While Pioneer DJ may wish to conquer the world with their ever-expanding universe of hardware and software, the lack of Traktor and Serato compatibility proved to be a stumbling block for users, and in turn sales of NXS2 units. Thankfully for the club scene, Pioneer DJ has got back into bed with Serato and has made the DJM-900NXS2 and CDJ-2000NXS2 work out of the box with Serato DJ with the Serato DJ 1.9.5 public beta.
Well when I say out of the box, if starting from scratch you’ll need the Serato DJ club kit or add the DVS expansion pack to your existing Serato DJ installation, and running any beta in a professional environment is potential career suicide. But you can at least try it out and see for yourself.
A few words from Auckland follow:
Serato DJ 1.9.5 now in public beta with Pioneer DJ DJM-900NXS2 / CDJ-2000NXS2 support.
Serato DJ 1.9.5 is now in public beta, adding Club Kit support for the Pioneer DJ DJM-900NXS2 and HID mode support for the CDJ-2000NXS2 as an Official Serato Accessory, as well as a number of minor changes and stability improvements.
- Pioneer DJ DJM-900NXS2.
- Pioneer DJ CDJ-2000NXS2.
- Bug fixes and some memory optimisations.
Matt Cleland (Serato Product Planner) says: “This update is huge for working club DJs as it provides support for two pieces of kit that many DJs will encounter on a nightly basis. With the Serato DJ Club Kit license, DJs can now connect directly to the Pioneer DJ DJM-900NXS2 mixer without the need for a separate interface. Two USB connections on this mixer also means changeover is easier than ever. As well as this, the CDJ-2000NXS2 will also control Serato DJ in HID mode via USB connection. We encourage any DJs wanting to give this a go early, to test out the beta and give us their feedback.”
Join the Serato DJ 1.9.5 public beta to try this update early and give feedback.
This release also includes a number of important stability improvements for all Serato DJs. Read the full list of bug fixes, changes and additions in the Serato DJ 1.9.5 beta area.
Join the Serato DJ 1.9.5 beta: http://sera.to/-b5xh
THE FINAL 5%
Having reached v1.9.5, we’re now in the final throes of the second version of Serato DJ. I know this because I got them to promise me that there would be no Traktor style 2.10 increments. Serato will use up the full complement of V2ness before making the jump to v3. When that will be is anyone’s guess. I’m guessing at the don’t-hold-your-breath-of-two-thousand-and-sometime is the nearest anyone will commit to, and I suspect that even that vague date is subject to the impending negotiations for a slice of Serato pie.
Anyway, if you’re an NXS2 owner, and want to check out the new beta, join up and get involved. And now perhaps clubs will start to think about updating their old setups too.