I decided I wanted to tryout mixing. So far I downloaded virtual DJ Home, Mixxx, and I am looking into DJay. Which of the three has the best compatibility with hardware if I choose to buy any. Nicest integration and easiest to learn. I'm also looking for some tutorials on how to use them. Any help is great thank you.
Be careful because Virtual DJ Home (free version) only has limited hardware accessory support (i.e. doesn't support connecting to Microphone or DJ Decks), you'll have to pay $300 to get that feature. http://www.virtualdj.com/products/comparison.html
It really depends on what hardware you get. Like the previous poster said, virtualDJ has great integration, but you have to buy the full program (or torrent it or something). DJay has decent integration, but is not as customizable as virtualDJ. I would try out the different programs and see which one you like best and then go from there.
The 300$ price tag for Virtual DJ is not so attractive. I could torrent it but I want to avoid any issues with updates and what not. I guess I'll have to try all three and go from there. For that price I could get DJay and vestax Spin Does any of these software have a killer feature that the other ones don't have? I've been using virtual DJ for a few hours now. it seems that external hardware is essential for pre cuing and tweaking settings quickly. in the free version of virtual dj, you have the video, mixer and scratch tab that you need to alternate between. With an external controller it's all there.
Serato ScratchLive is free, but you pay for the hardware. I'm not sure how much you can do with it without any hardware. http://serato.com/scratchlive Ableton Live is my weapon of choice: http://www.ableton.com/
What hardware would you recommend for a novice? I looked at the vestax spin but the knobs seem abit cheap
DJ software There are many sites which provide free DJ software; you can browse these sites first before buying.