In a surprise move, Serato has announced that its software now works with a number of previously non-licensed controllers, namely the Traktor Kontrol S2 MK3 and Kontrol S3, and the Pioneer DJ DDJ-200 and DDJ-400 controllers.
If you own one of these controllers, you can plug it in to a computer running Serato DJ Lite or Serato DJ Pro 3.2.1, and it will function immediately, meaning that with both the free and the purchased / subscribed versions of Serato, these controllers are now 100% usable.
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Get Phil’s thoughts on this new development, live and direct from a ferry crossing!
First thoughts
This marks potentially a big development in Serato’s business, because the company appears to be taking the route that VirtualDJ has taken for a long time, which is to make its software work with (what we’re going to guess will be) the widest number of controllers possible.
We would expect to see more integrations like this down the line, now that the need to have a Serato-licensed audio interface in a controller in order for the software to work with it seems to have been removed. (We know this to be true, because the DDJ-200 doesn’t even have an audio interface.)
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This stipulation was always artificial of course, but is part of the way Serato has always worked, in that hardware companies paid a licensing fee to Serato in order for their controllers to unlock the platform. Now, it looks like Serato has decided that it would make more sense for its software to simply work with as many controllers as possible, from (we’re going to guess) as many manufacturers as possible, and just live off the money paid by consumers to buy or subscribe to its software from here on in.
But what about MY gear…?
The biggest question the community has been asking about this is, “Will it worth with [insert device name here]? To be clear, right now it works with the devices mentioned above – that’s it. However, we did reach out to Serato to try to find out some more, and this is what they said:
“Our DJ 3.2.1 release is an exciting update for us, as it marks our first time expanding support to hardware that sits outside of traditional Serato hardware. While we can’t delve into what’s next on the hardware support roadmap, we are open to the possibility of doing more depending on how this first release goes.”
In the meantime, what do you think? Do you think this means DVS might get unlocked for any audio interface or digital mixer? Is Serato scared of Traktor’s re-emergence and sending a shot across its bows? Let us know your thoughts in the comments underneath this article or underneath the video.
Want more on this? Check out Serato’s official release with more information and their demo performance video below…
Phil Morse
