Which DJ software - Live, Traktor or summat else?

roby · Post by **roby** » Mon May 05, 2008 4:37 pm

yeah, although i've tried djing in Live, i still prefer using Traktor. ideally i would like to sync Traktor and Live on two laptops for a nice set up.
for Traktor right now i'm using that Vestax VCI-100 which rocks, but before that i went through a few controllers, including my Axiom49 and the UC33e, or just plain QWERTY. you can totally control the crap out Traktor using the QWERTY keyboard. that is just not the route for me as I have hard time remembering what key does what

but going back to the UC33e, i used it without a problem... wondering what's your issues are?

roby · Post by **roby** » Mon May 05, 2008 4:42 pm

also, for me it was very important to find the right controller for Traktor. with Live i could use any controller as long as it did what it's supposed to do. but with Traktor i needed something that felt as if Traktor was an actual hardware unit, you know what i mean? but before i realized that i always though "you know, i'll configure Traktor to work with my existing controllers coz i don't want to spend $ on something dedicated to it".

but that's my experience.

rompling · Post by **rompling** » Mon May 05, 2008 5:07 pm

Kinda off topic a little bit but have just bought a zero 8 mixer ( boo hiss but hey the one I heard in the shp had no hiss and yes have have read all the different peoples grumbles but the demo unit I used rocked !!!!)
and want to incoprate Live 7 Traktor 3 and my Cd`s 1000 and technics mk2`s into the ultimate set up
My question to you learned people do I have to buy the whole NI interface PLUS the timecode records or Can I just buy the timecode records , cd`s and configure them through midi not needing the Traktor computer interface
Love L7 and will also be using it hopefully as a combo with traktor
Thanks for your patience reading this long wording and slightly of topic email and all advice is greatly appreciated !!!!!!!!!!!

8O · Post by 8O » Mon May 05, 2008 5:13 pm

roby wrote:...but going back to the UC33e, i used it without a problem... wondering what's your issues are?

I was trying to use the UC-33e with Traktor LE. It doesn't work, in fact, it's not supported. But tried it with the full Traktor 3 and it works nicely now...

Tuur · Post by **Tuur** » Mon May 05, 2008 5:22 pm

8O wrote:I feel I'm really trying to force Live to do something that it doesn't want to.

I hear ya. I've been looking at Live for ages, but only since a month or two I'm thinking about using it for DJing.

My number one concern was a good HUI / controller and I've almost got that nailed now...

Number two was the preparation that had to be done in advance and, like others have said before: Deckadance is part of the answer to that (and it'll give you some other advantages too).

IMHO Live still isn't the perfect DJ tool (one loop/clip? one active clip??), but it will let you do unique stuff if you can see through/work around its 'faults'.

roby · Post by **roby** » Mon May 05, 2008 6:24 pm

8O wrote:
roby wrote:...but going back to the UC33e, i used it without a problem... wondering what's your issues are?
I was trying to use the UC-33e with Traktor LE. It doesn't work, in fact, it's not supported. But tried it with the full Traktor 3 and it works nicely now...

oh, well, that's stupid...way to go NI...

oblique strategies · Post by **oblique strategies** » Fri May 30, 2008 8:18 pm

8O wrote:Cheers for the replies. I tested the full Traktor 3 demo recently and really liked it - much, much better than Traktor LE. I think I'll go for that... Traktor 3 was a pleasant surprise, actually.

Hi 80,
So, did you get Traktor? If so, how do you like it? If not, what did you get instead?

dphouse84 · Post by **dphouse84** » Fri May 30, 2008 8:50 pm

i am about ready to jump off the serato bandwagon myself unless they start addressing the midi clock or vst support

i want to have the best of both worlds with a comfortable and minimal setup.

8O · Post by 8O » Fri May 30, 2008 9:18 pm

Hey Oblique - thanks for checking up! Yeah, I got Traktor (the full version) and I really like it. It's the perfect tool for the job i.e. just bog standard DJing, and some simple effects. Not in any way a substitute for Live for composition or live performance.

It's been rock solid for me, the midi-mapping has been flexible and the beat-matching has been pretty good. Also the control interface is nicely done in a way that minimises the chances of accidentally messing everything up (e.g. accidentally brushing space bar or double-clicking a track instead of single clicking won't result in a horrific silence).

There are still some really annoying little things with it, like the refusal to display special characters properly (it completely rejects my Russian mp3 with Cyrillic tags) and the install path is plain stupid on a mac. But still it's a nice little bit of software and I love using it.

