best dj software 202, traktor vs vdj vs serato vs ___?

you have said pretty much every reason why vdj is better than anything else…

the things that are worse are

• harder for some to pick up mapping as it involves a little reading, thought and experimentation as there is no dropdown menu for basic mapping..
• about 3/4 of vdj’s amazing possibilities are not implimented in the default skins, and not immediately accessable to the average user like traktor provides, atleast until they look a little deeper into what vdj can do.
• skins are yet to be designed to be minimal and understated in the use of feature’s, but have everything needed. cds4 is close, Personally I like the muted tones and simplicity of serato’s skin much more than the bright colors and sharp edges of vdj’s skins…
• using unknown & untested vst’s can be dangerous and cause crashes, simple fix though… stress test them before playing with them live.
• mac support of plugins and video isn’t that great.
• due to being able to work with any midi/hid controller and soundcard there are no default settings that will just work on everyones computer like itch provides. With vdj you need to set up your computer first before playing live.
• in the effects department the buffer effects “beatmasher and rolls” aren’t be chained with realtime audio effects as in traktor. they should be able to but it depends on the plugin creator.

IMO VDJ8 has the chance and the definate possibility to destroy the dj software scene, time will tell though as atomix are being tight lipped regarding the new version… but at the moment I still think vdj7 is better than the rest on the windows OS but it’s up to the user to uncover all the extras.

hope that helps

there is two plugins that are available to download once you register a pro licence that will write all the inforamation to the id3 tags, that is another thing lacking in vdj, but having the database as a seperate file makes searches faster as the software doesn’t need to read data from all your tracks, just one structured xml formatted file…

the reason I like it more is the almost endless possibility you have to modify it to work for you, it exceeds traktor in every way accept for what I mentioned above, atomix even provide the sdk for every addon (audio, video & tools) so if you are good with code you can make your own plugins to do exactly as you want, the issue is that it’s mostly potential that isn’t immediately unlocked. Serato has nothing going for it for a controller generation, it is great at what it does though which is basic timecode control, and itch is far too restrictive in making it do anything that the creators havn’t made happen.

But I think you are basing you opinion on the skin which looks like a fisher price toy no doubt and the controllers it used to come bunded with, but the last time I dj’ed using a skin was well… never! and the only time I look at the skin is when i’m selecting tracks or setting cue points or alligning loops… everything else I need is mapped to my controller, under a few different layers. And with atomix supporting almost every controller on release accept native instruments ones you have a lot of choice now.

The last thing is because atomix are a relativly small company you can have your requests heard by the development staff the people that matter and they do actually listen. that doesn’t happen with traktor as they have their own agenda, serato I have no idea as I have never read their forum.

Just out of curiousity is there any big names DJs using Virtual DJ?

BigChipsHI, post: 16282, member: 853 wrote: thx HWJ. thats perspective enough for me to at least try to make the switch. learning the effects on vdj has been quite the hassle.

but then again having experience with multiple softwares cant be a bad thing either.

You are totally right my friend. I started off learning on VDJ, and although it was okay…i thought hey this is pretty cool since i can mix music n stuff…then i was introduced to Traktor and i havent looked back since. Most of the guys in my Crew all use a DVS setup on Serato…so i have had to learn how to use it when i cannot have my own setup in place as well. Learning on all mediums, different software, cdjs, vinyl…its all going to help you in the long run.

Mapping in Traktor is really a pain in the ass…i have gotten the basics down but you really need to buy the Traktor bible to find out all the ins and outs.

For the controllers you are already using hit up http://www.traktorbible.com for a lot of user mappings that are very good.

As well http://www.djtechtools.com has a lot of user mappings that are also very good.