I've finally thinking about organizing my tracks in some kind of library (not just mish mashed in itunes and on random drives).

Can anyone give me some pros and cons of the available library programs?

I'm most likely going to be using Traktor for DVS but if there was an advantage in the library aspect then i'll pony up for an SL3 and serato....

Thanks!

Rekordbox is basically an uglier version of Traktor with half of the features missing, if you're not using CDJs there's basically no reason to use it. Traktor has all the data nicely sorted and customizeable, tags, search and playlists, not sure what else you'd even need?

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June 2018 mix

Cheers Woony - That's exact the sort of info I was looking for.

I've never used Rekordbox so didn't know if there was any benefit.

Although i primarily want to use my Techs, I do however have two cdj's as well that might be nice to incorporate but based on the other things you mentioned that are missing, it really seems best to stick with traktor.

Although I've played on serato many I'm not really that familiar with the the library. How does it stack up to traktor?

i don't really give a shit about super advanced features; I just want a nice clean organization of my tracks by genre, add tags and maybe one day have a play with MIK (although I kinda do it by ear anyway) so not sure how those integrate with the whole circle MIK thing?

I've never seen the point of rekordbox if you use any other kind of 'DJ' software, I use traktor and as Woony posts, traktor does it all and most of the time it does it in the background without you realising it (through ID3, IDV3 tags etc)
Traktor will also analyse each new track when you load it into a deck (sometimes it will get the beat grid wrong I have noticed which is very simple to sort out) and can then organise by bpm, pitch, key etc

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Thanks Sarah. At least i know I can stick with Traktor. The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards traktor as my DVS. I just wish there was a may to make the tone quieter. I'm even contemplating having my own quiet control tone vinyl cut, then use my soundcard/software to jack it up internally.

I never have a problem with the tone but then I don't use Traktor as a DVS, I still use good old fashioned vinyl (Which is making a come back in the UK in a big way, record shops have actually started selling it again and believe it or not, Tesco, a huge supermarket chain, is going to be stocking it!)

My main use of Traktor is purely a digital record box connected via HID to my CDJ 2000s.
I use the CDJs as controllers and I mix on an external mixer, I very rarely touch the laptop or even look at it as the browse on the CDJ 2000s lets me go through my files, pick a track and load it up.
If its a brand new track I've not played before, I can use the needle search on the cdj to rapidly browse (listen) to the track, then select my cue points and again, save those cue points with the cdj.
I can set up loops, samples etc all on the cdjs without ever having to look at the laptop, I love how I can set up the laptop to the side and people never have to see it, I can see my audience and they can see me, which imo, is very important, I know I am off on a tangent here but I still firmly believe in a DJ being able to see their audience and them to see him or her, I love that they can see that I am dancing around to the music as much as they are and not have my nose buried in a laptop

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quote:

Originally posted by DJ Sarah H I never have a problem with the tone but then I don't use Traktor as a DVS, I still use good old fashioned vinyl (Which is making a come back in the UK in a big way, record shops have actually started selling it again and believe it or not, Tesco, a huge supermarket chain, is going to be stocking it!) My main use of Traktor is purely a digital record box connected via HID to my CDJ 2000s. I use the CDJs as controllers and I mix on an external mixer, I very rarely touch the laptop or even look at it as the browse on the CDJ 2000s lets me go through my files, pick a track and load it up. If its a brand new track I've not played before, I can use the needle search on the cdj to rapidly browse (listen) to the track, then select my cue points and again, save those cue points with the cdj. I can set up loops, samples etc all on the cdjs without ever having to look at the laptop, I love how I can set up the laptop to the side and people never have to see it, I can see my audience and they can see me, which imo, is very important, I know I am off on a tangent here but I still firmly believe in a DJ being able to see their audience and them to see him or her, I love that they can see that I am dancing around to the music as much as they are and not have my nose buried in a laptop

It's refreshing to hear you say it - I've always been the same and when i first started posting these same sentiments on here I got a lot of flack from the new digital DJ/laptop converts.

I believe interaction with the laptop should be as minimal as possible, if not imperceptible to the crowd. If I have to use a laptop, it's really to just load up a new track so it's no more distraction than pulling your next record from a box.

