Harold Tan

You cannot DJ using Serato without a Serato-supported controller or mixer. In short, you cannot DJ with Serato on a laptop-only setup. I never got to use a Numark DJIO but the Behringer U-Control UCA-202 is still with me though I don’t use it so much lately after switching to Serato.

Mixxx is the best DJ software out there for laptop-only setup. And it’s free and works across Windows, IOS and Linux

I came from turntables and a standard mixer before the mobile DJ group hung up the headphones in the early 1990’s. I came out of retirement and was a resident DJ for a ballroom dancing place in 2002 and used a Dual DJ CD player or the type that was side by side with trays to load and eject, with pitch control (key lock was not available) and the jog wheels were miniature. It was not easy to use but I got by with a standard mixer that had no crossfader, only volume faders. And then went back to retirement. This thing called life interrupts by DJ career twice now.

And then in 2013, I Googled across Phil Morse and his articles about Digital DJing. Well, I started with just a laptop (this one that I am using) and ran on Mixxx for 15 months. No real gigs came out of that except two reunion parties. I used sync a lot and it was fun for a while. Eventually, I realized that laptop-only DJing had a serious disadvantage. Sometimes, the software can still get the BPM wrong. I mean the DJ software will read the BPM say at 125. And here you have another song at 125 BPM as well. But even if I use the sync button, even if cued and timed properly, they drift after two bars or so. And nudging in a laptop-only set up is way too noticeable.

In 2014, I got myself a Numark controller. And though I still paired it with Mixxx, it was a lot easier to mix on a controller. (Yes, Phil Morse is absolutely right about that). I still used sync a lot. And then I noticed Mixxx would a little more than occasionally freeze or crash. So I tried the Serato DJ Intro that came with the Numark. And Serato was absolutely more stable than Mixxx. There. I switched.

And now that I have Serato DJ, I wanted to try beat matching without using the sync because of songs that even Serato can get wrong in terms of BPM. So I learned not to rely on Sync. And I did learn. But I also later learned I can visually beat match even if the BPM was wrong. No matter Mixxx or Serato, there are certain songs that both software will get the BPM wrong.

Using Sync is OK. The crowd would most likely not notice it at all. I do agree it’s one of the tools a DJ Can use. But I have learned not to rely on the Sync button. And I feel I have improved my digital DJ skills without having to rely on Sync

The 80’s had plenty of songs remixed. You just have to hunt them down. You just need to get to the bresks. The remix or extended versions (as they called it) of 80’s dance tracks had plenty of room for breaks. Then there are the remixes of 80’s tracks today many of which are EDM-ized