Your main DJ software likes and dislikes

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To me, having 15 minutes of non-stop, all the same tempo, all the same feel is absolute and utter boredom and I can't see why anyone stays on the floor that long to the same (virtual) song.

Agreed - in fact, if I did that for the group I usually DJ for, we'd be wheeling oxygen tanks onto to floor to help people recover.

I consider it fortunate that I really got into Salsa as I got older, it's really great music, and I love dancing to it. The older Latin group I usually DJ for grew up with it, and even though their minds are willing, often their bodies are not. I usually don't beat match, I often give a slight pause between songs to change partners, and if I see someone(s) struggling, the Tempo slowly goes down.
 
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VDJ 8.x

Pros - more features like:

sampled drumbeats that automatically sync to songs. Of course, they have to be the right kind of songs and have to be in the right bpm range. This is great for those songs with sections that don't have strong drum tracks. Helps keep dancers on the floor. There are drum loops included nd you can sample your own drumbeats and loop them.

Hot cues - for those into more mixing possiblilities

Side list and automix list. I like having both. The automix list is a playlist that doesn't need much attention, but changes can be made while it's operating. The side list is nice for those special songs - so you don't have to search for them or put the in the automix list.

Cons - The layout of some of these features (hotmix, loops, remix points etc.) keeps changing with updates. The changes make everything more user friendly, but will throw you off at first.

8.2 has changed and there are daily updates that follow. I have to stop updating before important events!
 
I use VDJ and have been using it for years. I use VDJ 7 and have no complaints what so ever.
 
Anyone have experience with Rekordbox? Pioneer has been making a push with it, though it seems to only support their controllers at the moment.

I wouldn't say experience but I did toy with it on a computer at home last winter....Its ok in my mind but if you are using VDJ or PCDJ stick with it Rekordbox is nothing special

In reality it's more what you are used to than the quality of the software. They are pretty much all on the same level tese days
 
I have both OTS and Virtual DJ 8.2, I will say I love them both. I have used OTS for a very long time and that is were my comfort level is. With that said I have begun using VDJ much more often. Because I have never been a fan at staying at my comfort level. With food that just gets you fat and sassy ). With OTS I never upgraded past 1.85 I just could not see paying all the extra money for 3 machines where with VDJ, pay once and your good to go as long as the machines are not on at the same time.

OTS, well its stable and when it comes to live events stable is good. VDJ, it seems to do about anything I throw at it. Skins are nice, OTS has always looked like a toy. And the plugins are just flat out fantastic. OTS has not MP4 support and so conversion is a must. VDJ will play pretty much any file straight out of the box. If an event has tons of stuff for me to have to over think about (Yes that is me) then I will use OTS. If I can concentrate on just DJ then I have tried to use VDJ more and more. And I would like to hear more about this plugin Cap, called Loudmax.
 
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LoudMax is a free plug-in wherein I can set the threshold and maximum volume levels to an already ideal volume level song. It will then raise or lower the output volume based on your two adjustable settings. Too loud? Knocks it down. Too low? Raises it up. Totally different than the typical normalization method so many rely on which falls far short of purpose.

Here's a good video in it:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE09b2G3LLs
 
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I have VD7, Traktor Pro, PCDJ (many versions), but since getting the Pioneer DDJ-SX2 and moving to SERATO DJ, I've found it super easy to mix with. As a long time club guy as well as Mobile DJ, I love the mapping with the DDJ-SX2. The sound is crisp in clear..... and the FX, looping, slicing, and sampling are so easy for me. I love the jog pads for Cue points and all the other features. I truly love it and wish it was around when I was doing clubs full time 20 years ago. But, I did love spinning vinyl back then. Serato DJ is my go to right now....hands down.....love it.
 
Traktor Pro. Love it because I can bend tempo to any speed without controller or the slider. Just press + or -. No other software can do it. I do beatmach.
 
Here's an actual screen shot of another software I use when I'm exclusively DJ'ing ballroom for the Seniors. It's an older version of Virtual DJ Studio (not Virtual DJ). IMHO, the newer versions are more Karaoke oriented - I like this version better. I use it in a different way than originally intended, but it is definitely NOT for beat matching EDM!

I like building a playlist when I see the dancers start to come in - I found that using pre-prepared lists, I play too much if the same stuff. There are 13 playing lines, I "load" 10 songs at a time, usually in groups of three of the same kind. The three open lines forms natural groups, and gives room to shift things around (you can drag'n drop anything you want). Any line can be started at any time, each line has it's own Tempo adjustment, and adjacent lines can trigger each other (if wanted). When the song ends, I'll clear it or drag it down into the "Karaoke Queue" area if it's something I might have a hard time remembering I played ("New Singer" doesn't exist!). The real beauty of all this is I can very quickly shift gears if there's a hot couple on the floor (doing Waltz, Foxtrot, whatever) that I want to keep out there dancing.

