Hi there wingcomm,

Im not sure why this is happening. I have a Macbook Pro and a Novation TWITCH here to try and replicate the problem. But it works fine when i have Keylock enabled and try to pitch it down.

What exactly do you mean by "choppy"? I have a track loaded at the moment and i can decrease the pitch as low as -30% before it starts to become choppy.

Make sure your beatgrids are set correctly, an incorrect beatgrid could be the problem. For example; ITCH may try to pitch down a track that thinks its 2x faster because of incorrect beatgrids etc.

Let me know how you get on :) Cheers

Scott,

I'm working with a track that has no beatgrid, namely "Regina Spektor - Us." The choppiness is most audible on the vocals.

By choppy, it sounds like you can hear the audio frames become intermittently separated almost like high-speed stuttering. It sounds like it could be a CPU bound issue, but my MacBook Pro 2011 does not even exceed 20-25% CPU.

Is it just the one track that this happens to? Or is it all tracks?

Are you able to attach the song you are talking about to this thread? (Click on "Attach a file" when you post). I will look over it and make sure there is nothing wrong with the file itself.

Also, can I get you to make a audio recording of the problems you are having?

• In ITCH, go to the record tab, make sure the input is set to "Mix", and click the red record button to start a recording.

• Play around with some songs moving the pitch around until you get this problem you are speaking of (It will record everything you do).

• Once you are done (record for around 2-3 minutes) Stop recording, and click the 'Save' button on the right. Save it to the desktop.

Attach this recording to this post, I will have a listen so i can understand the problem you are having.

Hope this makes sense!

Scott, It looks like I'm not the only one with this problem:

www.stevelate.com

His samples don't demonstrate the problem very well.

I will upload my samples shortly.

Scott, I attached the original track along with two samples recorded with Keylock on and Pitch at -5% and -10%. Please let me know what you think.

Thank you!

Hi wingcomm,

I have downloaded your attached files, and yes I can see what you mean by it being choppy.

I was originally trying it out with 4x4 dance music, which the choppiness is much less noticeable when decreasing the pitch. But with the song you provided, Regina Spektor - Us, I can hear it becoming choppy at more that -5%.

Keylock should only be used very subtly, I wouldn't recommend using keylock if you are going to pitch down any lower than -5%. Especially with the song you posted, it is quite 'slow', so the choppiness is more noticeable as there is less 'going on' to disguise it.

Also, that track you sent me was a low quality version, which is why keylock was struggling.
That track is 192kbps, as opposed to a 320kbps track you can buy from iTunes.

Using keylock is variable with different tracks, pitch bending reacts in different ways with every track. So just take that into account when trying to pitch :)

Hope this helps clear things up!

192 mp3s will always sound sucky keylocked (and generally).

320 mp3/256 AAC should really be the minimum. Apple Lossless/wav/aiff is preferable for decent timestretching.

I don't agree with you guys...- I am mixing mp3's for many years and I must say that the timestretch algorithm used in the Itch is one of the worst I have ever worked with...
Even the pitch change is not to high ( +/- 5 ) it reduces the sound quality very much and it has completely nothing to do with the mp3 or aac or wav quality but with the settings of the timestretch function itself.
When I compare to the similar function in ableton, traktor or even cdj's it never sounds as bad as the itch does when keylock aka master tempo was turned on what is sad because pitch'n'time is a great product but the itch developers obviously didn't checked it.....

Scott, that doesn't clear things up at all...

I can take this same MP3 into a number of other programs including Ableton or Audacity and adjust the pitch +/- 10% with keylock enabled and without the choppiness I hear in ITCH...

I tried pitching a number of 320k MP3s that I receive direct from my promo service and observed the same choppiness on solo vocal tracks.

If Ableton, Audacity and Traktor don't have this problem...why does Serato ITCH? I consider this fundamental functionality for any DJ-specific audio application.

Ableton and Audacity are audio editing programs, Scratch Live and ITCH are DJ control software. There is a big difference when it comes to manipulating audio.

Some of those programs may better at time stretching than in ITCH, but our developers are always looking to improve our features and better the software. With Pitch N' Time, the time and effort put into developing its amazing pitch algorithm is reflected by the price of this plugin.

However if you really need to play a song keylocked at more than 10%, maybe you could bring it into another program such as Ableton or Audacity, pitch it down, then save it as another version? Say, a slow version and a fast version?

It is a common feature request that the Pitch n' Time technology will one day be implemented into Scratch Live and ITCH platforms, but at this point in time I am unable to say if or when it will be released.

Sorry for the confusion!

Scott,

I thought I'd let you know that Traktor does not have this problem with my track neither do my Denon DN-D9000 CD decks. There are some artifacts in Traktor's algorithm but they are far more subtle. My benchmark litmus test

Also, I don't really follow your reasoning with Ableton not being a DJing product. I have actually used it as such and it works well for a creative set. Both Traktor and Ableton Live can change pitch on the fly without creating the popping choppy artifacts I hear in Serato.

Lastly, I don't want to sound like I'm whining. I use Serato (Scratch Live, ITCH and Video) day and day out because I love design, integration and functionality and engineering precision you put into each of your products. I'll admit, I'm not looking for a grammy-winning performance here with Keylock but I know Serato can do better with such a fundamental feature...

Thanks wingcomm,

Sorry mate, I think my last message came off a little rude, I apologize.

I also use Ableton for live/performance situations and I wasn't saying it was any less of a DJ tool, it's just Ableton has been built around manipulating and editing audio as one of its key applications and primary functions (its warping engine is one of the best in the world!).

Im sorry to hear that you feel that our keylock is not up to the standard of other DJ software. We hope to improve it in the future (and eventually get our Pitch n' Time technology built in) but at the moment there is no news as to when this will be implemented in a future release.

Regards

Implemented or not even improved to be same quality as other similar softwares?



I must completely agree...- in this point of view is itch behind its biggest concurrents but aspect as the sound quality is fundamental in audio softwares of any kind...

Thanks guys, I will close this thread as a feature request.

What i suggest you do is create a thread in the ITCH discussion section about this request. Im sure more people will gladly support you, and hopefully our developers will look more into developing this area!

Cheers