MASSIVE UPDATE from Serato @ NAMM

[dj_soo]

3 Major announcements from Serato at NAMM:

Serato 2.0

Scratch Live 2 adds more decks, DJ FX and two way interaction with Ableton Live with new protocol called “The Bridge”. Inside Serato Scratch Live 2, we now bring four new Display Modes that allow you to choose a range of new screen layouts with 2, 3 or 4 deck control. Each Display Mode features with a clean design and your choice of ways to play with expanded Library Views that allow you to easily spot your favorite track to bring to the mix.

Additional tools can be activated in Scratch Live that give you an expanded view and instant control of a range of free plug-ins including the SP-6 Sample Player, brand new Serato DJ FX and direct access to Ableton Live via “The Bridge”.

You can also add the optional Serato Video-SL plug-in to bring exciting visuals into your performance.

New in Serato Scratch Live 2:

Control Ableton Live and make editable Mixtapes with “The Bridge”.
A choice of 2, 3 or 4 decks with supported Rane hardware.
Built-in DJ FX with an assignable “Super Knob” for quick live tweaking.
Brand new Display Modes with a range screen layouts to suit your style of performing.
Enhanced Album Art browsing for quick identification of your music.
Build “Smart Crates” easily using keywords from your music library.
Export your track plays and share them online with “Serato Playlists”


You now have access to more tracks and effects than ever before with the clean and simple control that makes Scratch Live the number one choice for professional DJs.

Serato + Ableton = The Bridge

Ableton and Serato present The Bridge - the first result of the partnership announced in October 2008.

Take it to The Bridge

The Bridge spans the gap between music production and DJing, creating a natural link between Ableton Live and Scratch Live or ITCH. The Bridge provides a powerful fusion of DJ and production tools, opening a world of opportunities for DJing, remixing and live performance.

You can cross the Bridge in either direction:

Ableton to Serato

The Bridge provides Ableton Transport Control (ATC), giving you control of your own multitrack productions with a turntable, CDJ or ITCH controller. Drag an Ableton Live set onto one of the decks in Scratch Live or ITCH. Scratch Live or ITCH provides deck control, mixing, nudging and DJ style looping; Ableton Live lets you remix multitrack files, mute/solo tracks, use virtual instruments, change drum patterns, manipulate audio, tweak effects and launch loops in real time. Read More »

Serato to Ableton

The Bridge gives you the ultimate mixtape creation tool. Perform your mix in Scratch Live or ITCH and save it as an automated Ableton Live Set. Play your mix rather than cut and paste in a DAW. Forget about having to start a mixtape from scratch because of a mistake at minute fifty-nine. Each song is recorded and laid out on a track in Live separately, and any moves you've made with your hardware are recorded along with the track. Edit, add beat synced loops and virtual instruments, stretch, chop and manipulate your mix as required - with Ableton Live's production tools at your fingertips. Read More »

Rane SIXTY EIGHT

WHAT IS THE RANE SIXTY-EIGHT?
Rane and Serato welcome the Rane SIXTY-EIGHT, the ultimate club mixer. Two computers, two USB ports, up to four decks and a range of effects.

Introducing the first Scratch Live compatible DJ mixer that allows two computers to be connected simultaneously.

Using two USB ports, the new Rane SIXTY-EIGHT mixer lets two DJs play Scratch Live at the same time, allowing for seamless handover from one DJ to another. You can also control up to four decks with a single laptop.

Armed with studio-grade phono preamps, USB and S/PDIF inputs, the SIXTY-EIGHT can allow a blend of analog and digital audio sources like never before. The Rane SIXTY-EIGHT features easy to use internal digital effects, and direct control of over 30 Scratch Live library, cue and loop functions.

