What’s the Best DJ Software?

I’m not sure how long this video will be up, but feast your eyes while you can on Serato Scratch Live Version 2.0. It looks very real to me.

We’ll find out for sure on Jan 14th!

I just got an email from the MixVibes crew notifying me of the latest update to MixVibes Cross. In my hands-on review, I talked about Cross’ great performance in some areas (latency, looping, library, cue points,) but also pointed out my disappointment in the “sticker drift” issue.

Well, in Cross version 1.3, my one major complaint was fixed (sticker drift.) Making this an awesome DVS system for any DJ. Yes, I will go on the record by saying that it does now rival Serato Scratch Live.

Here is some information from MixVibes regarding the update:

CROSS 1.3 is a powerful update geared towards offering a realistic vinyl and CD feel in all control modes

- Accurate scratch in all playback modes: absolute, relative, master tempo, hybrid.
- Skip-free mixing with the new anti-skip feature (in relative mode).
- Drift-free vinyl control for accurate scratching and beat juggling now in all modes.
- Silent Peak/BPM analysis of tracks to avoid any audio drop-outs or GUI micro freezes.
- Optimized light GUI to avoid overcharging the processor.

Plus, a video of MixVibes Cross 1.3 being used with control vinyl:

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a Cross Pack from MixVibes. Basically, this pack includes the new Cross software from MixVibes, their U46MKII usb interface, all the necessary wires, two vinyl control records, and two CD’s. I hooked everything up and gave it a test drive over the course of the week.

My first impressions of the packaging were good, it looked nice out the outside, and when I opened the box, everything was right where it was supposed to be. The U46MKII is really the heart of the Cross system, and it is quite an impressive little usb box. I has 2 inputs on the front of the box (1/4″) and each one is switchable. Input one can be mic, line, or phono and number 2 can be Hi-Z, line, or phono. The front also has an headphone output, which has its own volume control (as do all the inputs.) The back of the U46MKII features the power jack (the box is not usb powered, there is a power adapter included,) usb jack, 4 RCA outputs, and 2 RCA inputs.

Since I spin vinyl, I skipped right over the control CD’s (which were actually pretty cool looking - one was completely red, the other orange) and went straight to the wax. The first thing I noticed was that it was much thinner than my Serato control vinyl, which would make it a little better for scratching. Another feature of the vinyl that I liked was the little white line printed on to the label. Instead of having to worry about marking your records yourself (for beat juggling, scratching, etc.,) Mixvibes already took care of this for you.

I unhooked my Serato SL-1 in my coffin and proceeded to hook up the U46MKII. Hook-up was pretty straightforward, and it was nice that all the connections were in the back for all the RCA’s - most other DVS systems have them on both sides of the box, which doesn’t make much sense to me. I did not notice a way to hook up the box so there is a “thru” mode like in Serato. Maybe MixVibes will add that feature to the Cross software in the near future, but for now, that’s a turnoff for me since I occasionally spin real vinyl at my gigs.

I had to consult the manual during the initial setup, something that I never do for ANYTHING. It was a little more complicated than Serato - which is pretty much plug and play, but once I figured it out, I was all set. On the upside, one of the reasons it was a little complicated is because of all the different configurations the U46MKII is capable of. This is a very versatile USB soundcard! In fact, I had to record some audio at my day job the other day. I didn’t want to bring my mixer and a bunch of cords to capture the audio, so I just brought the U46MKII, a mic, and my laptop. I plugged in the U46MKII via usb, selected “mic” on one of the front input switches, and plugged in my mic. I pulled up Audacity (recording program) and it automatically recognized the U46MKII as an input source. I hit “record” and had no trouble capturing the audio.

On to performance. I played around with the latency setting until I found one that was as low as I could go without audio glitches. In all honesty, I can say that Mixvibes Cross along with the U46MKII will give you latency as low as Serato (maybe even lower with computer tweaks.) I usually run my Serato buffer at 2, and the feel with Cross was almost identical. (I was using my MacBook Pro with a 2.4 Intel Core Duo and 2 gigs of ram.)

When I DJ, I need three things from my DJ software: looping, cue points, and a good library management tool. So, these are the things I tested with Mixvibes Cross. The looping function is very intuitive, I was able to set perfect loops with very little effort. I was also very impressed with the cue points. When you set a cue point with Mixvibes Cross, you can either click the button to set it, or just hit whatever button you assign the cue feature to on your keyboard. It operates like a “hot cue” - for example, if you assign the one of the cue point features to “1″ on your keyboard, you can press “1″ to set the cue point, and “1″ again to go back to the cue point. The cue points were VERY tight, with Serato I feel kind of a slight delay when triggering cue points (very very slight), with Cross it was instant. The music library tool was great as well. It did take some getting used to, but once I figured everything out, it did exactly what I needed it to do. DJs that organize their music in iTunes will love Mixvibes Cross. When you open up your iTunes in the Cross music library, it looks EXACTLY like iTunes. Picture a screenshot of iTunes in your DJ progam - that’s what it looks like.

I mixed and scratched with Mixvibes Cross and the vinyl control records for a few hours. No glitches or freezes, just nice and smooth mixing. Scratching sounded good as well, although I did notice a little bit of “sticker drift” when juggling two identical tracks. Meaning that after going back and forth from deck A to Deck B many times, the beginning of the sample was in a slightly different area of the record. This was really the only flaw I found when giving MixVibes Cross a thorough mix session. I could not figure out how to play in an “internal mode” and could not find anything about this in the manual either. I don’t DJ with internal mode very often with Serato, but occasionally switch over to it after mixing a track if there is a bouncy floor or a drunken guest banging into my turntables. It would be nice to see this added to the Mixvibes Cross software.