(I only use it standalone (not rewired with Live, for example) so can't comment on how it works with other software. And no idea about the scratching performance.)

Hope that helps a little...

Dr. TaaDow · Post by **Dr. TaaDow** » Fri May 30, 2008 10:36 pm

I have 2 DJ setups.

1. M-Audio Torq Xponent w/ Torq v1.0.4 (traditional beatmatch mixing)
2. Live 7 w/ UC-33e, Trigger Finger, Axiom 25 w/ FireWire 410 (creative mixing)

I've been DJing for 11 years (vinyl, CD, etc) and it's nice to have something like Live to break off from the sometimes boring (to me) traditional mixing methods. Beatmatch mixing is lots of fun, but to some it gets old every now and then. That's where Live comes in. Also, both setups are very easy to pack away and travel with.

oblique strategies · Post by **oblique strategies** » Sat May 31, 2008 6:24 pm

8O wrote:Hey Oblique - thanks for checking up! Yeah, I got Traktor (the full version) and I really like it. It's the perfect tool for the job i.e. just bog standard DJing, and some simple effects. Not in any way a substitute for Live for composition or live performance.

It's been rock solid for me, the midi-mapping has been flexible and the beat-matching has been pretty good. Also the control interface is nicely done in a way that minimises the chances of accidentally messing everything up (e.g. accidentally brushing space bar or double-clicking a track instead of single clicking won't result in a horrific silence).

There are still some really annoying little things with it, like the refusal to display special characters properly (it completely rejects my Russian mp3 with Cyrillic tags) and the install path is plain stupid on a mac. But still it's a nice little bit of software and I love using it.

(I only use it standalone (not rewired with Live, for example) so can't comment on how it works with other software. And no idea about the scratching performance.)

Hope that helps a little...

Hi 80,

Thanks for the mini-review. Seems like a good all around solution for basic DJ work.

Have you tried using it with any MIDI controllers yet?

How about changing skins -is it customizable, or are there enough skins available that you can easily find one you like?

NapalmBob · Post by **NapalmBob** » Sat May 31, 2008 10:16 pm

When producing I use a variety of tools, but for DJ'ing I use Deckadance with a Novation Nocturn.

Deckadance is a no brainer, and I find the peakoscope really handy for beatmatching. Loading VST effects and tweaking them in real-time (things like filters, delays and choppers) simply can't be beat. All DJ apps should let you load VST effects.

Also, Live isn't aimed spoecifically at DJ's, its aimed at people who want to perform live music. Live lets you integrate existing audio (like a drumloop or an entire track) with something you're creating on the fly.

Thats where it's power is.

If you just want to DJ, then use a simple DJ app (like DD, Traktor, Serato, whatever). If you want to create and perform music while blurring the line between DJing and producing, use Live.

8O · Post by 8O » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:42 am

NapalmBob wrote:If you just want to DJ, then use a simple DJ app (like DD, Traktor, Serato, whatever). If you want to create and perform music while blurring the line between DJing and producing, use Live.

Yup, agree 100%.

8O · Post by 8O » Sun Jun 01, 2008 7:48 am

oblique strategies wrote:Have you tried using it with any MIDI controllers yet?

How about changing skins -is it customizable, or are there enough skins available that you can easily find one you like?

Yes, I use Traktor 3 with my UC-33e and it works very nicely. Pretty much every function you need can be midi-mapped or key-mapped. I just had the UC-33e controlling 3-Band EQ, x-fade, pitch and channel faders and it worked fine. I just use the laptop trackpad to select next track and set loop markers and everything else is controlled via the UC-33.

No changeable skins though

And I don't like factory skin, but I'm stuck with it. You get used to it, but I wish I didn't have to...

oblique strategies · Post by **oblique strategies** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 2:25 am

8O wrote:
oblique strategies wrote:Have you tried using it with any MIDI controllers yet?

How about changing skins -is it customizable, or are there enough skins available that you can easily find one you like?
Yes, I use Traktor 3 with my UC-33e and it works very nicely. Pretty much every function you need can be midi-mapped or key-mapped. I just had the UC-33e controlling 3-Band EQ, x-fade, pitch and channel faders and it worked fine. I just use the laptop trackpad to select next track and set loop markers and everything else is controlled via the UC-33.

No changeable skins though And I don't like factory skin, but I'm stuck with it. You get used to it, but I wish I didn't have to...

Thanks again 80. Enjoy!

Which DJ software - Live, Traktor or summat else?

Re: Which DJ software - Live, Traktor or summat else?