Your Questions: Should I Switch From Serato To Traktor?

Digital DJ Tips reader Karlton writes: “All the DJs I am hanging with (including my mentor), are telling me to jump the Serato ship and ‘move up’ to Traktor. They say it will make life easier behind the decks while performing because it locks into the beat better than Serato does.

“I only have one issue with this and need a little broader opinion. My style of playing incorporates a lot of older music, with real instruments, like disco (Donna Summer, Ten City, Salsoul Orchestra etc), and lots of acapellas/vocals, which I like to loop and run them on my third deck.

“I understand Traktor is not really that good with music that has live instrumentation and older music that has variations in BPM throughout the track.

“Has anyone has any experience with this and is it even true? What happens with live instrumentation and varying BPM in Traktor? And lastly, is Traktor truly an upgrade over Serato or is it as I believe it to be… just user preference?”

Digital DJ Tips says:

They’re both great platforms, but they’re not the same, so we can’t just say “go with either, you’ll be fine”. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

The first thing we always advise is to pick a platform and stick with it. It’s hard to switch software, harder than people think when they think the grass may be greener.

In this instance, I’d be careful with the advice you’re receiving, too. As you’ve picked up, Traktor simply cannot beatgrid or sync music that has a BPM that varies. That means it’s fine for electronic music that plays by the rules, but simply won’t do a good job with the types of music featuring live drummers you mention. Serato wins every time here, and for that reason, we’d say you’ll probably want to stick with Serato.

However, Traktor has a demo version, so why not try it? You may find other benefits that outweigh the disadvantages, such as Stems. Have a go and see what you think…

What would you advise here? Have you switched one way or the other? what was your experience? Please share your thoughts in the comments.