Touching the decks/equipment should be a intuitive second nature thing that you can do while interacting with the crowd - I don;t give a shit what anyone says but you simply can't do that while trying to stare at text on a 13" screen in a dimly lit room - you break you connection with the crowd or the music trying to concentrate on it.

I can cue up vinyl and mix (probably a whole set if I really tried) while blindfolded (I actually used to do it as an exercise to practice my tactile skills), there for, with exception to reading the label you really don't need to look at the decks. You simply can't do that with a laptop. It leaves me ample opportunity to flail around the DJ booth like a true whiteboy, get hammered and fall out of the booth by the end of set.

and being a Londoner born and Bred but now living in LA, I sadly know all too well what tesco is. Lol that they're now selling vinyl but more power to them and vinyl!

As a media library I think traktor is pretty poor, but then it's not a library tool and I'm happy for NI to keep developing performance stuff and I'm actually just in the process of figuring out a system using the other tools out there. It's still a work in progress so I won't give a full write up here (plus I'm on a phone so...) , but the general gist is as follows...

Mediamonkey as main media library
mp3tag for extra tagging duties
Key finder for key analysis
Traktor for djing

This gives me the following things...

Smart playlists available in Traktor
Sync playlists to portable devices (USB sticks and Android phone)
FLAC support
Automatic tagging from Beatport and Discogs
Separate DJ music and non DJ music sections of the library.

If you're interested I can give you more details next time I'm near a proper keyboard

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quote:

Originally posted by djdk As a media library I think traktor is pretty poor, but then it's not a library tool and I'm happy for NI to keep developing performance stuff and I'm actually just in the process of figuring out a system using the other tools out there. It's still a work in progress so I won't give a full write up here (plus I'm on a phone so...) , but the general gist is as follows... Mediamonkey as main media library mp3tag for extra tagging duties Key finder for key analysis Traktor for djing This gives me the following things... Smart playlists available in Traktor Sync playlists to portable devices (USB sticks and Android phone) FLAC support Automatic tagging from Beatport and Discogs Separate DJ music and non DJ music sections of the library. If you're interested I can give you more details next time I'm near a proper keyboard

Cheers Dave, really useful info and that would be great. I've never used media monkey and would love to know your thoughts.

My needs are basic (I'm really only using traktor because there's hardly any real sources for current tracks on vinyl here in LA) so I just use traktor for a DVS. At least I've hacked it to work with my soundcard and haven't had to pay serato for a crappy interface.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN Cheers Dave, really useful info and that would be great. I've never used media monkey and would love to know your thoughts. My needs are basic (I'm really only using traktor because there's hardly any real sources for current tracks on vinyl here in LA) so I just use traktor for a DVS. At least I've hacked it to work with my soundcard and haven't had to pay serato for a crappy interface.

Don't Amoeba and Mount Analog stock a good amount of new stuff when it comes to techno and house? Granted, I have no idea what you're playing. And I mean honestly, even here in Berlin there's releases that don't make it into the stores or get sold out instantly so I still buy online quite a bit.

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quote:

Originally posted by Woony Don't Amoeba and Mount Analog stock a good amount of new stuff when it comes to techno and house? Granted, I have no idea what you're playing. And I mean honestly, even here in Berlin there's releases that don't make it into the stores or get sold out instantly so I still buy online quite a bit.

Yeah, Amoeba have an OK selection for house/prog/tech but it's a clusterfuck getting to that bit of hollywood and that also means I have to refrain from wanted to kill all the hipsters moping about that store/area. I really go support it though as it's one of the last true record stores left in LA.

I could do online but it just seems to have the life sucked out of it. Actually buying records used to be part of the reason for the passion in the music; heading down to a few different stores in central london where I knew all the guys, getting a big stack and skipping through tons of records, being given a rare promo that they'd put aside for you, having a "good" stack and then making the tough choice of which ones you were going to buy as there were just too many.

Now buying music online is like filing a fucking tax return.

[/RANT]

I don't necessarily disagree, without online shops vinyl would have died a decade ago though. I think the number of offline shops is slowly increasing again, although it's obviously still a drop in the bucket compared to the 90s.

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June 2018 mix