The Serato DJ upgrade rollout continues. This time, v1.1.2 gets a handful of key feature updates, the Vestax VCI-400 gets proper support (like it always should have had IMHO), and Pioneer DDJ-WeGO get the official support Serato DJ Intro to DJ upgrade in place — at a cost of course.
The official words from New Zealand:
SERATO DJ 1.1.2 – NOW SUPPORTING THE VESTAX VCI-400 AND PIONEER DDJ-WeGO.
UPGRADE TO SERATO DJ AND ELEVATE THE CAPABILITIES OF YOUR CONTROLLER.
Serato is proud to announce that the latest upgrade of Serato DJ 1.1.2 now offers support for the Vestax VCI-400 and Pioneer DDJ-WeGO controllers.
The new Serato DJ release 1.1.2 is a comprehensive new digital DJ platform that includes iZotope effects, midi mapping and a host of advanced, professional features. Serato DJ 1.1.2 delivers all the features and performance to meet the demands of DJs at the top of their game and sets the new standard for controller DJs.
Sam Gribben, CEO of Serato, says: “It’s been really exciting seeing the Serato DJ world unfold over the last 4 months. Our world-class development team, in partnership with our industry leading hardware partners, are thrilled with the progress of Serato DJ in this short period of time. This latest upgrade unlocks massive potential for the expert Vestax VCI-400 users, and it’s great to be able to provide Pioneer DDJ-WeGo owners their first taste of Serato software.
Serato DJ 1.1.2 can be purchased and downloaded direct from serato.com. Serato DJ 1.1.2 is a paid upgrade for Vestax VCI-400 and Pioneer DDJ-WeGo users, simply head to Serato.com/dj/buy to purchase and download Serato DJ 1.1.2.
As well as support for the paid Serato DJ upgrade – Serato is proud to announce that the Pioneer DDJ-WeGo is now also fully supported with the latest update of Serato DJ Intro, which is available free of charge to all WeGO users (1).
Vestax VCI-400 and Pioneer DDJ-WeGO users can upgrade to Serato DJ 1.1.2 from $129USD, or for $199USD Serato DJ comes bundled with a license for the powerful Serato Video plug-in, normally priced at $149USD on its own.
Serato DJ 1.1.2 will be followed by further Serato DJ support for Serato DJ Intro controllers such as: Numark N4, Numark Mixdeck, Numark Mixdeck Express, Numark Mixdeck Quad, Vestax Typhoon and Vestax VCI-100 Mk2 in a gradual rollout this coming winter.
For Serato DJ Intro and Serato ITCH customers, you can choose to be notified when Serato DJ will be available for you at serato.com/dj/stay-informed.
Serato DJ 1.1.2: Added Features
Serato DJ 1.1.2 comes with the following added features.
- Autoplay When enabled, Serato DJ will play continuously through your library or selected crate.
- Active Deck Display Active decks are now always displayed in two deck view modes for four deck controllers.
- Mic/Aux Support Available now for Pioneer DDJ-ERGO and other supported controllers.
- Bug and Stability Fixes Serato DJ 1.1.2 comes with added performance optimization and stability fixes. View all the details in the Serato DJ 1.1.2 Release Notes.
Serato DJ 1.1.2: Features
Serato DJ 1.1.2 comes with the following features with more to come.
- Great New FX Powered by iZotope Load your choice of high quality FX including: Delay, Echo, Ping Pong Delay, Reverb, Phaser, Flanger, Distortion, High Pass Filter (HPF), Low Pass Filter (LPF), Combo HP/LP Filter.
- MIDI Mapping Take full advantage of Serato DJ’s features. MIDI mapping opens up the software to be mapped with a secondary MIDI controller.
- Recording Make mixtapes and save your night’s work to listen to later. Record your mix at the click of a button.
- Four Deck Mixing Mix with four decks on supported four deck controllers.
- Brand New User Interface A greatly improved software layout that looks amazing and is simple to use. The new interface also offers two and four deck view modes for four deck controllers.
- More Cue Points Set and trigger up to 8 Cue Points in Serato DJ to quickly jump to different sections in your track.
As well as these new features, Serato DJ Intro customers can expect to get all the same professional-level tools we offer, including:
- Looping Manual Loops, Auto Loops and Loop Rolls are all available to creatively repeat and loop parts of your tracks in the mix.
- Sync and Auto Tempo Matching Lock tracks together for seamless grooves. Less time beat matching, more time to get creative.
- Crates and Smart Crates Make library management a breeze with Serato Crates and Smart Crates. Build playlists, save your sets and organize your music.
- SP-6 Sample Player Trigger all your favorite stings, samples and loops over your tracks. 4 Banks of 6 sample slots, which can be synced, to the playing decks.
- Colored Waveforms See the music with Serato’s ground breaking colored track waveforms.
- Plug-and-Play Connectivity Less time making it work, more time at the party.
- Buy Serato DJ from within Serato DJ Intro Serato DJ Intro users can now purchase and upgrade to Serato DJ from within the Serato DJ Intro software.
- Interoperable with your current Scratch Live, ITCH, DJ Intro and iTunes Music Library.
- Serato Video Support
- Support for whitelabel.net files
(1).DDJ-WeGO firmware must be updated to Ver. 1.07 to be compatible with Serato DJ Intro 1.1.1, which is available at http://pioneerdj.com/support.
Personally, I’m interested in how the Pioneer WeGO is going to handle Serato DJ. It’s a complex piece of software being shoehorned into a controller designed to have a fairly minimal feature set. This is a timely release that will make it into my WeGO review.
But what of the Vestax VCI-400? It really was the first of the new wave of 4 channel controllers, but arrived with just Serato DJ Intro and adopted an agnostic approach to software, claiming to be compatible with just about everything out there. When I look at it, it just screams DDJ/NS7 II, so I’m hoping that it’ll finally find its place in this world, even if it apparently doesn’t come with key features like slicer. Some will complain about tis, but ultimately it comes down to Serato and their partner coming up with price for a licence that contains features from the menu of available controls. Serato also like to have a certain amount of exclusivity between units, so that one usually has a key feature that the others don’t.
Regardless, it’s good to see the VCI-400 finally get the software it so richly deserves, even if you do have to drop $129 for it. Oh and although this press releases doesn’t mention it, Numark’s NS6 gets the Serato DJ love. Being the first ITCH controller to get the free upgrade, they figure it’s worthy of a separate release, and so do we.