As ever, Serato has released a public beta of what was announced at NAMM. Serato DJ 1.7.4 brings the Club Kit, essentially enabling certain Pioneer and Allen & Heath mixers to be DVS ready (i.e. no Serato box necessary). But there are a few new features, as well as the necessary amount of bug fixes too.
The words from Serato HQ:
Please join the Serato DJ 1.7.4 Public Beta group to download the latest beta update.
With Serato DJ 1.7.4, we’ve introduced support for the Pioneer DJM-900NXS, DJM-850, Allen & Heath Xone:DB2 and DB4 mixers with the purchase of a “Club Kit” license. The Club Kit license is a bundle of the Serato DJ and DVS Expansion Pack licenses.
If you already own both of these licenses then you will be able to connect to Club Kit hardware and use DVS. If you only own a Serato DJ license, you will still be able to connect to Club Kit hardware and use CDJs in HID mode, or MIDI map features for use with Internal mode.
If you don’t own these licenses but wish to test Club Kit hardware, you can either start a free 14 day Serato DJ trial in-app, or purchase the Club Kit for $169.
New Features
- Beat Jump
- Master Video Effects
- MP3+G file support
- EQ Colored Waveforms setup option
- Disable needle search during playback option
- Improvements to scratch response for CDJs in HID mode
- Language support for German/French/Spanish/Chinese/Japanese/Portuguese
Added Serato DJ Hardware Support
- Numark Mixtrack Pro III
- Pioneer DJM-900NXS (Club Kit)
- Pioneer DJM-850 (Club Kit)
- Allen & Heath Xone:DB2 (Club Kit)
- Allen & Heath Xone:DB4 (Club Kit)
Added Serato DJ Accessory Support
- Allen & Heath Xone:K1
- Audio improvement when fast scratching with Pitch ‘n Time DJ
- Improved delay compensation adjustment for Serato Video
- Improved pitch knob resolution for Akai Pro AMX
- Beat Jump mappings for all hardware with grid and parameter buttons
- Multiple colors in HOT CUE mode for Numark NS7II
- Auto loop range always shows selected auto loop
- Parameter knob functionality for SAMPLER mode for Akai Pro AFX
- LED to flash when loop is active for Akai Pro AFX
- Primary Deck select option for other 4 Channel DVS hardware
- MIDI mappable pitch slider available for controllers
- Pressing CUE button while holding the platter will set the temp cue to the current position for CDJ HID mode
Bug Fixes
- Library does not appear in Serato DJ and unable to sort library columns
- CDJs in HID mode cause hang when using USB 3.0 ports on Windows 8
- Absolute data not working for loop size/shift in MIDI panel
- Album Art In FLAC files is not displayed
- Empty Genre tag always reverts to “other”
- CDJ HID platter LED position is glitchy
- Auto Loop Parameter does not work on Vestax VCI-380
- Split Cue does not function correctly with Numark NS6
- Auto loop value LED does not light up unless active on Pioneer DDJ-SR
- Loop On output turns off after adding an active loop to a loop slot
- Vestax VCI-400 MASTER FX mapping gets out of sync with software state
- Tracks are not marked as played correctly for DVS mixers
- Loop Shift not working on Numark NS7II
- Serato Video “SaveFX” button does not light up when clicked
- Delay Compensation does not respect pitched BPM
- Tempo Reset on Pioneer CDJ-2000/CDJ-2000nexus does turn off
- Pioneer CDJ-2000/CDJ-2000nexus reverse switch is mapped to censor
- Touch Mode does not reset value for EQ video effects after touching
- Library tracks not displayed properly
- Only one file in Media Crate does not continue to load when in use
- Loop shift does not shift loop when track is paused
- Deleting tracks in search results may cause tracks to be no longer visible
- Auto Loops are created forwards when track is playing backwards
- MIDI mapping artist/song name causes crash
- Cannot scroll Quantize value drop down menu correctly when midi mapped
- Rane Sixty-Four layer 1 cue points are broken when mapped to other layers
- Crash caused by MIDI mapping artist/track title
- Disabling sync can causes a playhead skip with Numark V7
Additionally, various crashes and hangs were resolved.
If you would like to report any bugs or provide any feedback, please do so in the Serato DJ 1.7.4 Public Beta area.
Wow — look at all those bug fixes. These seem to be isolated functions specific to individual features rather than show stopping crash inducing ones. Serato DJ does appear to have got rid of show stoppers.
And at the same time, a good level of improvements have appeared too. Looking at the list, there are things like Pitch N Time scratching being improved, but it’s small things like multiple colour hot cue buttons on the NS7II that are nice touches.
But it’s the new features that are of most interest. Beat Jump has finally made it to Serato DJ. It is exactly as it sounds — the ability to jump forward or back in a playing track by a predetermined amount, from 1/32 to 32 beats. Not a new feature in the whole scheme of things, but a welcome addition nonetheless.
I guess for most, the Club Kit is most interesting. It does signal that Serato can make pretty much any USB mixer or controller with an audio interface Serato DVS ready if they wish. I suspect that said hardware will have to undergo and pass rigorous testing, but for me it shouts that Serato is opening itself up to a wider partner base than ever, and trying to capture the hearts of as many DJs as possible. I would absolutely love it if NI hardware suddenly became DVS ready.
As ever, using a public beta is entirely at your own risk. Don’t get stroppy if your set breaks mid-performance or if things set on fire OK?