Overall I was very impressed with Mixvibes Cross. Being a loyal Serato user, I was expecting it to totally suck, but this wasn’t the case at all. I could easily see myself rocking a 7-8 hour gig with this software. I still love my Serato and will continue to use it when I DJ, but Mixvibes Cross is a great option for a DJ looking to buy they’re first DVS system. The Mixvibes Cross Pack sells for $349 (vs $539 for the Serato SL1 and $699 for the Serato SL3).

It’s definitely a solid product at a solid price.

Just like most of you, I got the sad news today that DJ AM was found dead. He will definitely be missed by DJs and non-DJs alike. Not only was he skilled at his craft, but he was a down to earth, humble guy. I often find myself repeating one of his favorite phrases “Starve the Ego, Feed the Soul”.

Finding DJ AM made me the DJ I am today. I remember making the transition from club DJing to DJing wedding receptions and thinking that I was the lamest DJ ever. I was getting older, and although weddings paid much better than club work, the work just wasn’t very fulfilling to me. While surfing the internet one night, I came across DJ AM’s website and downloaded the Concorde Mixes. I was blown away! Here was this guy, mixing and scratching a lot of the same tracks that I would normally play at weddings - and he is making it sound INCREDIBLE. I then had a perspective that I never had before - why not continue DJ’ing weddings, but DJ them as if I was still rocking a club somewhere. Years later, I am a very successful and respected wedding DJ in my area because of the way I mix my wedding music - thanks to DJ AM!

Since I found DJ AM, I’ve grabbed every AM mix that I could find. So, I’m up late tonight, pulling these DJ AM mixes off of burnt CDs and hard-drives and uploading all of them to this website. Hopefully, these mixes will inspire and uplift you the same way they did me. I’m sure Adam would want the same thing. Starve the Ego, Feed the Soul!

Here are the links to the mixes:

DJ AM Concorde Mix Pt 1

DJ AM Concorde Mix Pt 2

DJ AM Virtual LAX Mix

DJ AM Power 106 Mix Pt 1

DJ AM Power 106 Mix Pt 2

DJ AM Live at Banana Split 5-6-07

DJ AM Mystery Mix Pt 1

DJ AM Mystery Mix Pt 2

DJ AM Unknown Mix

DJ AM Live at WMC 2008

I actually have a MixVibes Cross Pack in my possession, and plan on doing a FULL review of the product in the near future. I will tell you, once I got everything set up, the first impressions were good. If anybody’s curious, MixVibes Cross will run you about $349 (US).

Here is the latest video from MixVibes. It focuses on the high-definition timecode that they developed for Cross, especially for CD players.

Thank you Z-Trip for tweeting this video link! This DJ Hero video has some video of the actual game as well as the turntable/mixer controller. The video says that the DJ Hero release date is sometime in October 2009. Plus, you can play as DJ AM, DJ Z-Trip, and DJ Shadow!

As a huge Guitar Hero fan, I’m really excited for DJ Hero to drop in October!

Native Instruments recently released Traktor Scratch Duo, a bare-bones DVS system for DJs that want to mix on two turntables or CD players with music stored on their laptop. Traktor Scratch Duo doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of Traktor Scratch Pro, it more closely resembles Serato Scratch Live. But, while Serato Scratch Live is $539 ($699 with the SL-3), Traktor Scratch Duo is only $350!

I’ve been a Serato DJ for years and am very pleased with my DVS system of choice, but if Traktor Scratch Duo was available back when I purchased Serato, there is a good possibility that I may have chosen that instead!

Last week, Rane/Serato announced the new SL3 box for Serato Scratch Live. The main improvements over the original SL-1 box is improved sound quality and a 3rd auxiliary input which is supposedly going to open up “third deck” possibilities in the future for Serato users. I saw the launch announcement and was like “Cool, I’m sure Serato will have some sort of upgrade program and I’ll be able to grab it for like $250.” Wrong! If you want the new SL-3, you’re going to have to pay $699!

For most of my gigs, the sound quality of the SL-1 is more than adequate. I can’t really justify spending almost $700 on the SL-3 just to get better sound and a 3rd input. This is a great item for new Serato DJs, but for existing users, it is a very expensive (and maybe not worth it) upgrade.

The Numark NS7 was launched today. Is anybody really going to drop $1300 on this thing? At least it works hand-in-hand with Serato Itch, so it might be worth it.

Pretty nice video demo of its features below.

Over the past few years, Serato has been releasing different colors of their time-code vinyl. The discs come in Red, Blue, Gold, Clear, Purple and even WHITE! Most of the colors have been fairly easy to obtain, with the exception of Purple and White.

Purple was only available for a limited time at certain Guitar Centers around the country, but white Serato vinyl is a completely different story. It is rumored that only 200 copies of the white vinyl were pressed and personally delivered to the top Serato-using DJs around the globe.

Pictures have been floating around DJ forums of this infamous Serato white vinyl in action. Recently, I was watching an eBay auction of a set of 2. The final selling price……..$410!

There are bootlegs available if you don’t feel like dropping $400. I couldn’t locate the specific websites, but the bootlegs are called “Stars of Scratch” and “Rock This Party.”

My friend Jeff and I got together recently for a basement DJ mix-session. Jeff is running Numark Virtual Vinyl (same thing as Virtual DJ) on his laptop along with the vinyl timecodes.

I’m running Serato Scratch Live on mine with vinyl timecodes as well.