I just saw these new promotional videos for Serato DJ
Particularly interesting (and awesome) was the demonstration for the Denon MC2000 when it was used to do very cool VJ-ing with the help of a midi mapped iPad - with its compact size and seemingly robust tank build, many aspiring VJ's might find it appealing to have a somewhat basic control of live VJ-ing
The Upgrade from Serato DJ Intro (which comes free - with supported controllers) into the full-fledged Serato DJ (which costs USD $199 - with free Serato Video License for a limited time) seems to unlock a wealth of new features, and although $199 is a bit pricey, the video shows how it can extend the functionality of such controllers, particularly for Serato users
Apparently the $199 upgrade fee is universal, as in for $199 it unlock Serato DJ for any Serato Intro controller you may have, so lets say you have multiple Serato Intro controllers such as the Mixtrack Pro (which can be had for as low as $150 USD off amazon!) and the seemingly awesome Denon MC2000, the $199 price gets you access to Full Serato DJ for ALL CONTROLLERS that you have - not bad, still rather pricey though
This more "universal" approach can may be seen as a glimpse of the future - will Serato one day follow Native Instruments footsteps to unify the Whole Serato software? Purchasing the software and allowing other audio interfaces and controllers to be used together with the software? I think it just got one step closer towards that - Serato Itch is even being phased out as soon as Serato DJ launches for all the supported hardware
One interesting thing i found with Traktor users is that the different ways people use Traktor to DJing - a lot uses the X1 solely to dj, a lot implements the Maschine, some uses timecode, plus a ton of other ways of controlling it via third party hardware makers such as faderfox among others,
in the past Serato was a bit more exclusive (for example, starting with just the SL series sound cards before they introduced ITCH) but it seems like they are losing ground by simply supporting the timecode market, so we are seeing more controller and versatility now - and now that they opened up midi mapping, who knows maybe they will soon start supporting entirely standalone operation with the user's own audio interfaces as well?
I also find it rather silly that, as a Pioneer DDJ-SX owner (that is supposedly bundled with Serato DJ software), If lets say I decide to grab a Serato Intro controller such as the Denon MC2000, I would still have to pay $199 to unlock the Serato DJ for that particular controller, which is a little bit awkward in my opinion~ as I already have access to the full blown software when I use the other controller! I think Serato should have bundled serial numbers for Serato DJ to ALL DDJ-SX users so they can use any controller they want (like the way Traktor Does it)
Unfortunately - that wont likely to happen! (well we can hope though haha!)
Oh and by the way if you are one of the Serato Intro users - Serato is offering 12% Off in its whole online store for a limited time - just so you know ;)
UPDATE 18/12/2012:
Now Serato DJ Supports the Reloop Terminal 2 and Terminal 4 controllers and they slashed the price to $129 without Serato Video License!
