New guy, equipment and the search for stems…

The options are that other brands with enough cloud will come up with their own (proprietary) Stems variation or that brands adopt Stems and start integrating it in their hardware/software design.

Especially since software (re)design will take quite some time, effort and money, I think it’s reasonable to assume that most manufacturers will wait and see if the format takes off at all.

Pioneer as the biggest name is just busy to get their new Full DJ version of RekordBox to market, which looks suspiciously like serato, but that’s a different issue. I doubt they will make Stems a high priority at this time.

Your choice if you want to fully unlock the powers of Stems is to buy NI gear, specifically the S8 if you like all in one (might be an S6 two-channel version in the making, but who knows) or go modular with D2s and some kind of mixer module from NI or another manufacturer that is supported.

1. Can stems be used (as N.I. intended) with virtual dj or serato?

Currently: No

2. If I’m not using tractor software or equipment, what piece of kit will I need to invest in to use stem files properly and to see the 4 different parts of the stem file?

Currently only the S8 does the trick.

3. Lastly, is it worth investing in the equipment and buying stem files now or would it be better to wait for more titles to be released (maybe some older tunes will be released), and perhaps dedicated equipment meant for those who don’t use tractor?

I would wait at least a year and if you are new then by all means I would learn the basics first before even thinking about this.