My Review of Rane/Scratch Serato Live

[Phil Brooks]

So I first got this hardware/software a couple months ago and I must say I am 100% impressed. It feels almost exactly the same as mixing with real vinyl. This software allows you to have your vinyl feel without the need to invest in CDJs (which imo limits your ability to have 100% control of the music you're playing).I've been using it on a windows 7, with 4GB Ram, 2.26 core i5 and 512mb graphics and have only had one drop out due to other software that messed up my lappy.There are 2 different scratch lives, SL1 & SL3. The only difference is that with SL3 you can have 3 decks on it instead of 2 and the ability to record onto your computer straight from the SL3 (you can still record onto your computer with SL1 but you would need to put leads from the recording output from your mixer to your line-in on your laptop/computer.THE MIXINGFeeling exactly the same as vinyl, probably due to the fact it is a vinyl that controls the mp3 music. I've put my latency on 5% (5% delay in music but is hardly noticeable) and it is really easy to mix with. There are three main ways (mode)s to use serato. On the screen there are absolute, relative and internal.Absolute - You mix exactly like a vinyl, with the needle skips and all sorts, designed to have the 100% vinyl feel. Where ever you put the record on the control vinyl, it will put the actual mp3 to that part of itself.Relative - You have that vinyl feel but without the skips and the ability to drop the needle anywhere on the control vinyl like absolute mode. If you want to start the tune from again you will need to put the needle right to the edge of the control vinyl.Internal - You mix the music inside scratch live without using the control vinyl THE SCRATCHINGWith the 5% latency (minimum recommended for 64-bit windows aka vista & 7) , the scratching is on point. The track does not want to jump and think "WTF YOU DOING TO ME?" and is stable. I have ragged the f*ck out of it and it didn't mess up what so ever. YOUR MUSICIt is really easy to sort your music. The biggest WOW about it is the ability to put a cd on in your laptop, you can mix the music on that cd by using your control vinyl. If you have multiple albums on your hard drive, you can just look in the files folder on your live or you can put them in crates that you can label whatever you want on it to make it easier to sort and locate your music. There is smart crates where you type in information about what type music or what era you want in that crate and it put all of them inside that crate. You can use multiple types of music file to use on serato and you have a service provided by serato where you can get free downloadable music.OTHER INFORMATIONWith scratch live 2.0.0, you can have the addition of sound effects, what you would expect to see on such mixers like the DJM600 etc etc, which is a really useful tool when mixing. If you have the SL3, you can have the option of attaching 3 decks instead of the usual 2.You can record your vinyls on to Scratch live too!!!SUMMARYWell worth getting, a little expensive but it is the best out there and is the best way to join the digital age but keeping that vinyl feel to it. You can have your vinyl turntables and go to clubs and have your whole vinyl collection and CD collection with you on a laptop!!!No matter what type of music you play, this is the one for ALL!!!