Misconceptions about Traktor by Serato DJs

I recently visited New York and LA and almost every DJ there used Serato, so I had to ask what the deal was and what they knew of Traktor. The answers I got varied from the standard "It's for house DJs" to "It's for beginners only".

I noticed that the DJs at Empire Hotell, New York used Serato. I didn't think very much about the platform at that time cause the guy was on fire. However, when the DJ the next day also used Serato, I thought that it might just be the club. But when I got to Hollywood the same thing was going on there. Only Serato all the way. First guy I talked to was playing on one of LAs hottest clubs: Drais (At the W Hollywood) and his response to why he was using Serato was that Traktor was for House DJs.
I went to Guitar Center the next day and there was this guy hamering it out on an NS7. I asked if he had tried Traktor and he looked at me and said that Traktor was for beginners and that I should talk to this other guy, so I talked had a longer discussion with one of the Sales Associates on DJ gear at Guitar Center Hollywood. He had been DJing for some time himself and was very well versed in digital DJing. He said that Traktor was an Ok system but he perfered Serato mainly because it was more streamlined for R'n'B and Rap and that Traktor had a to busy interface.

So let's have a look at the misconceptions of American DJs and let me explain why they are so wrong:

"It's for beginners only"
I you concider Grand Master Flash, Carl Cox, DJ Sasha or DJ Craze beginners, then the answer is yes. But then you're probably one of the few that has been DJing for more then 40 years. The system is used by thousends of DJs in clubs and on the big stage all over the world every day.

"The interface is to busy"

Is it??

I did a cleanup on my interface and came to this simple layout. It's not very busy and pretty simple compared to alot of other systems out there.

"It's for House DJs"
Well yes. It's for House DJs. If I only played House I would most likely conclude that Traktor is the right selection due to the wide pick of effects and solid beatgridding system.
But is it ONLY for House DJs? No.
DJs like DJ Craze, DJ Rafik, DJ Shiftee and Grand Master Flash is among the DJs who actually use Traktor when performing (and most lightly not just for the money cause I haven't seen them use other systems).

 

There are however no videos proclainming Serato as the best platform. Atleast not in English. :)

 

Bottom Line

I believe that the ones that say Traktor isn't very good simply hasn't tried it.. In the end it's got alot to do with what you are used to. If you started with Serato, you probably won't like the Traktor interface. If you started with Traktor , you probably won't enjoy the Serato interface. However.... I can't see all that many reasons to switch from Serato to Traktor, but I can see alot of reasons to go from Traktor to Serato.

 

 

Traktor has:

• Better sounding Algorithm.
• Higher resolution on DVS.
• More features and effects.
• One system with options for Turntablists AND Controllerists.
• Way more options when it comes to configuring the interfaces.

Case closed.

 

But let's give credit where credit is due:

I realy like the smart crates, track marking and some other general browser features for Serato which I hope and believe will be ported to Traktor within a short timeframe.

 

The Numark NS7 is a super interface for turntablists.

 

Serato can work with video (If you get the right equipment). Traktor can only work with music... :(