Features:

Two independent USB 2.0 high speed ports, each supporting twenty two, 32-bit floating point audio channels at 48kHz.
Support for the connection of two computers simultaneously.
Direct control of over 30 Scratch Live Library, Cue and Loop functions.
Support for 2, 3 or 4 Virtual Decks in Scratch Live.
Flexible USB recording options.
3-band, full cut EQ
New High-pass / Low pass Filter
Unique FlexFX bus with 6 internal effects plus USB and analog insert support for computer-based effects.
Input Channels

Four stereo Phono/CD inputs of Line / Phono or S/PDIF.
Four stereo Auxiliary inputs.
Four stereo USB playback options.
Two independent microphone inputs - one with phantom power and one with line-level input

[Wiseman]

Serato 2.0 is the real news here. The customization of the window looks awesome and the effects is a long overdue addition. Although only 1 knob assignable for effects seems like not enough for some tricks.

The mixer is cool but hella expensive. Two USB ports is amazing and solves a lot of problems. It will be a big selling point to club owners sick of silence when 2 DVS users fuck up swapping cables etc. Of course the price is ridiculous but what do you expect.

It has pretty much everything you want in a high end mixer except MIDI.

I will say it's not a very pretty mixer.

The Bridge thing while cool is not really game changing as the same things could be achieved using ReWire and MIDI Clock. Yes it looks fancy being drop those clips into the serato screen but it's nothing Traktor and Torq users haven't already been doing.

Also 4 decks....................................someone splain to me how you do that without using the Rane 68? Pretty sure you can't use non Serato hardware still and SL3 only has 3 channels. Are they opening up to other devices or is everyone who bought an SL3 recently going to have to shell out for new hardware?

That being said I will switch to Serato 2.0 as soon as financially possible simply because of what looks to be amazing browser options.

[dj_soo]

actually, Bridge is very different from traktor and torq... it's not just dropping clips and midi clock syncing it's dropping entire sets giving you full control with both vinyl and ableton, all in a single interface.

so essentially you can dropin a tune you produced, and loop cut, solo, mute, effect individual tracks on the fly while allowing *full* vinyl control meaning you can drop out to just the drums of you track in realtime. Scratch with it, load it up on the 2nd deck, juggle it out, and tweak all in realtime - not just having a midi clock sync with the audio coming out of ableton.

and the feature for dropping you recorded set from serato into ableton and having each deck playing on seperate tracks and having all you EQs, fader, x-fader adjustments appear as automation will make making studio mixtapes a dream (granted it will now be even more difficult to use mixtapes a gauge of a djs skill)

[mrtunes]

honestly i can't see the Bridge working that smoothly. it sounds a bit too complex for me to believe. i also think about things like plugins buggering up the whole deal.

this is pretty messed up because the developers of ableton recently admitted that they bit off more they can chew(things like max4live), and have to spend time fixing very important bugs in 8. throwing this into the mix makes me shudder.

[Wiseman]

Also of note is the fact that since Serato has been ramping up its feature set, there have been more and more complaints of instability. Now they want you to have Ableton and Serato running on the same laptop.

Oh and Soo you still have to have Ableton running. So considering Serato Vinyl is essentially acting as transport control for ableton, you can do the same with torq right now. In fact with Torq you can tempo anchor your tracks so you can force ableton to follow non rigid time.

The more I look at that mixer, which my first impression was WOW!, the more I am disappointed. That much money for a mixer with a whole wack of buttons and knobs that are USELESS if you aren't using serato. It's priced as an installation mixer but will club owners go for it based on the 2 USB thing (which is really the only thing it has over a DJM800 as far as a club owner is concerned)?

And it still bothers me that you have to by Itch if you want to use a controller instead of it being one software that you can use either DVS or Controllers like traktor and torq.

To summarize for me:

Serato Bridge: not as groundbreaking as people are making it to be and likely will not be used by a wide user base.

Rane Sixty Eight: Too expensive and proprietary and a little ugly IMO. Drop $1000 off the price and make all the buttons MIDI and you have a market stealer.

