by DJ Vintage on 16 Apr 2014, 17:32
Hi folks,
Out now and looking mighty good, BeatPort Pro. For those of you who need something better than iTunes (and let's face it, almost everything IS better than iTunes :-D ) this might be a godsend. Granted, first version, mac-only, probably some features not (fully) implemented, but hey, I think it feels a need.
Advertised as supported by all the MAJOR! platforms, Traktor, Serato and even ... RekordBox!.
My question, obviously, why isn't Cross in that list. Will there be support from Cross for this product?
Seriously guys, I moved from Traktor to Cross, because the TP workflow wasn't for me. I was tempted to go Serato, but since they had very limited controller support at the time and I didn't want to sell my MC6000 and VDJ is ... well VDJ, I ended up here. And I have been -mostly- happy with that until recently.
Lacking support for the iDJ Pro is a bummer and has caused me to sell it. And the fact that when the mk2 MC6000 came out there wasn't a dedicated mapping for it right away or real soon didn't impress me either. The Denon is a big favorite for mobile DJ's, typically guys that would also benefit hugely from the features and workflow Cross offers. So to miss that one, not smart imho.
At the same time Serato is making HUGE waves, at the current NAMM and Prolight+Sound it was clear that anybody who is anybody in the controller business has Serato models out. I sold my mk1 MC6000 and will get the mk2 soon which supports Serato too. Traktor is pulling back ever more into it's "one supplier concept", so that should be another worry less.
If Cross wants to keep building momentum (and I think 2013 was a good year in that respect), it would be a waste to see Serato come in and sweep up new souls left and right because they are closer on the ball and more in-tune to market movement.
Obviously it's very interesting to see a Linux version of Cross being developed. And I can see how that might benefit machines like the Numark tease this week. Instead of windows embedded having linux embedded makes way more sense. And if you have the DJ software to support that, you score. I get that.
By the same token though, was a Linux version really higher up the wish list of customers than making a few mappings, working on two-way integration with RekordBox (something that would be a total winner in my eyes)?
Sure there are DJ's who don't want the windows hassle and/or spend Apple dollars, but I can't imagine they are the mainstream of Cross customers.
Every company has limited resources, chosing where to deploy them makes the difference between succes and not succesful.
And I am slightly worried that all this diversification into linux, android, etx. is taking away efforts to keep the current user base interested and connected to Cross.
I'd really hate to go through the hassle of redoing everything again, so please guys, get some of these long-running issues out of the way. Even announce stuff that is coming if you have to :-).
I am still a fan of Cross and a critical user. I'd like to stay that way.
Greetinx.
