Luke Butzen

So a good workflow you might be interested in is I copy all my lossless tunes (I buy lossless then convert to .mp3) to my external, then I have PN go through a folder where the downloads sit, cut the new files (I have Pn set to add _PN to the title of each song) to the same folder I store all my Rekordbox mp3s, run MiK on whatever is new, then simply add to my collection in Rekordbox.

Or Tl;dr: PN>MIK>Add

To Note: PN & MIK will eat a lot of resources, mainly your CPU, so I’d advise doing all this before a show, not while you’re trying to Dj. Also, MIK requires an active internet connection to analyze. MiK also has a tag editor that’s actually very good. It gets very confusing to try to explain, but suffice to say: Make meta-data changes in RB so that they stick, not in MiK where you would have to add the file every time you made a change. While the tag editor is great, it probably won’t get them all if you play a lot of underground stuff.

As for if you can tell if PN worked or not, it’s hard to tell but if you do a side by side (Either in a daw or by listening to a tune you know really well), you’ll hear it then. But there’s no real visual way unless you have PN do the same thing I did.

Let me know if you need clarification for this.

File>Library>Restore Library. (Assuming you backed it up in the first place)

To Add Batch Files: File>Import Track/Folder

Click the “Files” tab in Serato, therein bypassing Itunes completely. You would then just click & drag whatever files you wanted into a crate and work your way from there. It might help to maybe have either a copy of your songs or your “Dj tunes” (If you use a separate file format) in a folder specifically for it, so that you just have select the folder and import all the songs in one easy motion. It’s not the greatest thing of all time to use but it does exactly what you’re looking for, which sounds like you’re wanting to be selective about what you’re adding or taking away from your library. You can also just have them in a specific playlist, I’ve found that works well with iTunes as then it’s just Copy over the playlist to a crate and done. Just be aware that the meta data will change if you edit it in Serato, as it’s looking and editing the same data iTunes is. Unfortunately, as far as I know you can’t add album art through Serato, but MP3Tag is great for this & can even add missing Data.

If you’re working specifically in Apple’s formats, (AAC or AIFF/Aif) due to buying all your songs through Itunes, then I can’t help you (maybe). I stay from Apple’s formats as they’re limited in thier use outside of the Mac walled garden and I hate being tied to anyone thing except WAVs and FLAC. From my understanding though, they behave just like MP3s and Wavs, minus a couple differences. So maybe you can just follow the step above about sticking everything in a crate/playlist/folder and doing that? Or just add the files through the Serato files tab? (See above about Metadata changes) Itunes is a good library manager and meta data editor, but one thing I always felt like they needed was to have the option of Multiple libraries. But I digress.

AS for your laptop, are you able to meet Serato DJ’s requirements? (Not Intros) Back when I was using an i3 laptop, I would have that issue when I was doing large batches of music. There might also be corrupted data inside your music but in the case you stated and the corruption issue, Serato would just put a flag on it and move on unless the file is that bad.

Let us know how you get on and maybe we can figure it out if you’re still having issues. That’s what this forum is here for!

So I guess to short answer your question, No.

It’s like anything, once you know how to do it, you’ll start doing it faster and faster.

I understand what you mean by it taking too long, as I’m working on my first as well. But I’m not too worried as right now I’m feeling out my workflow and since I’m getting a good feeling of what that is, at this point I need to go grab a journal and start writing stuff down.

Once you know what your personal workflow is to make a mixtape you’re happy with, then you’ll slowly start making your way to that once a month goal.

I’ve also seen good business class laptops that are a great budget buy. Lenovo thinkpads, HP Probooks, things of that nature. I snagged an HP Probook recently that had some nicks but otherwise flawless for less than 150$ USD on ebay and they tick all of Serato’s requirements for things like PnT and Serato video should I ever decide to pay and use them. I also almost never have 600$ on me at any one time, so spending that on a laptop that you’d have to sink more money into for a new battery if buying used, (Important if you travel on public transportation and want use your laptop while doing so) an SSD if you don’t have one on hand, and probably a ram upgrade unless you are able cannibalize a laptop that had better ram and an SSD you can re-format.

The only time so far I’ve ever had issues with my dj laptops is with windows, but since Linux sucks for djing (No support from any DJ program except MIXXX) and iOS is for macs only, I just stick with 8.1 for now as I can never find a legit copy of 7 and 10 was causing issues on my probook. I’ll probably also see about getting another SSD for my old DJ laptop for home use as I loved having the bigger screen (Probook 14″ vs Clevo T5100 15.4″) but hated the added weight and unnecessary numerical pad. Like you, I highly doubt I’ll ever play in front of 1000’s, but I’m not looking to either.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Luke Butzen.

From the same year and what Vestax has become: http://djtechtools.com/2014/12/10/vextax-officially-bankrupt-who-could-buy-the-brand/

That casio controller was vestax trying to get other companies to buy their controller tech and slap their name on it so that they could keep their heads above water. Besides, that thing is aimed at algoriddim users, not Serato, Traktor or VDJ users like the VCI 400, 380 or 300 is.

What Vestax is today: http://djtechtools.com/2016/01/14/vestax-reborn-original-founder-hidesato-shiino-shares-vision/

So far, this is the only thing that has been made within the last couple of years that is a true Vestax product. Otherwise, the company basically died after releasing the VCI 400DJ as it got run into the ground due to bad business decisions.

By “Stuck”, what I mean is if that driver doesn’t work for whatever reason, you’re S.O.L..

I honestly love Vestax controllers. I think they had some great ideas and helped launch the controllerism movement by releasing the VCI 100SE, which helped people look at DJ controllers as something more than a kids toy. Unfortunately, they were one of those “ahead of their time” companies that was weird when they were around but now all controllers have what the 100SE brought to the table as standard, and any controllers that deviate from that is considered weird.

The Mixtrack quad is basically the Mixtrack pro 2 with volume faders (Not gain though) and EQ controls for decks 3/4. (Me personally, I didn’t like the 2 or quad due to the shallow jog wheels.) Considering you’re primarily a 2 deck guy, you should be fine. As for Vdj and MIXXX, can’t help you. Although from my understanding, there is really no support in MIXXX for the MTP2. Also, the Mixtrack pro 2 & 3 can’t support 4 deck djing, or to put it in a different way, they’re not designed for it. You would either have to use your keyboard and mouse or maybe an add on thing to control the other two decks unless you want to start getting into mapping everything. Either way, you’d probably be left wanting for a proper 4 deck controller at some point like the Reloop Terminal mix 8, Gemini G4V, American Audio VMS 5 or VMS 4.1 or something along those lines that lets you control gain, volume, and EQs for 3/4, that you can’t really map to the MTP 2 & 3.

Not a lot of help I’m sure, but my advice to you is to save up for a good 4 deck controller (unless you already bought the quad) and the unlimited license for VDJ if you don’t have it so you don’t have to worry about whether or not it works with your version of VDJ and since it’s your main software, you’d be supporting the devs and get all sorts of cool features you don’t get with free software.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Luke Butzen.