Serato 2.0: The bomb! The customizable interface is key! Effects look cool. Enough for me to switch when financially feasible barring a browser rework from Torq.

BUT. Introducing 4 decks but requiring a $3200 hardware investment to use them? Lame. Are they going to introduce an SL4(SL5 with sampler channel?)? I doubt it will happen soon as that would piss off anyone who just bought an SL3.

I think they should have come out with a dual USB SL5. That would fly off shelves and be in every club within a month.

[dj_soo]

3200 is just the msrp - street will likely be $2500 usd ( which sounds a lot more reasonable. Considering getting an 800 and an SL3 is going to be about 3 grand. Also the 68 is actually MIDI mappable (as opposed to the 57) - already confirmed by serato developers but then again, why would you want to use it with anything but serato?

You have to understand that the majority of Serato users (myself included) don't have even the slightest hint of interest in trying any other program. If it's one thing Serato has done over the years, it's building brand loyalty. Whether via the reputation of stability (which has taken a hit over the last few iterations), customer support, or the free upgrades. Torq lasted 2 months in my possession before a combination of terrible library management and shitty customer support killed it for me and I've had Traktor for years and launched it maybe 4 times before i got frustrated with the cluttered and unintuitive interface.

In regards to bridge, I think it will be used more for the Serato -> Ableton Mixtape feature which i think is pretty groundbreaking and will make making studio mixes a dream. Although you still need a Serato mixer to get the most out of it.

[gl*tch]

can't wait to try out serato 2!!

[Wiseman]

Originally Posted by dj_soo

3200 is just the msrp - street will likely be $2500 usd ( which sounds a lot more reasonable. Considering getting an 800 and an SL3 is going to be about 3 grand. Also the 68 is actually MIDI mappable (as opposed to the 57) - already confirmed by serato developers but then again, why would you want to use it with anything but serato?

You have to understand that the majority of Serato users (myself included) don't have even the slightest hint of interest in trying any other program. If it's one thing Serato has done over the years, it's building brand loyalty. Whether via the reputation of stability (which has taken a hit over the last few iterations), customer support, or the free upgrades. Torq lasted 2 months in my possession before a combination of terrible library management and shitty customer support killed it for me and I've had Traktor for years and launched it maybe 4 times before i got frustrated with the cluttered and unintuitive interface.

In regards to bridge, I think it will be used more for the Serato -> Ableton Mixtape feature which i think is pretty groundbreaking and will make making studio mixes a dream. Although you still need a Serato mixer to get the most out of it.

It is MIDI mappable? Do you have a link to confirmation of this because it hasn't been in any of the specs I've seen on any site. That would be great although again there are many options for midi controllers and mixer combinations that have better functionality and are much cheaper.

With the release of these 3 products they are definately adding a lot more functionality but if you want to use it all you are going to have to shell out a small fortune in hardware because of the closed system they continue to use.

So say you are a Serato user with the SL1. What do you get out of this?

1. Bridge - Only Ableton to Serato really as the Serato to Ableton thing will require you to do all the mixing automation in ableton after you import your mix. I doubt you are going to be able to recreate any level of quick fader moves required for scratching.

2. Effects - This is definately good but still un unproven quantity as we have yet to hear how they actually sound/work. I am also diappointed by only 1 assignable knob.

3. Customizable Interface and Browser improvements - This IMO is the biggest improvement that puts SSL 2.0 above the competition. This is the new feature that most users will benefit from IMO. This is what makes me want to make the switch.

The biggest thing that annoys me still is having to buy SSL and Itch if I want the option to use DVS or a controller.

Oh and I am in complete agreement about Traktor's horrible interface. Gag.

