Serato DJ 1.5 released Rane Sixty Four demo
mark Settle·
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Serato DJ 1.5 released — one Serato DJ to rule them all

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Just before BPM 2013, Serato dropped the bombshell that many had expected for a long time — Scratch Live was being replaced by the all singing all dancing rebuilt from the ground up Serato DJ 1.5. And now it’s here — still not as a replacement for Scratch Live, but ready for the forthcoming Rane Sixty Four and Pioneer DJM-900SRT, as well as the all new Numark NS7 II.

It’s not just about spanking new stuff, but also about compatibility with existing gear and some bug fixes. All the words from Serato HQ:

SERATO RELEASES SERATO DJ 1.5 WITH VINYL & CDJ SUPPORT

Serato is proud to announce the release of Serato DJ 1.5, available to download now from serato.com/dj/downloads.

Serato DJ 1.5 comes packed with support for a number of brand new and existing devices, including the Rane Sixty-Four and Pioneer DJM-900SRT. These are the first professional, four-channel club standard mixers that are specifically designed for plug-and-play integration with Serato DJ, using our world class NoiseMap™ DVS technology.

Serato DJ 1.5 also includes support for the Pioneer DDJ-SR and Numark NS7II controllers, plus, accessory support for the Pioneer DDJ-SP1, Novation Dicers and the Pioneer CDJ-2000 & CDJ-2000nexus – to be used in conjunction with a supported Serato DJ device.

Serato DJ 1.5 is the first in a series of releases associated with the migration of our software platform from Scratch Live to Serato DJ.

Sam Gribben, CEO of Serato, says: “It’s very exciting to be releasing Serato DJ 1.5 with vinyl and CDJ control, and get it out into the hands of our users. Today’s releases brings us another step closer to migrating our software platform from Scratch Live across to Serato DJ. We’ve worked hand in hand with our hardware partners to deliver support for some impressive new products that are specifically designed for Serato DJ 1.5, and it’s great to finally see all the planning and hard work come to fruition. Being able to offer vinyl and CDJ control in Serato DJ for new devices is just the first stage of much more to come from Serato in the future, and we can’t wait to show you what’s next.”

Supported Devices in Serato DJ 1.5

Rane Sixty-Four mixer for Serato DJ

The Rane Sixty-Four is designed for seamless plug-and-play connectivity and integration with Serato DJ 1.5.

A professional four-channel club mixer with dual USB ports, it allows two computers to be connected simultaneously, making for effortless DJ changeover and back-to-back performance. The Sixty-Four supports Serato NoiseMap™ Vinyl and CDJ control in Serato DJ.

Pioneer DJM-900SRT mixer for Serato DJ

The Pioneer DJM-900SRT is the very first mixer from Pioneer to ship with plug-and-play Serato DJ integration and with support for Serato NoiseMap™ Vinyl and CDJ control in Serato DJ.

Numark NS7II controller for Serato DJ

Numark’s flagship all-in-one DJ controller and the evolution of their classic NS7. It has all the feel and experience of the original and with impressive new features and enhancements. The NS7II is designed specifically to control the performance features within Serato DJ.

Pioneer DDJ-SR controller for Serato DJ

Designed with the highly popular DDJ-SX in mind, the Pioneer DDJ-SR offers high performance and advanced control in a smaller package, as well as some new and unique features of its own.

Pioneer DDJ-SP1 accessory for Serato DJ

The Pioneer DDJ-SP1 is a brand new accessory designed to be a portable and powerful companion to your primary Serato DJ setup, and comes with tightly pre-mapped controls for the exciting performance features of Serato DJ and Serato Video software.

Pioneer CDJ-2000 & CDJ-2000nexus accessory support for Serato DJ

Serato DJ 1.5 includes accessory support for the CDJ-2000 and CDJ-2000nexus, in conjunction with a supported Serato DJ device. Leave your Control CDs at home and connect directly to your computer via USB to control the software. The CDJ-2000 and CDJ-2000nexus have the tightest 2 deck control, with anti-skip performance and tight low-latency integration with Serato DJ.

New Features in Serato DJ 1.5

Alongside the wide range of new hardware support, Serato DJ 1.5 also has some impressive new features that all users can take advantage of, including:

Simple Sync with Beatgrids

See also
  • Sync is finally here for vinyl and CDJ DJs that want to use it.
  • Includes the Snap to Beatgrids option, for perfectly snapping your tracks in time.
  • If you’re not a fan of Sync then Serato DJ 1.5 gives you the option to disable Sync and never see it again.

Played Track Color Change

  • Due to popular demand, Serato DJ 1.5 adds a new bright blue “played track” color option to make your played tracks more visible. Users will still have the option to choose grey as their played track color if that is your preferred option.

Streamlined User Interface

  • We’ve optimized the user interface for a more streamlined experience.

Serato DJ 1.5 Bug Fixes

Serato DJ 1.5 also includes bug fixes to continue the unparalleled level of stability and performance that Serato software is renown for.

For a full list of bug fixes and other changes see the Serato DJ 1.5 Release Notes 

Serato DJ 1.5 is available now from www.serato.com/dj/downloads

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One True Serato

So 3 become 1, with Scratch Live and ITCH all rolled into Serato DJ. Everyone will soon be able to work within the same unified interface and stop the incessant moaning about the pros being ignored while the toys get all the new features. It’s worth having a glance over the release notes so you can see exactly what is coming, what has changed and what has been fixed. This is after all a very important release.

The irony hasn’t escaped me that this release, no matter how monumental and epic, has little use right away, as it’s generally for a whole load of yet to be released hardware. We at DJWORX however are in the very fortunate situation of having both the Rane Sixty Four and Numark NS7 II in the worxlab right now, so we’ll be able to give Serato DJ 1.5 a good workout and deliver a couple of detailed reviews pretty quickly.

I’m just looking forward to having some more dock space on my 13″ screen and not having to guess which icon is which.

The S Word

I do have to chuckle to myself when reading the bit about sync. Serato is definitely treating this as a handle with care topic, whereas every other software vendor is much more of a “sync is here live with it” attitude. But it’s just a matter of time before the introduction of sync will be forgotten, and actually disabling it will be seen as nothing more than a symbolic gesture of rebellion.

Serato DJ 1.5 released Rane Sixty Four demo

The Final Countdown

The hardware that Serato DJ 1.5 is specifically aimed at is imminent. I suspect it’ll be a matter of weeks, and possibly even days before you’ll be able to lay your former Scratch Live happy hands on the Rane and Pioneer mixers. And for everyone else, it’s a matter of waiting for Serato to push out betas in the new year that work with the existing hardware. My advice — embrace Serato DJ 1.5, or you’ll find yourself missing out on all the good stuff that we have yet to see.