

In our field testing, we found that Serato’s Pitch ‘N Time DJ was far and away the winner among the major three DJ softwares (as noted in the comments, it is the only algorithm that costs extra – a $29 purchase) After getting used to it, it actually opened up significantly more mixing possibilities.
Megaseg vs tractor pro#
We decided to take the most recent versions of Serato DJ, Virtual DJ, and Traktor Pro and run a side-by-side test of their keylocking algorithms. If you wanted a 20% slower version of a track that kept the original pitch intact, your best bet would have been to commission a new version of the song to be recorded in a studio. Key lock is one of the areas where there simply isn’t anything close to equivalent in a pre-digital world.
Megaseg vs tractor software#
Many old school DJs argue that most of the features of digital DJ software don’t actually offer anything beyond convenience. IN ACTION: KEYLOCK ENGINES IN DJ SOFTWARES Watch YouTube’s ellaskins explain and demo Master Tempo on Pioneer CDJ-700 MK2s all the way back in 2007 to get a good idea of what relatively early digital keylocking on DJ hardware sounded like: This traditionally has meant you hear a lot of audio chopping and artifacts, especially as the key-locked tempo moves out of a 5% range from the original BPM. This came at the cost of audio quality – when a track is slowed down, it’s subjected to time-stretching algorithms and the waveform is sliced up to fill the additional space between beats. The new function allowed DJs to adjust the BPM of a track without marring the pitch. With the introduction of “Master Tempo” features in DJ equipment and software, this all began to change.

The technology used in DJing (primarily turntables) meant there was no distinguishing between key and tempo. In traditional DJing, the ability to adjust tempo and pitch of a track were inextricably connected to each other – speed up a track and the pitch increases accordingly. The 6% Rule was a simple guideline for pre-DAW producers and remixers. If you adjust a song’s tempo by 6%, it’s equal to moving the song one key on a keyboard in the same direction. WHAT IS KEYLOCKING? The 6% rule in effect – +6% on the left and -6% on the right. Today we investigate how well keylock works in three softwares – read more inside and listen for yourself. Want to slow down a track 40% and keep it in key? It takes a powerful engine to make that happen. Serato recently introduced a new plug-in, Pitch N’ Time, that claims to be the best DJ keylock algorithm on the market.
