torq,serato or traktor scratch aaargh...

[lunatrick]

I'm trying to decide which vinyl emulation program to go with - it's seems to be a choice between the three above - anbody got any views?

as far as I can tell from looking around the net :-

torg - very good value for money - nearly half price of the two others.... - kind of like a stanton maybe

serato - industry standard - pretty basic, very solid , tried and trusted- a sl1200 equivalent if you will

traktor scratch - new kid on the block - advance features and slick software - have heard some horror stories about Ni being crap at sorting out problems - but have the history of the original final scratch behind them - perhaps like a vestax?

personaly I use sl1200 (what else? ) but confused about which way to go here....any advice would be great.......I don't scratch just straight up mixing....I guess maybe this should be in the format wars post but anyway....

***** edited to add - I have a brand new laptop to use this with - dell core, loads of ram etc - the only slight thing I'm worried about is the hard drive is 5400rpm....is that a problem?

[MARK ANXIOUS]

i looked pretty deep into this the other month after playing cd's for a while and realising it looked shite.

although i havent actually TRIED any of the products, i looked heavy into what they could do and what ppl were saying over the net.

the conclusion i came to was serato - most stable software and a nice helpful user community.

and then decided i couldn't be arsed with all the hassle setting up in a club and decided to forget it

so now i use mainly cd's to get the mastering right for my set, and the odd record here and there - looks miles better....

re: 5400 - well it might do. check the req specs for the system you want and ask the community on one of their forums. you'd definitely need some nice ram in there though mate.

[lunatrick]

thanks Mark - yeah I ordered the lappy with 3gig....just concerned about speed of the hard drive.....

it would be good to test all these things out - will check out my local shop and see what they can do.....


what do all the major techno dj's use? I think Hawtin is tied in with native instruments (traktor scratch) via beatport......but then again I've heard that serato is the most widely used....

The setup thing is a pain in the ass - at my level I could probably go down the club early and setup before hand - for guys like your self who might play 2 or 3 gigs in a night then I can see the problem unless the promoters / club setup for you.........not really going to happen is it? it's taken most clubs years to get a decent mixer and decks!

I guess at hawtins level you have a 'deck' tech who sorts all these things out!! :-) and puts little sweat towel and your favourite drink next to the stage.....

tbh I wouldn't probably consider it other than the fact that I'm living in Oz and getting hold of the vinyl you really want is (even more) harder than the UK....but also the idea of being able to put together sets of the much wider range of digital files I already have really appeals...

[Jay Pace]

Whatever system you use setup is always going to be a pain in the ass.

Traktor scratch is good because you get to use traktor - which is great software.

Serato is great because its made by Rane and rock solid, software is proprietary though so no Traktor compatibility.

I got final scratch. Wrong horse to back... Traktor's great though, and final scratch just about limps alongside it.

I'd probably go traktor scratch meself. Better software, newer tech - you need a beefy laptop to run it though so thats another consideration.

[Delfonic]

I agree, the setup can take a bit longer.
BUT:
I've been using Traktor Scratch for about 6 months now, after upgrading from Final Scratch 1. It's absolutely blinding!!!

The new cabling is much easier to set up, nice xlr connections, solid hardware and software.

Oh yeah, and it runs no problem on a 3 year old Sempron 2800 laptop, with a gig of ram and 5400 hd. even using the built in effects.
I was concerned wheter it would, but was well surprised, no hiccups.

I use it every week, even the control vinyl lasts longer than FS1.

[Jay Pace]

You're lucky then. I was told it wouldn't work on my 2 year old ibook g4, which pissed me off no end as I would have happily upgraded but I'm not buying a new laptop to do so...

We had a party recently and switched from Final scratch to serato and had no problems. Fairly straightforward to swap the boxes round. Just make sure you always bring your own needles....