[dj_soo]

can the sixty eight control all of sl2.0, or will you still need keyboard/mouse? | Serato.com

yea, if you've already collected a bunch of controllers/audio interfaces i can see how it would be an annoyance. Personally, I don't intend to switch from turntables anytime soon until Technics decides to create a direct-drive spinning platter midi controller (or someone other than numark or stanton)

And yea, if you want full-functionality, you pretty much need the 68 which is a bit of a piss off...

the SL3 will get you 3 decks but no automation recording in Bridge (just pre-fader signal) and/or the sampler being able to route directly to a 3rd channel. The 57 gets you only 2 decks and but full automation recording in Ableton.

Actually one of the less-hyped features in 2.0 that has me super excited is the Smart Crate feature. This may finally get me to ditch iTunes as the Smart Playlists was the only thing keeping me integrating iTunes w/ serato.

I've been considering selling my 57 for one of those 68s just due to functionality (the grouping buttons on the 57 are retarted) but then i'd have to bring my even more pricey and bulkier 68 to every gig. It sucks brining my 57 to gigs, but at least it's compact... But just looking at the faceplate it's essentially Rane's answer to 800. Everything in the layout looks spectacular from a functionality perspective and it will be nice to finally have actually functional effects that doesn't memorization of button combos (honestly, i feel like i'm trying to get unlimited lives in Contra fiddling with the effects on the 57)

[dj_soo]

oh yea, here's something else that's pretty cool:

Numark V7 with Serato ITCH | Serato.com

It's basically the platter portion of the NS7 in a stand-alone form.

This is the direction I can get behind in terms of midi controllers replacing decks. Fully functional direct drive platters instead of lame non-moving CDJ-style platters.

[dj_soo]

er use this link for developer comfirmation of MIDI

can the sixty eight control all of sl2.0, or will you still need keyboard/mouse? | Serato.com

[Wiseman]

Actually the Numark stuff impressed me as well. The mixer is pretty cool too.

Good to hear about the midi! That is great.

I still think if they made an SL4 or SL5 with 2 USB parts that it would be installed in almost every club within months of release. This mixer not so much.

[Wiseman]

The mixer is very very cool!

It also has 2 USB ports:

X7 PREMIUM CLUB DJ MIXER

[mrtunes]

has anyone seen any videos of the new software pop up yet? the Bridge one just has artist testimonials.

[dj_soo]

this is a basic demo at NAMM

[mrtunes]

the video is good, thanks for posting. there's some really cool things about this - what i like the most is that all these products got too comfortable resting on rewire technology which still needs a bit of work. rewire involves a lot of tabbing between applications, this seems to be intended more towards staying in one spot(serato).

sage is right, that torq's been able to do this kind of thing for a while using rewire, but this is a bigger step forward.

[docta seuss]

can you daisy-chain 2 computers?

it can be a bitch remembering cue points when you're playing with someone on two different laptops.

[docta seuss]

GAH!

still no effing flac support. what the fuck.

[docta seuss]

Originally Posted by docta seuss

can you daisy-chain 2 computers?

it can be a bitch remembering cue points when you're playing with someone on two different laptops.

nevermind.. apparently you can daisy-chain SL3's.

probably should have looked into this sooner, haha..

[Wiseman]

OK. So after reviewing a couple of videos I am actually a little excited about the Bridge.

But not because of what it can do, which to be honest is just they're own version of ReWire and midi clock, but what it could do.

Serato is very good at putting a feature in peoples hands with basic functionality, letting them have a go at it, listening to suggestions/complaints etc., then releasing updates which address this advice.

I'm sure once people start playing with it they will find the limitations quickly.

One feature I could see them adding which would be cool would be the ability to assign one/several clips to a deck for manipulation without assigning the whole set. From the videos I only saw assigning the entire clip but it would be cool to grab a sound or loop on the fly and scratch it up while the rest of the tracks play on. If this is already possible let me know.

[WestsideWax]

Can thank this guy for some of what you're seeing, as he's been working with Serato pretty much since the getgo:



I recall when the interface first came out he told me his only disappointment with it was that he still had to play regular vinyl on the remaining two decks. Problem solved.