Serato Itch- Is It Good Or Bad?
I’ve been meaning to post about this for ages, but felt lazy. Which is terrible. Y’all must be thinking this blog is shit by now.
Anyway, back on topic. Serato Itch, is this good or bad. I’m on the fence at this stage, but I’m gonna have to play around with it. The whole “microwave dj” vs. Turntablist thing totally comes into play here.
What I seem to like most about itch is the portability idea of gears. Unlike Serato Scratch Live where you use your whole turntable setup as your controller for the software, Serato Itch uses a specially designed midi controller. There are two types from what I understand, one made by Numark and one made by Vestax. From face value, the Numark looks clunky as and the Vestax is small and extremely portable. If You’ve ready my previous posts, you’d probably know that I’m favouring the Vestax one already (Vestax Groupie anyone? 
).
Numark Controller:
(click to enlarge)
This is called the NS7. As I have said above, it appears it is quite clunky and big. The big bonus with this controller though is that it has motorised platters. The Vestax one doesn’t (i’ll get to this soon). Each platter is topped with Vinyl and is the same size as a 7″ Record. This is good if you’re a turntablist who loves vinyl (EG: Me and most likely you). Apparantly the crossfader is pretty decent too, but I’m fussy when it comes to crossfaders and I have to try it to decide. It looks like a cool unit however and I hope to see these in NZ Stores soon.
Here is a little promo video I found to go with it. It is promoted by Numark Boss Man Guy and Sam From Serato:
Vestax Controller:
(click to enlarge)
The Vestax Controller isn’t as big (so it seems) and it looks a lot more simple and user friendly as well. It is again an all in one unit. The downsides with his one is the platters which are not motorised, but you can control how loose or how tight each platter can be. This is definitely something that looks a lot more attractive looking than the NS7 above. The sleek design will probably attract more customers to buy it but the portability is brilliant. I am unsure on the Crossfader, but apparantly it’s meant to be similar to the one inside a Vestax 08 mixer. One other downside is it looks like the fader isn’t removable so you can’t clean it and the likes. I sure hope I’m wrong and that you can though. That would be the shit.
Here is a video I found of the VCI-300. This video has Sam from Serato giving you a run through on how it works:
The Software:
As you know, Serato is a music software company. The Serato Itch interface looks like this:
(click to enlarge)
A lot different to Scratch Live but I guess it is fair to say the basis is quite similar and that if you know Scratch Live, I guess it wouldn’t be hard to work this out. The only way for me to discover any truth in this, is by trying it out and seeing if my prediction is correct. I don’t know if the wave forms can be adjusted to be flowing in a vertical direction rather than a horizontal direction, but the basis of the wave forms remains almost identical to that of Serato Scratch Live. Either way it looks really cool from a glance, and I would give it benefit of a doubt to make sure it’s dope before I start hating on it.
Here is a little video of the Interface In Action:
One thing I haven’t mentioned with itch, is that You can Cut with it (as demoed by the video above) and Juggle too.
Check out this dope little juggle demo using the Vestax VCI-300. This Demo is done by Deeznotes and Sam from Serato:
Anyway, the Serato Itch thing looks pretty cool, But I’m going to have to try to decide if I like it. What do you guys reckon? Anyone know much about it and if/when you can get in NZ?? I’m dieing to give it a jam and find out.
Posted September 5th, 2008 by Joe Turksta
Explore posts in the same categories: DJ Equipment, DJ Talk, Youtubes
September 8th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
If I had to choose between the two, I’d definately go for the Numark. The small knobs and buttons on the vestax are no good for me. And the interface looks gay as. Im not a fan.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Hmm, I dunno Bro. I need to try before I judge. Truent reckons he had a jam on it in the weekend, I’ll see if he can post a comment and shed some light on it. I wanna give it a whirl to be honest aye!
The thing I didn’t mention is that Serato in the beginning kinda killed Vinyl but it also Rebirthed it. Right now, Everyone is collecting the real shit! and it’s real cool. Vinyl Preservation is on an all time high.
I think (if it takes off) that Itch has the power to kill off the turntable which can be quite freaky I guess.
Ahh well, one day I’ll try it and see how it goes.
Shot bro
November 15th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I brought myself the Serato ITCH a couple of days after DMC sent me an email. I impulsively brought it thinking it was the next best thing. I think its ideal for the mobile gigging DJ who isn’t keen on lugging around the turntables and CDJ’s, and stuff. The dimensions and weight are about the same size as the widescreen 17″ HP Laptops, so they fit comfortably into Laptop bags. I agree with Mr McDuck in regard to the knobs, but considering I have huge godsend sausage fingers, I don’t think the knobs would do any needle-fingered DJ’s any harm. The wheels have torque resistant dials on the sides to increase or lessen torque resistance, for scratch tension…I tried having a scratch on the deck, but was kinda let down by the crossfader knob…it feels like light-weight plastic, rather then like the proper vestax cross fader knobs. Most of the buttons have 2 functions. Thus meaning that you can use the button as it is shown on the button (written in white), or you can use the function/shift button to use the button to perform its second function written in grey (kinda like a calculator when you use the function to perform another action for particular buttons…hope Im not confusing anyone…best you have a look, and you’ll know what I mean)
The interface isn’t all that great, it pretty much is just a interface to play your music off, and thats that. You have 3 loop segments to utilise. I like the interface just like the Scratch live, where you can beatmatch, but thats about it.
All in all, I think the Serato ITCH only caters to a particular kinda audience…mobile, technologically savvy, intelligent (meaning they don’t want to carry more than they can handle…eg. rocking up with your deck, plugging-in and you’re away, and also for those who don’t have the patience or skill to manipulate vinyl).
I think that the Serato ITCH has nothing on turntabalism…these cats [turntablists] are skilled political artists who preseve the artform of pure DJing. I don’t think that turntablism will be lost to the new frontier of digital nostalgia. Rather, we are looking at a new breed of vinyl patriots coming through…young, edgy, some inexperienced-but keen, entrepeneurs who rejuvenate a new style and are keen to revive the evolving market of pure turntablism.
Ultimately, I think that Serato ITCH is great for the fundamental purpose of providing benefits to the on-the-go mobile DJ. As my colleagues have often asked me, would you rather see a DJ with a couple of gadgets doing your gig, or would you rather have a guy/girl working off turntables? I always say turntables (or CDJ’s). I think the ITCH is good, but only for domestic purposes, and I like the Numark version for VDJing, but nothing beats the sight of a turntable.
DJ ASTRO
(OPEN TO NEW TECHNOLOGY, BUT MAD RESPECT FOR THE OLD SKOOL TOO)
November 15th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
sorry for the novel!
November 15th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
All good bro! All is good. Yesterday at Wil’s place was mean!!
Thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog.