basically just says ride the pitch. Which is...pretty bonkers coming from knowing how both Serato and Ableton do it.

Serato's midi is ultra-limited tho while I do know Traktor's is way more advanced. Just not very user friendly in the least tho...

Yes; I remember using a rackmount CDJ back in the late 90's/early 00's that had it but it wasn't called "sync" back then. I think it was an American Audio?

I used to spin with traktor. It has some cool features but I prefer serato much more. If youre going to use it is highly recommend using only NIs hardware. I had the DJM-T1 and the Denon X1600 (both traktor certified scratch mixers). But it was always a PAIN in the ass to get both of them talking with traktor. Configuring software settings, flipping through mixer settings at a gig sucks ass. Especially if your not always using the same setup. I always had issues switching mixers with traktor remembering preferences. That's why I left it and bought a 62. I plug it in and it just works.

That said, you should be fine with your NI box. But anyone else interested might wanna consider using NIs gear. Maybe others will have better luck just my experience with it.

I would suggest locking your tracks once you have your cues and beat grids set. I had some stuff lost before a gig and wish I would have.

Well so far so good. I haven't had a lot of time with it, seting up. But no problems yet.

But makes me laugh how many features I've requested for Serato already in Traktor - must of thought I was nuts just asking for shit already in Traktor. I should have tried it long ago.

The midi and audio routing will especially let me do some things I've been trying to do for ever. And even get back some function lost from SSL to SDJ.

The 'unflexable' beat grids looks like a major roadblock. But as it is with SDJ, I don't grid any of my files anyway because the functions I would use it for don't exist in SDJ... maybe NI imploments that soon.

I must say, I don't know what it is, if it's user error on my part some how, but Traktor actually feels tighter and the sound quality better at different speeds. I wasn't expecting that.

Thanks for the input fellas.

Plenty of "ignored requests" in Traktor as well.

A major shortcoming (for me) is the total lack of "color" in the browser/library. NI has had a bazillion requests for this.

Seems like a simple thing, but Serato's "blue" played lines and the ability to "color code" tracks in one of the columns is actually a big deal - you're going to miss it.

i always thought that traktor has a little color to its sound which is generally better, but serato has a less colored sound, which with good files i like better. However, with open formant type files(added intro, or just bad mp3 rips, which ever pool has) that are basically shite, the color with traktor helps quite a bit.

Doesn't matter. I don't intend to request anything.



I haven't go to that point yet. That could be an issue.

btw, it was my idea to change color when played (v loaded) and 'center scroll'. Doesn't have that either.



I use the the color code for certain things I can do other ways, but dont code by color anymore.

Blue Played could pose a problem.

Always trade offs.

@DJ BroMoney

regarding Traktor metadata handling:
Traktor saves ALL metadata in the file itself except the waveform. it's no Problem to analyze files on other machines and add them to the Traktor main machine ;-) the waveform gets rendered and written into the db when the track is loaded the first time.

no Problem at all