Serrato and similar methods

Sorry if this is off-topic. I've been collecting vinyl for many years as well as djing for a great part of that too. Many of my friends are also DJs. We spin only vinyl since we are die hard vinyl junkies. Recently, a couple of buddies have jumped ship and went the Serrato way. I have mixed feelings about Serrato.. It's great as far as the ease of use and the obvious thing of not carrying around pounds of records. The thing is that I CAN tell the sound quality is not the same as Vinyl, especially at high dBs. I guess it depends how good your MP3s end up being in your laptop.

What do you all think?

JP

a friend of mine copped serato some time ago and we always take it with us when we spin... it's relieable as fuk! although we had problems setting it up a few times...
regarding sound quality, it's like you said.... the better your mp3s the better the sound; never use anything below 192 kbit/s!!

i use serato at every gig. i looooove it.
i'd say that max. 3 out of 100 people will tell the difference between real vinyl and mp3s. i can live with that...

i went the serato way, and sold it just a few weeks ago... back to vinyls.. eventhough carrying cases of records is back-hurting shii

donjuan831 wrote:Sorry if this is off-topic. I've been collecting vinyl for many years as well as djing for a great part of that too. Many of my friends are also DJs. We spin only vinyl since we are die hard vinyl junkies. Recently, a couple of buddies have jumped ship and went the Serrato way. I have mixed feelings about Serrato.. It's great as far as the ease of use and the obvious thing of not carrying around pounds of records. The thing is that I CAN tell the sound quality is not the same as Vinyl, especially at high dBs. I guess it depends how good your MP3s end up being in your laptop.

What do you all think?

JP

thie DIGITAL AGE IS THE LAZY AGE!!!!!, I GOT SOME BUDDY'S THAT HAVE DONE THE SAME THING WENT TO DIGITAL, i dont care how you think it's the same as vinyl. it isnt a DJ's job to kick back and have it at his finger tips.

luggin equipment and all that, is just a copout excuse!!!, i dont care if you got tons of gigs and what not . a DISC JOCKEY : plays records and changes them.
a DIGITAL JOCK only changes the song and not the record!!!!.
sometimes there not even there to mix, it does it all by it's self with a mix they did that afternoon. i'm not talking maken your own music.

i like to play live and i love luggin my crates around, as far as wearing out my records what the hell else are they for!!! to sit in piles in my garage? i think NOT!!!!

i've made many tips playing what i play and people enjoy it,

my advise to you is DO WHAT YOU FEEL IN YOUR HEART, IF SPININ VINYL IS WHAT YOU WANT,what you got TO WORRY ABOUT ,
EVERYTHING COMES AROUND AND SOON ENUFF THIS DIGITAL JOCK THING WILL DIE OUT AND HEADS WILL BE SPININ VINYL AGAIN.

i aint changing what i have done for the past 28 yrs, i love my wax and i aint giving it up to play on a DigitalJukeBox.

Thanks for all the opinions so far. I checked out my friends Serrato set up today. It is pretty sweet, easy to use, and no more carrying records.. BUT, it's not for me. Here's a scary thought: you're rocking the house at a party and your MAC or Windows maching craps out! Then what? At least if a record skips or is scratched, simple solution: simply fade out then throw in the next one---two or three second solution, compared to rebooting computer.

I'm sticking to my vinyl, not to knock all the serrato users but I just think this technology while great, it really dilutes the art of dj'ing. Just my .02 cents.

your goin to get it !!!! stand stroong BROTHA.

like i said go with your heART. ....worD











1 for VINYL JOCKS

I have to agree on that... as much as I like djing with serato, I'd never totaly rely on it. I always have a box of vinyl with me; best of both worlds I guess .....

there are people who played over >1000 gigs with serato and never had a problem.

what if youre in the club and suddenly the mixer dies on you?

it's just technology, don't be afraid, embrace it

I too have very mixed feelings on this issue. My DJ partner has been using Serrato for about 2 years now and he swears by it. Me, being the vinyl purist resisted the urge to buy Serrato. I guess I was kinda hoping that it would just go away. Unfortunately, the truth is that you CANNOT IGNORE SERRATO. You can do amazing things with this piece of software and that is why you see everyone from J-Rocc to DJ AM using it. So I finally stepped up my game and bought it.

I still love my vinyl more than I could ever love any MP3 and I still travel with those gems that would be rare to find in Mp3 format. The digital age is here; however, there is something so pure about entering a store full of wax and leaving with an armfull of vinyl, dusty fingers, dirty clothes, and a big friggin smile on your face!
-B

hi ya'll. i read these forums somewhat regularly...this time i'm prompted to reply. i am a vinyl dj, for better or worse (better in my opinion) ...and have had the oppurtunity to dj with some serato and/or cdj1000 dj's...and i agree, technology is pushing the limits...however, i have noticed that dj's i've seen with serato do not have the skills to mix vinyl. i'm saying that the digital bpm reading is cheating, and dj's are skipping an important step/skill in learning to truely beat match and mix...something that vinyl teaches, and something that is really important to developing as a dj.
also, i feel cheated sometimes because i've spent time digging for beatz...have a "want-list" thats goes back a couple years...and im always on a quest to find that record....and the serato dj googles or some sh!t and downloads from his computer desk. i guess im not one for conveniences like that.
overall, u cant talk me out of spending all my loot on vinyl....but if ur into serato...dont cheat yourself...get the fundamentals together and be a true dj. afterall, serato is trying to imitate the real thing....make sure u know what that is.

i don't get it.
when ?uestlove's djing with serato, does that make him a whack dj?
no it doesnt.
serato is only a tool, just like a djmixer with a built in sampler.

serato does not define me as a dj!

hate on certain djs, but don't hate on all serato users, cuz this is just stupid.

True, Serrato is a tool, and also true that DJs need to spend their time focusing on the fundamentals. I spent months and months scratching before I even mixed, and then I spent years before I combined both into anything that I would even deem worthy for the club! I think that it is sound advice for beginners to truly start at the beginning and learn to match a beat without knowing the bpm first. It will only help your set become more cohesive and will provoke a better crowd response.

My friend tries to claim that downloading tracks is the new crate digging. I completely disagree to the point that we dont even talk about it anymore because it ends up in an argument.

To all the aspiring diggers- there is NO FEELING LIKE FINDING THE RECORD YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR and as soon as you throw that record on your deck it becomes a part of your personal collection, not open for download to any and everybody.

In short, your vinyl collection will remain a very personal thing and mp3's are a seemingly public domain (common knowledge). It's up to you what kind of DJ you want to be and to what crowd you will cater to.....
Peace,
B

http://www.StudioBHipHop.com

Serrato to me was a personal choice of progression after many years of payin dues in the crates... it is simply an option but will never replace my love for real records... its like having that old school 1970 Chevelle you spent so many years to build and now just recently buying a new BMW... not as sturdy and doesn't sound as good, but more convenient... the choice is yours but its nice to know you have a choice.

Well put Cazillac!!!!

http://www.StudioBHipHop.com