It works with USB soundcards (has a song preview function), has a two stage AGC that works great, an excellent "Music Database" search function, and no, I don't work for them.

VDJ Studio 6.9.png
 
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I'm using Serato but I don't like the fact it won't integrate with iTunes. Apparently its a common flaw to crash when your library exceeds a certain size. I'm basically having to keep small folders on the desktop to run off of which is timetakinf and annoying. I tried Traktor but it lagged and I tried vdj but I couldn't get the mapping just right.
 
I'm using Serato but I don't like the fact it won't integrate with iTunes. Apparently its a common flaw to crash when your library exceeds a certain size.

I use Serato, and deliberately do not use iTunes. Read this, make your Crates and Directory structure identical, and break free from Apple's drug for the masses -
How I learned to love Serato for music managment | Paris Creative

Your other problem is a technical one. Unfortunately, Serato is still only a 32 bit program, and a very large library will crash it. I don't know why anyone would need such a large library, but if you do, you have no choice but to move to a 64 bit program.
 
I used to use Virtual DJ studio (not VDJ) same as Handinon, but eventually abandoned it for lack of flac support.
Too bad, because I really liked it's simplicity, and it has one of the best automixers right out of the box that I have ever used with very little tweaking .
 
I use Serato, and deliberately do not use iTunes. Read this, make your Crates and Directory structure identical, and break free from Apple's drug for the masses -
How I learned to love Serato for music managment | Paris Creative

Your other problem is a technical one. Unfortunately, Serato is still only a 32 bit program, and a very large library will crash it. I don't know why anyone would need such a large library, but if you do, you have no choice but to move to a 64 bit program.

iTunes is great for users that move between programs. Unfortunately, Crates doesn't transpose to other apps. Unless this is a million song library, I don't think he's going to hurt Serato.
 
If anyone is thinking of trying Serato DJ, it is on sale until August 23rd for $64.50

One big caveat - since the release of V1.92 (current version), you should have at a minimum an Intel i3 cpu (even better an i5 or i7, regardless if it's a PC or Mac), or it probably won't work correctly. Excellent software, except for hardware requirements to unlock it, and primitive song preview.
 
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LoudMax is a free plug-in wherein I can set the threshold and maximum volume levels to an already ideal volume level song. It will then raise or lower the output volume based on your two adjustable settings. Too loud? Knocks it down. Too low? Raises it up. Totally different than the typical normalization method so many rely on which falls far short of purpose.

Here's a good video in it:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE09b2G3LLs


So Cap what do "you" set it to. Do you set the level at -6 and -3 as the video shows. It seems to sound quite good.
 
I use Serato, and deliberately do not use iTunes. Read this, make your Crates and Directory structure identical, and break free from Apple's drug for the masses -
How I learned to love Serato for music managment | Paris Creative

Your other problem is a technical one. Unfortunately, Serato is still only a 32 bit program, and a very large library will crash it.
Yes this is me. I've been micomanaging some small crates from smaller temporary file folders, until recently for some reason when I plugged in the backup drive, it loaded everything without crashing. However it's not linked to itunes where everything was organized already. And so for now my debate is whether try to reset itunes onto the backup drive, fixing all files to pull from that drive instead, and then try to connect it to serato. Or reorganize everything outside itunes so files and then matchup as crates in Serato. Or re-organize everything outside itunes and upgrade to the Denon mcx8000 to ditch the laptop. I do like the short tags idea you posted alot though so I may try that in addition to some of the above. With luck, I'll have it all reworked by 2017 lol.

I can't drop itunes completely because I need it for my ipod's. It just would be more time effective to only organize music once.
 
Yes this is me. I've been micomanaging some small crates from smaller temporary file folders, until recently for some reason when I plugged in the backup drive, it loaded everything without crashing. However it's not linked to itunes where everything was organized already. And so for now my debate is whether try to reset itunes onto the backup drive, fixing all files to pull from that drive instead, and then try to connect it to serato. Or reorganize everything outside itunes so files and then matchup as crates in Serato. Or re-organize everything outside itunes and upgrade to the Denon mcx8000 to ditch the laptop. I do like the short tags idea you posted alot though so I may try that in addition to some of the above. With luck, I'll have it all reworked by 2017 lol.

I can't drop itunes completely because I need it for my ipod's. It just would be more time effective to only organize music once.

As for Serato, I leave everything on an External drive and index it from there. Keyword, index. I leave the files in place and DO NOT pull them into iTunes containers. This way, no matter what computer / program I use, all the files are in the same place.
 
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